Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The pastor at my church, Bruce Stewart, when he talks about being a Christian often talks about being real, which is by my reckoning another way of talking about being authentic. The great majority in this place are very authentic people. They care about the people of Australia and they care about this great country. This sitting week will see the end of the parliamentary service of Senator the Hon. Christopher Martin Ellison, a man who I am most fortunate to be able to call my friend and my colleague. There are few people in this place or in the Senate who are more authentic than Chris Ellison, and I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to him.

I choose my words carefully when I talk of the parliamentary service of Chris Ellison, because the alternative is often stated as being a career in politics. I prefer the term ‘service’ because it indicates the authenticity of a commitment and devotion to the people who elected us to this place. That is what this service is really all about, whereas the term ‘career’ is indicative of a commitment to one’s own interests. So I think it is important that, when we are being authentic, we talk about service as opposed to a political career.

I would say that in the time I have known Chris Ellison, some five years, he has always shown exemplary standards of honesty and integrity. He is utterly consistent in his personal and parliamentary standards, and I think that is why he is held in such high regard in the parliament and in Western Australia. That is also why he served as a minister in the Howard government for 10½ years, serving as the Minister for Customs and Consumer Affairs, Minister Assisting the Attorney-General, Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training, Special Minister of State and—over six years, which as I understand it is the longest service ever in this portfolio—Minister for Justice and Customs, before being elevated to the Cabinet as the Minister for Human Services from March 2007.

As I said, I first met Chris Ellison about five years ago, during the earliest days of the 2004 election campaign, when I was again running for Cowan. Over the time that I have known Chris Ellison he has always been a great source of appropriate and timely advice and guidance. In fact, I consider myself most fortunate that for two years I was able to use my background in the Army and the Federal Police as a security adviser on his staff. Whilst there, as for those who have passed through his office before me, I was certainly imbued with a lot of the standards that he provided—strong personal standards and a dedication to the people of Western Australia. I have no doubt that I talk on behalf of my colleagues at the state level—including Donna Faragher, who is a Western Australian minister—and, in the federal Senate, Senator Mathias Cormann, amongst others who have gone on to elected office and been selected by the people to serve.

Apart from those who have worked for Chris and known him as a friend, he has been there for a lot of people in Western Australia. Again, his guidance and advice have helped many a person. Whether members of the many diverse communities within Western Australia or companies, employers and businesses, a wide range of interests have sought and received the assistance of Senator Ellison. I thank him for those over 15 years of service that he has given. I say again that he has always been a very strong advocate for Western Australia. He has been a good federalist and a strong senator in every regard, protecting the interests of that place and our state.

I know, given the commitment that he has made over this time, that his family will certainly appreciate him being around a lot more—Caroline, his wife, and their children, Siena, Sebastian and Nicholas. I thank them for their dedication and their support of him over his time, and ultimately I thank Senator Ellison for a great effort and for being a great Australian, a great senator and a great friend.