Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a great honour to rise in this chamber this evening to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the Hon. Peter Morris, a principled Labor man, a reformer of conviction and one of the most significant public figures our region has produced. Peter Morris dedicated more than 25 years of his life to public service, serving the people of the electorate of Shortland in this parliament from 1972 to 1998. Across those decades, he became known not only as a highly capable minister and parliamentarian but as a tireless advocate for the Hunter and for working people right across Australia.

His passing is deeply felt in Newcastle and throughout our region. Peter's story was shaped by the Hunter from the very beginning. He was the son of a Greek migrant who came to Australia seeking opportunity and a better future for his family, and, like so many migrant families who helped build our industrial regions like Newcastle, the Morris family understood hard work, resilience and community. Peter grew up with those values deeply ingrained in him.

He attended Newcastle Boys' High School and later built his career in local government before entering federal politics. Long before he came to this chamber, Peter had already developed the qualities that would define his public life: intelligence, determination, integrity and a fierce commitment to the people he represented. No matter how senior the office he held, Peter never lost sight of where he came from. He was always unmistakeably a Hunter local. He carried with him the instincts of someone who understood working communities—communities built around the steelworks, the mines, the railways and the waterfront. He understood the aspirations and anxieties of ordinary families because they were the communities that shaped him.

Peter entered the Australian parliament during a transformative period in Australian history, and he helped shape many of the reforms that modernised our nation. As a minister in the Hawke government, he played an important role in advancing major transport and infrastructure projects that would leave a lasting mark on both our region and Australia more broadly. Peter understood that transport and infrastructure are never just about roads, airports or transport corridors; for him, infrastructure opened up opportunities. It was about connecting communities, supporting jobs, driving investment and ensuring regions like ours were never left behind.

His work supporting the development and growth of Newcastle Airport helped lay foundations for what has become one of the Hunter's most important economic assets. Today Newcastle Airport stands as a critical gateway for tourism, defence, industry and trade, supporting thousands of jobs and helping connect our region to the world. I would just add that, true to his Labor values and principles, Peter ensured that Newcastle Airport was established with a model of ownership between the two local councils so that today it is the largest airport in Australia that remains in public ownership. The profits therefore get returned to the communities that bought into that airport in the first place. The City of Newcastle and the Port Stephens Council remain custodians and leasers of those lands, and those profits are returned. It is a remarkable model, and it was only somebody like Peter Morris who had the foresight to set it up in such a way that this airport would never be privatised and sold off, and that the communities that house the airport and that invest in the airport get to benefit from it as well.

A lot of Novocastrians for many, many generations will be giving thanks to Peter Morris for his foresight in that regard, but that was just one example. Peter also understood the importance of better road connectivity between Newcastle and Sydney. It remains a sport for Novocastrians to critique the transport corridors between these two cities. Peter's advocacy around the M1 motorway corridor reflected his staunch belief that improving transport links would strengthen economic growth, improve safety and better connect regional communities to major cities and opportunities. Through his involvement in aviation and transport policy, including work connected to the new second airport of Sydney at Badgerys Creek just opening, Peter helped shape national conversations about the future of Australian infrastructure and economic development.

These were nation-building reforms and projects, but Peter never approached them in abstract policy terms alone. He understood what these projects meant to working people. He understood what secure jobs meant to families trying to pay the mortgage, raise the children and build a future. He understood what investment meant to regional confidence. That practical understanding grounded his politics throughout his career.

Peter also held a deep appreciation for Newcastle's rich maritime history and the communities built around our harbour and busy waterfront. He played an important role in the opening of the Newcastle Maritime Museum, helping ensure that the stories of our port, our working harbour, our seafarers and our industrial heritage were preserved for future generations. That contribution reflected Peter's broader belief that Newcastle should always celebrate and honour the working people and industries that shape our city. I welcome the current discussions with the New South Wales government around getting the museum's collection back into public display so that the community can once again engage with this important part of our history. I know just how disappointed Peter was when that museum closed, and I know it was his wish that it would be a temporary closure. He was really heartened to know there were people still fighting for the Newcastle Maritime Museum. I take this moment to acknowledge the Newcastle branch of the Maritime Union of Australia for the very constructive role they have played in those discussions and for their continued advocacy in preserving Newcastle's maritime heritage.

One of the most pleasurable last memories I have of being with Peter, before he went into care, is of being out on a restored vessel called William the Fourth. That boat now commemorates him, and he was so thrilled to be out there on the water once again. He looked like the happiest man in Newcastle that day. It's a great joy for me to remember him in that context, in the place that he loved so much, on the William the Fourth boat touring the working harbour that he dedicated much of his life and advocacy to. It's a special memory that will stay with me, that's for sure.

But Peter's most enduring and nationally significant contribution perhaps came through his fearless advocacy not as a minister, not as someone holding high office in this place, but, at that time, as a humble backbencher heading up a committee. He wrote an extraordinary report that many of us continue to refer to today—I see former deputy prime minister the member for Riverina acknowledging that it was indeed a landmark report—called Ships of shame. For those of us that have been around the block enough, we know just how important that report was.

In 1992 Peter chaired the inquiry into shipping safety and standards that exposed shocking exploitation and dangerous practices occurring aboard foreign vessels operating in Australian waters. That report uncovered appalling conditions endured by seafarers—unsafe ships, inadequate living conditions, exploitation of crews and systemic neglect of safety standards. It was confronting, but Peter refused to look away. At the time there were powerful interests content to ignore those conditions. Peter insisted that Australia had a responsibility to uphold fairness, dignity and safety for all workers. People visiting our shores were not somehow carved out of that, in Peter's mind. The Ships of shame report became a catalyst for reform in maritime safety and regulation. It's a standard that is still used today. I recall that when I was speaking to the Newcastle branch secretary of the MUA very recently, he made it very clear to me that seafarers would still be working on rust buckets today if it wasn't for Peter Morris. I think that's a very true statement.

I remember when I became a candidate, standing in the 2013 election. The International Transport Workers' Federation was in Newcastle. Peter encouraged me to attend the seminars that were being run by the transport federation, and they allowed me to board a ship with them in the Newcastle Harbour. These are people who have international tickets to board ships to check on the safety and wellbeing of seafarers all around the world. We were delighted to have them in the Port of Newcastle. It was a real eye-opener for me, I have to say, and I'm really indebted to Peter and to the International Transport Workers' Federation for that very early education. Although Peter's report was way back in the 1990s, I was boarding a ship in 2013 that hadn't paid its workers for three months and didn't have enough food for them to get to the next port. But I'm really pleased to say that—now, with that infrastructure in place and those safety inspectors aboard ships—that ship left our harbour having paid that crew, having fed them and made sure they had water and food to get to the next port. But it does remind me that you just need to remain forever vigilant. In Australia, we do have good working conditions for people in our ports, and we want that extended to the people that work on ships that come to our ports. It was an important part of my early education as a—I was not even then the member for Newcastle, but it sticks with me. That is in no small part due to the extraordinary work that Peter Morris did—and made sure all of us in the region were familiar with the work that he had done. That was a good education for me as the young parliamentarian I was soon to be.

The Ships of Shame report really elevated public awareness. It strengthened the security of international shipping practices and helped drive improvements in safety standards and conditions for seafarers. It's something we should be really proud of here in Australia—that we ask international seafarers to abide by those conditions and regulations too. The report reflected Peter's broad philosophy that economic progress should never come at the expense of human dignity, that workers deserve to return home safely, that fairness matters and that governments have a responsibility to stand up for those whose voices are all too often ignored. That commitment to fairness and justice defined Peter Morris throughout his public life, and he was deeply respected across the labour movement because he combined intellectual rigour with a solid grounding in those principles of high regard for common humanity.

He was serious about policy, he was serious about reform and serious about public service, and he understood people. He understood relationships, he understood community and he understood the importance of humour. For many of us in Newcastle, Peter was far more than a former minister or respected elder statesman. He was a mentor, a confidant, a storyteller, a trusted source of wisdom and advice. He had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcome and valued, and conversations with Peter were always memorable. They could be long—and a long journey to get around to the story—but it meant that it was really tattooed into my memory bank forevermore.

He possessed a razor-sharp political mind and an extraordinary memory, and, after leaving parliament, Peter remained deeply engaged in Newcastle and the Hunter. I want to acknowledge the words from the now member for Shortland of just how involved he remained in the Shortland FEC. People, after giving 27 years of service, have got every right to sit back and retire, but that was never Peter's way. He remained very actively engaged and cared deeply about the rank-and-file members of the Australian Labor Party, and they loved him for that. We should all take a leaf out of his book, really. He took enormous pride in the region's achievements and the potential of our region.

Just recently, Peter's longstanding contribution to our maritime community was recognised through the ceremonial hoisting of the William the Fourth's new ship's tender, the Peter Morris. He will be very, very chuffed about having a vessel named in his honour. The tender was hand built by the Lake Macquarie Classic Boat Association in partnership with the William the Fourth organisation and stands as a fitting tribute to Peter's decades of support and patronage. While I was unfortunately unable to attend that ceremony, I want to sincerely thank everyone involved in bringing that project to life and in honouring Peter in such a meaningful way. It's a beautiful reflection on the respect and affection that our community held for him.

He believed passionately in Newcastle's future. He believed in our workers, our industries, our creativity and our resilience. And he believed that regional communities deserved ambition from government—not just attention during election campaigns but genuine long-term investment and opportunity. That belief continues to resonate today.

I know many across our community will feel Peter's loss profoundly. His passing represents the loss of a generation of leaders shaped by public service, community connection and deep ideological convictions—people who entered politics because they genuinely wanted to improve the lives of others, people who understood that politics at its best is about service. I will miss Peter deeply. I will miss his wisdom, his encouragement and his generosity with younger generations of Labor representatives. I will miss his stories, and I will miss his unwavering commitment to Newcastle and the Hunter. I will be attending a service called the Merchant Mariners Memorial service, coming up in a couple of weeks. It'll be the June long weekend. That, again, is a legacy of Peter Morris. He understood that we lost many merchant mariners during the war time and we had no way to honour them. We now have at the Newcastle harbour a magnificent memorial in honour of the merchant mariners. We have a service every year, which will happen, as I said, in the June long weekend, and we will all be remembering Peter, who will be very much in our hearts and minds at that service this year.

On behalf of the people of Newcastle, I do extend my deepest condolences to Peter's family. Peter and his wife, Florence, who sadly passed away in 2019—I know that really hurt Peter; he really missed Flo—were loving parents to four children, including the late Matthew Morris, their son, who was a former state member for Charlestown, from 2003 to 2011, so this is a family that knows service. Peter and Flo are survived by their children Michael, Paul and John Morris, along with Peter's remaining siblings, including one of my predecessors, the former federal member for Newcastle, Allan Morris. He was in this parliament from 1983 to 2001. In my part of the world, if you don't serve for more than 20 years, you're considered a bit of a wimp, I think! I am only the sixth federal member for Newcastle since 1901. That shows the kind of service that has been given, and, in no small part, more than half a century of that has been the Morris family. So I do not want to ever underestimate the significance of that service. And I do want to send my condolences to all the members of the Morris family and to Peter's many dear friends and loved ones, and, of course, the ALP rank and file, who I know will be mourning his passing. I hope that they take some comfort in knowing that Peter leaves behind an extraordinary legacy, a legacy built not only on the offices he held or the projects that he advanced but through the values he championed—fairness, dignity, opportunity and service to others. Newcastle and the Hunter are stronger because of Peter Morris, and Australia is better because of Peter Morris. Vale, Peter Morris.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We've just heard some fine and eloquent words from the member for Newcastle on behalf of the Labor Party for Peter Frederick Morris, somebody who was obviously ALP royalty. She spoke about his service to the federal electorate council after his parliamentary career, his extraordinary parliamentary service as the member for Shortland from 1972 through to 1998 and his Ships of shame report. We will be hearing later on from the member for Adelaide, who no doubt will extol the virtues of Peter Morris, the son of a Greek migrant and an inaugural member of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association, an organisation of which both Mr Georganas and I are members. Obviously, good Greeks give good service to the parliament. Indeed, Steve and I are very good friends. I did not know Mr Morris personally or politically, but, having read his record, I pay a deep amount of tribute and honour to him for the fact that he was the minister for transport—a role I've also held—the minister for aviation; the minister for resources; the minister for housing and aged care; the minister assisting the prime minister; the minister assisting the treasurer; the minister for transport and communications support; a cabinet minister as the minister for industrial relations; and the minister assisting the prime minister for public service matters. It is a truly remarkable record of achievement, accomplishment and service.

The member for Newcastle spoke fondly about what he had done in and around Newcastle as the member for Shortland and as a cabinet minister. But I want to focus tonight, as a Nationals member, on the service that he did for Wagga Wagga and indeed the Riverina when it was served by a Liberal member of parliament: former member for Hume, the late great Wal Fife. I went through my bound volumes of the Daily Advertiser. In fact I got my wife, Catherine, to do that and then send me the material because I was in parliament when I learned of this condolence motion. I wanted to speak about it, because I remembered, having been a journalist at the Daily Advertiser at the time, that we ran a special four-page wraparound, which was unusual, but it was momentous because it was an important occasion when Mr Morris came to town.

It was the opening of the new terminal and control tower at the Wagga Wagga Airport on 26 March 1986, and the bold headline screamed 'Wagga enters the jet age!' A subsequent story was 'Airport upgrade 40 years after Wagga declared a city', and there was Mr Morris. He was opening the airport terminal, which has served the city well since then, but I would suggest that it's probably in need of an upgrade now. More's the pity. I've placed money on the table for the last two elections, but we will honour that promise eventually when we get back into government. But there was Mr Morris, with the then mayor of Wagga Wagga Alderman Ron Harris and Mr Fife, at the terminal entrance. The plaque is still proudly on the wall.

It's interesting when you read the article in my newspaper, the Wagga Daily Advertiser, as it states that he was 'embarrassingly late to officiate at the opening'. It wasn't his fault; the flight from Sydney touched down 20 minutes late. But he spoke very, very well at that event and showed a lot of grace and a lot of humility, which I'll get to in a moment. The Daily Advertiser reported:

Work on the airport, which includes a new traffic control tower, new passenger terminal and upgrading of the taxiway, took about 14 months to complete.

Before opening the airport, Mr Morris told the gathering it was obvious that the old terminal had its "shortcomings".

And I think, if he were there to look at the terminal in recent years, he would have repeated the same thing. The article goes on to say:

He said his Government was committed to the development of aviation.

I will say good on Labor at the time for that. The article then says:

"We want to make sure that air services are as safe as possible, as cheap as possible, and as efficient as possible," Mr Morris said.

As a good aviation minister, he would've recognised the importance of linking country people to capital cities and to other regional towns as well. Mr Morris then said:

"When there is progress in the air with new planes, with better performance, we match that performance on the ground."

On the same flight as Mr Morris were the former governor-general Sir Roden Cutler, who was the then chair of Air New South Wales, and officials from the Department of Aviation and the Department of Housing and Construction responsible for the works. This upgrade to the airport and the introduction of F-28 flights by Air New South Wales meant that the flight time from Wagga to Sydney was cut to just 50 minutes at the time, and that's the time now. As the headline screamed and reported, Wagga Wagga had entered the jet age. At the time, Mr Morris said that 'there were more than 26,000 air movements through Wagga Wagga last year'. He recognised that Wagga Wagga Airport was the gateway to the Riverina. Indeed it was then, and it still is now. Mr Morris wasn't a man of great height. Some might say he was vertically challenged—

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like many other parliamentarians!

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll take that interjection from the member for Nicholls just to get it on the Hansard. But I'll tell you what. While he might not have been large in stature, he was large in life, and he had a presence. He had a big heart. He had a big heart for people, and I think that's important.

He was old country Labor. He was old Labor, but he understood the benefits of the regions. Being somebody from Shortland, being somebody from outside a capital city, he understood the importance of connectivity, what regional Australia meant to this nation and the fact that people in the regions keep the lights on and keep us fed. He extolled those virtues in what he did as not only the aviation minister, but also, as I said earlier, the minister for transport, both important portfolios and both portfolios that I've held, so I feel a certain connection to him.

He said:

Obviously, the old system has to be improved.

He was talking about how planes using Wagga Wagga had been operating on a see-and-be-seen basis since 1962 and the fact that the new control tower had put Wagga into the new age of radar, picking up the planes before they'd actually arrived. The article said:

"I feel the new airport is warranted and appropriate."

Mr Morris said the old terminal was to be handed back to the Defence Department for use as a terminal for RAAF personnel coming through Wagga.

RAAF Wagga officer commanding group captain John McNaughton attended the opening.

Mr Morris said it was now up to Wagga Wagga to "markets its attractions."

Indeed, I think that was part of the tourism boost for Wagga Wagga as well.

But what I want to do get on to is how he summed up his comments. I think this shows the measure of the man. This is a special politician because not all politicians would do this. A lot of politicians just want to take credit for everything. He wasn't a local, but he found out and attributed much of the work to those people who were getting in and doing the hard yards. He mentioned Martha and Nobby Lamprey and he said:

It's easy for a politician to stand here and deliver the words, but they helped to make it possible.

That couple helped to make it possible. Now, he didn't have to say that, but he did, and I think that shows the humility of the man and the stature of the man. When a person of such high office who'd held any number of portfolios is willing to thank two local people who'd done so much to make that to make that airport terminal opening and control tower possible and at the same time also acknowledge and respect the work that had been done by his political adversary of sorts in Wal Fife, I think that that goes to show—and I think we could learn a bit from that. I do. I don't think that grace is always forthcoming in this day and age of hurly burly. I mean, I always try to get on with the Labor Party members as best I can. I remember when I was a minister, I invited them, including the member for Newcastle, when we actually took Newcastle Airport and we got a link with Auckland with some international aviation. I certainly made sure that she and the member for Paterson were part and parcel of the ceremony because it is important. You know what? People respect bipartisanship. They do. I'll tell you what, when you're not in that six week madness of an election cycle, I think people give you more points when you actually acknowledge the work done by those on the other side, and I'm always happy to do that.

Peter Morris did that. He was an outstanding human being, a brilliant politician and obviously very credentialed, otherwise he wouldn't have had as many of those ministries as he was afforded. But he never forgot the little person. He never forgot the man and woman in the street, and the fact that he then served the Labor Party at the branch and FEC levels for so many years shows how much he loved the Australian Labor Party, how much he believed in old Labor, and how much he believed in party.

Vale, Peter Morris. He was a fine man, somebody who contributed mightily to this nation and certainly to regional Australia. We will miss him. I pass on my deepest respects to his family. They have given so much to the betterment and improvement of this nation. We need more of the ilk of Peter Morris in this world today.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I didn't know Peter Morris well personally, but I was a journalist in the Canberra press gallery in the 1980s and I got to do something with him that only a small group of journalists got to do, and that was to seal a road in Western Australia that was the missing link in having a bitumen road right around the country. We did this on 7 September 1986, and there were things that Peter Morris said in the speech that he gave then that resonate very strongly with me now, many decades later, when I have a much deeper understanding of the importance of that infrastructure work that he did.

Let me take you back to that time. There was a small contingent of us. I was a radio journalist. We travelled there and we were staying overnight, in Halls Creek from memory. We got on a very small plane, a couple of TV journalists, a couple of radio journos and some print reporters. Not everyone coped well with the little flight. I like bumpy flights; not everyone did—and I won't mention Annette's name because she was mortified at the experience. We landed in Western Australia, having had a little bit of a look at the Bungle Bungles from the air—a place that none of us had ever been.

Peter Morris was super excited about this trip. It was a Sunday, so we were all doing this on our weekend, which is probably why my radio station allowed me to go. I have a copy of the media release from the time. It's a shame people can't see this. It was typed on a typewriter. It's a real blast from the past to see it. Peter Morris described the day as 'an historic day for all Australians'. He said the only event with which this can be compared 'is the circumnavigation of Australia by Bass and Flinders in their tiny boat early last century'—so he was talking about two centuries ago.

This was the last section of gravel road to be sealed. It was between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. That last section was a couple of hundred kilometres, but Peter Morris got to sit in the machine and do the last spray of seal over the road. He wasn't a minister who just stood back and watched; he got involved. It's a bit hard to capture that on radio, but the cameras had some really good shots of it.

These are some of the words he shared with us in the speech that he made to the small group who were there to witness this. He talked about what was being done as 'appearing to be something small' and 'yet one which will change the face of Australia'. He also acknowledged the First Nations people of this region—again, this is not something I appreciated as a 23-year-old—when he said:

When people first passed through this area, they followed ancient trails which had existed since Dreamtime.

Then came white man with their herds of cattle—and the Canning Stock Route was born.

He then went on to talk about how, in subsequent years, roads were built and how people could drive 'from place to place'. Previous speakers referred to his turn of phrase. He had a lovely way of describing things. He said:

People could drive from place to place—even if it did mean fighting swollen rivers, ploughing through mud bogs, and choking against the dust.

One of the things he mourned was that, with the sealing of this road, we actually lose some of that pioneer spirit that he saw was part and parcel of how Aussies had lived. And he did comment:

Two hundred years from now—

we're still a little way off that—

a new generation of Australians will have reason to remember this Sunday—the day their country was finally linked north, south, east and west.

Now what was really key for Peter—there are some infrastructure ministers who love the infrastructure. There are some defence ministers who love the gear that goes with it. What Peter Morris made really clear was that he loved it for what it achieved and what it did for people. This national highway was actually the largest single civil engineering project that had ever been undertaken by Australians and at the time was one of the biggest civil engineering projects in the world. But he talked about what those roads mean for people. He said:

Roads are the arteries—the life line along which travels food, medical supplies, building materials—everything.

And in human terms roads mean even more.

They bring people together.

Certainly, as the member for Macquarie with a large peri-urban electorate of about 4,300 square kilometres, I think roads are absolutely vital. This has been something in the last 15 years that I've appreciated very deeply. In the Hawkesbury local government area, we have 5,300 kilometres of roads—that's the length of our roads—and 285 kilometres of those roads are still unsealed council roads. I know the impact they have on my community. In good weather, it might be fine; when they've just been graded, it might be fine. But so often these roads cause pain for people. They might be inaccessible. They might damage tyres and vehicles. They're a real challenge for people. We have been working—as, clearly, Peter Morris had a conviction—to seal those roads.

In the Blue Mountains and Emu Plains, the roads are not so long, but some of them are really old. When you've got 194-year-old roads like the Victoria Pass, you absolutely know that governments have to invest to maintain and, in the case of the Victoria Pass up at Mount Victoria, to repair and make resilient for the next couple of hundred years. In fact, I feel like the way Peter Morris described it is exactly what we're facing. He said:

In effect what the Federal Government is doing with its road building program is to shrink distances helping to bring more cities and communities closer together.

Better roads mean easier, quicker, safer and cheaper travelling—and so more people travel.

He goes on—it was a lovely speech in the middle of a fairly remote area in Western Australia. He had a beautiful five-page speech. Now, he of course thanked the contractors who made this road possible, and the construction workers got his extra thanks because he said 'who despite the difficult conditions, built this road in a true display of professionalism'.

When I saw that Peter Morris had died, I thought about the interactions I had had with him as a young journalist. This was the one that really stood out. In Old Parliament House, there were many press conferences and many times when he told me things, a lot of which I probably didn't really care a lot about as a 23-year-old. But, as someone much older than that now representing the community that I do, I want to pay respect to the passion and the insight and the understanding he had for the role that he did in his various ministries that touched on infrastructure. I'm ever grateful to him for suggesting that a bunch of journos might want to jump on a plane with him and head to Halls Creek to watch a machine seal the road. It was a terrific experience. It taught me a lot and, in reflection, has taught me even more.

To his family: I concur with the comments that have been made. He gave a lot of his life to service. His family gave much of their lives to serving what was, for his dad, their new home. That's the sort of contribution we know migrants and their children and their grandchildren make. I think it's a beautiful opportunity for the parliament to say thank you for that. May he rest in peace.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We've just heard some great words from the member for Macquarie, the member for Riverina and the member for Newcastle, and from the Prime Minister yesterday and the Leader of the Opposition, about the life of Peter Morris. I can't claim to have known him that well, but I met him on a number of occasions and spoken to him many times on the telephone. When he used to visit Adelaide, he would always drop into my former boss's electorate office—Senator Nick Bolkus's office. They were quite pally and friendly, and I got to meet him through working at Nick's office back then.

Peter was the son of a Greek migrant. His father, Agapitos Montiadis, migrated to Australia and to Newcastle from the island of Symi, which is north of the island of Rhodes on the eastern Aegean Sea, just off the Turkish coast. If you look at the history of the island of Symi, the majority of people, before migration to Australia, were actually seafarers. You can see where Peter Morris got this interest in seafaring and shipping; it was obviously in his blood from his father's side of the family. Even today, some of Greece's richest shipping tycoons come from that particular island. That's not to say that Peter was a tycoon, but obviously he had a keen interest, as many from that island do.

His mother was Ethel Thomas, who was a Novocastrian. His parents obviously met and set up a house in Newcastle, and Peter grew up in the confines of a fish-and-chip shop, as many Greek migrant kids of his era and my era did. His early life would have been around the small business of his father's in Newcastle, which had a very large Greek migrant population at the time. Peter stayed connected to his Greek roots and heritage. He had close ties with the Greek community in Newcastle but also all across Australia and internationally.

Peter was part of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association, which I'm very privileged to be the vice-president internationally of at the moment, and Michael McCormack is a member. Peter was part of the inaugural group in 1996 that formed this association in Athens with fellow congressmen and senators from the US, Europe, South Africa and South America. At the time when they were forming the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association, the Australians, including Peter, were very, very keen and adamant that we have a constitution and by-laws. They were modelled on the CPA, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Some of our colleagues from other nations didn't quite understand the constitutional need for good by-laws of an organisation. I know that our Australian colleagues—Senator Bolkus; Peter Morris; Demetri Dollis, who was the deputy leader of the Labor Party in Victoria at the time; and Theo Theophanous—worked very hard to make sure that it was modelled very similar to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. In fact, this year we're celebrating 30 years with a conference in Athens. Michael McCormack and I will be attending. I've already spoken to my executive board over there to ensure that we have condolence motions for Peter Morris and, of course, for another comrade and colleague who passed away earlier, Nick Bolkus. So there will be an Australian presence there this year.

Peter, as I said, stayed close to his Hellenic roots. We were all very proud of him. I remember my parents talking about him continuously. Even though they were in Adelaide and had never met him, they knew about him. You can imagine migrant workers who had come here with no English, no language, no skills—to have one of their own as a cabinet minister was a huge thing. It was actually a huge message to the community that Australia accepts you and Australia will give you every opportunity, just like it did for Peter Morris. He was very good at ensuring that he understood that he was the member for Newcastle but also a role model for Greek migrants all around Australia.

He played a very active role within the Greek community in Newcastle but also nationally. He lobbied very hard for the Hellenic Memorial at the end of Anzac Parade on the left-hand side as you go up to the War Memorial. He lobbied the government at the time to assist and played an active role in the fundraising. There are a number of speeches that he made in Hansard promoting and pushing and lobbying for the memorial. In fact, they started the fundraising in 1987 and they completed it in 1988 during the commemoration of the Battle of Crete in May, which is coming up next week. Peter was at the opening, and spoke at that opening, of the Hellenic Memorial on Anzac Parade. He played an active role within the Greek community across the nation. He was someone we all looked up to.

When Peter came into the parliament, it would have been a very different parliament in those days. You can just imagine—a majority of men, all white and Anglo-Saxon. He would have been one of the rarities in this place, yet he prevailed and became a cabinet minister—the Minister for Transport, the Minister for Aviation, the Minister for Resources, the Minister for Housing and Aged Care and even the assistant Treasurer and the minister assisting the Prime Minister as well. But when you look at everything, one thing that stands out is his inquiry report Ships of shame. As I said earlier, shipping was in his blood. Some great work came out of that. Living in Newcastle, one of the largest ports in Australia, you would see ships that would come and go stranded, sailors that hadn't been paid, ships that weren't fit for humans to live on board et cetera. Yet, through his international connections, Peter was able to ensure there were measures in place when things took place. At a point of time, there was a Filipino crew that was in town, in Adelaide, who hadn't been paid and had no food on board. The ship was embargoed and had to stay in port until all these measures were in place. I remember that, during this particular campaign, the media was reporting it as 'a ship of shame'—so Peter's great work resonated in the community.

Peter also had some sadness in his life. He lost his son Matthew, who became a state MP. I went to a couple of conferences in Athens with Matthew over the years.

Peter will be remembered by everyone that worked with him and had dealings with him. He'll be remembered here in this place. As the Greek Australian media has reported this week, there have been articles on him pretty much every week since he passed away. He'll be remembered by the Greek community, and we'll be doing condolence motions at the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association. I had a couple of emails from a former congressman in the US who knew Peter and who found out about his death; he sent me an email saying how sad it was. There were people in Athens who heard about it, through his connections. It shows what sort of a person he was. He made connections with politicians from all around the world through this organisation. May he rest in peace. He will always be remembered.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal 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 Federation Chamber.

Anne Urquhart (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 18:54