Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the Nationals to acknowledge the passing of former Senator, First Lady of Queensland and a giant of the Australian political scenes, Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen, affectionately known by many as Lady Flo. It's not often that a public figure possesses such and is seen as such a force of life, who is known to so many who have never actually had the opportunity to meet her but who is remembered much by reputation and by her name. Along with her husband, the formidable former Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Lady Flo completely loved Queensland, and everything she said—I was lucky to meet Lady Flo on a number of occasions, and she provided me with such succinct advice, but what was evident to me was the complete love of where she lived and the love of people who identified as Queenslanders. I think she felt an obligation to Queensland because she had such a love for those people and that place. Her time in this Senate was very much influenced by her obligation. That's why she spoke to me—an obligation to look after Queenslanders.

She certainly left a lasting impact on the footprint of our nation. Her reputation for elegance, passion and energy preceded her in this place. Anyone who knew her can genuinely say how much she contributed to the political landscape of Queensland and beyond.

Lady Flo met her husband when she was working as a stenographer for the Queensland government, and their 53-year marriage was something many would see as a perfect story—although I'm not sure a first date at Parliament House is the romantic setting that many would imagine. As we've heard, not only was Lady Flo the driving force of her time here but she also influenced the Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, during his years of leadership in Queensland.

She was a person loved by many—her family, her community and right across the general public. They saw her as someone who would stand up for her country but certainly one who in doing that didn't need to abandon her home life in order to pursue politics. She was known for so much more than just her perfect pumpkin scones; although they were surely Australia's best scones, given their ability to be used to turn a negative story into a positive one with any visiting journalists. They'd get pumpkin scones, and she was associated with turning a few minds in that respect.

Her parliamentary career in this place was a remarkable feat of endurance, leadership and commitment. She made a name for herself. She was no longer just the wife or partner of the Queensland Premier. I can recall that when I was a young man, so often I was introduced quite naturally to a woman as the partner—'By the way, this is the wife of someone.' She was like an addition. Obviously, we've changed so much now to acknowledge that. It must have been difficult for her, coming here as the housewife of the Premier of Queensland, but she certainly changed minds then. They recognised that she was, in fact, a hardworking senator, absolutely ruthless in her commitment to her beloved state of Queensland and that she would deliver real outcomes for Queensland.

No doubt, some would argue that Lady Flo's initial election was a bit controversial. But no-one could possibly deny that she took her job very seriously. In the early days, it was just about Queensland—what she believed in. Very early, she crossed the floor and voted against the coalition government in this place on a sales taxation bill. That was quite early in her career; I think she was sending a clear signal about ownership, and I think that was very important. I would like to think that if she were here today all senators in this place would respect Lady Flo's values, integrity, conviction and dedication to her position as a representative, first and foremost, of regional Queensland.

As Leader of the Nationals in this place, I particularly want to acknowledge Lady Flo's devotion to the National Party. Although a Liberal Party member in her younger years in Brisbane, she adopted the National's brand so naturally and became what we consider to be a quintessential National Party advocate. She fought for families and businesses in regional Australia, and she was a complete National at heart. Sometimes people talk about what the difference is between conservatives: we have Liberal conservatives and National conservatives. Well, we share the same values. We would say, and I'm sure Flo would agree, that the National Party is really focused on contextualising those values in rural and regional Australia.

Many people will remember Lady Flo fondly, and we are reminded of her often. I'm sure many people in this place, one way or another, have travelled to Lady Flo's heartland country—South Burnett, Kingaroy, Wondai and some of those surrounding towns. She fought tirelessly for those towns, and, in some ways, she really put those towns on the map. When you go there, they still say, 'Welcome to Joh's country', today. But many say, 'Welcome to Flo's country'. I think that is really a reflection on just how warmly local communities in Queensland felt about their Lady Flo. She showed all Queenslanders and all Australians the importance of fighting in quite a focused way, in her way, for small regional towns. Basically, the fight is, when you say 'for regional towns', the reality is it's against the interests of those people advocating for the larger cities. There are more representatives in the larger cities, and many of those people who represent small businesses and regional Australia in this place would acknowledge that.

I particularly would like to acknowledge, as Minister for Indigenous Affairs, that her commitment to Queensland extended to the very challenging practical efforts that she made to support the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. We've just heard a quote from Noel Pearson that the Bjelke-Petersens are 'the couple who came to know our people, to help break our exile and return us to our promised land', which was Hope Vale community. What's not well-known is the work that they did to return it so they could have some ownership of their own land. Perhaps it's not well-known here in this place either that it was actually Bob Katter from that other place who started the DOGITs. These are all small but significant—from Aboriginal peoples' perspective—changes in their lives. Flo was an absolute champion in that time.

Lady Flo was a real example to us all—a constant reality check about what we're in this place for. We're not here to agree or argue or disagree. We're here to represent all of those we stand for, no matter how small the population. She was a person who believed in people. She believed and loved her communities. As her daughter recalled—and if you can think about this for a moment—at the age of 90, she drove herself around some of these small towns, playing the organ regularly at nursing homes, and, if one of the local priests became a bit ill, she'd stand in for one of the local priests. This is at 90 years of age. She will always be remembered. Lady Flo made a remarkable contribution to this place and particularly to Queensland. On behalf of the Nationals, I give my deepest sympathies and condolences to her four children and all of her family and friends. Lady Flo was a great lady who we could all learn something from. Vale Lady Flo Petersen.