Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

I rise also to speak on the condolence motion and concur with many of the remarks that have already been made in this chamber about Judith Adams. I came in with Judith in 2005 and we shared a lot of similar thoughts about many issues. We were both women—clearly—and we were both farmers and we were the only two rural women who came in in that intake in 2005. Regardless of the fact that we were from different sides of the nation, there were so many similar issues in communities over on this side and communities over on the other side of the nation.

She was a fierce Liberal; I am a fierce National. Very occasionally, we would bump heads on issues where there was certainly no agreement. She was absolutely tenacious. She was the most tenacious person I have ever come across in this place, because when there was an issue that she believed in, that she wanted changed, that she wanted some action on, she just would not let go. She was truthful. She was genuine. She was honest. I think one of the really important things about Judith in this day and age, where so many people do not particularly hold politicians in very high regard, is that she gave politicians a good name. She was so well respected by those who knew her and, while—as I think Senator Evans said earlier—she was not a household name in the papers, the people who knew her knew how incredibly diligent she was in her work and how much she put into the job.

She was in some ways such a contradiction. She was always such a lady. She was always well groomed. She always had her earrings on. And yet at the same time she could absolutely mix it with the blokes. I think Senator Brandis hit it on the head earlier when he said that she had even the Prime Minister's measure at the time when she came in—and she truly did; you could see that. I think it is particularly salient that he points that out.

She was a ferocious advocate for Western Australia, and through the whole single-desk-for-wheat debate we saw that very, very clearly. That was probably one of the very few issues we disagreed on. I can remember going to Senate inquiries on the single-desk issue. Judith and I would be sitting next to each other, and it would be very, very, very chilly, to say the least, but we had great respect for each other's ability and each other's need to take the position that each had taken. I think we were always courteous about it. It was probably one of the hottest issues we have ever dealt with in this place. She was amazing. She believed in what she knew was right, in her view, for the people of Western Australia. All I can say is: you won that one, Judith.

She was an extraordinary lady. When I went to the service in WA, as so many others did, somebody said to me, 'Isn't it a shame that it's not until somebody passes and we're at their service that we find out so much about them, the person that they were and their lives?' I think that was really true particularly for Judith's service because I felt like I knew a little bit about her, but after that day, with all of those wonderful people saying extraordinary things about Judith and her extraordinary life, it was not until she had actually left us that I felt like I really knew her. It is probably a sad thing but a wonderful thing to have gained that knowledge and gained that insight. I think it will always be ironic that I have seen Wilson Tuckey cry but never Judith.

Her committee work, as everybody has mentioned, was extraordinary. The committees she was on: the Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs, the Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, which I was on with her, the Selection of Bills Committee, the Senate Standing Committee of Senators' Interests, the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories—the list just went on. It just indicates her incredible breadth of interest in and extensive knowledge of such a variety of issues, from rural and regional to community affairs and health to defence. Some of us have some expertise in areas here and there; Judith had expertise in such a wide range of so many issues. I think it really reflects the woman she was, coming from a regional community, where all of those things are important, that she was so representative of such a broad spectrum of the community.

Her travelling was legendary. Her work in estimates was extraordinary. I can always remember Judith in estimates or in hearings. It would be Judith's turn to start asking some questions. You could see it coming. She would normally start with, 'Right,' and you thought, 'Here it comes.' Those on the other side of the table were just waiting for it, and off Judith would go with her relentless questioning. I absolutely admire the work she put into the detail of that committee work, and the contribution that she made was just extraordinary. I remember one of her last hearings that we attended in Broome. She was extraordinary. She was so ill and yet she travelled all that way because it was important to her that she be there. As Senator Moore said earlier, it was more important that those other people were able to have their say and that they were heard on what they wanted to put forward about the issues that were important to them. Judith saw that as being so incredibly important. Occasion­ally, we will not make it to something but Judith made sure that she was always there insofar as she possibly could. That necessitates an enormous amount of admiration from us and certainly makes me feel as though I have not achieved what she had in that level of dedication to service to this place.

Her children are incredibly proud of her. To her boys Stuart and Robert, I extend my very sincere condolences to you and to the family. She was an extraordinary lady and a mother, I know, that they are extremely proud of—and so they should be. She was an extraordinary advocate for regional commu­nities, particularly in Western Australia and those communities, as we in this place, are sorely going to miss her.