Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to wish our colleagues Senator Boswell and Senator Bishop all the very best for the next phase of their lives. Often those in this place think a lot about the sacrifices that people make in order to serve the country. We all, from our various perspectives, reflect upon the things we miss. I share the concern you have, Senator Bishop, about missing some important occasions that you would have liked to be at. I hope you enjoy the graduation that you will attend and the time that you are able to spend away.

I thank you for the work that you have done on committees over the years. Chairing committees is a skill that takes a while to develop and I think you have shown what it means to be an effective and diligent chair. So thank you for your work and good luck with your future.

Senator Boswell, you and I will disagree to the end on the environment, on the need to address sustainability and on global warming. But I do want to acknowledge the work that we have done together, particularly on biosecurity

That is something on which Senator Boswell and I have shared a number of Senate committee inquiries in the rural and regional committee over many years. As I said to Senator Boswell, we worked together on bananas, on ginger and on a range of issues through that committee, and Senator Boswell and I shared a common view about the absolute need to protect Australia from incursions of pests and disease coming from elsewhere and the incredible damage that it will do not only to our primary industry sector but to the natural environment when we see these incursions get away from us. I think I can speak for both Senator Boswell when I say that we have had extreme frustration about how this has continued to get away from us in some cases. The rust that is now spreading across national parks in Queensland, in particular, is one that I feel very strongly about. I know Senator Boswell will continue to have a passion about biosecurity, as will we, because we will not look after our environment in Australia nor protect our primary producers without it. So I wish you all the very best, Senator Boswell, for your future. I hope you really do enjoy the time with your family and community henceforth, and the same to you Senator Bishop.