Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It is an honour, as we just heard from the member for Menzies, to rise to speak on this condolence motion to remember a great Australian: Senator Jim Molan AO DSC, a senator, a soldier, a colleague, a friend, a great Australian and a patriot. I'd like to start by extending my deepest condolences to Jim's beloved wife, Anne; to his four children, Sarah, Erin, Felicity and Mick; and his grandkids—all of whom I know he loved dearly. I'd also like to acknowledge his staff, who worked tirelessly to support Jim and the people of New South Wales in challenging circumstances.

Jim was a big man with a big heart. He loved his family dearly, and he loved his country dearly. His contribution to this nation as a senator and a soldier over many years is well known. We've heard many wonderful tributes over recent weeks, including just a moment ago. To me, Jim was always a man you could trust. He was as good as his word. He was genuine, up-front, honest—one of our nation's absolute finest. He was a person I was proud to call a friend, and a colleague who dedicated his life to making our nation a better place. He was a true servant leader. We talk a lot about servant leadership, but this man personified it. His long career in defence saw him deployed in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, Germany, the US and Iraq. He was an accomplished infantryman and helicopter pilot. Four decades in, he retired from service at the rank of Major General. His service was honoured when he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his role in Indonesia and East Timor, and he received the Distinguished Service Cross, as well, for distinguished command and leadership in Iraq.

Retirement wasn't for Jim. He didn't put his feet up and head off on holidays. He continued to advocate strongly on issues that were important to him. He was a passionate believer in the things that he thought were important to the success of this nation, and nothing was going to stop him. Ironically enough for a military man, he was not a man who took orders well, and he would admit that himself. He liked to get out there and advocate for the things that he really believed in. One of the things he did after his so-called retirement was to become a special envoy for Operation Sovereign Borders, which was an extraordinary initiative that delivered extraordinary outcomes, which this country has benefited from in the years that have followed. I know he was proud of the policy in that area, and so he should have been.

I had particular engagement and work with Jim in two areas. The first of those was when I was Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security. Jim and I would talk about the importance cybersecurity for the security of this nation, and, as Minister for Energy, we'd talk about the importance of energy security for this nation. One of the things that consistently came out of our conversations was the absolute criticality of integrating across all of these areas—cybersecurity, energy security, defence and border security. We discussed the need to recognise that all of these areas interact, and out of that came his focus on developing a national security strategy. He was absolutely right on this; there is no question in my mind that Jim nailed this. He became passionate, as he always did in his advocacy, about making sure he could keep Australians safe in every domain. I think that focus on a national security strategy was right and well articulated, and in his final book he laid it out very clearly.

The second area where Jim and I worked closely was in the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party. This is not always an easy place to drive reform; it has its challenges, but Jim and I were both passionate about the need to democratise the party—the need to give power to the grassroots, the need to make sure that the members had genuine influence in the future of the party and that there was a reason for people to join up, to return to being a mass movement, to come into the party en masse in the belief in the things that we care about as Liberals. Jim was a firebrand on these issues, and we worked and spoke together on many occasions. Whether it was at the North Sydney Leagues Club, the Crookwell showgrounds or many locations through Eden-Monaro, which was a part of the world that he lived in and absolutely loved, Jim and I worked again and again as a team to convince people across the New South Wales Liberal Party that this was the path to go on. The outcome at Rosehill several years ago, where the party voted in favour of democratisation, would never have happened without the hard work of Jim Molan. There have been backward steps and forward steps since that time, but that was a pivotal moment in the future of the Liberal Party in New South Wales, and Jim Molan was absolutely central to it. His passion, energy and drive, alongside others who believed in it like he did, made all of that possible.

Jim made an enormous contribution across so many areas throughout his wonderful life. I was privileged to be at his funeral only a couple of weeks ago, and it was a tough farewell. Jim, I miss you, mate.

Sitting suspended from 13:05 to 15:59

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