Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Hansard source

I join with all of my colleagues who have made remarks about the retirement of Senators O'Brien, Wortley and Forshaw. I consider all of them my friends. In some ways that might be a bit surprising. When I first entered the Senate three years ago I was appointed deputy whip and had to work with Senator O'Brien. We came from quite different factional backgrounds but, I think to our surprise, we got on like a house on fire. I very much appreciate the time I spent as deputy whip with Kerry, because he taught me lots of things. I was amazed at all the procedure he knew about the operation of the Senate and I very much appreciated the generous way in which he was prepared to pass on that knowledge to me.

As a couple of other speakers have men­tioned, he does have one terrible character flaw and that is his support for the Collingwood Football Club—but everybody makes mistakes and we can forgive Kerry for that. I wish him all the best in life after the Senate and look forward to coming down and having a look at that vineyard of his and trying some of those magnificent wines he is producing down there.

Senator Forshaw was a factional ally. His reputation preceded my appointment to the Senate. I worked with him in a less formal Senate role as a convenor. I learnt lots about how you deal with the difficult issues and the personality issues of the parliament and found that he had a solution to every problem. That is not always easy in politics, but anybody who has that ability will no doubt do very well in life after politics and I am sure Mike will be in that category.

Finally, there is Senator Wortley and I noticed that Senator Sterle referred to Danny Boy. Senator Wortley might be interested to know that Danny Boy is playing right at this moment in her office. It has been tremendous working with you, Dana. I know the sacrifices you made through having a young family in coming to the Senate, but you did it willingly. You have always been the life of the party around here and you are very much going to be missed. So good luck in your life after the Senate.