Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay my respects and express my deep sadness at the passing of Allan Gyngell AO. Allan was one of Australia's finest foreign policy minds, as you would know, Deputy Speaker Wilkie; and one of the finest practitioners of foreign policy and international affairs that this country has seen. He served Australia at the highest levels and in so many senior roles; I can't name all of them. He was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2009 for his services to international relations.

As some of you may know, he served as international adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating in the early 1990s. He was a public servant in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as a first assistant secretary of the international branch in the early 1990s. He began his foreign policy career in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He served as a diplomat in Rangoon, in Singapore in the 1970s and in Washington in the early 1980s. As you would know, Deputy Speaker, he was a member of that rather famous cohort, the class of '69—so many accomplished Australians came out of that year.

More recently, later in his life, Allan was the national president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and he also served as the director of ONA. Deputy Speaker, you would know the great work Allan did there, having yourself served in that organisation.

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

Indeed.

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He also served as executive director of the Lowy Institute think tank for many years, and he was an honorary professor at the ANU. That's a very impressive list of his service, but it doesn't really capture the importance of Allan's contribution to Australia's place in the world.

He was of course deeply respected by his colleagues, and it wasn't just because of his contribution and his intellect; it was also because he was such a lovely and generous person. He was a kind man, a good man, mild-mannered and softly spoken, but what he had to say was so incisive and so sharp. His critical analysis was so sharp and relevant that it was really a contrast to his manner in some respects. He was generous with his time and advice to colleagues and to very junior officers. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend time with him, particularly when I was starting out in foreign policy and defence policy work. He didn't have to spend that time with me, but I know for a fact that he spent a lot of his time with many young Australians who were working their way through the Public Service and gave his wise counsel, advice, guidance and mentorship.

He will be deeply missed not just amongst the foreign policy community or the national security community in the Public Service but broadly right across the Australian community, because he actually impacted many lives for the better through the work that he did.

It was actually a very shocking surprise when we heard of his passing. It happened very, very quickly. My understanding is that within five weeks of his diagnosis he passed away. But I also heard that he was very philosophical about his situation. I think he said something like, 'The entry cost of life is death.' He was very philosophical. He was very reflective. He said he didn't have a small family he was leaving behind, and he'd had a full life. It's really a credit to the man that he was so calm and so generous and giving even in his last weeks on this earth.

I want to give my heartfelt condolences to Allan's family, his children, his wife and his friends—and there are many of them right across the community. Rest in peace, Allan Gyngell.

Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Allan Gyngell was one of Australia's greatest public servants. He was happy to be a member of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's famous class of 1969, alongside Sandy Holloway, Rick Smith and John Dauth. I first met Allan 30 years after that, in 1999. I was the Labor Party's trade adviser, reaching out to experts on behalf of my boss, Senator Peter Cook. As a 27-year-old staffer I was just the conduit for the shadow trade minister, but Allan took an interest in me and helped mentor me in my career. I'm not sure I ever knew anyone so influential yet so modest.

Allan Gyngell had served as foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating. He represented Australia in Myanmar, Singapore and Washington DC. He was curious and insightful about the world. As we walked to the Washington DC metro on a summer day in 2000, I remarked on how green Washington DC is. Allan offered the observation that the story of white settlement in the United States was one of settlers moving west, finding more verdant lands, expanding populations, and pushing further west. By contrast, Allan said, the story of white settlement in Australia is one of expeditions like Burke and Wills, tragic stories of failed explorations in the desert. And that, Allan said, is why America has more than 10 times the population of Australia.

When I studied in the United States I fell in love with a young American lass and wanted to impress her when I brought her back to Australia. Allan offered to lend us his Kings Cross apartment. It was the perfect base to explore the city. The only risk I was worried about was that I was secretly planning to propose marriage to Gweneth, and I was worried she might tip to my plans if she learned that I'd borrowed the apartment from a bloke who'd just finished helping Paul Keating on a book titled Engagement.

Allan served as the inaugural executive director of the Lowy Institute, shaping the country's pre-eminent foreign policy think tank over his six years at the helm. In 2009 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd phoned Allan to ask him to head the Office of National Assessments, Australia's top intelligence body. As Kevin recalled:

Allan was holidaying on the Amalfi Coast at the time. It was a mark of the man that two decades after leaving the public service, he was prepared to not just cut his holiday short, but to serve his country once again.

As Director-General of the ONA, Allan had access to Australia's most tightly held secrets, yet he was still curious about how his agency could engage with outside thinkers, inviting in university professors to discuss how ONA could improve its work. Allan was close to the world of power but constantly engaged with the world of ideas.

In 2003 he and Michael Wesley wrote Making Australian Foreign Policy, a key foreign policy text. In 2017 he wrote Fear of Abandonment: Australia in the World Since 1942. More recently, he and Darren Lim produced the podcast Australia in the World, whose 112th episode came out on 4 April. As Darren noted:

He'd tell me, for example, that every Australian government "discovers" India at least once in its time in office, or that there are certain things all Australian leaders must say when giving speeches about the US alliance, although those differ by political party.

Darren went on to say:

Allan was relentlessly curious to hear my theorist's take on events, and he was utterly respectful of my views. Allan was someone who could be persuaded. He would always engage, giving me the space to make my point and, when necessary, he had the patience to teach me when my theorising took me far past the bounds of reality.

Allan was a prolific producer of ideas. On the Lowy Institute's Interpreter blog, Vafa Ghazavi listed five of Allan's big ideas, as follows:

First, incorporate an Indigenous element in the ceremonial welcome of foreign heads of state and government to Australia.

…   …   …

Second, craft problem-solving coalitions in response to emerging global challenges.

…   …   …

Third, resource the foreign service properly.

…   …   …

Fourth, use foreign policy speeches on hard challenges.

…   …   …

Fifth, don't securitise everything.

Allan was a great mentor to young people. As executive director of the Lowy Institute he not only hired staff but worked to shape them into better thinkers and communicators. He encouraged people to read deeply and travel widely. When he came to our home in recent years he was always keen to hear what our three young boys were doing and what they thought. He probably knew more than anyone in the room, yet he wanted to listen more than to talk.

Allan had a mighty impact on public policy. At the National Press Club recently the foreign minister singled Allan out for special mention, noting:

Allan has been an official and unofficial adviser to governments for decades, always in singular service of Australia's national interest.

He is the definitive historian of Australian foreign policy. He is the finest writer about Australian foreign policy. He is, frankly, the finest mind in Australian foreign policy. And possibly also the smallest ego in Australian foreign policy.

I emailed Allan to say how chuffed I was to see his intellect and modesty acknowledged. He replied:

Thanks Andrew. My analytical instincts tell me there was a bit to be tested in the judgements, but it was very nice to hear, particularly as one of my children was in the audience.

It was vintage Allan Gyngell. My condolences to his widow, Catherine, and to their sons.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I commend the previous speaker, the member for Fenner, on that fine contribution and for his great impersonations of the podcast. They were very accurate! I almost felt like I was listening to the great man.

It is with great sadness that I, too, learned of the passing of Allan Gyngell AO on 3 May after a short illness. As tributes have poured in over recent days, we've all been reminded how much of an enormous contribution Allan made to Australia's understanding of its place in the region and in the world. 'Allan was our finest mind in Australian foreign policy,' said our foreign minister, Penny Wong. Andrew Shearer, the Director-General of National Intelligence, said:

A giant in the policy world, Allan combined a mild manner with a brilliant intellect—

and—

… modesty, fairness and a healthy dose of self-effacing humour.

This quote is from Paul Symon, the former head of ASIS:

The intelligence community was always enriched by the wit, wisdom and analytical prowess of Allan Gyngell. We always learnt by listening to him.

Another quote is:

He is someone whose intelligence crept up on you. As you got to know him, the more you got to respect him.

That was former ambassador Dennis Richardson.

Allan's distinguished career included his roles as national president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, or AIIA, from 2017 to 2023. He was director-general of the Office of National Assessments from 2009 to 2013, and he was founding executive director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy for six years from 2003. Allan served as senior international adviser to former Prime Minister Paul Keating from 1993 to 1996. What many don't know is that Allan also served as a negotiator, mostly secretly, to help produce that 1995 Australia-Indonesia security agreement. Prior to that, he was at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet including as first assistant secretary international from 1991 to 1993.

He began his foreign policy career as an officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, where he served as a diplomat in Rangoon, in Singapore and in Washington DC. He was an influential mentor to many in the foreign policy community in Canberra and nationally. He was always generous with his time and with his advice. I had the great privilege of meeting with him, and I really appreciated his time and counsel during our last term in opposition. And now, looking back, I'd have really wished the division bells hadn't rung if I'd known that it was the last time that I'd get to spend time and ask questions of this giant of foreign policy.

Many, including the foreign minister, have commented on Allan's remarkable intelligence, kindness, wit and warmth. Those are the qualities I also remember. He had a remarkable ability to access and to dissect the most complex policy challenges with a scholar's incisiveness, a practitioner's wisdom and the rigour of an analyst.

A division having been called in th e House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:03 to 17:08

In continuation, earlier in my remarks about the remarkable Allan Gyngell I reflected that my last conversation with him was interrupted by the bells. And then I was getting towards my contribution about this incredible man of Australian foreign policy, a very decent man, and the bells took me away. I will return to it now.

In 2020, I engaged with his thought-provoking work by writing a response to his essay titled 'History hasn't ended', which was in the Australian Foreign Affairs journal. Allan's piece was, typically, commendable for its even-keeled policy prescriptions and his level-headed tone in discussing our complex and consequential relationship, particularly, with China. In this work, Allan made the point:

The comforting familiarity of the post-World War II era has ended and the strangeness of our international environment, including China's centrality, is here to stay. Learning how to adjust to the strangeness and operate effectively within it, is this generation's great national test.

Allan was consistent in warning against hyperventilation over Australia's strategic challenges, always offering the hard-nosed and nuanced analysis that you would expect from someone who's such an experienced policymaker, but people with as many years in foreign policy as Allan may not necessarily have had that even-keeled approach, that sensible, pragmatic approach. It's remarkable, the balance that made him so unique and respected in the foreign policy and national security community.

Allan was a noted scholar in his own right, and I think it's also important to pay tribute to this aspect of his career. The 2003 textbook Making Australian Foreign Policy, which he co-wrote with Michael Wesley, remains compulsory reading among Australian students of foreign policy to this day. His 2017 book Fear of Abandonment is another classic of Australian foreign policy. So, for these and for all his intellectual and policy contributions, Australia mourns a giant of Australian foreign policy with Allan's passing. I too offer my deepest condolences to Allan's wife, Catherine, and the family.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lingiari. There being no further statements, I call the Clerk.