Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a few comments on a wonderful life led by Clarrie Millar. Clarrie was known to many in this parliament and was an icon within the Wide Bay region. He was the member for Wide Bay between 1974 and 1990. Sadly, he passed away not long ago, but he left behind a wonderful legacy, not only in terms of his contribution to the local area—and he is fondly remembered by Warren Truss, who was his successor; I will come to some of Warren's words in a moment—but also his wonderful contribution by way of his work as a father and husband and as somebody who did an enormous amount to build up his kids, as any father would want. It turns out that he has created a wonderful family in Wendy, Robert—or Bob—David, Lisa and Trudi. Lisa is Lisa Millar, who is a well-known, world-famous correspondent for the ABC, and Bob Millar is a personal friend of mine and a former councillor on the Moreton Bay Regional Council, so I've heard a lot of stories about Clarrie, particularly from Bob, who was very proud of his father's service. Incidentally, Bob worked for 16 years on the council—the same period that Clarrie served in parliament.

Given the short time that I have, some of the words that I wanted recorded in Hansard come from Lisa herself, from a wonderful article she posted online:

I'd like to share with you the more personal side of Dad—and why he, and my mother Dorothy, deserve credit for the journalist I am today.

Dad was the self-appointed president of the Lisa Millar cheer squad.

Did he laugh that my first byline in The Gympie Times in 1988 was about a head-lice infestation in schools? No. He was so proud.

I never had to ring Dad to give him a heads-up about a piece in the paper or a story on the TV news.

He would've already carefully cut it out of the paper, or sat in front of the TV with his finger on the VHS record button — always "just" missing the start, blaming the ridiculous "hurdy-gurdy" technology he was forced to deal with.

Clarrie was an incredible influence on his daughter and can claim credit for the great success that she is today.

It is similar with the other children. I will speak for a moment about Bob. Bob is a person who inherited his father's sense of community service, and he served our community very proudly for a long period of time. I last saw Clarrie on Australia Day 2016. Bob is involved in the local Rotary club and presides over the citizenship ceremony there. It was a wonderful occasion to spend a few moments with the family. I acknowledge the sad passing and send my respects to Dorothy, to all of the children and to the extended Millar family.