Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to associate myself with the very fine words of all of those who have spoken previously about my friends Alan Eggleston and Sue Boyce. It is a happy occasion today, with several parties going on which we are holding our toastees from. But for me it is a very sad day. You do not come to this parliament looking for friends. With only a few exceptions, I never find any. But today I farewell two people who I can genuinely say have been real friends. Both are terribly genuine people with a commitment that you would not find in too many others.

I have been here more than anyone else with Senator Eggleston—'Eggy', as I call him. We go back a very long while. I have always had an enormous admiration for a guy who, without complaint, has gone through life and achieved so much. I still cannot believe that, as a well-known Liberal, he ever got to be Mayor of Port Hedland but he did it. He went through medical school to become an enormously successful and compassionate medical practitioner. He had a couple of attempts at getting here to this place that we often laugh about. Here he has done everything that he wanted to do, everything that his constituents expected of him. With perhaps more reason not to be happy than many of us, Alan has done everything in such a magnificent way. I have the most enormous amount of respect for Alan. Time does not allow me to say all of the things I would like to say but, Alan, well done and we will keep in touch.

Sue Boyce has been a very good friend of mine. Leslie and I have almost become part of Sue and Joe's family. Sue and I share a lot of things. We argue a lot about most things, I might say, but we are good friends. Her interest in the north and in many parts of regional Australia is something I very much share. She is a wonderful person. Her career in public life, I know, will continue. She will continue to make a great contribution to our society. I wish her and Joe all the very best into the future.