Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

MARLES (—) (): I acknowledge the beautiful words of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and I also acknowledge the presence in our chamber of the high commissioner from the United Kingdom, Vicki Treadell. It is really wonderful to have you here today.

After 64 years on the throne, when Queen Victoria died at her retreat on the Isle of Wight in January 1901, the response across the British Empire was profound and it was consistent. It was observed that most people had lived their entire lives during her reign and that Queen Victoria had been a constant during a period of unmatched change, defined by the Industrial Revolution and the tremendous developments in technology which it initiated. That change was seen in Australia through Queen Victoria's presence accompanying federation. She died just three weeks after the birth of our nation, and her touch is everywhere. Two states are named after her. Our country's first capital was named after her first British Prime Minister, and, in one form or another, there is a memorial to Queen Victoria in every major city in the country. As we think about the events and the response of the last two weeks, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we know there was an earlier expression in those events which occurred more than a century ago. As the Prime Minister rightly observed, it is remarkable to think that, since 1837, in the 185 years hence, the throne has been occupied for more than 70 per cent of that time by just two women.

On the death of Queen Victoria, the Newcastle Chronicle, in the north-east of England, reported that, whilst few of its inhabitants had ever seen Her Majesty, all knew of her good works. And here's where the comparison starts to differ, because, while Queen Victoria provided that incredible constant of presence, she did so during an era where the public glare was relatively limited. There are no photos of an early Queen Victoria. There are just a few videos which show a grainy image of an older Queen Victoria in the distance, and there is no recording of Queen Victoria's voice which is in existence. And yet those technologies, which emerged during her reign, made the corresponding task of Queen Elizabeth to provide that constant presence, that constancy which has been the handrail for change, a task of a completely different order of magnitude.

Queen Elizabeth's coronation was the most watched event on TV to that point in time. The video which documents the 1954 visit to Australia is regarded to this day as the most important pre-TV footage in Australia's social history. Indeed, on that visit, almost three-quarters of the entire population, over those two months, actually came out to see Queen Elizabeth. Queen Victoria never left Europe. In her 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth embarked on 250 official overseas trips to 131 different countries. Her image and her voice are the most seen and most heard of any human in history. It's estimated that during her reign she shook the hands of hundreds of thousands of people—it must be closing in on a million people—and through all that time her presence has been constant and predictable, calm and full of grace. In 70 years she did not put a foot wrong. It is an achievement of public engagement on a gargantuan scale. What it really means is, if you think about the entire history of the kings and queens of England, from 1066 and William the Conqueror right through to the present, Queen Elizabeth, perhaps alongside her namesake, stands right up there as one of the greatest.

The essence of her engagement was a comforting reassurance, which was never felt so much as during times of crisis, such as in 1966, during the Aberfan mine disaster in Wales, where a mudslide claimed the lives of 151 people, most of whom were kids. The Queen visited Aberfan eight days after that event, and her presence and her visit gave comfort to grieving parents. Decades later, survivors of that disaster would describe the Queen's visit as a positive and integral part of their experience of that tragedy. In turn, the Queen would say of Aberfan that she was impressed by 'the remarkable fortitude, dignity and indomitable spirit that characterises the people of this village and the surrounding valleys'. After the September 11 attacks, the Queen said to the people of New York:

… nothing that can be said can begin to take away the anguish and the pain of these moments. Grief is the price we pay for love.

In the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, the Queen asked to be kept abreast on a daily basis, personally, about the disaster, its aftermath and the government response, and she sought those daily briefings for months after the event. That, accompanied by a contribution that she made to the local Red Cross, gave a sense of connection with the Queen to the people on the fireground. Then, more recently, during the pandemic, her words come with a wisdom of an intelligent mind that has experienced a long life. She said to the world:

And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths, and of none, are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer or meditation.

…   …   …

… using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal. We will succeed—and that success will belong to every one of us.

During these times of crisis, she was the exhausting focus of attention, and it's worth dwelling on that. To give a moment to shake the hand of a complete stranger was literally the daily routine of the Queen's life, and yet, for the person who received that moment, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To understand that difference and yet to give every time, hour in, hour out; day in, day out; year in, year out, shows an astonishing generosity of spirit and a bigness of heart. She must have been a truly remarkable person.

For those who had the opportunity to know her just a little, that has been the consistent testimony. When I was much younger, I had the thrill of having lunch at university with Gough Whitlam, and of all the topics about which I might have spoken to that great man, we found ourselves talking about the Queen, and he spoke in such glowing terms about how wonderful a person she was. I was really struck by his description, but I was just as struck by the fact that it was Gough Whitlam who was giving the description. His words align with all we've heard spoken about the Queen in the last two weeks. I think it does give something of a sense of why we are experiencing and why there has been such an outpouring of emotion across Australia, irrespective of one's views about our constitutional arrangements, across the Commonwealth and, most particularly, across the United Kingdom.

Yes, it is about the fact that this is a moment in time, a moment in history. We are, most of us, experiencing an event that we've never seen before and maybe we won't see again, and so, in these moments, there is a natural tendency to walk down an introspective path about our own life's journey—but it's also about the person. It is about her. It is about acknowledging an astonishing life of unparalleled service to others. The Queen was right when she said that grief is the price we pay for love. But, in this instance, grief is also the appreciation, across the breadth of Australia, of a deeply grateful nation. Vale Queen Elizabeth II.

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