Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I have a few brief words on behalf of the people of Whitlam—words of condolence, words of congratulation. On behalf of the people of Whitlam, to the family of King Charles: we offer our heartfelt condolences for the loss of your Queen, your mother, your grandmother, your great-grandmother, your auntie. And we offer our congratulations to King Charles for his ascension to the throne.

It is true to say, as many before me have remarked and as has been remarked within my electorate at the many ceremonies that I've attended, that there's been an outpouring of emotion for the passing of a monarch who has reigned for 70 years. I'm reliably informed that this term of office has only been exceeded by King Louis XIV of France, and that's probably where the comparisons should end.

The Queen visited the Illawarra and Wollongong on many occasions during her 70 years on the throne—once in February of 1954. I'm reliably informed it was a cold, wet, windy day, but thousands of people lined the aptly named Crown Street in Wollongong to watch Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh come past. They met with the then mayor, Mr JJ Kelly. Thousands and thousands of people from the South Coast and the Southern Highlands gathered there to catch a glimpse and to pay their respects. Amongst them, 500 ex-servicemen from three separate wars were there in attendance, and it was remarked that the Duke himself spent quite some time talking to the veterans. Thirteen thousand schoolkids had the day off school to attend the Wollongong Showground to catch a glimpse of the Queen as she passed by.

Again, in 1970, the Queen visited Port Kembla, Wollongong and Albion Park as part of a whirlwind tour and then headed off to a second steel town, Newcastle, as a part of her visit. They must have picked up a bit about the making of steel and the importance of steel to the Illawarra economy of the time, because on her 16th and final visit, when the Queen and the Duke were here in attendance at Parliament House, I had a conversation with the Duke, and I was surprised with his forensic knowledge of steelmaking, particularly the blast furnace method of steelmaking, and its contribution to the Illawarra and, indeed, to the country.

I had my daughter with me. My daughter graduated from high school last year. She was tottering around in kindergarten at the time, and it is true to say that she has greater memories of Gurrumul, who entertained us in the Great Hall at the time, than she has of glimpsing the Queen, but that's a memory that will be resting in her memory forever.

It is true that all institutions change after time, none less than the monarchy, and, though the royal family is often regarded as a pillar of stability, the monarchy has changed radically, including over the years of Queen Elizabeth's reign. This was forced upon it by social change that surrounded it. It's also a mark of the Queen's abilities that this change was accomplished within the monarchy and with her role in British life intact. It has been remarked upon many times in contributions by members before me today that it is unlikely that we'll see the likes of her again—her commitment to service, her commitment to the institution of the monarchy, her commitment to public service—and for that we pay her credit. We thank her for her service. She will, as has been said many times, be remembered fondly for many generations to come.

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