Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last Sunday, heading home, I stopped in the beautiful beachside town of Bicheno on Tasmania's east coast. While there, I chatted to a man, Charles, and his son, who were walking their dogs. Charles had celebrated his 100th birthday in August, and I noted that he would have been amongst the last to receive a message from Queen Elizabeth II. He smiled and politely noted that I had written to him too. Here we were, three people separated by continents and oceans but joined by the simple act of a birthday, a shared experience. Many of the hundreds of millions of people across the world who mourn the Queen's death would never have met her either, but they feel they knew her. As the Deputy Prime Minister noted earlier today, Queen Elizabeth II is the single most recorded person in human history and has personally met and shaken the hands of hundreds of thousands of people, if not a million.

For so many of us, Queen Elizabeth has been a constant presence, the only British monarch we have known in our lifetimes. Following the news of her death two weeks ago, my electorate office was inundated with calls and visits from constituents seeking a copy of her portrait. It seemed like everyone had a story, a small personal connection to the Queen, a reason why she meant so much to them. Nigel recounted how he had boarded at the Corio campus of Geelong Grammar with the now King in 1966. My staff spoke to a woman who collected a portrait for her 93-year-old mother, Kitty, who said she felt like she had lost a lifelong friend. Being of a similar age, Kitty had always felt a kinship with Queen Elizabeth, and this was strengthened during Her Majesty's visit to Tasmania in 2000, when Kitty had the opportunity to speak with the Queen and present her with a bouquet of flowers from her own garden, which the Queen declared to be beautiful.

Queen Elizabeth represented many things to many people, but, above all, hers was a life of service, responsibility and duty. From the moment she awoke each morning—apparently to bagpipes—to resting her head at night, hers was a daily regimen of duty, of service, of being in the public eye and having every utterance and gesture weighed and measured for its significance. Tabloids and magazines often report on the wealth and privilege that come with being royalty, but it is the duty, the never-ending responsibility that could have crushed lesser people, that is the true story of Elizabeth.

In 1954 the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth visited Australia. It was the first visit by a reigning monarch. Seventy-five per cent of the Australian population turned out to get even a fleeting glimpse of the Queen and Prince Philip. This visit included several stops in Tasmania, including a royal progress that took in Deloraine, Westbury, Longford and Cressy, with an overnight stay at the Connorville wool property, all of which are in my electorate. There is a quote here from the Advocate newspaper. 'Lovely Midlands sheep station home, Connorville, will be a royal residence for a night,' it proclaimed, going on to explain that the O'Connor family would remain at the property, as requested by the young Queen herself, going against the usual custom of vacating during a royal visit. During her visit to Connorville, Queen Elizabeth planted a golden elm, which still stands on the property today and has pride of place.

To conclude, I would like to quote just one of the heartfelt messages from the condolence books in my electorate office, by Wendy from Cressy, which I think sums up Queen Elizabeth's life with a hint of humour. I think it's known that the Queen herself had a wicked sense of humour. Wendy writes, 'You were Queen of hearts, ace at your job, jack-of-all-trades, and you even used a spade.' And Wendy was very insistent that her message finish with a kiss at the end.

On behalf of the people of Lyons, I extend my deepest sympathies to the royal family, who mourn the loss not of a monarch—a giant of her age—but of a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, a quiet, modest and contemplative woman whose duty is now done. May she rest in eternal peace.

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