Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I hope to bring another dimension to this debate on the passing of the late Bill Hayden. I'd like to talk a little bit about his time as Governor-General of Australia. I was very fortunate in January 1989 to be appointed as aide-de-camp to the Governor-General. I served there for 12 months, until January 1990. That was the last six weeks or so of Sir Ninian Stephen and the first year or so of Bill Hayden as Governor-General. I have to say I came into that position with some wariness, given Bill's outspokenness about Australia becoming a republic. Honourable members would recall the controversy when it was announced that Bill would be the Governor-General, but he took it in his stride as he took on the role.

I was fairly conservative back in those days—I wasn't the old leftie that I think I've become—but I took up the appointment and went to work for Bill.

I've got to say that I was very, very quickly won over by Bill and his wonderful wife, Dallas. I would be hard pressed to think of a more thoroughly decent man than Bill Hayden. And I don't say that lightly. I don't say that because it's a condolence motion. I don't need to stand here and say that. He was genuinely a thoroughly decent man and he influenced me deeply. He used to take the ADCs under his wing a bit. As we were either driving out to the 34 Squadron in the Rolla, driving around Sydney in the Comcar or sitting on the plane, or at a dinner with the personal staff, we'd talk about all sorts of things, and it was Bill who introduced me properly to the whole idea of social justice. I think in that one year I did a backflip from a staunch conservative army officer to a bit of a sly leftie in the ranks, and I'm really, really grateful for that influence that Bill had on me back then.

I would also add that Dallas won me over straightaway as another thoroughly decent human being, and it was a delight to speak briefly with Dallas and her son and two daughters when they were in Parliament House this week—a really lovely family. Apart from everything else, this is a sad family story that they've lost their dad and their husband. I would add to the comment earlier that it was a very long and very loving marriage, and quite a good example was set for us all. However, I must add, though, that I did feel that, as warm as the Haydens were to the military staff, they were initially, at least, a bit uncomfortable in having uniformed military personnel hovering around them. It wasn't really Bill's thing. I understand that, after that first year, he might have even removed the military staff, or at least the uniformed ADCs, although I think more recently they've come back and are on the payroll, so to speak.

Mind you, Bill did see the value of us in uniform, and I remember a lovely trip up to the Kimberley. I think we were in Kalumburu talking to the schoolchildren at the school there. Bill was trying to explain to them the role of the Governor-General and all the concepts that swirl around that. You could see, with the little kids, that their eyes were just glazing over and they were nodding off. I think that Bill, with a little bit of exasperation, eventually just gave up and called on me: 'Captain, come over here. They're all looking at you, not me. They're looking at your aiguillette, your uniform and your slouch hat. Please tell them about that.' And I did. He commented afterwards—I think it might have been as we were flying out of Kalumburu to somewhere else, and I don't know if this was a joke or if he was half-serious—that maybe he should bring back the vice-regal ceremonial uniform with the big hat and the feathers. He thought, perhaps if he did that, he might get more attention from the schoolchildren.

This is not entirely unrelated to another episode I recall. During the pilot strike of 1989, whenever he went anywhere in Australia he generously invited government ministers to grab a lift on the VIP flight. I recall that, very late one night, we were flying back from Perth—it might have been after the funeral of the late governor—and he had at least two senior cabinet ministers on the plane, and I was lucky enough to be sitting there with them. Red wine had been consumed, and one of the senior cabinet ministers—I won't name him, as a courtesy—made some comment. We started talking about the dismissal, or, well, they started talking about the dismissal—I just sat respectfully. One of the senior cabinet ministers made the observation that the dismissal wouldn't have happened if Bill Hayden had been the Governor-General. Bill Hayden stopped them in their tracks and said: 'I don't know. Maybe the Governor-General's mistake at the time was not so much what he did but that he acted too quickly'—and that he would have been well advised to have given Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam more time to resolve the issue.

He recounted an episode in British history where apparently the sovereign, whoever it was at the time, called the British Prime Minister and the British opposition leader into their office and said something like, 'You're not leaving this office until we've resolved the impasse.' So that was one aspect of Bill's take on the dismissal. Interestingly, Bill also said at the time that he believed very strongly that there should be a strong head of state to counterbalance the head of government. So that was, in a roundabout way, saying that we do need a Governor-General with some power, not just a figurehead. That bringing people together in the sovereign's office does also remind me of how Bill would try and bring people together. There was a memorable dinner at Government House in 1989, where Bill Hayden actually had both Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser around for dinner with him, and by all reports the three of them got on famously. He brought people together.

Bill was a very astute man. He was very forgiving. I won't go into detail, but he forgave my rowdy roof party at Government House in Canberra, and he also forgave me for an unapproved rowdy party that I somehow managed to bring together at Admiralty House in Sydney one weekend when he wasn't there. He forgave me for both, so I think he was a very forgiving man and I'm grateful. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, Dallas.

Bill, you were a remarkable man, a thoroughly decent man. You were highly intelligent and inquisitive, compassionate and forgiving. There is no doubt that Bill Hayden influenced a great many people, and he left the world a better place. For that, I think we should all be grateful. I am personally very grateful for the way he has reshaped my life in a significant way, and I think it's reflected in my voting pattern in this very parliament. Thank you, Bill.

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