Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the opposition to acknowledge the passing of former senator Lady Florence Isabel Bjelke-Petersen, known to all as Lady Flo, who passed away in late December 2017 at the age of 97. I commence by conveying, at the outset, the opposition's condolences to her friends and family.

Lady Flo was an outsized personality in Australian politics. Of course, she is inextricably linked to her husband, Sir Joh, the longest-serving Premier of Queensland, and, of course, she is widely associated with her famous pumpkin scones. There is no doubt that the role she played in Queensland alongside her husband is how many Australians will remember her. However, for this reason, it is easy to overlook her own contribution to national politics as a senator for 12 years.

Born in 1920 in Queensland, Lady Flo grew up in the riverside suburbs of inner Brisbane. Educated at the local state school and then at Brisbane Girls Grammar, she refined her shorthand and typing skills studying at State Commercial High School. She went on to pass the public service exam, becoming secretary to the main roads commissioner before meeting her husband in the course of her work.

As Senator Cormann has described, religion—the practice of faith, her church—was a central aspect of Lady Flo's life. She held what would be generally understood as traditional values. Many would not share her beliefs on many things, including in relation to the role of women in the home and the homogeneity of the family unit. Many would find some of her statements at best outdated and at worst simply unacceptable, but these views were formed early in her life and were solidified over time and remained a consistent and important foundation for Lady Flo in the approach she took to her political life.

Lady Flo won preselection to be a National Party senator, not without controversy given her husband's position, and was subsequently elected, in 1980, to a term commencing in July 1981, although prior to taking her place she was appointed to fill a casual vacancy, so arrived a little earlier. She would go on to be elected in 1983 and 1987 before retiring at the end of her term in 1993. She was the first woman to be elected a senator from the National Party. During her time, she served on a number of committees, in particular the Senate Select Committee on Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes, from 1981 to 1985, and the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare. In the National Party, as Senator Cormann mentioned, she was also Deputy Leader in the Senate and briefly the party's whip.

When Lady Flo was first preselected, there were some who commented she would not be up to the job. However, she brought the same quiet determination, discipline and concentration to the Senate as she practised throughout her life. In some ways she might have been old-fashioned, but she was always true to her word and believed in what she did, which earned her respect from other senators across this chamber even if they vehemently opposed her positions. She also brought many years of experience of political life, which made her a perceptive interpreter of the mood of the people in her home state of Queensland, and she channelled this ability to become a politician in her own right.

There were times when her strong beliefs led her to cross the floor. For example, she voted three times with the Labor Party when she thought people were getting a bad deal on a sales tax increase proposed by the Fraser government. I'm sure this was not without consequence. Her principles led her to decline to accept the suggestion that she should serve as an Independent after her husband was deposed as Premier, recognising she had been elected as a National Party senator. She believed in keeping faith with the people of Queensland who had voted for her based on this fact. This is a worthy principle. In one obituary she was described as 'the human side of a ruthless and corrupt political machine'.

She could be tough, but she could be warm, and in character assessments made of her it is this warmth which shone through. A former Labor leader in this place, Gareth Evans, spoke about Lady Flo on the occasion of her departure from the Senate. In his remarks on the valedictory he commented that since her arrival in 1981 'she has unquestionably been a personality in her own right'. He went on to describe what he regarded as her 'genuine warmth and good humour', and he said this made her 'rather irritatingly someone that is absolutely impossible to be irritated with'. I have to say, knowing and loving Gareth Evans as we do, that is quite an extraordinary thing to say—that he finds someone impossible to be irritated with.

In the same debate, the late Senator Pat Giles, whom we spoke about here just a few months ago following her own passing, lamented that Lady Flo's pumpkin-scone-making reputation had overshadowed her own place as the champion sponge maker of Bassendean for many years. Clearly, competition in politics takes many forms!

By the time she left the Senate in 1993, Lady Flo had outlasted her husband in political office. She retired at the age of 73 but later lamented that she did not keep going, because she felt fine mentally and physically, and she certainly continued to be politically engaged and remained a source of advice for many within the National Party.

The overarching theme from those who served in the Senate with Lady Flo was her humanity. Many senators from across all sides of the chamber spoke about her common touch and her ability to form connections with people from across different walks of life. It was this relational touch, the friendships she formed and the impressions she left which underscored her approach to life. Her colleagues liked her, as did many in the community. She was held in high personal regard, and that is a very good way in which to be remembered. A woman of enduring Christian faith, she would have had no doubt about her next destination. On this day we again extend our sympathies to her family and friends.