Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Prime Minister for Social Inclusion) Share this | Hansard source

Like you and many others here in the chamber, I have had the pleasure and the privilege of listening to the valedictory speeches of all the 14 retiring senators. It struck me that there are some themes running through those features, and I wanted to capture it tonight in what I call The Spell of the Senate.

They wanted the call, and they sought it

They debated the issues with flair;

Gag and guillotine—they fought it

They spent many hours in their chair;

They wanted the power and they got it

And leave—reputations intact

Yet somehow, life’s not what they thought it

And the cards in the Senate are stacked.

They came to make change (….. a good reason)

They felt like exiles at first

They grappled with process first session

And then were the worst of the worst!

It gripped them like some kind of sinning

It twists them from foes into friends;

It seems it’s been thus since beginning

And surely will be to the end.

They sat through the long winter hours

Enduring the thund’rous debate;

And witnessed when sunset clause powers

Brought righteousness, albeit late;

They shared in the depths of great sorrow

Where grief marked the nation’s soul

And gathered in proud celebration

To acknowledge our First Nations’ role.

This place where struggles seem nameless

And debates run to God knows where

Theirs are lives not erring or aimless,

but enriched by the time spent here.

Tho’ the Democrats drift into twilight

after thirty years for the brave

Their futures uncertain and shaken

Have they’ve hurled their youth into the grave?

Let’s pay tribute to all our colleagues

Who move to horizons clear,

And leave this a strong institution

the better for their presence here.

So, comrades—do not go gently!

As night surely follows each day

Your work will endure long beyond you

And your quiet achievements hold sway.

Goodbye and God bless.