Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the condolence motion for John Fahey. I had the honour and privilege of working for John as his senior private secretary from 1993 to 1994. Prior to the 1993 federal election, I had been working for Jim Carlton. When we lost the election, I received a phone call from Robert Maher, who was the chief of staff to John Fahey. He asked me if I would consider taking on the position of senior private secretary. I knew John Fahey's former senior private secretary, David Pigott, who had worked for John Howard in the past. It was a wonderful opportunity, and I certainly accepted the job.

My role as senior private secretary was to look after the administration of the office, including the extensive paper flow as well as the diaries of both John Fahey and his wife, Colleen. Working with me, I had a team of people which included Barb Williams, who had formerly been John Howard's private secretary, and two New South Wales party stalwarts, Liz Storey and Robyn Kerr. John loved to talk to people. He liked to have a drink. He liked to smoke. Of course, that meant that often the diary, notwithstanding best intentions, ended up being somewhat chaotic because appointments inevitably ran over and things had to be changed and rescheduled. Nevertheless, people who needed to see him always got the opportunity to have a chat with him.

John can be well described as a consistent smoker. Health wise, ultimately, he paid a heavy price for that, although he did very well after his lung operation. At that time, the Premier's office was located on level 8 of the old State Office Block on the corner of Macquarie and Bent Streets. Now, of course, it doesn't exist anymore, but at that time we had old-fashioned air conditioners which ran along the walls between the rooms. The heavy smoking from the Premier's office meant that everyone shared in the effects! Given my office was directly next to the Premier's office, I inevitably had more than my share of the smoking experience, such that I had to often resort to opening my window to Macquarie Street. Yes, those were the days when you could actually open the windows in offices!

Much has been said of John's actions at Darling Harbour on Australia Day in 1994, when he leapt to disarm a protester who threatened Prince Charles. My husband, John, and I were sitting in one of the front rows when this incident happened. It came as no surprise that John Fahey just didn't think twice. He reacted quickly and, in true rugby style, tackled the fellow to the floor of the stage. It all happened so quickly, but it was so typical of John to put the safety of others above his own safety and to take the actions that he did on that day. It was really good to see Prince Charles sending his message at the funeral service.

John was not a man to indulge in spin. He was quietly spoken, measured and honest in his responses. John's natural exuberance when Sydney was named to host the Olympic Games for 2000 was just typical of him. I know that at the time he worked very closely with others on the bid. It was tough going up against Beijing. On merit we knew we should win, but Beijing's aggressive campaign exerted heavy pressure in many different ways. I remember the morning of the announcement: about three or four of us were sitting in the office at 4.15 am, watching the television and fully expecting that we weren't going to win. Then, of course, we did win and the rest is history.

As his senior private secretary, my job was to control the paper flow—and, believe me, there was a lot of paper! When I started the job, the thing I found most frustrating was when John would go out and people would speak to him and say, 'Look, I wrote to you X months ago and I haven't received a reply.' This called for drastic action. I instigated the establishment of a document-tracing system, much to the chagrin of the bureaucrats in the Premier's Department!

John and I were very similar in a number of ways—both from poor, working-class backgrounds; both having started as articled clerks; and both having worked very hard to become lawyers. John's attention to detail was something that he and I very much shared. Part of my job was to read all the files and the correspondence before they went in to the Premier for consideration. I made sure that prominent details were flagged and omissions or problems highlighted, knowing that John would also read the entire file, sharing those concerns and taking the appropriate action. Clearly, this didn't endear me to the public servants, but then that wasn't something that I was worried about too much.

John had a strong work ethic which I saw and experienced firsthand. John and Colleen had an apartment on level 9 of the State Office Block. John would regularly go upstairs at the end of the day, have something to eat and then come back to the office and work late into the night to ensure that the paperwork and the briefs were done. I sometimes worked alongside him in the evenings. Let's not forget that this was a difficult time in New South Wales politics. It was a minority government, relying on three Independents to support or reject the government's plans. John kept on top of so many issues. He needed to, given the complexities of minority existence. Yes, there were always cigarettes and, yes, there was always a cup of coffee. Occasionally, there was a whiskey! But he certainly ploughed through the paperwork.

Being of the Catholic faith, I was disappointed that I was not afforded the opportunity to farewell John in person. Nevertheless, I would like to place on record my farewells and my admiration for John as a decent, hardworking man of family and faith. I was grateful to John for having afforded me the opportunity to work in his office. It was a very good experience. I valued both his friendship and his guidance.

Can I conclude by once again offering my condolences to his wife, Colleen, his children, Matthew and Melanie, and his grandchildren, Amber and Campbell, who, along with many people—ordinary Australians—will remember John Fahey as an honest and decent man who so admirably served his state and his country. John was a decent, hardworking human being. He lived his life true to his faith, true to his family and true to his values. Vale, John Fahey.