Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Victorian Minister for Planning, Matthew Guy, and Caulfield MP David Southwick are embarrassed over their support for the proposed $1 billion development of Caulfield Village, in my electorate. This so-called village is a wind tunnel. It is a backflip for both the state Minister for Planning and the local conservative member, David Southwick, who vehemently opposed this project when it was announced in October. The development will attract over 2,000 residents and burden the area with 35,000 square metres of office and retail space. This represents a huge loss of open space in the area adjacent to the Caulfield Racecourse.

Mr Guy, as a member of the then opposition, supported Mr Southwick, the aspiring member for Caulfield, whose assessment condemned the development as 'a monstrosity that will destroy Caulfield's amenity and identity'. They pledged to stop this project from proceeding.

The Glen Eira City Council in my view was wrong to approve this unwanted $1 billion development. This development is half the size of Crown Casino. The casino cost $2 billion to complete. Do the quiet streets of residential Caulfield really need a virtual half-casino development, with all the traffic and associated behaviour that will be inevitably attendant to such a development? Caulfield residents are having the nature of their suburb fundamentally changed with the active support of the conservative state members and councillors aligned to them, despite promises before elections that they would actively oppose it. Cranbrook Road is already so busy that you cannot turn between 7 am and 9 am into the residential streets. The new development will further clog up traffic as people try to cut through and park. Some of the parking proposals are both insufficient and undesirable and will spill into residential streets. Smith Street is going to be partially closed and will remove the main connecting road between Station Street and Normanby Road, which will clog the roads. It will be next to impossible to park at the Caulfield station, which is one of the main commuter traffic stations into Melbourne and very important for lessening car traffic going into the city.

The Baillieu government has said that the area along the river in South Bank will be a growth corridor. But the state government has no plans to commit to new schools in the South Bank-South Melbourne area, despite the fact that the Minister for Planning said that this would be a growth zone. Martin Foley, my friend the state member for Albert Park, has written to the state Minister for Education requesting that the government fund a study to provide in the 2011 budget a search for a new campus for the students of the South Bank, Port Melbourne and South Melbourne areas. Already for the Port Melbourne Primary School there will be nearly 900 students in that area. The state government has announced that it intends to establish an inner growth corridor in Fishermans Bend. How can the Baillieu government justify investment in a new growth corridor when it does not sufficiently invest in schools in the area?

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

David Francis Jull reminded me very much of the character from the movie Chariots of Fire called Aubrey Montague. Aubrey Montague was described in Chariots of Fire as being the complete man. To me, David Jull was very much the complete man. He was a scholar, he was a sportsman, he was a family man, he was an enthusiast, he was interested in music, he was a good colleague, he was religious, he was a good friend and he was uncomplicated. Jully very much followed the dictum that Plutarch had written about in his life of Pericles, which was that virtue and action immediately take such hold of a man that he no sooner admires the deed than he sets out to follow in the steps of the doer. That was David Jull to a tee.

David Jull was a person who admired, over history, many great political figures and many historical figures. He set out when he was a young man to follow in their footsteps and to make a contribution to public life in the way that in this country we are so fortunate to be able to do through being a member of the House of Representatives or another parliament. He did not just choose to do that briefly, to come in and out of parliament, to make his mark and leave; he chose to make it his career and his life. He was in parliament for 30 years or more, in two groups—from 1975 to 1983 and then again from 1984 to 2007.

He made a great contribution when he was in parliament. Certainly he served in most capacities that are available to us all as members. He was a great backbencher, he was interested in policy, he was chairman of committees and he took a particular interest in issues like ASIO and ASIS and security issues as a chairman of committees and as a backbencher. He was fascinated by national security. He was also an expert on particular policies. He chose to make aviation and tourism his expertise. He served as a minister, as Minister for Administrative Services, for an all too brief period in the Howard government. He was a senior shadow minister and helped us get back into government in 1996 after he served in opposition for a very long period of time, from 1984 to 1996. He took part in every aspect of being a parliamentarian. He enjoyed the cut and thrust of political debate. He was a great debater and nobody will ever forget his marvellous radio voice, which would boom out from the parliamentary seats across the chamber and hardly needed a microphone.

As a shadow minister, he ran for deputy leader and I was pleased to vote for him. It is my recollection he might have even run for deputy leader twice, but I only got to vote for him once. He also ran for Speaker and I voted for him then as well because I felt he had the presence, the capacity and the parliamentary experience to manage a sometimes unruly chamber. He was also the kind of colleague that would have made a great deputy leader because he was tremendous at bringing colleagues together.

David Jull had a wonderful appetite for fun. He could make fun out of every situation. Who could forget how he always had to have a tag for everything? When he organised a dinner it would not just be a dinner of colleagues; it would be a 'Jull-o-rama'. The invitation would go out headed 'The Jull-o-rama'. It would bring together colleagues at whatever cheap and cheerful restaurant members could afford to go to in Canberra and it would be a night of fun and collegiality. It was not enough for David Jull to be an expert on aviation and tourism. When members were planning a family holiday or a work related trip, they would always talk to him about the best routes of travel, the best carriers to travel on and the best places to visit. It was not enough that he was an expert on those matters; he had to have a tag for it, which was 'Air Jull'.

David Jull was a figure who was larger than life in this place. He was a very good friend of mine. In 1993, when I was first elected, I defeated a sitting member in preselection, Ian Wilson. I was only 24 when I defeated him in preselection. Mr Deputy Speaker Slipper, you were here in that time and you would remember. Defeating a sitting member in your own party is never much fun and it leaves deep scars. In 1993 John Hewson, who was the Leader of the Opposition, would not come to my electorate to campaign because he had supported my predecessor, Ian Wilson. But David Jull came before the election and did fundraisers for me. He also came during the election and supported my election campaign, as did other senior shadow ministers, but David Jull was easily the most enthusiastic.

When I moved to Canberra after being elected, I moved into Kingston with David Jull and shared a house with him for 14 years from 1993 to 2007. Of course, we could not all just live together; Jully had to be the house captain because he always had to have a tag that was associated with whatever fun he was having. He was a great mentor to me. He tried to teach me to speak from my diaphragm because, as some people might remember, when I was first elected I was only 25 and I did not have quite as much timbre in my voice in those days as I hopefully do now that I am 44.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

More robust now.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is much more robust now. In 1993 I spoke more like a 25-year-old than a 44-year-old and David Jull taught me to speak from my diaphragm because he had that wonderful voice.

I sought a piece of advice from him once when I was first elected. In those days I was something of a firebrand and not known for necessarily smoothing over difficulties in the party. I was sometimes part of the roughness that occurred from 1993 to 1996 when we had three different leaders over that time. I once asked David Jull: 'Who gets ahead in this place? Do you get along by having the courage to stand up to the leader and have different views or do you get along by going along?'

He was such a man of letters that he referred me to HMS Pinafore and Sir Joseph Porter's song. For those of you who remember it, the first stanza is:

When I was a lad I served a term

As office boy to an attorney's firm.

I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,

And I polished up the handle of the big front door.

I polished up that handle so carefullee

That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

And the chorus of course is:

He polished up that handle so carefullee

That now he is the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

I think it was his way of saying that perhaps those who get along do so by going along, and that people who stand up to the leader do not necessarily do as well. Of course, I did not take that advice and I spent many years languishing on the backbenches in the Howard government. I would have been better off to take that advice as I had taken his advice about my diaphragm.

David Jull also loved music. He was a man of so many parts that, even in the last few years of his life, he was still doing a radio show on Sunday nights in Brisbane about music. It was not just one kind of music. David Jull was an expert on almost every kind of music that you could possibly think of, but his particular favourites were Motown—and it was quite a sight seeing Jully boogying to a bit of Motown, given that he was not exactly a slim man, but he certainly could move—and jazz. He had a particular affection for church music, especially that by Vaughn Williams. He had a great voice and he loved to talk about music, the importance of it in our society and the importance it has had throughout human history.

He was, of course, also a member of the Traditional Anglican Communion, as is the Deputy Speaker. He always referred to me as a Roman Catholic and had quite a lot to say about the prevalence of popery in the Coalition over the years. He was not displeased that I was elected, but he certainly made a point about the fact that I was the first Catholic to be elected by the Liberal Party from South Australia to go to Canberra. I would not say that he did not like Catholics, but he might have had the same view of Catholics as he did of the National Party. He was pleased, however, to be able to become a member of the Traditional Anglican Communion and I am sure that, if he were still alive, he would be very pleased with their moves towards communion with Rome, which will come sooner rather than later.

He had some very interesting highlights in his political career. He was the shadow minister for aviation during the airline pilots dispute. While I do not wish to defame either the living or the dead, he did tell some quite hair-raising stories about many of his conversations with Peter Abeles at the time.

He always had a ready story and a ready joke, and he loved repeating the jokes of his very close friend Andrew Peacock, the member for Kooyong, who has a tremendous sense of humour. He and David Jull were the very best of friends. He was very pleased to be part of the campaign to bring Andrew Peacock to the leadership and then to return to the leadership. It was a measure in his favour that he was not one of the gang of four that went on The 7.30 Report to talk about that change of leadership in 1989 because he had very sound political judgement.

His interest in airline policy and his interest in being a fighter for tourism were not confined just to the airline pilots dispute. David Jull was one of the leading members of the campaign to stop the Fraser government making changes to aviation policy that he felt would be inimical to the airline industry in Australia. He led a revolt, along with many of the other newer members in those days in the mid to late 1970s, against changes that the Fraser government would make. Those were the days when party room revolts were not regarded as the critical issues that governments have to face today, or even that oppositions have to face today. In those days members of parliament used to cross the floor with some enthusiasm and repetition, which today would not be tolerated. In closing, can I just say that David Jull—or Jully, as he was to me—was a great parliamentarian. He was an assiduous local member, he was an able administrator and he was a very good friend. I pass on my condolences to his family—his sister, Gwen, and his brother, Peter, his stepchildren and his children. I knew his second wife, Erica, very well and I am sure Erica will be equally moved at David Jull's passing. I did not know his first wife well but I knew Erica very well and I also pass on my condolences to Erica and all his friends.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of all the honourable members, I thank the honourable member for Sturt for that very fulsome and appropriate recognition of the service of David Jull. I am not sure, though, that Mr Speaker would appreciate the advice that Mr Jull gave the honourable member with respect to the appropriate use of his diaphragm. I now call the honourable member for Fadden.

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with some sadness that I rise to pass some comments on the late David Jull, but it is with some joy that I actually follow the member for Sturt, whom I thought spoke incredibly well and very eloquently of his long-time association with David Jull and of some of the great highs, the funny stories and the interesting anecdotes that they shared. Christopher Pyne, of course, spent 12 or 13 years flatting with David, and I am sure some of the great things they had will last a lifetime. I had the great pleasure, of course, of replacing David Jull as the federal member for Fadden. I was David's federal divisional council secretary for many years and then of course had the great pleasure of following in his steps.

David was one of those rare political leaders. He was the longest serving Liberal in Queensland's history, but a man who chose to leave on his own terms and in his own time. All of us decide the time of coming to serve our nation in the federal parliament; very few choose the time upon which we will leave. David chose his time with perfection, at the end of one of the greatest governments the world has seen, in the Howard government. Simply in terms of fiscal legacy, it is a statement that is hard to refute.

David first contested a seat in federal parliament in 1974. He was part of those heady days when Whitlam tried to destroy the nation. He tells a story of when the election had finished and he had lost. He had $5.40 in the campaign account. He went back to the station where he was working, and the head of the station said: 'Well, Jully, I gather you're going to run again?' He said, 'Yes, sir, we are.' 'How much money do you have?' 'Five dollars, forty.' 'Well, best you get fundraising and off you go.' And David did. Of course he went on to win the seat of Bowman in 1975 and then moved across to Fadden in 1984. So David came in in the great wave that swept out Whitlam. He fell victim to the juggernaut that was the Hawke government but came back the following year and then had an enormous career from 1984 through to 2007, through some of the most tumultuous times of our nation.

A man who served 30 years and more cumulatively in the federal parliament, for two years as a minister, David did enormous work in administrative services in getting rid of some of the greater largesse of the previous Labor years, in privatising, in selling down and in actually taking into the black things that were in the red. It was an incredibly difficult time. He told great stories that were analogous to Yes, Minister,and it is hilarious to think back to some of them.

Whilst David's time in the ministry was all too short, one of his great contributions was as the chair of what was then the ASIO committee, now the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security—a significant committee of the parliament which he chaired from, ostensibly, 1997 through to 2007. During a time of some of the greatest upheavals in our national security and domestic security posture, David was at the head of the parliamentary committee, which was there to keep the executive honest as part of the separation of powers. It is a committee that is responsible for listing terror organisations, for sifting through analysis and data, for holding our institutions responsible in their intelligence and security tasks. David was there during September 11. He was there when ASIO ramped up to 600 per cent the size from whence it started, and David oversaw it all. It is truly a tremendous legacy.

I think there is a way to judge a man in terms of the parliamentary process and how it works, and that is to look at his colleagues and staff. I think David would have had the lowest staff turnover—though it would be difficult to check—of any parliamentarian in the modern era. Some people only left his employ when they went off to have children and ministerial staff only left when David no longer was a minister in the Howard government.

At his 4 October birthday bash, all his staff would turn up from time to time because they considered themselves part of his family. Annie, who is now 77, was with David at the time of Tourism Queensland. Sharee was a young girl of 18 whom David brought into the office because she was very good with computers—this was early on in their introduction. Sharee only left in 2007 when David left office. Helen only left his employ to have her family and was one of David's greatest friends. Vivienne Shield was with David for an enormous period of time. Margaret Reilly was with David for a number of years before joining my staff—and is one of my most capable staff. They all speak incredibly highly of David Jull. Prior to him leaving the seat in 2007 and me winning it, we had a farewell bash for Jully on the Gold Coast. All the staff turned up as did previous members for Fadden, and everyone spoke highly of David as a gentleman. I certainly support the Prime Minister's words in House of Representatives on the day David died when she spoke of a true gentleman in the House. That is how we should remember David. He loved his family. I convey my regards to Gwen and Peter and their respective children. He loved his grandchildren, who were with him until the end.

A giant has passed—someone whose life was cut short too soon; someone who contributed greatly to the strength, the health, the wellbeing, the calibre, the content and the character of our nation. It is with great sadness that we mourn his passing. But we also look at his legacy. We remember the fun times that David provided my parliamentary colleagues who served with him. Some of the antics they speak of truly reflect the Jully I knew in serving him at a local level as part of his federal divisional council and then of course in receiving his great support when I took over from him. I will always remember the great support he gave and his words of wisdom, encouragement and help. Transitioning from one politician to another in an electorate can be difficult; transitioning with David was truly a joy. The nation has lost a giant.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to join with other members to pay tribute to David Jull, one of the extraordinary characters of this parliament and a man who contributed a great deal to public life in Queensland and across the nation. David Jull was born in Kingaroy in the same hospital where I was born. We were born in the same week of the year, although there are several years in age between us. His father was the Anglican minister in Kingaroy at the time. My grandfather was the Lutheran minister in Kingaroy at the time. I never knew him in his days in Kingaroy. He went to other parts of the state and at a quite early age took up a career in journalism—firstly, in radio with Macquarie News and then as an early recruit at Channel 0, later Channel 10, when it began in Brisbane. He was a newsreader for around 10 years and hosted some of their shows. His deep voice that I note others have referred to gave him an authority and a charm, which certainly warmed his audiences on television and endeared him to many people around the country. I suspect that that deep voice had already been given some its great timbre as a result of the fact that he was a smoker.

He was an extraordinary person, vibrant and full of life. He came into parliament in 1975 as the member for Bowman and became the member for Fadden in 1984, after a brief period following his loss of Bowman. He had an enduring interest in tourism and was a great champion of the tourism industry in Queensland and, indeed, the role of tourism as an industry. In that regard he was amongst the pioneers. He was always quick to assert that tourism was not just about holidays; it was actually a serious industry that delivered significant economic worth to our country and needed to be seen for its economic value as well as for the role it played in our social lives and reinvigorating people for their lives in the workforce. He was certainly a visionary in relation to tourism. During the brief period when he was not in the parliament, he became the deputy manager of the Queensland Tourism Corporation, and I am sure that would have been a labour of love for him as much as something that filled in the gap while he was not a member of parliament.

I think that if there is one thing everybody will remember about him—and this is particularly true for me because I also have an interest in aviation—it is that David Jull had an extraordinary, encyclopaedic knowledge of aviation—aircraft and aviation policies. He knew the flight schedules backwards. He and I were probably the only people in the world who were upset when airlines stopped printing airline schedules, because we used to read them. It is valuable information sometimes when you are in a strange place and need to get to another town. David had encyclopaedic knowledge not only of the airline schedules but of aircraft. It seemed that he knew things about almost every aeroplane that traversed the skies in this country and the world.

Once, when I was with him in Mexico City about to board a DC9 aircraft—to travel I think somewhere in Mexico—David Jull announced to the group that it was a former Ansett aircraft. It was in Aeromexico colours, so how he knew it was an Ansett aircraft as we were boarding I have no idea. He then went on to tell us some of the history of the aircraft and how it had been involved in certain incidents in Australia. I have to say that I was not sure he was not making all of this up, but when we got on the aircraft there were a few Ansett symbols still left on the seats in the plane, so we knew the story was absolutely true. And when we went to other places on that trip, David knew about the aircraft we were travelling in and whether it was a good idea to be on them or not. We certainly heard the history of the aircraft and the people who were flying them.

I know a number of other people have referred to the fact that he was the shadow minister for tourism. I think the job he most would have loved to have in this place was the job of minister for aviation or tourism. When he was shadow minister for tourism a range of issues associated with the airlines were causing a great deal of controversy. He had a particular dislike for Ansett—and it has to be said that he was a critic of Qantas from time to time as well. Ansett at that time was almost the preferred airline of most members of parliament. It had better catering and was perhaps the airline of choice for many members. He would not fly on Ansett. He referred to them as 'Criminal Air'. He used often to tell the story of how, at the height of one of the Ansett disputes that were going on, he got a telephone call from Sir Peter Abeles, who threatened to 'rub him out', to use David Jull's words. David did not think he was joking. There was certainly an intensity in that relationship. He was a critic of Ansett, and indeed history would suggest that some of the things that David Jull said at that time were a forecast of what in fact happened a little later on. David certainly took a keen interest in aviation.

I would like to mention something else about his encyclopaedic knowledge. Back in the days when members had to make their own arrangements for their travel through their local travel agents or when they went overseas, David was always the travel adviser of choice. He always knew the cheapest fare and how you could get from one place to another and save about half of your travel allowance. He just knew it. He knew the people, and he was always able to give exceptional advice about where people should travel and how they should do it. I mentioned briefly earlier a visit to Mexico. In 1993 my wife and I were part of a delegation of which David Jull was the deputy leader. The group went to Chile and Barbados and then to Mexico for the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum annual meeting. I have to say that it was without question the most enjoyable visit I have been on. The group was great company, but David Jull particularly was great fun to be with—always a story to tell and always jovial. But I recall that when we visited Barbados we were given as a gift a bottle of Barbados rum in a very unusually shaped bottle, and each member of the group brought the rum home. A few months later, David Jull said to me how much he had enjoyed his bottle of rum, that it was the best rum he had ever tasted in his life. I had to confess to him that I was not a great rum drinker and that we had not even opened our bottle. He said he was prepared to offer me half his kingdom for this bottle of rum. A little later, we opened the bottle and I have to say that it is first-class rum, but to this day we have not completely emptied the bottle, so that rum must now be more than 20 years old. I suspect it has matured beautifully by now and, when I get home after David's funeral in Brisbane on Friday, I am certainly going to reopen the bottle of Barbados rum and toast David Jull for many wonderful times, congratulate him and think of his achievements in parliament.

As others have mentioned, he was a small 'l' liberal and for that reason he was often involved in some of the party discussions about policy issues. He always took into these debates passion and enthusiasm but also a willingness to find a way through.

I had not seen David very much since he retired from parliament but I was delighted when he came to the last LNP conference in Brisbane and he seemed to be in good spirits—it was only a couple of months ago and I think it was probably the first of the major LNP functions that he had attended. So it was great to see him there, again being an enthusiastic contributor.

When David made his last speech in parliament, he said that he looked around for a text on which he could base his remarks. Unfortunately for David, I am sure there is not a single text in the whole of the Bible that says anything about aviation, otherwise he undoubtedly he would have chosen it. But he chose a text that I think not many people would have chosen for their final speech. He quoted, from psalm 129, a verse which says, 'Many a time they have fought against me; yea, many a time have they fought against me from my youth up but they have not prevailed against me.' When I think of David's life—the battles that he fought over the years and his courage in his latter years when he had a series of health issues—it is clear that his confidence that they had not prevailed against him endured right to the end.

David was a great character. We admired him enormously. He was a great friend, and someone who leaves a gap in the lives of not only the aviation buffs of the country but also those constituents whom he served well, his party colleagues and his parliamentary colleagues. We certainly admired him greatly. I extend my sympathy to his family. His second wife, Erica, I knew quite well, although I did not know many of the other members of his family, but certainly we extend our sympathies to them and assure them of our enduring love and respect for a great Australian.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the condolence motion for a friend and colleague and someone to whom I owe much in terms of my initial years in this place. David Jull and I shared the last of the Liberal seats in the parliament when we sat on the right side of the Speaker. For me as a new person in parliament and someone desperate to learn the ropes quickly, David Jull was of great assistance as we sat in question time. There was a routine to David in question time. Sitting right up the back and viewing the whole of parliament, David first got a list of the questions, went through them and struck out the words that he felt were grammatically incorrect. Then he made private—sometimes not so private—comments about the incompetence of the minister who had written them. He never allowed a question to start with the word 'minister' and in fact made a few other comments about that as well. Having succeeded in rewriting the question, he would cast his eye around the room to see if it was now time for him to slip out for a cigarette. Unfortunately, as we know, that was part of the reason David has passed away. He would then return, look around again and see if anything of interest was happening and see if he could catch five minutes of energy rebuilding—what you and I, Mr Deputy Speaker, might call sleep—which was usually the point when the then whip, Michael Ronaldson—now Senator Michael Ronaldson—would roll along the back of the seats and say to me in a growling voice, 'Wake him up'.

I think, in reality, David's contribution should not be remembered for his performance in question time, which he felt was unduly boring. David's contribution to this parliament was very broad. As I have mentioned, to newcomers to the House he was an absolute font of wisdom, not just on airplanes, which he was unsettlingly knowledgeable on, but also in relation to the history of the House. I remember David saying to me, 'You'll hear some wonderful stories about the Old Parliament House; it's all rubbish'—he may have used a slightly different word there. He said: 'We were down there crammed in like sardines with three people to a room the size of our en suite. While there was some great conviviality in all of that, this building is much better to work in.' David would set about recalling experiences more as a way of passing on his experience than of just telling a story.

The thing about David that I admired most was the fact that he was absolutely straight. David was a guy that you could rely on. He would not lead you up a blind alley and he did not play political games. In his time he had some political misfortune himself. In the early days of the Howard government, having achieved what must have been a lifelong goal of becoming a minister, for a whole range of reasons that ministry slipped through his fingers and he was never able to regain that position. He did not show bitterness about that. He did have some views on it which he shared with me—and they will remain in my confidence—but there is no doubt that David's contribution as a minister for the short time he was there was enormous and significant. In terms of his life after the ministry and as a backbencher, he was always there to provide advice, but you had to ask for it. He was someone who felt that, if people wanted to know, he would tell them. He told them frankly and without political spin but he was not there to impose on people his great font of wisdom.

As I said, I had the pleasure of sitting with David for two years up the back of the chamber before I was appointed Minister for Small Business. We were never close but with David you knew that at any time you could roll down to his office and seek some confidential advice—advice about what you should do as a minister or advice on how you should handle a particular issue within the party. He had been in the party for a very long time and, at that time, I had only been in the party a few years. As the shadow minister has just said, if you wanted any travel advice, there was nowhere else to go.

I remember David very fondly. We both suffered from cancer and there was a bond there. Unfortunately for David he was not able to overcome it. As a past colleague of his, and as someone who greatly admired him, I pass on my condolences to Erica and to his family. Unfortunately, due to pre-existing travel commitments, I will not be able to join my colleagues on Friday at the funeral in Brisbane but, if I am at all instinctive about what that day may contain, apart from some of the moments of reflection about David's life and the enormous amount he has done for his community and for Australia, there will be a few stories told. They will all be funny; they will always be about the great companion he was when you travelled with him; they will be about the way in which he mixed amongst his colleagues so easily. As I say, I pass on my condolences to the family. I congratulate David for the life he led—it is a life that many of us would like to emulate. He has been a fine Australian and we should remember him fondly.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with sadness that I rise today to speak about my friend, former colleague and long-time Bonner constituent, the Hon. David Jull. Although his passing did not come as a surprise to me after such a long and brave battle with cancer, it is nonetheless a very sad time for many on both sides of this House and of course for his loved ones and friends.

I cannot do justice in five minutes to his decades of tireless work for the community and his distinguished and colourful history in this House, but I would, nonetheless, like to pay tribute to this larger-than-life Queenslander and outstanding Liberal. I first met David when he was the member for Bowman in 1975 and I was a year 4 student at Villanova College, which was a school in his electorate. Even though I was a young student, I can still vividly recall his booming voice and his irrepressible life force. I do not remember what he said but these impressions stayed with me until I met him again 26 years later in 2001 when I was running for the federal seat of Griffith.

David proved to be an excellent source of experience and local knowledge. He was a great support and a damned good bloke with whom I could have a laugh. I was also honoured to serve with him during my first term as the member for Bonner in the 41st Parliament between 2004 and 2007. My colleague, the Hon. Chris Pyne, was right on the mark when he described David as having a 'terrific' personality. But he was also so much more than that. He had a tremendous capacity to truly care for those he represented over his 32 years as a federal member in this House.

My electorate of Bonner took in parts of David's old electorate and his connection with this community still resonates very strongly today. This has been evidenced by the number of Bonner constituents who have rung me in the last week wanting to pay their respects to David. They remembered him for the genuine care and love he frequently exhibited to our local community. Mostly, they have remembered that he forged real connections with people that far outlasted his parliamentary career. He always remembered names and details. He was a great politician. Last week, I received a call from the Hon. Gary Hardgrave, a former member of this House, who, like me, met David at his school, in 1974 when he was a year 9 student at MacGregor State High School. He remembers David as always being full of encouragement for young people such as himself and he even arranged work experience at Channel 0—the television station where he had previously been a director before he entered politics. Gary reminisced that, although he was only 15 at the time, he worked all day at the Carina booth on the day that David won Bowman in December 1975.

The victory party was the best thing he had ever seen, until his own victory party in 1996. Most of all, Gary remembers the campaign T-shirts in the 1970s worn by the bikini-clad girls with the words 'Liberal lover' splashed across the front. In Bonner, we will always remember him most as a fighter. He fought for the Liberal Party, he fought for his community and, in the end, he courageously fought against cancer. David was first and foremost a gentleman, one of the honourable breeds of MPs who have graced Australia's history. His commitment to our nation—but especially to those who knew him—leaves a profound legacy. My sympathy and prayers are with his family and those close to him as he will be greatly missed.

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this very sad occasion, but I rise to acknowledge the great work and contribution—not only to this House, but to Australia in general—of David Francis Jull. When I was first elected in 1996 I met this very, very colourful character, a character who seemed to be the fount of all knowledge and almost like the father of the new breed of 1996. I remember the corridor parties; I remember his passion for music but, more importantly, his passion for people. David Jull was a passionate Australian and a very highly effective advocate for his constituents and for the country. As the Prime Minister said when informing the House of his passing, David made lasting friends on both sides of this Chamber. He also made a profound impact on the Australian community and in particular on the tourism industry.

I would like to place on the Hansard record today, as the shadow minister for tourism, some reflections from the industry about David, an industry for which he did so much. In eulogising David on 14 September this year, the Chairman of the Australian Tourism Export Council, John King OAM, restated the words of appreciation ATEC gave upon his retirement just four years ago. On that occasion, ATEC hosted a dinner on the Gold Coast to honour David's services to the industry, where he was presented with a framed letter of appreciation on behalf of the tourism industry. It read as follows:

When you were elected in 1975, Australia welcomed a mere 516,000 international visitors. Tourism was not particularly well-regarded within the bureaucracy and indeed the future of the fledgling Australian Tourist Commission was in doubt.

Enter David Jull. Your hard work through the late 70s as Chair of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Tourism, culminating in a seminal report, and your heartfelt lobbying of the Hon Phillip Lynch saved our industry at one of its darkest moments.

From that point on, inbound tourism didn't look back. Thanks to your hard work, the ATC's budget was increased significantly, its Act was reformed, and parliamentarians began to learn of the importance of distribution and airfares in tourism development. For this you were recognised by ITOA with its Award for Excellence in 1982.

… As an industry made up largely of small businesses, you continued to pursue the cause of small to medium enterprises, a visionary crusade which started with your maiden speech.

In later years you have been instrumental in cementing tourism's place at a level befitting one of Australia's largest export-earners.

… And so, as you retire from Parliament, you have left behind an industry that welcomes over 5 million international visitors, earns us $22 billion in foreign exchange and employs hundreds of thousands of Australians, many in regional and remote areas.

It may well be that David's greatest enduring legacy is a strong and vibrant tourism sector.

Much has and will be said of David's service to the formal policy and parliamentary committees of the parliament and to Australia as a minister of the Crown. David was the Minister for Administrative Services from 1996 to 1997; he was the federal member for Bowman from 1975 to 1983 and the member for Fadden from 1984 to 2007. In addition, he served as chair of the parliamentary committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

It is for his unrecognised service as an inaugural contestant and active member of the Parliamentary Friends of Tourism group that I would like to draw attention to today. David was a real friend of the tourism industry before Friends of Tourism group became organised during the Howard government. Friends of Tourism is one of parliament's busiest and most useful informal associations and exists for hospitality and tourism businesses and organisations to give the sector a stronger voice within this federal parliament. Its purpose is to foster engagement between members and senators who are passionate about tourism and those in the industry affected by government policies and legislation.

At the time of David's passing, the group he helped create had three scheduled events planned, events to give a platform for aviation and leisure businesses. Bruce Baird, the actual founder of Friends of Tourism, who is now the chair of peak tourism industry Tourism and Transport Forum wanted me to convey his appreciation with the following remarks, and I quote:

The depth and breadth of understanding of, and appreciation for, tourism that today exists in Australian politics and public discourse would have been far less were it not for David Jull.

It was a pleasure to be in David's company. His intellect and political ability was matched only by a wit and joy in sharing a laugh, connecting with others, and appreciating life.

His participation in the "Friends of Tourism" parliamentary association was one of its key driving factors, and made a real difference to the quality of debate in this place about the services sector.

This explains why David was drawn to tourism and those who make their careers in hospitality. It's a serious business—and it is serious fun.

David was well travelled and a great travelling companion. Travel, in itself, was never an objective for him, but a means to extract value for the industry and his country. His advocacy on behalf of the sector has contributed much to its strength today.

David inspired his colleagues, journalists, the bureaucracy and the Australian public to become aware as never before about tourism's importance to our economy, to our quality of life, and even to Australia's reputation on the world stage.

He will be missed.

Earlier this week at a tourism transport forum I said, and truly believed, that David Jull was Australia's greatest tourism minister we never had. David, may you be resting in peace, because you will be sadly missed.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise with great pride to make a contribution today on the condolence motion before the chamber on David Jull—'Jully', as we knew him so affectionately. My very first association with Jully was when I was a boarder at the Church of England Grammar School—'Churchie' as we knew it. He too was a boarder at Churchie. After school—

Mr Vasta interjecting—

Yes, my colleagues here were not in the school but are all proud of our great colleague and friend David Jull.

Mr Vasta interjecting—

Yes, I know. I noticed that. Villanova were not much good on the football field! Anyway, we will not go there in this condolence motion, but if Jully were here then he would probably give us a bit more history of that as well—when we defeated Villanova on the football field, and other sporting events—because he had a great memory and a great recall of events and history throughout his life.

I must say my association with him began when I first was a boarder there at Churchie and he was too—those weekends on the football field or when, as boarders, you were running around. Jully was always one of those guys that had a sense of humour. It was even shining through in those very early days in his life. So I recall that with great affection. We were in different houses and that always caused a bit of rivalry when you were a boarder at school, but he was loved and liked by so many of our associates at school. He maintained a very long association with the school and I think that up until his last days he never lost contact with the network and the old boys association and the school generally. He was very proud, I think, of Churchie. The students who went through it had an enduring association with many of the old boys, the associations and the principals of the school, and I know he was a regular attendant at many of the functions at the school.

Our paths really did not cross again until I was aware of his election in 1975 to this place. I took a little bit of an interest—obviously my own interests were my own family and my own businesses in Western Queensland—but our paths did not really cross until I came to this place in the school of 1990. I do recall, though, with David—and it has been spoken of here in this condolence motion—his interest in and absolute passion for the tourism industry and the aviation industry. He had an enormous knowledge of the aviation industry, not just here in Australia but around the world. I well remember that he was the opposition spokesman at the time of the pilot strike here in Australia when, if you wanted to fly somewhere, you were being flown in a Hercules that had been leased by the then government—the Hawke government—to keep aviation transport moving because of the difficult times that the government of the day were going through in relation to the strike. That seemed to go on forever. David Jull was the opposition spokesman. I still have this vision of David on The7.30 Reportputting a position—one of great credibility—as to how this could be resolved, why it was important and, if we as a country were not able to resolve this soon, what the impact would be on our inbound tourism and the tourism industry generally. It did have a profound roll-on effect on our tourism industry, particularly the inbound tourism industry, quite apart from our domestic tourism industry.

When I arrived in this place he was always a voice of experience and assistance. That is what you need when you come to this place. You can be very lonely and isolated in those early days, weeks and probably years. But David was always there—a voice to listen to. He would not necessarily offer the advice. As others have said, you would go and see Jully and he always had wise counsel for you. That helped, I think, in my own case. As you put your footprint down in this place, dodging the potholes—we often talk about the 'bearpits' that could be a problem—Jully was always there with great advice. That advice was for both sides of the House. That was the great thing about Jully: it was not about party lines. Anyone could ask for his opinion or advice and he would offer it freely. He spoke with great credibility.

There was also his knowledge of aviation. I think Jully kept a diary of the registration of every plane that he had flown on. It will be fascinating to talk about that with colleagues when I attend the state funeral on Friday. He could tell you whether it was a Boeing or an Airbus. But he also had the registration number and where he sat on the plane. I think he also collected his boarding passes. That is my recollection. I am sure that was the case throughout his life. At a moment's notice, he could recall that: 'Yes I flew on such and such, and this was its registration number.' We as members of parliament all know how often we have to fly, not only as members for a constituency but also on other parliamentary work. Jully had an extraordinary recall for that. I hope that on Friday we are able to find out where those diaries are from some of his colleagues who may know. He kept a fascinating record.

I think the member for Groom said that, if you wanted to take holidays somewhere with your family, you did not go to a travel agent; you went to Jully. He would always give you the best advice and he knew where the best prices were, such was his interest in tourism. He was a great help in that regard as well. He would say, 'Oh, don't go with those.' I will not use the language he sometimes used about a particular carrier, but he was always spot on. He knew intimately the carriers, the prices and the places to get the best prices. He had great connections in the tourism industry.

I was part of the first Howard ministry; so was Jully. It was a very proud moment for both of us to be sworn in at Government House that day, having been mates at Churchie. Being sworn in together as ministers in the first Howard government was another one of those moments that brought us back together. It is one of those very fond memories that I will always retain. Recently a lunch was organised in Brisbane by members of the first Howard ministry. It was called, 'The South Wing'. Sadly, I was unable to attend, because of a conflict due to other engagements. I knew that David had not been well, but I did not think that there would be another South Wing lunch without David Jull. So I regret that I had other commitments that I was not able to change. That will always be for me one of the things that I regret, and like all of us in this place there are things that I have regrets about because of scheduling. When I heard the news, the first reaction I had was: 'Why was I not able to do that? Why was something else a priority?' We knew that his battle with cancer was one that he was losing, but I did not think that the end was so near. That is a great regret to me.

In conclusion, David was a great friend, a great contributor to this place and a great contributor to this nation. That was not necessarily recognised. It has been by some associations, but more broadly the tremendous contribution that he made has not been recognised. The footprint that he leaves behind him as he leaves this world is one that will endure forever. It is a legacy that I am proud to have been associated with. I am proud to have known David and proud of the legacy that he leaves.

I pass on my condolences to Erica and other members of his family, because any death of a loved one, a friend or a colleague is a sad time. I look forward to attending the state funeral, which is a very appropriate way to recognise David Jull, a great friend and colleague. David, may you rest in peace.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My mate, Jully. Among a fraternity that too rarely have friends across the chamber, there are many people who could sincerely say, 'My mate, Jully.' He was an adorable man, a father figure for me as a former federal member for Bowman. He was a man who you could walk right up to and do your best to wrap your arms around those great shoulders of his, although in his final years in this place they became more kyphotic with time. He was on his motorised scooter in the last year or so of his parliamentary service, breaking land speed records around the corridors of Parliament House until the day that he left this place.

I met David Jull when I was in grade 10. This larger than life figure arrived in my social studies class with a Mr Chittenden. Obscuring the light coming through the window was this huge figure of a man who told us all about politics. At the time, I could not think of anything worse to pursue than a life in politics. It seemed exciting, but David Jull's stories about living in a jet and being in Canberra did not engage my interest or affection. So it was almost by a fluke that this alma mater of ours—I went to the same school that Jully went to—became a factory for people on the Liberal side of politics who care about the poor, the needy and those who are repressed. Jully was one of those for sure.

Jully was a raconteur; Jully loved telling a story. The people who come here come from wide and varied lifestyles, with backgrounds from working in many different areas. But I used to be genuinely frustrated that Jully had so many extraordinary stories. He could entertain a crowd of people to the point where you did not want it to end. Being in Jully's company was to be with someone who, as I said, was larger than life. I remember him talking about his school days, when he was not always the best behaved of students. In a time when it was compulsory to wear that school uniform immaculately, he was caught out with his shirt pulled out, no hat on and a tie that was skewed to the right. Someone picked him up for it and said, 'Tell me your name and tell me who your parents are.' Quick as a whip, Jully remembered the name of his headmaster and gave that as the name of his parents. I can picture that person returning to the school and talking about this appalling student and the headmaster saying, 'Tell me who the parents are and I'll do something about it.' Jully, even then, had the last laugh.

We have already heard how Jully had a fascination with and a passion for tourism. Let us remember what this was about: it was about selling Australia. Jully came from humble beginnings, growing up in Lancewood Court in Victoria Point—a truly Australian suburb. You can picture Jully as a boy with his little bike leaning on the postbox talking to kids across the fence. He was always a networker, a talker and a sharer of ideas, and politics came naturally to him—a direct and logical step from the media, where he described himself as a television journalist with Channel 0. In that segue into politics, Jully brought with him a capacity to not only hear and retell people's stories but act to make sure that injustices were addressed. If you read David Jull's collection of speeches you will hear him at his fiery best as he fought for a third runway in Sydney prior to the Olympics. You will hear him getting involved in the Ansett and the pilot disputes and taking on former Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating eye to eye. Jully had no hesitation in doing that. His speeches are a wonderful read for anyone who has the time to go through the ParlInfo website.

I used to love the way Jully found the funnier side of things in many of his speeches. It became a passion of mine—as a person following on in his part of the world—to learn some of those stories about Jully, to learn about the corners he travelled in my electorate. When I was on holidays once I discovered that Jully had a favourite getaway outside of the electorate. He always kept it secret, as old-fashioned members did, but Jully's little escape was Byron Bay. In a place a little to the north there was a block of six units, and Jully went there every holiday he could to let his hair down, take off his shoes and wander around the sand dunes. I met the body corporate manager and I said to him, 'Tell me what Jully's like.' He told me exactly what Jully's almost military routine was when he was on a holiday: getting the papers, putting the feet up, having a coffee. So I said, 'Let's play a trick.' The body-corporate guy and I sat down, pulled up the phone and we gave Jully a call. I said: 'Jully, I'm down here in Byron Bay. Are you interested in buying any real estate?' He didn't let on. I said: 'Jully, I've just been wandering around with a few real estate agents. There's a place down here in Byron Bay and I've just done a builder's report on it. It's a heap of shit. Seriously, it's going for a song. I can pick you up an apartment here at a fraction of its market price because I've just done the building inspection. It's falling apart. There are all these structural deficits in it.' He goes, 'Wh, wh, which one, Andrew?' Of course, it was his apartment block. I said: 'Mate, it's going for a song. Let me pick you up one. I can probably get it for you for under $100,000.' That pause was priceless. I just loved having final revenge on Jully, having uncovered where his holiday getaway was outside the electorate.

I have to confess that Jully was not a great mentor for me in Bowman, though many would have thought so, because Jully was an old-fashioned type of public figure. Jully encountered a Labor seat with an 8,500 majority and he worked hard in '74—and no-one has talked about that tough election—and got that majority back to 600 votes, which put him in the game for 1975. Too often we forget that, in this game, getting to this great place requires not just one attempt but two, and it is the people who come back a second time who are rewarded. We uncovered in David Jull a person who, after those two attempts and success on the second opportunity, went on to a career of 30 years in public life. Had he walked away in '74, it would have been a completely different story.

Figures like Snedden came up and campaigned street by street and shop by shop—as you did at a time when Bowman was not the outer metropolitan area it is now but a series of hamlets, villages and farms where people often did not know what was going on down the road. It was a true patch of country just 20 or 30 kilometres out of Brisbane, as other parts of south-east Queensland still are today. It is a very different Redlands now, but it retains that parochialism. Once this region adopted Jully, he was there for three decades. Do not forget that in those days Bowman was a seat that extended all the way into east Brisbane—a massive swathe of eastern Brisbane was Bowman as we knew it. Then matters changed and he was gradually trimmed back to the bayside and ultimately pushed south into the newly formed seat of Fadden in 1984.

Jully had a very brief stint as a minister, to which we have referred. That was in the first 18 months, looking after administrative services. David was first entangled in the difficult issue of monitoring parliamentary travel and the travel of colleagues at a time when his side had returned to government after a long period in opposition. So often these are difficult times, and David took the toughest job of all—monitoring the spending of a huge new arm of government that did not really know the rules. After 18 months he tendered his resignation in what I would describe as tragic circumstances by today's measure. At the time that was what a gentle person did in politics when they felt they bore some of the responsibility for a Public Service outcome. That is probably something that has now vanished permanently from public life in Australia.

David Jull was incredibly energised in visiting schools and he religiously attended ceremonies in the true notion of an old-fashioned parliamentarian. But David Jull also used as his personal political barometer his performance on the bay islands. These are subtropical populated islands within an hour's commute of a major city, which is what makes them unique. Macleay, Karragarra, Russell and Lamb Island—all of these islands are effectively, in addition to Coochiemudlo and North Stradbroke Island, large suburbs that just happen to be on islands and have enormous infrastructure and social challenges as a result. David could easily have won all of these elections without winning the islands, but it is important to remember that not only did he not forsake those places but he used as a barometer of his performance in public life whether he won Macleay, Russell, Karragarra, Lamb or Coochie. The one thing that David Jull could always tell you is which island he lost by five votes and how he came back and won by 20 votes next time, because, believe me, these islands do not brook fools. They are a small, tightly-knit community and, it does not matter if you are a councillor or a federal member, they look for great detail in the performance of their public representatives. David never gave up when many could have retained, and did retain, the seat.

David was a product politically, then, of the Redlands. His seat was eventually moved south and that was a great shame. When I ran in 2001 I had a chance to run next to David and, by 2004, his home of Redlands had been completely displaced from his own seat, and the seat of Fadden effectively became the buffer seat between Brisbane's bay side and the Gold Coast. I kind of felt sorry for David. He had a very, very small, humble and modest electoral office in Springwood on the side of one of Australia's busiest highways, but I think David was removed from his own roots when Fadden dragged him south. Fadden was obviously a seat where he had chosen to run, and another very significant figure in Australian political life, Con Sciacca, chose to run for Bowman and held it resolutely except for the two years between 1996 and 1998.

In many respects, one of my great regrets is that the history of Bowman in the last three years has been effectively cut short by the loss of three federal members for Bowman. A message that I know David would pass on to the last remaining, Con Sciacca, my immediate predecessor is: please, look left and right before you cross the road, Con; you are the last remaining ex-federal member for Bowman. To have lost Len Keogh just recently and now to have lost David—and, of course, our own Liberal member as well, Andrea West—means that an enormous amount of institutional history from my part of the world has been lost.

David was remembered in a local paper with an extensive story of people who had known him. He had very, very strong and patient connections with community groups that was not always a characteristic of Liberal MPs at the time. But David had the ability to move across the political divide. David found a way as an old-fashioned parliamentarian not to play the party-political game terribly hard—that is what made him such an attractive figure down here to people on both sides of the chamber. It did not matter at what level of public life you were. It did not matter if you only met David in the shopping centre. What David will be remembered for is the furrow left behind in the hearts of so many of us by his passing—that he is no longer there for us. And those previous speakers were exactly right: we just did not see this coming and that is what makes it very, very hard for us, because there were times when we could have seen him but we did not because he did not talk about it and he just said, 'I haven't kicked the bucket yet; there's no problem with me.'

That is a lesson we will use every day and fill it with as much love and achievement and time with our family and, in a political and public life context, time with our constituents because it is an enormous privilege. It might well have been 30 years; for some of us it will only be three. But for David, in that long period, every day was one that he filled as much as he possibly could with connection and community engagement. That is a great lesson for many of us coming into this chamber because, in the progressive movement into social media and highly complex political campaigning, the role of local member can never be forgotten, and here was a person who did it so adroitly.

David Jull, you were an inspiration to many of us. We may no longer be bothered collecting boarding passes anymore or remembering registration numbers of the aeroplanes we travel on, but for the tiny things you did so well you will be remembered on both sides of this chamber.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I also rise today to speak to this condolence motion for my dear colleague the Hon. David Jull. Many have spoken about David's long-serving membership of the Liberal Party and the House of Representatives and the fact that he represented not only just one electorate but two electorates, in 1975 to 1983, in Bowman—and the member for Bowman just spoke of him in very glowing terms—and also in Fadden from 1984 to 2007. He was born in Kingaroy. He was educated at the University of Queensland. He had the most incredible voice, a voice that was meant for radio, a voice that was meant for television and indeed, his humble beginnings in his first foray into paid employment was in the media from 1963 to 1965. He also was a director of TVQ—TVQO in those days—before he entered politics.

I met David when he used to come into my family's restaurant, Gambaro's with friends and colleagues.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He enjoyed his wine.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He liked a good drink of wine, as the member for Bowman has pointed out. He was greatly known to my family. He was widely respected, not only in the time he was in politics but also in the time before politics, in both the tourism and media industries. He had an incredible knowledge of a lot of things. He had an incredible knowledge of tourism. He had an incredible knowledge of cultures. He had a photographic memory, which I will deal with in a little while. His knowledge of Australia and the world was very impressive and expansive.

He was elected to parliament in 1984. He was a shadow minister. He is also known for his work on the security committees of the parliament, particularly the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation from 1997 to 2002 and its successor the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. He presided over the performance of the Australian intelligence services, particularly in relation to the Iraq weapons of mass destruction issues.

I might talk about these things as a highlight of David's career, but there was much more depth to him than can be encapsulated in my brief outline of his career. I met him when I first came into parliament in 1996, when I was the member for Petrie. He was a very seasoned politician at that stage. He was a man who was always very generous with his time and his advice. I remember that he was someone I could turn to for a laugh. He had lots of stories to tell from his political battles and from life in general—the celebrities he had met and the tourism operators. As a newly elected member of this place I found him very humorous, witty and intelligent. It is no secret that he had friends from both sides of the House and was respected. If he gave you advice, it was frank, it was fearless and it was done with a great deal of sincerity.

The man had a voice for the media, and didn't he have an incredible voice! When he used that voice in speeches in the parliament, boy did we listen. Many people in Brisbane were very privileged to be able to again listen to that wonderful voice when he went back on air on community radio after he left this place. I, like David, have represented two electorates. I was the member for Petrie, and the Jull family name is very well known in Redcliffe. Jull Street is named after the family—Jull Street runs off Victoria Avenue in Margate. His father was a rector and was very well respected in the area for many years.

Many people have spoken about David's photographic memory in terms of aircraft serial numbers, incidents and collisions—on any aircraft, whether it was Qantas, or at that time Ansett. When I was flying to Canberra on a Sunday night, disturbingly, he would tell me the history of each aircraft and how many incidents they had been involved in—not something that you want to hear, particularly when you are in the air as often as we are.

I last saw David a couple of months ago at a private lunch that I organised with some former colleagues. We were really happy to spend some time with him at Gambaro's, again enjoying a seafood lunch. He was obviously in a great deal of discomfort but, as the member for Bowman just said, he never spoke about what he was going through. He never spoke about his pain. He never complained. In fact, it was quite the opposite; with his legendary and ever-present sense of humour he said to me: 'I am fine Gambaro. Don't you start organising a state funeral now,' and, with his good natured humour, he got into me.

His state funeral is indeed this Friday. It is at St. John's Cathedral in Brisbane. This good man deserves to be honoured greatly for the contribution that he has made to the nation. David Jull, you will be sadly missed.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My comments will be brief, and that is a reflection of the fact that I have only got to know David over the past 18 months to two years—and I really got to know David during the election campaign. From my brief time spent with him, as many of the others have alluded to, he was always ready to offer you some advice or to answer a question. There was no question that was too silly for him; he always had the time to speak with you. One of the great things, though, was his tremendous sense of humour. He always had some fantastic story to tell. Whatever the situation was, he could always relate something to his experience in politics. Many of the previous speakers have already touched on his time in this place, and I know from speaking with my colleague Stuart Robert, who is now the member for Fadden, that he—along with many others—certainly holds David in very high regard. He certainly left a tremendous legacy for those who have followed him and a tremendous standard to live up to and to truly reflect on what an honourable profession and responsibility we hold in this place—for this nation currently, but also in terms of what we leave for future generations.

As the member for Brisbane has just touched on, David had a career in television before entering politics, but in my local area subsequently—or even during his time in politics—he joined 101 FM, which was our local radio station after it was granted its first licence in 1988. He was their first on-air announcer. He spent the next 23 years involved with that station, on air announcing and as a director, and he helped to build that station to what it is today. I know that everybody involved with 101 FM is very grateful for his involvement and input in that station over the time.

I am very thankful to David for his preparedness to help me as a new member of parliament and also prior to that as a candidate. It is disappointing in some respects, after listening to all the contributions from those who have worked with him over the years and during his career in this place, that I never had that opportunity. But I am thankful for the brief period during which I did get to spend time with him. My best wishes go out to his brother Peter and his sister Gwen. As I said, I am very thankful for the opportunity I got to know David. His presence, his knowledge and his abilities will be greatly missed.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am particularly pleased to have the opportunity of joining in this condolence motion with respect to the very sad passing of the Hon. David Francis Jull. Honourable members on both sides had an extremely high regard for David. He was the font of all wisdom on matters parliamentary and otherwise, and—whether or not one was close to him personally—he freely proffered his advice and assistance in a whole range of areas. I can recall a number of conversations that I had with David when I joined the parliamentary Liberal Party in 1993 as the Liberal member for Fisher, despite my earlier manifestation as a National Party member for Fisher. David Jull was one of those people who immediately and warmly welcomed me into the Liberal Party family. As the honourable member for Sturt mentioned, he was keenly religious. He was a very strong Anglo-Catholic. He and I had many discussions of a religious nature. I shared his Anglo-Catholicism and I very much enjoyed the conversations that we had over the years. I can recall him turning up at parliament on one occasion having sourced a second-hand book on a famous shrine, an Anglo-Catholic church, which he presented to me. I greatly appreciated that gesture.

He attended the Church of England Grammar School in Brisbane and actually attended at the same time as my father-in-law, Robert Hall. David was a child of the rectory. His father was an Anglican priest, Father Alfred Stephen Jull. The member for Groom mentioned that David was born in Kingaroy. David had the opportunity of living in a range of localities within the Brisbane Anglican diocese as his father moved from position to position. I believe that, when Father Jull was the parish priest at Holy Trinity Woolloongabba in Brisbane, the former ALP federal president and later Deputy Premier of Queensland, Tom Burns, was an altar boy at that particular church. I suspect that Tom would make certain comments about that experience and I suspect David would probably wonder why his father was not better able to influence what ultimately, in his view, turned out to be the nefarious political inclinations of Tom Burns, the former altar boy at Holy Trinity Woolloongabba.

David was a small 'l' liberal, except that on many issues he was a big 'c' conservative. It is very difficult to actually badge people and call them one thing or the other.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member who interjects is also a very complex individual, though happily very much alive. David was a strong conservative. I mentioned he was a religious person and he did not hesitate to live and stand up for his principles whether or not they were popular. As a small 'l' liberal in the Queensland Liberal Party, he was very loyal to what could be called his faction had he been in the Labor Party—of course, everyone knows the Liberal Party do not have factions. He was part of a group in the Queensland Liberal Party supportive of Bob Tucker as state president. At one conference, democracy saw Bob Tucker replaced by Bob Carroll and David made the comment that he was part of a group thereafter to be known as 'the living dead'.

David had a very broad sense of humour. On one of the Howard reshuffles—and I suppose I was a victim of one of John Howard's reshuffles, as many others were—someone said, 'David, what do you think of the ministry?' He said, 'There is John Moore there and all the rest are Nazis.' Of course, he would not have meant that, but it just indicates David's very rich sense of humour. There was an occasion when Prime Minister Howard issued an edict with respect to a certain matter and David, as the then Minister for Administrative Services, had to circularise his colleagues with this Prime Ministerial edict. With great joy, he used to relate the story of getting a letter from Leo McLeay which basically told David and the Prime Minister to go jump, but not in such polite words. He was also someone who, as has been indicated previously, was an expert in the area of travel. He absolutely detested Sir Peter Abeles. As the member for Sturt said, he used to refer to Ansett as 'Criminal Air'. He also knew the history of just about every plane in Ansett's fleet. He was able to relay the various life-threatening incidents that had occurred with respect to each of those particular planes. David was someone who was much loved by everyone. He was larger than life. While he had his share of political disappointments—and in my view he was extremely badly treated when he was sacked by Prime Minister Howard from the ministry—he did not bear ill will. He remained loyal to the party, although on occasions he would take the opportunity of, shall we say, richly expressing his views as a commentator on various political incidents and what was happening.

It was sad that he did not have a long retirement from parliament. He had the most amazing history in being elected. He had tenacity and principles. I believe that he is one of the few larger than life characters that we have seen in this parliament. I for one felt when he retired in 2007 that the entire parliament was very much the poorer for his political passing. Having said that, the entire community is very much the poorer for his passing from this world. The community will miss him greatly. His friends will feel enormously deprived of the ongoing opportunity to regularly converse with him. He was one of nature's gentlemen. He was a person who I saw as a role model for members of parliament; an icon; a person who had qualities that the rest of us could only aspire to emulate but so often fell short of. I am very pleased to be able to associate myself with the condolence motion moved by the Hon. the Prime Minister and supported by the Leader of the Opposition and colleagues.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The first thing that I want to say is that the words that I am about to use were prepared for me by Mary Aldred, daughter of Ken Aldred, who was a member in this House for some considerable time during David's years. The families were very close, so these words drip with the tears of sadness at the loss of a friend and of a colleague. I acknowledge Mary as I begin this address. Hearing the addresses from the other members, I was reminded of two moments with David Jull. I stand here with a really fond memory of a colleague in this House, and I have many fond memories of many colleagues.

Through this history of the nation, seminal figures have shaped the character of our parliament, uplifted the dignity of national politics and committed themselves to enlivening debate in the best spirit of parliamentary democracy. The truly honourable David Jull was one of those seminal figures. Without him, the mosaic of Australian politics would have been incomplete, missing a polished, unique and absolutely uncrackable tile. As a House of Representatives, we have been the poorer in the absence of his wit, gravitas and deep sense of what it truly means to be a member of this place.

Like me, David Jull—'Jully' as he was affectionately known by his friends—represented two seats. All up, he was elected to the House of Representatives nine times, three of which were shared together over this parliamentary career of 30 years. David Jull entered the parliament as a 'seventy-fiver' as the member for Bowman, brimming with the exuberance of not only giving his maiden speech in the Old Parliament House but joining Malcolm Fraser as his government wrested Australia back from the brink of national heart attack. Such was the turmoil of those heady days after the dismissal of the Whitlam government. I imagine that David Jull was just the sort of new talent that any leader would have been delighted to have in their parliamentary party. He was calm, thoughtful and completely unfazed by the task ahead and had a self-effacing sense of humour. A highly successful TV man in his former life, he was a wonderful storyteller who could weave a written tapestry, sewn together with the thread of a lifetime's vast experience, strung tightly where required with the needle of sharp insight and even sharper wit. Again like me, David Jull experienced what it is like to lose your seat, as he did in 1983, and to come back again, rising like a phoenix from the suffocating ashes of an election loss, returning in 1984 as the member for Fadden.

For the new Howard government, David Jull was just the sort of experienced, calm, details man that John Howard looked to as his Minister for Administrative Services in 1996. After all, the moulding and shaping of David Jull the parliamentarian had taken place during the life of the Fraser government, where public administration and propriety were given more obligation than in just about any other Australian government ever.

As history records, the bar was set too high in 1996, and it was David Jull, Jully, who took the fall for other people's indulgences and inability to comply. Not that you heard David Jull complain. But that was the nature of the man. Rather than mull over what should have been, David took on the demanding and prestigious position of Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD. This tasked him with the responsibility of reviewing and pulling together recommendations on national security and extended into a review of Australia's intelligence organisations in relation to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. This was a highly strung time for national security in our nation, and David Jull handled the task with precision, care, and an abiding sense of what was at stake.

David Jull was a man loved by many, especially his staff. I know in this place we all aspire to be good bosses whom our staff want to go to work for. David Jull was truly exemplary in this regard. Viv Shield, who worked as David's electorate officer for many years, had this to say about him: 'I served with him for 11 years but other staff members served for longer. I wouldn't be surprised if David had the least turnover of staff in the parliament. All of us turned up for his annual bash on 4 October, his birthday, because we considered ourselves family.'

Viv has asked me to mention Annie, who is now 77 and served with David from the time he was with Tourism Queensland; Sharee Allaway, who went to work with David when she was just 18 and took the office through the big IT and internet changes through the 1990s; and Helen, who eventually left only to have a family and was one of David's closest friends. Says Viv, 'I can say unreservedly that we all loved him dearly and that he will be sorely missed.'

Sharee Allaway said: 'David was not only a great politician; he was a great man. I do not know if most people realise exactly how wonderful he was to all of us. I do not know of many bosses that at 11.30 in the morning would call for lunch orders and dutifully go and collect our lunches for us! He was there for us through some of the most difficult times in our lives with a cup of tea and good advice. For me David was so much more than an employer—I will miss him more than words can express.'

In his maiden speech, David Jull said:

I see my new role to a great degree as that of an ombudsman for the people of the electorate.

David certainly achieved that and he was renowned for never turning away a request for help from his constituents and those in need.

I have said that this place is the lesser without David Jull, and it is. He had a deeply respectful sense of what it means to be a parliamentarian; to have regard for your colleagues no matter on which side of the government benches they sit, precisely because they equally earned the right to be here on behalf of the communities that sent them. David will also be remembered for his abiding belief in propriety and due process in public administration. Abraham Lincoln once said that character is like a tree, and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it—the tree is the real thing. Mr Speaker, David Jull was the real thing.

I have two anecdotes of my own. When I came here as a new member in 1990, David Jull was a tree to lean on. He really was, and everybody felt comfortable being around the man. You could trust him with your problems and the things that you were facing as a new member not knowing this place. I remember saying, 'How do you get through your correspondence?' He said: 'My staff are fantastic. The letters come in; by the time I get back there on Friday every letter is prepared. We have done it over the phone. Every letter is prepared for me to sign on Friday and nobody leaves the office until every letter we have received in every week is responded to one way or the other.' Every week. Now that is an administrator. I will leave you with this—it came from David Jull in one of our conversations when I asked him for his thoughts. Mr Slipper, the member for Fisher, raised this when he talked about David's comments about a group of people. I asked David what he thought of this new frontbench compared to the old frontbench. He said: 'Russell, half of the old frontbench were lazy good-for-nothings. The other half were hardworking, diligent members of the front bench. This new frontbench is the exact opposite.'

Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would very much like to pay tribute to David Francis Jull, or 'Jully' to all of us in the House who knew him. He had an extraordinary career. We have touched on various highlights of it. I do not know whether people realise that he faced 12 elections and he won 11 of them. Four of those were in the federal seat of Bowman and eight were in Fadden. As others have said, he missed out in Bowman in 1983 but returned in Fadden in 1984, so he was only out of the place for a couple of years—I do not think that it was even a full two years.

He served on a plethora of committees. He had lots of great loves. Foreign affairs, defence and trade and the importance of Australian security always played heavily on his mind. He made a superb contribution in those fields. He loved that sort of work. He served on several iterations of the standing committee on transport. I served with him on that committee from 1998 to 2001. I remember going on trips and things with him. He always added a great sense of fellowship and focus to any group.

I remember that at that time—and this is a problem with lots of committees—we were having problems with how to get the message out that we were holding inquiries into x, y and z without paying a fortune. If you put a big ad in the metropolitan dailies, that chews up all the money very quickly. Then you have the country newspapers writing in to say, 'You did not put any ads in the country papers, so you should not expect the public to know that there is an inquiry on, because you did not let us know.' We were debating this one day and we decided that for once we would do all this by radio. The next thing was that we were going to have to call in an advertising agency to prepare the ads and everything. At that point, Jully said: 'Stop!' He then said to the committee secretary, 'You just book the studio here in Parliament House and I'll do all the ads.' He had that beautiful, mellifluous voice because he had spent 20 or more years in radio. He went down and did all the ads for no charge. The ads went out and, as I remember it, we had a very good inquiry.

He had a great love of television and broadcasting. He was always on committees like the special television committee, when the House moved up here. He was on the broadcasting committee; he was on the special video materials committee. He was always at the forefront of those things because he had such a good grip on the media and particularly on radio and television. In fact, his early career started at 4IP in Ipswich. A group of people got together—Sir Frank Moore was one of them—and they decided to revolutionise radio in Brisbane. They started from the most humble of all the radio stations in the Brisbane basin, which was Ipswich 4IP. And they totally dominated the Brisbane radio scene. David was part of that group. They called it Colour Radio, which was an unusual name—we did not even have colour television in those days. Colour Radio was quite an interesting concept and it captured the imagination. All the announcers there were of that mould: vital, interesting and innovative. In 2005 the then owner, Graham McVean, invited all those announcers back to the Ipswich station; I think it was then known as River Radio. They went back and David read the news over a weekend, just to, if you like, have a reunion of all those quite early innovative announcers. They loved it. I remember Graham saying that it was as if they had not been away from the place. David got behind the microphone and read the news in much the same way as he recorded the ads for the transport and infrastructure committee at the time.

He went from radio to Channel 0. In those days the fourth channel was just coming in around Australia. In some states it was known as Channel 0 and in other states as Channel 10. David moved up through the Channel 0 system in Brisbane, which is also now Channel 10. I think he was the general manager; if not, he was the deputy general manager of Channel 0. It too was innovative and it appealed to the younger demographic. Pre my National Party days I was in the Young Country Party. I remember we did a commercial up at Channel 0, because that is where all the groovy young people went and that was where you could get a really good commercial done. I do not remember whether David produced that commercial, but it was a very good commercial. Some of the older members in the bureaucracy of this parliament would remember Bill Carew, who was John McEwen's press secretary. Bill was a journalist around here for many years. I remember that Bill set up that commercial.

As people have said today, David had a great love of aviation. No-one knew the types of aircraft around the world as well as he did. He knew every type of aircraft, how many seats were in the aircraft, what speed it did, what fuel it used and what iterations this country had of this particular plane and what another country might have. You would be sitting on a plane with him going somewhere and he would say: 'Now this particular Fokker Friendship was originally owned by MacRobertson Miller Airlines in Western Australia and it was sold to someone else. Then TAA took it over on such and such a date. We're travelling on that one today.' He was amazing. He said that there was a particular one on the Ansett fleet that we should never travel on, but I forget what that one was.

As others have said, David was not a bloke who carried grudges. He was one of nature's gentlemen. But he had an intense dislike for Ansett and he had some terrible blues with Sir Peter Abeles. One day I went with him from Brisbane to Canberra on an Ansett flight. He would not get on an Ansett flight for love nor money, but he had to go on this particular night to get back to Canberra; that was his last opportunity. He said to me, 'I think I'll choke on this bloody food.' He had a particular dislike of that. But he could always see the humorous side of things.

In addition to that, as others have said, he served as a shadow minister for tourism, aviation and sport and for tourism and aviation—just iterations of the same committee, roughly. It was appropriate that he should have been on those, because they were his great loves—aviation and tourism. In that interregnum—from when he lost Bowman to when he won Fadden—he came the deputy general manager of the QTTC, the Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation, where over just those two short years he made a huge contribution. He and Sir Frank Moore, his old mentor, worked very well together, and he added a certain resonance to the QTTC that perhaps had not been there before. He was also a tooth man, not in the sense of excessive food; he knew all the good restaurants. One of his favourites was the Thai Orchid in Springwood in Brisbane. Whenever you were in Brisbane on a parliamentary delegation and you were anywhere on the south side, the inquiry secretary was told in no uncertain terms, 'You must allow enough time to go to the Thai Orchid.' We always ate there at lunchtime when we were on a delegation with David.

As others have described, he was one of nature's gentlemen. Other than that small flaw in his character to do with Ansett there was no malice in the man whatsoever. He was a great Minister for Administrative Services. He was really innovative and he really wanted to do different things. Although I am a great admirer of John Howard, I thought David's forced resignation was unfair. He had a lot more to offer and I do not believe he slipped up on the particular matter that caused his resignation. I think others who should have taken the blame did not. I think the parliament lost a lot of gravitas in the field of administrative services and in regard to members entitlements and all those sorts of things he wanted to straighten out. But that is water under the bridge and, as others have said, he never carried that as a grudge.

He was a man of extraordinary tastes. He loved his school. He loved his sport. He loved radio, television and tourism. He had a colourful and full life. He was one of those men for all seasons. I was talking to David Greenwood, who was one of the team at 4IP and has gone back in recent years to manage the Ipswich radio station, and he described him as one of the most balanced and liked guys in the industry. I say so too. Vale, David Jull.

Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to this condolence motion for an outstanding Australian and a good mate, David Francis Jull—or, as many of us affectionately refer to him, Jully. I got to know David when I first came into the parliament in 1996. At that stage, he was somewhat of a legend, making a name for himself with that magnificent radio voice he had which helped him kick off as a young journo many years before. I looked up to him as a mentor. He came into this place as the member for Fadden and served from 1975 to 1983, and unfortunately for a short time he had a sabbatical from the parliament. But he did not waste any time in that period because he became the deputy general manager for the Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation until 1984 when he came back into the parliament. So he was able to pursue another one of his passions: tourism. I have heard a number of references in this place to Jully and that passion. While listening to the member for Hinkler I was having my own chuckle. I had an uncle that was the deputy director of Ansett Airlines at the time and, in spite of that family connection, Jully gave them no quarter at all. He had a real bee in his bonnet about Ansett and, more particularly, about Sir Peter Abeles. Whenever the opportunity arose he would not hesitate to fire off—and much of what he said was not repeatable in this place. Nevertheless, that endured over all the years I knew him.

As has been said previously, his knowledge of aviation was quite profound. If you wanted to travel anywhere, it did not matter where you wanted to go, all you had to do was ask Jully. He carried the knowledge in his head and he had a little bible with him as well. If you wanted to travel anywhere in the world, he could tell you exactly the best routes and the most cost-effective way of getting there. You could go to anybody else and you would never get that level of advice. Not only that but he could also identify the registration of any aircraft, particularly all our domestic ones, and he knew the whole history of that aircraft. As my colleague from Hinkler said earlier, there was one aircraft that, according to Jully, under no circumstances were you ever to set foot in. I cannot recall the number of it, unfortunately, and hopefully it is out of service now but at the time it was still travelling across the country. That was one plane that you would never ever step on because of Jully's advice. I worked under another tourism legend, Frank Moore. These guys forgot more about aviation and tourism than most of us will ever learn in our lifetime.

When David was appointed in 1996 as the Minister for Administrative Services, I thought at the time it was an outstanding appointment. Jully took on the role with great vigour and he did do a very good job. I have always been seen as a rusted-on Howard supporter but I think what happened to David was absolutely appalling. It was disappointing. It was for actions totally outside David's control. He did not deserve to lose that portfolio, and I think we were much the poorer for it. I was very disappointed that for such a long period of the Howard government Jully spent his time on the backbench. He had an outstanding talent and an ability to do some pretty special things for us. Unfortunately, for reasons which remain unknown to me, that is what happened—sometimes these injustices happen in our lives. He continued on the backbench and he never complained about it. He certainly was not bitter and twisted over it but I suspect he would have been very disappointed. It was totally undeserved. However, he did take on the position of chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation from 1997 to 2002 and then of its successor the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. He presided over that committee, as was said earlier, at a very difficult and controversial time, when it was looking into the Australian intelligence services and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction from 2003 to 2004. I think he did an absolutely outstanding job. I first put a face to the voice when I came in in 1996. I enjoyed a meal at the Queensland Club with Jully and his ex-wife, Erica. We had a fabulous night there. That was the start of a very positive and good friendship. Later on his health started to deteriorate—I think it was 2005 when he lost a lung—and it certainly slowed him down. He had to rely to a great degree on a motorised wheelchair that was provided for him. Nevertheless, it did not slow down his enthusiasm for his work, his passion to provide advice to all of us looking to travel anywhere in the world and his gourmet delights. I had the pleasure of dining with him on a number of occasions at the Thai Orchid in south Brisbane.

In the latter years my office was next to Jully's office in the corridor. Often I would smell a delightful aroma coming out of his office. He had a wonderful staff member, whose name I do not recall, that used to come down here. I am sure the sole purpose was to prepare Jully a gourmet meal. You would drift into his office and see him sitting at his desk. He would be served a most magnificent meal. That became a regular feature. That is possibly why I have more of myself in front of me than I should have. I often joined him because there was often enough for another feed.

He was a very good friend. It is not easy in this place. While you build acquaintances, you do not often build close friendships. Jully was someone you could be close to and trust his advice. The wisdom of that man was something very special. Whenever I needed something, I knew I could go there and he would have good advice.

Both of us left in 2007. I decided to retire to spend time with my son. I knew that Jully was getting towards the end of his time in this place because it was getting a little difficult for him to get around. He made that decision. When he was asked what he was going to do in retirement, he said he was certainly not going to sit around vegetating and watching The Bold and the Beautiful. He certainly did not do that. Right up till the end he participated in lunches. The last one I had with him was only a few months ago. I went to Brisbane and joined him and many of his former colleagues at the Gambaro restaurant for an outstanding meal, a fair bit of reminiscing and a lot of the Jully wisdom that he had no hesitation in passing on.

I would like to pass on my condolences to his former wife, Erica; his sister, Gwen; his brother, Peter; Peter's sons, Stephen and Andrew; his stepsons, Mike and Jay Goldman; and his two grandchildren, whom I know he loved very dearly, Declan and Griffin. He was still very young when he passed away. I think it is going to be a sadder place for his loss. If the legacy of an individual passing from this world is the admiration of his colleagues and friends and the huge amount of respect then I would say Jully achieved outstandingly in that area. I will be attending his service on Friday. Goodbye, Jully. We loved you very much.

Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I only met David Francis Jull on the one occasion, and that was in the last few months when David knew he was dying. The mark of the man was he sat there, shook my hand—and his grasp was firm—looked me in the eye and wished me well. My association with David Jull goes back an awfully long time. When my family first moved to Brisbane in 1974, Jully was the sports reporter on Channel 0 news. The beauty of those days in TV was that you did not have to be good-looking, which was very handy for Jully. You could quite often see, in the corner of the TV, the smoke drifting up from the ashtray. David Jull used to read the news with Brian Cahill, who was a teacher at Gregory Terrace—his daughter, in fact, works for the member for Ryan here in parliament. The camera was supposed to come back to Jully to do the sport but it came back to Brian Cahill, who was sucking on a black and white in full screen.

I became an auctioneer in 1990, Mr Deputy Speaker, and in the early days of my time at Isles Love in Brisbane we did the DASFLEET sales for the government vehicle auctions, when the government ran its own fleets. I think the measure of the man was that when he took over in 1996 as the Minister for Administrative Services he recognised—in the true tradition of Liberals—that small government was about what private enterprise could do better than government and set in train a path whereby his department would no longer exist. That was a truly brave move by someone who had been sitting in opposition from 1984 all the way through to 1996. He finally got the ministerial leather and then had the courage of his convictions to say, 'My department could be better run by private enterprise,' and actively go out and get rid of it.

David Jull was held in extremely high regard by all who knew him. The stories that you hear about him are all true; they do not need to grow with time. Everyone loved him so much, and I think it should be everyone's goal to be held in such regard by people after you are gone. It should be your goal as a person no matter whether you come from this House or whether you are a mechanic—whatever role you have. Vale David Francis Jull. You will be missed. You were a truly great man and a truly great Liberal.

John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand it is the wish of honourable members to signify at this stage their respect and sympathy by rising in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the Committee.

Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.

Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to voice my congratulations to Cadel Evans and to claim him as Townsville's own. Townsville is truly the home of great sport. We were the home of pre-Olympic training for the swimming teams of 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968. We claim as our own Dawn Fraser, John and Ilsa Konrads, Murray Rose—all the truly great Australian swimmers from our golden era—because they trained at Tobruk pool under the legendary coaching of 'Stumpy' Lawrence. Stumpy was the father of Laurie Lawrence—Wallaby, swimming coach and creator of Kids AliveDo the Five! He is a Townsville boy, Laurie Lawrence. He actually went to a dance with my mother-in-law when she was at St Pat's.

Cadel Evans rode in Townsville. That is why I am speaking about him today and why he is claimed as Townsville's own. To see this guy go round the strand, for someone who does not understand the sport, was nothing special. I was at the dinner where he donated his pushbike to be auctioned by local charities. They raised $15,000 for a pushbike! I thought to myself, 'My goodness, what is going on here?' But to have won the Tour de France after so much heartache and after so much pressure—what an effort. He is a truly great man. In a sport that has been tainted, that we have someone from Australia who can stand up and be better than everybody else in the world at that race is truly unbelievable. I do wish him all the best, I do congratulate him, I do add Townsville's voice to those congratulations. He can come back to the TP Human Capital triathlon and ride the cycle leg in my team next year or any year he chooses.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I start today I acknowledge the presence in this chamber of Flying Officer Kevin Wilson of the Australian Air Force, who is here as part of the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program. We welcome you, Kevin.

I rise to congratulate Cadel Evans on his win in the Tour de France. He is our first ever Australian Tour de France winner. Cadel is a living example of our great Australian spirit, a living example of our Australian capacity to overcome adversity both in life and in sporting endeavours. As Australians we all love our sporting heroes and we are inordinately proud of Cadel's success. We feel as though he epitomises the things we value and respect in our sports people: dedication, planning, focus and discipline, what we know would have been lonely days and lonely years of hard work and sheer determination in competition—often at times of disappointment and frustration; a very graphic example for young people of what it takes to succeed in the pursuit of their dreams and ambitions in sport and in life.

When I read the headlines, like so many of us did, I saw Cadel described as: 'King Cadel', 'Tour de Champ', 'Evans Above', 'King of the Road', and the most telling one of all, 'Our Hero'. That is what we all thought after that: he was our hero. I really want to use this as an opportunity to thank Cadel for inspiring another generation of young people to have a goal. That is what Cadel's win has done: it has inspired a whole lot of young Australians to get on a bike or to take up a sport and to have a go. They have been motivated by his success. He has demonstrated how to do it. He demonstrated that success does not necessarily come easily. He had much to overcome in his life. So young people are now looking through Cadel's life story and thinking, 'Gee, it did not just happen.'

Cadel was born in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, and spent his childhood in a small Aboriginal community. He spent seven days in an induced coma after being hit in the head by a horse. Doctors feared he would never walk again. That is an excellent motivation for young people. Cadel achieved in spite of the challenges in his life. In fact, his father described him as a good student but an ordinary kid. He said, 'Not in my wildest dreams' would he have ever imagined that his son would become a top world athlete. Cadel even says of himself: 'It is strange that I could become a professional athlete. Physically I am completely unsuitable for almost all Australian school sports. Nearly all Australian school sports require speed and/or size.' He had neither of those. What another great example for young people.

Cadel started young. He was only two when he was into BMX bikes. He made his name as a champion international mountain biker, winning world championships and world cups. His switch to road racing in 2000 saw him go on to win gold and silver medals in the Commonwealth Games, not a minor feat by any means, and gold in the World Championship elite men's road race 2009 as well as a string of major wins in Europe. He was named Australian Cyclist of the Year in 2006 and 2007. Cadel had to manage the frustration of serious injuries, something that plagues all sports people no matter what field they are in. He had to experience mechanical failures and, at times, poor support and poor form. I am sure there are a lot of sports people who would understand those challenges.

In spite of this, in the 2009 Tour de France he took two podium places, becoming one of Australia's most successful cyclists. For a third time he was named Australian Cyclist of the Year. And 2010 brought more success, and he held the yellow jersey for nine of the Tour de France stages in spite of riding with a fractured left elbow from a crash. What courage and what determination.

But as we know, it was the 2011 Tour de France victory that has ignited Australians. Thousands and thousands of us watched his progress through the stages. We saw him chase down the early breakaway and we really wondered how he would go when he had to change bikes and he fell back in the field. We wondered just how he would go after that. But I think Cadel knew not only that he had all his own qualities but that he had a nation riding with him—we were all there with him.

The excitement was quite palpable right throughout the country. If you went into an office here in Parliament House or into any office or workplace—a mechanic's shop or wherever—people were talking about Cadel Evans and willing him to win. Everyone was with him. And, by gee, wasn't the win celebrated! I know from listening to Cadel that it did not really sink in straight after his win just what he had achieved, and probably it has taken him some time to understand just what it meant to everyone in this nation. But after the welcome home parade I hope that now both Cadel and his wife, Chiara, understand just how much his win has meant. He deserves this, as does his family.

I also hope that many young Australian children who live in small, remote, rural and regional communities understand that in Australia you, like Cadel, are not limited by your postcode, and it is not just about sport. It does not matter where you are born or where you grow up, or even how many times people tell you that you do not fit the right profile for your sport or your ambition. There is no reason why you cannot, like Cadel, follow and achieve your dreams.

The name of Cadel's biography is Close to Flying, and I know that all the young people who were glued to their TVs and laptops watching the Tour de France have been inspired by Cadel's sporting achievements. But I also hope, as has been mentioned previously, that they replicate his personal qualities because, as we heard, he is one of the good guys in cycling—he loves the sport and is a fair sportsman. He has a great belief in charities and he supports the Amy Gillett Foundation to help reduce the risk of accidents between cyclists and motorists—something that he and other cyclists have to deal with every day while they are out riding.

And he has said that he has 'a long, strong passion and interest for Tibet and its culture'. He has a range of interests. He sponsors a Tibetan child living in Nepal and studying in a Tibetan school. He also supports Ian Thorpe's Fountain for Youth, which is a foundation producing and distributing reading packs to Aboriginal communities in remote Australia. For so many reasons Cadel is a living example for not only young people but for all of us who know about his story.

I want to finish by again congratulating Cadel. If you read these particular contributions, Cadel, I hope you know just how much your win has meant to millions of Australians and what a profound impact it has on the lives and dreams of some of our wonderful young people in this nation.

Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to associate myself and all the cycling enthusiasts in my electorate of Throsby with the statements of congratulations to Cadel Evans. Cadel was born in the Northern Territory town of Katherine. He later spent time growing up in northern New South Wales and in Victoria—so many Australian towns can claim a little bit of Cadel as a part of their history and culture.

His early years were not without their difficulties. At the age of seven Cadel was injured in an accident involving a horse and spent a week in an induced coma. A love of bike riding came early in life, as it does for many Aussie kids, with the ubiquitous BMX bike. However, for Cadel this love of cycling proved to be an enduring affair that would take him from the Australian Institute of Sport to the Champs Elysees. After a talented junior career as a mountain bike rider, including podium finishes in two under-23 world championships, Cadel made the switch to road racing.

Perhaps the solitude of competitive cycling appealed to the only child of Helen and Paul. Cadel's story highlights two necessary elements common to all who strive for excellence—passion and determination. To quote Cadel's own words:

I worked at it and, over the years, my cycling improved. It's what happens to anyone when they're passionate about what they do. You ride your bike and enjoy it. Ride more, get better at it. Ride more, perfect your method … It's a natural progression when you're having fun.

This simple philosophy—passion, practice and the quest for perfection—has resulted in an impressive list of achievements. Cadel announced his arrival in his first Tour de France in 2005, by winning eighth place in the overall classification—the first Australian since the famous Phil Anderson to finish in the top 10. Many Australians heard the name of Cadel Evans first in 2008, where the absence of the defending champion Alberto Contador led many observers to declare that this young Australian was favourite to win the event. Cadel finished second overall, which was an amazing achievement by any reckoning, but it was clear that the weight of the nation's expectation was a heavy burden on this young athlete.

Australians are used to sporting success and our athletes regularly punch above their weight on the world stage. Sometimes we expect too much and fail to recognise the quality of the achievement, irrespective of the result. I remember Cadel apologising to Australians for not being good enough to win the 2008 and thinking, 'You are apologising to us when we should be congratulating you.' In 2009, Cadel won the road race and the men's world championship. Unfortunately, injury derailed his 2010 campaign in France. But it would be Cadel's year in 2011. While many of us watched the penultimate stage that delivered Cadel an unassailable lead over his closest rivals, it was the day before that stands out in my memory. I remember that last mountain stage, with the Schleck brothers leading the gruelling climb from the Mondane to the Alpe d'Huez. Cadel's assault on Andy Schleck's lead was frustrated by mechanical difficulties. It was hard not to remember 2008. Would this be another case of so close yet so far? But no-one told Cadel Evans this. He fought back, he refused to submit and he pushed his body and his bike to breaking point and beyond. Cadel finished that stage within striking distance of Andy Schleck. The next stage was his pet event, the time trial—and, as they say, the rest is history. That day's riding was the epitome of courage in the face of adversity. Those champion qualities on display made for an experience that was simply exhilarating and quite unforgettable. It took a few more days before Cadel was crowned overall winner of le tour. But for my mind, Cadel won it on that day on the road to Alpe d'Huez, when he displayed the grit, the determination and the courage to play the hand he was dealt, despite the circumstances. Some may say he played and won the Australian way. I certainly do. Congratulations, Cadel Evans.

John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians love sport and they love their sporting heroes. We have revealed through various golden eras, where our greatest have excelled, taken on the world and brought glory to each of us through association. Our greater sportsmen or women, however, attain our highest honour of legendary status not just through their triumphs on their field of their endeavour but through our ability to relate to them as fellow Australians, that allows our children to dream that if they were a famous sporting hero they would want to be just like them. The characteristics of our greatest are the characteristics that we as Australians hold uniquely above other standards. Jeff Harding epitomised the sheer guts in the face of adversity in the most brutal of sports, when battered and bruised he fought back from certain defeat to win the light heavyweight WBC title in his 15th professional fight against the great Dennis Andries. Was he our greatest boxer? Maybe, maybe not, but definitely a worthy candidate as our greatest fighter. On the aspect of his character alone, his place in Australian history is secure forever. Our Don is remembered as much for his final innings and the way he accepted his dismissal for a duck that left him short of achieving his goal of a test average of 100. We are as much enchanted by the talents beyond us mere mortals. We take great pleasure in marvelling at the way that Benny Elias could handle a wet football, at the sight of John Konrads gliding through the water and at the agility of Tim Watson—distinctly different from the enormity of Tony Lockett, yet their stature in the game was just the same. Evonne Goolagong's grace about the court belied her speed, which was the equal of Lionel Rose. Hubert Opperman won races in Paris and London and competed valiantly in the Tour de France with a team of just four against European teams of 10. Dawn Fraser's Aussie character of irreverence and final vindication was her mark as much as her gold medals at three Olympics. We marvel at the legion of tennis greats, from Ken Rosewall's science and artistry to the way that Pat Rafter accepted his loss at the Wimbledon final. Modest in victory and gracious in defeat, and yet all fighters every inch of the way.

Cadel Evans has all of these qualities in abundance. His chance so cruelly extinguished last year after wearing the yellow jersey with pride despite a fractured elbow. At 33 years of age, surely his chance for the greatest crown in cycling was gone. This was accepted with a smile on his face. His family and friends and those who participate in this sport were so aware of his extraordinary achievement in carrying injuries and fighting on—just like Jeff Harding years earlier. This year, burdened by 34 years, past his prime, but still a gallant competitor, he battled all the way. Back in the field during this race, the greatest test of endurance, surely the aged Australian must have had thoughts of the opportunities lost in the years prior haunting the road before him. There was no quit in him. Gracious in defeat last year, modest in victory to a fault this year. To Don, Ken, Evonne, Dawn and Oppy: you have a new and worthy peer, a champion in sport but, more significantly for we Australians and the standards by which we uniquely judge, a champion bloke.

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

I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to a great Australian sportsman, Cadel Evans, because I believe that he epitomises what is great about sport in this country and the great principles of sport at the elite level. There is a tendency among the sport spectating public to see sport as just the competition; to see the final sprint and the podium presentation. That is not where the race was won. Cadel Evans did not just line up at the start of the 2011 Tour de France. He has a long history of competition and training, and that led to his victory.

He was born on 14 February 1977 in the Northern Territory, calling Victoria home for most of his youth. He makes the point that he really did not fit into the sports that were played at his schools, because he was not big and was not fast. Yet it was the case that he developed a strong interest in cross-country bike racing in 1991. Psychologically tough, he was dedicated to this sort of endurance sport. In 1994, he began to branch out into road racing to help with his mountain bike racing. It was, however, not until 2001 that he finally transitioned completely to road racing. In 1998 and 1999, he had won the world cup in mountain biking. We should also remember that he came seventh in mountain biking at the Sydney Olympics.

He is best known for his more recent career on the road. The most famous of all the road races is the Tour de France, which takes place across the varied landscapes of France and on occasions in the territory of its neighbours. I and many Australians like to tune in to the excellent SBS coverage of the tour each July. I appreciate the effort involved, which appears to be superhuman at times. But, as I said, it does not just start on day one and finish some three weeks later. It so often starts with a dream in youth and a determination to undertake the training required to achieve the goals that individuals set themselves. That is what sets elite sports men and women apart from others.

For the elite competitors like Cadel Evans and Samantha Stosur, winner of the US Open in tennis, there are endless hours of training that we do not see. They often do that training by themselves. While most of us are still asleep, they are up training before dawn without the glitz, without the glory and without the attention of the fans or the media. They train by running long miles, by lifting weights, through strength and conditioning workouts and then through their sports specific training. Heart rate monitors and video recordings of their techniques are just some of their aids to maximise their performance and, in the case of Cadel Evans, to try to get those extra hundredths of a second's improvement that will see him victorious. The point is that nothing just happens on the day for Cadel Evans or athletes like him; nothing comes down to chance and nor will some lucky charm provide victory.

When you look back at the competitive career of Cadel Evans, it was certainly clear that he had great potential to succeed. Ten years ago, in 2001, he won the Tour of Austria and since then there have been stage or overall victories each year, culminating in victory in the most famous cycling race in the world, the Tour de France.

Although he has trained very hard throughout his career, he has also had to contend with the psychological challenges that are so often very much a part of elite level sport. There is no doubt that Cadel Evans's highs have exceeded his lows. However, his second places in the tour in 2007 and 2008 and then not achieving the podium in 2009 and 2010 would have made a lesser sportsman wonder whether their time had passed, but in 2011 it was clear that Cadel Evans was in excellent form: fit and, above all, tough psychologically. He won the Tirreno-Adriatico race and the Tour de Romandie and came second in the Criterium du Dauphine. His win in the fourth stage was followed by overall victory in the general classification in the Tour de France. As I have already said, such success is not a result of luck. An elite athlete must be psychologically and physically tough. They must be prepared to sacrifice a comfortable existence for the solitude of training, all in pursuit of their dream.

I do not call professional athletes or elite sportsmen heroes. They do not risk their lives for others in pursuit of noble causes. They are not like our soldiers or our emergency service people, but they do provide us all with a very good example of what is important and what great principles of sport exist for others to emulate. They show our young people that great sporting success is not achieved by merely showing up on race day but, rather, that success is the culmination of hard training, commitment and psychological strength. What Cadel Evans has shown us all is that success is not an overnight plan but, rather, the outcome of a dream, brought to reality by a commitment to a lifetime of effort.

We were there with him for that final ride into Paris, but what we know is that if we desire such success ourselves we need to be there for the training and the preparation, where there is no cheering crowd and where it is wet and cold and not just when the sun is shining. We need to understand that defeat may be on the path to victory and that we must be resilient to the challenges that face us. This is what I see as the lessons that Cadel Evans has provided for us all, so I honour him for his lifetime of dedication which has seen him ascend to the very top of cycling in the world.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great pride and joy that I rise today to speak on this motion to honour and celebrate Cadel Evans, world champion mountain biker, world champion road racer and world champion Tour de France winner.

I got to know about the Tour de France and the intricacies of it from my uncle—my late mother's brother Paddy O'Brien—on family holidays to Magnetic Island. One of the key highlights used to be that, down on the beach the next morning, my uncle described the race and the trials and tribulations which had taken place throughout the night on SBS's coverage. With the way he told of the intricacies of the race, the teamwork that was required and the individual skill and determination that were needed, I grew a fascination for the Tour de France and I started to watch it myself. I have got to say that this year it was fantastic to, once again, be able to go on a family holiday to Magnetic Island—and my Uncle Paddy was there—at the start of the Tour de France, the first three or four days, and talk to him about it. I remember saying to him, 'It's Cadel versus the Schleck brothers this time. Can he do it?' He was confident that, with the right amount of luck, Cadel could do it—and it was fantastic to see him do it.

I was back at home in the electorate when stage 19 took place. I had been out that night and was lucky enough to get home and to be able to sit down and watch stage 19. I must confess that my heart sank when Cadel hit mechanical trouble. I thought, 'Oh, no, not again.' But Cadel was going to have none of it and, in the true Australian way, dug deep—he dug into his inner self as I do not think anyone else could have—and was able to ride back into the Tour de France in that fateful stage 19. That was important, but there was also the time trial. He had to make up time in the time trial and he had faced a similar situation in 2008. He did not have quite as much time to make up this year, but in 2008 he had to try to catch Carlo Sastre and he was not able to. I could not help thinking, as he lined up for the time trial this year, about how he was dealing with the demons from 2008—whether he was thinking, 'I mightn't be able to do it, again; I might fall just seconds short; it's possible Andy Schleck might ride the time trial of his life and I might just not get there.' But he rode the time trial of his life and put his place in the Tour de France beyond doubt. It reminded me of other memorable sporting achievements I have seen. I remember Pat Cash winning Wimbledon and having that same sense of euphoria, being up late at night and seeing an Australian sportsman achieve such a feat—and what Cadel Evans achieved was great.

It is an absolute pleasure and honour to speak on this motion. I congratulate Cadel Evans, I congratulate his coach and I congratulate his team, because if there is one thing my uncle taught me it is that you cannot win the Tour de France unless you have good team. This year, I think more than any other, Cadel had a team which meant that victory was his. So to Cadel, his team, his coaches—including his late coach, whom Cadel rightly recognised for the incredible contribution he made to Cadel's career—I say: I commend you all, I congratulate you all and I hope I am up at Magnetic Island again next year to witness the start of the race and talk about it with my uncle and, hopefully, see Cadel win back-to-back.

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge the remarkable sporting achievement of a remarkable Australian. At age 34, hailing originally from the Northern Territory, Cadel Evans has achieved what no other Australian has achieved before: winning the Tour de France. Like millions of Australians, my wife and I stayed up late in the night to watch Cadel's performance over the gruelling 21-stage, 23-day, 3,430-kilometre race. As part-time riders and survivors of Tony Abbott's Pollie Pedal, we watched in awe as Cadel showed his sheer skill, tenacity and physical capability.

This year the race, in its 98th year, was full of drama and suspense as Cadel came from behind to seize the yellow jersey in his brilliant ride in the individual time trial through Grenoble on the penultimate day. His battle up the Alps with the Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, and last year's champion, Alberto Contador—who, by the way, my wife said has the best name in world sport—was something to behold. So too was the incident on the final days, when Cadel struck technical difficulties with his bike and was forced to jump on another machine and chase down those ahead, making up what seemed like a mountain—excuse the pun—of time. Watching the tour, it became abundantly clear how important Cadel's colleagues in the BMC team were to his eventual win. The yellow jersey may be worn on the shoulders of only one, but it really is a victory shared by all. No doubt Cadel will be hoping for a similar team effort when he seeks to repeat his victory next year. But, whatever the result in 2012, Cadel Evans has secured a treasured place in the annals of Australian sporting fame. It caps a wonderful career for Cadel, which has seen him progress from being a medallist at the 1995 world mountain bike championships, to the Commonwealth Games time trial champion in 2002, to being the 2009 winner of the world championship road race in Switzerland.

I know I join with hundreds and maybe thousands of riders in Kooyong, from Hawthorn to Kew, from Camberwell to Balwyn and from Surrey Hills to Canterbury, in congratulating Cadel and his wife Chiara on this brilliant achievement which will inspire many other Australians to take to their bikes. Cadel, you have made your country proud, you have made your family proud, but most of all you have performed to the best of your abilities and fulfilled your lifelong dream. No person could hope for anymore.

John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

By way of finality, I too would like to associate myself with the magnificent contributions that have been made by honourable members to the statements about someone who was clearly an inspiration. We hope that his efforts in France inspire many young people to follow the dream that he followed, not to mention the great benefit to health and lifestyle. Yes, Cadel Evans kept my wife and me up late. We were enthralled with the SBS broadcast, and they should be congratulated for that, particularly Phil Liggett for his very incisive comments. Finally, Cadel certainly presents as a very modest and humble Australian. He brings great credit to our country. He is a wonderful ambassador. Indeed, Cadel Evans you are a great Australian and I too salute you like other honourable members.

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate Samantha Stosur on her historic win in this year's US Tennis Open. It was an emphatic victory that will give a real boost to Australian tennis and, hopefully, spawn a new decade of future champions. Sam is the first Australian female to win a grand slam singles title since Evonne Goolagong took home the Wimbledon trophy in 1980, and the first Australian female to take home the US Open since Margaret Court in 1975. With Margaret Court winning 18 US open titles—five singles, five doubles and eight mixed doubles—over her career, Sam has a hard record to beat, but having won the US Open Doubles in 2005, she has two titles and is now on her way.

With her big serve and attacking hardcourt game, Sam had a remarkable tournament. Like all great tournament victories, the final is the icing on the cake after a hard fought two-week campaign. It should not be forgotten that in the third round Sam defeated Nadia Petrova 7-5 in the third set after a three-hour-16-minute battle. The second set tie-break of 17-15 is the longest in any major in the history of women's tennis. Sam showed great class in the final against three-time champion Serena Williams. When Serena lost her cool, Sam kept hers. No doubt the 23,000 fans packed into the Arthur Ashe Stadium were hoping for a hometown victory, particularly on the symbolic 10th anniversary of September 11, but they cannot be left in any doubt that the best player on the day won. Sam came to win and never let the sense of occasion disrupt her game plan. With a $1.8 million winners' cheque and a rising world ranking, this 27-year-old Queenslander has the tennis world at her feet. Long gone are the memories of last year's loss in the French Open final, for now Sam is a grand slam champion. No-one will ever be able to take that away from her. Many people in my electorate of Kooyong are great sport lovers and participants, and they join me in congratulating Sam on her wonderful sporting achievement. It is a victory that will be celebrated by hundreds of tennis players in the local clubhouses of Grace Park, Kew Heights, Kew, North Kew, Hawthorn, South Hawthorn, Deepdene, Canterbury, Balwyn Park, North Balwyn, Willison Park, Camberwell Junction, East Camberwell, Camberwell United, City of Camberwell, South Camberwell, St Dominic's Parish, Boroondara Tennis Centre, Sacred Heart and Victoria Park. No doubt my friends at the home of tennis, the Kooyong Tennis Club, will also be celebrating for Sam is a welcome visitor down there. Congratulations again, Sam Stosur. You have done us all proud and deserve every accolade that comes your way for this historic sporting achievement.

Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Typically, when we rise in this place to praise a sporting hero it is in praise of a man. When I was a boy, my focus was on distance events so I looked up to people like long distance runner Steve Moneghetti, triathlete Greg Welch and race walker Simon Baker. As a participant in each of these sports, I admired the ability of these men to develop and sustain their physical and mental ability and to push the boundaries.

Not often enough in this place do we talk about the sporting achievements of women. It is harder for women to excel at sport at an elite level. There are not many sports that women are able to play at an elite level for which they are paid a sufficient amount to dedicate their life to the sport. There are few women's sports that attract television coverage and the associated sponsorship and endorsements. Smaller still are the number of women's sports that attract prime time television coverage and the even more lucrative sponsorship deals. Just a handful of women's sports pay their athletes equivalent to men.

Tennis is an exception. In Australia, we have had a long history of champion female tennis players, from Margaret Molesworth, who won the first-ever women's title at the Australasian Championships, now the Australian Open, in 1922, through to players in the modern era such as Margaret Court, dominant in the 1960s and 1970s, and Evonne Goolagong Cawley, until now our most recent grand slam champion with her 1980 Wimbledon title.

Now we can add 27-year-old Samantha Stosur to the list. Stosur's story is one that is pretty inspirational in itself. Her early career focussed on doubles. Sam was ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles by 2006. But she contracted Lyme disease in 2007. It was devastating. She was out of tennis for close to a year and a return to the game was difficult as the illness had left her weakened.

On her return, Sam had a renewed focus on her singles game and managed to creep up the rankings. We thought her loss in the 2010 French Open final might have been the closest she would ever come to winning a grand slam. But this year Sam demonstrated that she has the physical and mental strength to succeed at the elite level by winning the US Open. My staff had been talking in the office about little else apart from Sam for days leading up to her victory. I managed to watch the final few points myself. Not surprisingly, many Australians were late to work that morning. Famously, Sam remembers staying home from school to watch her idol Pat Rafter winning his title in 1997. Now, young Australian girls have seen one of their own achieve this feat. They can see that women are capable of achieving at an elite level too. So, Sam, well done on your victory and may this be the first of many.

While I am speaking on the topic of sports participation, I use this chance to acknowledge the active sportswomen in my office who have helped me prepare these remarks: basketball and hockey player Louise Crossman, and netball and tennis player Angela Winkle. In the ACT, I also recognise the efforts of Karen Hardy to increase the participation of women in sport. Recognising the benefits of team sports, Karen has established her own scholarship. Having attained life membership of her hockey club, Karen no longer needs to pay fees so she is using her saved fees to personally pay for mothers returning to play hockey. Karen's scholarship aims to keep people, particularly women, playing sport. The benefit of sport is not for winning but as a place to come together with people of all different ages, backgrounds and skill levels. Karen describes her team as:

… a place where we can come and not be anything but ourselves. We don't have to be mothers or partners or workers or students or daughters. All we are is us.'

This camaraderie and shared experience—what some have called social capital—helps link people together and build bonds of trust. Yet in the period from 1993 to 2007, the share of Australians participating in organised sport fell from 33 per cent to 27 per cent. In this environment, world-beating sports stars such as Samantha Stosur and local sporting heroes such as Karen Hardy should be particularly applauded.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate Sam Stosur on her outstanding achievement in the US Open Tennis Championships as the 2011 women's singles champion. Like many other people on the Gold Coast I am extremely proud to call Sam one of our own. Her recent win in the US Open will inspire young sports men and women around the country to pursue their dreams.

Our new champion was only eight years old when she discovered her passion for tennis. At 13 years of age, Sam represented Australia in the World Youth Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia. This marked the first time she would experience the pressure and excitement of becoming a tennis pro.

During the US Open in 2007 Sam was unable to continue past the first round because her health had deteriorated after she was diagnosed with Lyme disease and viral meningitis. This could not have happened at a worse time for the aspiring tennis player, who at the time was rocketing up the ranks. It is amazing that Sam was able to return to the same competition some four years later to walk away triumphant as the world champion.

In the year 2000, Sam was ranked 682 in the world for the singles division and in only 11 years Sam has catapulted herself, through hard work and determination, to be ranked in the top 10 of the world's best female tennis athletes. This is a truly inspirational story for all aspiring sports men and women. It proves that with determination and passion anything is possible even when faced with life's obstacles.

The Gold Coast in particular has a proud sporting culture which has no doubt helped cultivate and nurture the determination and passion that Sam clearly has. Sam is the second woman on the Gold Coast in the space of a week to impress locals, with hurdles champion Sally Pearson also claiming the top honour in her field.

The Gold Coast is home to a number of sporting clubs, including the Titans Rugby League Club, the Gold Coast Suns AFL team, the Blaze Basketball team and numerous surf lifesaving clubs, to name just a few. There is a large outdoor and sporting culture in my electorate and on the Gold Coast in general and by embracing sport more generally we move our children away from their iPads, mobile phones, computers and TV onto the fields and courts and into the pool and surf. Healthy lifestyles are therefore instilled in our children and the inspirational sporting success of Sam Stosur will certainly provide another positive role model for them.

Reflecting on Sam's tremendous effort I am again reminded of our young sporting heroes of tomorrow. Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with several of these young men and women in my electorate, as I presented them with their Local Sporting Champions certificates. These individuals were the recipients of the most recent round of Local Sporting Champions grants, where they each received a sporting grant payment of $500 from the Australian Sports Commission. The passion these young men and women have shown for their respective sports is commendable; many of them train within their sporting disciplines almost every day and spend hours attending these sessions in an effort to improve their skills. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend their parents and those who spend their time, effort and financial resources to ensure their children reach their sporting potential, particularly when many parents on the southern Gold Coast are struggling with increased hours of work and the increase in costs of living. All of the schools on the southern Gold Coast offer a variety of sporting programs. In addition to this, the Palm Beach Currumbin State High School offers sporting excellence programs for gifted and talented students, giving them the opportunity to excel in their sporting discipline in a supportive educational environment. While these students are at school they are taught by a combination of school staff members and professional coaches in their particular sporting discipline.

Achieving excellence in sport involves commitment and dedication and I am sure that Sam Stosur's US Open win will inspire the young people of the nation to not only excel in sport but also to take part in sport for the other benefits, including making friends and, most importantly, having fun. In closing, I again congratulate Sam Stosur as this years US Open women's singles champion and hope that her success will be replicated by countless more Australians in all sporting fields. Well done, Sam.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sam Stosur is another Australian sporting hero, whose achievements are highlighted by her dedication to overcoming adversity and reaching the pinnacle of the tennis world. As we know, Sam was born in Brisbane and moved to Adelaide when she was just 6 years old after the family home and business were devastated by floods on the Gold Coast. At the age of eight, Sam was given her first tennis racquet as a present and she showed immediate promise. She entered her first international tournament at the age of 13 in the World Youth Cup in Jakarta, and this was to be just the start of a professional tennis career. At 14 Sam entered the Queensland Academy of Sport and by 16 was enrolled in the Australian Institute of Sport. She clearly showed so much determination, commitment and, clearly, talent.

Sam really came to the attention of the Australian sporting public when she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open tournament in 2006, but by then she was already well known in tennis circles as a great doubles player, having reached world number one doubles status with her partner Lisa Raymond. Her win in the 2011 US Open, I would think, is especially sweet to her given her battle to overcome the horrendous impacts of Lyme disease. I can only imagine what sort of determination and courage it has taken for her to continue with her sport. In 2007, Sam suffered from lethargy and pain that remained undiagnosed during that year's Wimbledon and US Open but was finally diagnosed later in the year. Lyme disease, as we know, is cause by an infection spread by the bite of a tick and in severe cases can cause long-term disability, so this is not a simple issue. In Sam's case, most of 2007 and early 2008 were just a battle, but her recovery was a certainty given that she is a strong young woman She is determined and she is dedicated and in 2009 Sam started to reap the rewards of that. She made a third round appearance at the Australian Open, reached the semi-finals of the French Open and won her maiden singles title in Osaka. She finished ranked 13th in the world in 2009.

I think 2010 is when Australia and Australians really got behind Sam as never before in her career. When she reached the final of the French Open, her first Grand Slam final, people Australia-wide realised that we had a serious contender here and it was perhaps then that Sam too realised that she was a serious contender. Although she was not to win that final, many of us followed her all the way. Australia shared her disappointment, but it was a disappointment that was borne with pride and dignity. In reaching the third round of both the French and Australian Opens in 2011, Sam continued to show great form and carried with her the hopes of this nation. It is fantastic to see that her great build-up has paid an ultimate dividend in the 2011 US Open.

She is the first Australian US Open women's winner since Margaret Court in 1973 and Australia's first female winner of a tennis major since Evonne Goolagong's triumph at Wimbledon in 1980. Once again, Sam carried the hopes of a nation, many of whom got up quite early to support the new champion that she would become. I think the strength that she showed when she was actually engaged in that match—many of us will never forget it. It was absolute determination. There was focus and there was fairness. I think she will go on and represent Australia with pride. Even though Wimbledon has been her toughest major venue, I hope her win has opened a floodgate for her and I hope that she has great confidence.

I congratulate Sam on her success to date. I wish her the best for the future. I also want to acknowledge her gracious acceptance of the trophy that she received and the very generous speech she gave which recognised her rival—at a time, perhaps, when others may not have done so. She showed the real Australian spirit and what a great young person she is in so many ways. I congratulate her and I hope that, as the previous member said, this inspires a lot of great young people in our nation to follow their dreams and their ambitions.

Main Committee adjourned at 13 : 01

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 26 May 2011:

Further to the Minister's answer to question in writing No. 179 (House Hansard, 10 May 2011, page 54):

(1) Is it a fact that the cost of transit capacity on the Internet is a cost which must be met in providing a service to end users over the National Broadband Network; if so, will this cost be met by NBN Co. or the retail service provider.

(2) If this cost is to be met by NBN Co., will NBN Co. know in advance the likely sum in order to recover it from retail service providers in the final price charged.

(3) If this cost is to be met by retail service providers, will NBN Co. know in advance the likely sum, so that in setting a price for retail service providers it is able to consider the likely margins to be earned by the retail service provider, taking account of all of the retail service provider's costs (including amounts paid by both the retail service provider to NBN Co. and the service provider for transit capacity).

(4) Has NBN Co. developed estimates of what the cost of transit capacity on the Internet (per megabit) will be; if so, what are they; if not, why not.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

(1) Yes. Depending on the application, transit capacity is required to connect from the NBN Point of Interconnect (POI) to other parts of the internet. The cost of this connectivity is the responsibility of the retail service provider.

(2) The cost of this capacity is the responsibility of the retail service provider.

(3) NBN Co considered a range of inputs when developing the wholesale costs for the NBN, including the prices in the ACCC's Declared Transmission Capacity Services Interim Access Determination. Whilst NBN Co can model a number of likely cost scenarios, it cannot know precisely all retail service provider's costs as these will depend on a range of commercial choices made by the RSP.

(4) See answer to (3) above.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 4 July 2011:

Is the Minister able to provide the Australian Media and Communications Authority (ACMA's) input towards the development of policy on the communications infrastructure to support emergency services and alerts; if so, what advice did ACMA provide on (a) a Radio Data System versus public mobile and fixed networks as platforms for delivering emergency services and alerts, (b) L and/or S band services to deliver such infrastructure and (c) its discussions with NBN Co. Limited about the potential for its satellite services to include an S band transponder for providing emergency alert facilities.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

The question relates to the carriage of alerts via the short message system (SMS), with a supplement being via an L or S band transponder on the National Broadband Network satellite. The ACMA advises that there is no planned L or S band transponder on the NBN filing and notes that it has not had discussions with NBN Co. Limited on this issue. The ACMA advises that the management of emergency alerts is a matter for the Attorney-General's Department.

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 4 July 2011

(1) Is the Minister aware that mobile phone coverage is poor in Alligator Creek at the Bowling Green Bay National Park?

(2) Is the Minister aware that good mobile phone coverage in this area could aid the community in seeking assistance during emergencies, such as the accidental drowning of Che-Nezce Perrie Shepherd on Sunday 12 December 2010?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

The Australian Government understands the importance of mobile telephony to Australians, in particular in emergency situations.

In recent years the mobile phone carriers have significantly expanded their terrestrial mobile networks. Vodafone Hutchison Australia claims its networks currently cover more than 94 per cent of the Australian population. Optus claims its 3G network provides services to 97 per cent of the Australian population. Telstra claims its Next G network now provides mobile coverage to 99 per cent of Australians.

For the most part the recent extension of mobile coverage across Australia has been based on commercial decisions by carriers. In making a decision to extend coverage to a particular area, carriers will consider a range of factors, including site availability, cost structures, likely levels of demand from users and overall economic viability of the service.

Local governments can assist in identifying potential demand for mobile services in the area. Information such as projections of population growth, visitors to the region and records of traffic volumes can be helpful in assisting carriers to make informed decisions about whether to extend coverage to certain areas.

There are a number of factors that can interfere with mobile reception and, therefore, affect a user's ability to obtain or maintain a mobile phone signal at any given time or in any particular place. These factors include mountainous or hilly terrain, road cuttings, buildings and tunnels. While not all potential sources of interference can be overcome, service providers should be able to advise of ways to minimise interference.

I understand there is unreliable mobile phone reception in the Bowling Green Bay National Park.

In areas where no terrestrial mobile coverage exists, satellite mobile phones provide an alternative means of accessing communications. Satellite phones are not as reliant on the local power supply infrastructure and are more reliable than ground based systems during an emergency. Satellite mobile phone services cover the entire Australian landmass and are available from a number of providers.

Residents of Alligator Creek may be eligible to apply for a subsidy under the Satellite Phone Subsidy Scheme. The scheme improves the affordability of mobile communications for people living and working in areas without terrestrial mobile coverage, by providing subsidies for the purchase of satellite phone handsets.

The scheme provides up to $1000 for eligible applicants who live in areas without terrestrial mobile coverage or up to $700 for eligible applicants who live in areas that have coverage, but spend more than 180 days across a two year period in non-coverage areas.

Under the scheme's rules, those eligible to apply include individuals, small businesses, community groups, not-for-profit organisations, Indigenous corporations, emergency service organisations, health organisations and educational institutions.

Information on the scheme is available from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy website at www.dbcde.gov.au/satphone. An information kit can be obtained by contacting the scheme administrator on 1800 674 058 or via email at satphone@dbcde.gov.au.

An alternative to telephone communications is the use of distress beacon units, such as Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) or Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs). These devices are designed to assist in an emergency by alerting rescue authorities and indicating location. More recent models in corporate Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology, enabling much more accurate determination of the location compared with earlier models.

These devices are not as limited by terrain as mobile phones and, by providing the location, will speed up any rescue effort. A variety of providers around Australia offer these for sale or hire.

Other technologies that could operate in areas without terrestrial mobile coverage include Citizens Band or ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio. It is important to be aware that these technologies cannot connect to the telephone network.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 5 July 2011:

What:

(a) consideration has been given to the fact that the Ka band satellite solutions proposed by NBN Co. Limited will be affected by adverse meteorological conditions, particularly cyclonic events, and

(b) arrangements are being made for remote land and maritime based mining and oil/gas operations that presently use C band services if the frequencies that use this band are re-allocated for commercial wireless broadband purposes.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

The Government and NBN Co are aware that all telecommunications platforms are potentially susceptible to catastrophic weather events, such as cyclones. In developing the Ka-band satellite platform, NBN Co is also working to develop strategies to minimize disturbances caused by such events.

The C-band currently supports a number of uses including fixed wireless and satellite services. As such, there are a number of arrangements already in place to allow services to share this spectrum band.

In May 2011, the Australian Communications and Media Authority outlined that, while under consideration, the C-band is not yet formally included as a potential band for mobile broadband. However, it is standard ACMA procedure for any band replanning activity to take into consideration many factors including the operation of existing services and would involve consultation with interested stakeholders prior to any new arrangements being adopted.

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Tourism, in writing, on 16 August 2011:

What is the (a) name, (b) position, (c) terms of appointment, and (d) tenure of appointment of each member of the Tourism Australia Board of Directors.

Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

The Tourism Australia Board of Directors comprises the Managing Director, Chair, Deputy Chair, and six other members. The current membership of the Tourism Australia Board of Directors is:

Mr Andrew McEvoy

Position: Managing Director of Tourism Australia

Term of Appointment: Five Years

Tenure of Appointment: 25 January 2010 to 30 November 2014

Mr Geoff Dixon

Position: Chair

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2009 - 30 June 2012

Ms Kate Lamont

Position: Deputy Chair

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2009 - 30 June 2012

Ms Terri Janke

Position: Member

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2011 - 30 June 2014

Ms Sandra McPhee

Position: Member

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2009 - 30 June 2012

Ms Janet Whiting

Position: Member

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2011 - 30 June 2014

Mr Brett Godfrey

Position: Member

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2010 - 30 June 2013

Mr Mark Stone

Position: Member

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2010 - 30 June 2013

Mr Didier Elzinga

Position: Member

Term of Appointment: Three Years

Tenure of Appointment: 1 July 2010 - 30 June 2013

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Tourism, in writing, on 16 August 2011:

In respect of Tourism Australia:

(1) What are the details of all memberships with organisations that are funded by this agency, including the (a) name of the organisation, (b) cost of membership, (c) duration of membership, and (d) reason for membership.

(2) What are the details of all sponsorships, including event sponsorships, funded by this agency, including the (a) name of the recipient, (b) cost, (c) duration, and (d) reason.

Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1)(a) Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

(b) $20,000

(c) Annual membership

(d)To ensure representation and engagement in international tourism fora and access to tourism data.

(a) United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)

(b) $155,000

(c) Annual membership

(d)To ensure representation and engagement in international tourism fora and access to tourism data.

(2) (a) Foreign Correspondents Association

(b) $3,500

(c) Annual sponsorship

(d) To foster sound relations with foreign correspondents covering international tourism.

(a) John Brown Foundation

(b) $10,000

(c) Annual sponsorship

(d) To support development of young Australian tourism industry professionals.

(a) Australian Hotels Association

(b) $20,000

(c) Annual sponsorship

(d) Sponsorship of annual conference.

(a) Tourism and Transport Forum

(b) $20,000

(c) Annual sponsorship

(d) Sponsorship of annual conference and leadership series.

(a) Australian Regional Tourism Network for the Australian Regional Tourism Convention

(b) $5,000

(c) Event Sponsorship

(d) To foster relations with tourism industry representatives.

(a) National Tourism Alliance—National Tourism Awards

(b) $50,000

(c) Awards Sponsorship

(d) To foster relations with tourism industry representatives and encourage the development of the Australian tourism industry.

(a) ATEC Symposium

(b) $10,000

(c) Event sponsorship

(d) To foster relations with tourism industry representatives and encourage the development of the Australian tourism industry.

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 25 August 2011:

How many staff were employed by the Minister's department in the Senior Executive Service (ie, SES) on 1 July (a) 2008, and (b) 2011.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

(a) 37 staff employed by the department in the SES on 1 July 2008

(b) 38 staff employed by the department in the SES on 1 July 2011