Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the things that struck me when I was thinking about what to say about Alex was this. I've known Alex for 25 years, and not long after I arrived here a number of people came up and said: 'He's tough and he's gruff and he's pretty damn hard to get on with sometimes.' I said: 'Well, he's my mate. I find him exactly the same way, so don't feel special! It's just the way he is—a guy who's passionate and strongly believes in what he believes.' As so many other speakers have said, he did listen but he also turned around and mentored people. I appreciate the great deal of assistance that Alex provided. He was always available to have a chat with, no matter what the time of day or what he had on.

Many, many years ago I went to a funeral. It was quite a revelation for me. It was a Maori funeral. A lot of people got up and spoke from their hearts about what they felt about the fellow who had just died. They also got up and said things that were nasty about him, which I thought was quite surprising. I was chatting to a number of those who spoke, family members, and they said: 'No, it's really important. You have to really let the spirit be released. If you're not honest and you're not frank, then you're not going to get the spirit released.' And, Alex, we're all going to be very frank!

Why I think of that again is that we had—it wasn't an exclusive group; it was just a group of TWU people who got together, and some of the TWU senators—a wake for Alex. A number of people explained some of their experiences with Alex—how they worked with him in the transport industry and the sorts of differences that he made. I will get to those in a moment, but I just want to look at some of the statements that Alex made when he first came into this place. In his first speech he said:

There is no smoke and mirrors, just plain-talking, hardworking employees and employers alike—

I'm talking about the transport industry—

… They all share common attributes—that is, a capacity for hard work and a selfless dedication to the task at hand.

That could also be a very fine description of Alex, because that's who the man was.

Of course, as we've talked about, Alex did come with those three very important priorities: road safety, the transport industry and superannuation. There are few people in Australia who can match Alex's experience and expertise in road safety. I want to put on record as well the importance of the role he played as the national transport commissioner. I still remember when he got appointed and how proud he was to stand up there and make a difference, to have those conversations, and those hard conversations, in an industry that has way too many deaths. Alex spoke with passion every time he came back and gave reports about what was happening at the commission.

And, of course, being a director of the Motor Accident Commission for South Australia was, again, another important role that Alex felt a great deal of responsibility for—but also passion to make sure that people were properly looked after, that opportunities for turning around and making our roads safer were pursued but also questions of proper compensation for those who were killed in accidents and incidents.

Of course, as we all know, he was the chair of the Road Safety Advisory Council of South Australia. Alex was a firm believer in the Swedish model for Vision Zero. The model recognises that drivers are human and humans make mistakes—a bit like Alex, I think. He was certainly human and he may have made a few mistakes, but there's no doubting the passion which he brought to this place and what he believed in. He talked about:

The freedom and mobility achieved by owning a car are tempered with the sickening human and economic cost of vehicle accidents.

Alex passionately made sure he pursued all those issues to the fullest.

He played an important role, as has been mentioned, in the Gillard government establishing the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal in 2012. I had a lot of dealings with Alex over 25 years and many dealings during that period in the role that I held at the time. Of course, he was scathing when in 2016 it was abolished and replaced with nothing. With decades of experience in the industry, he understood the consequences of that decision better than most. I'll quote from his speech on the abolition bill. This is a speech that Paul Ryan from the Australian Road Transport Industry Organisation described as the best speech he had ever heard given in the Senate. Alex said:

People need to get proper remuneration for the fixed, variable and labour costs. Lots of these owner-drivers will work themselves to death.

…   …   …

I know the things that they go through on a daily basis.

…   …   …

I know all about visiting families who have had people in their families not come home from work.

…   …   …

This was, for me, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some sanity, some fairness and some real reward for their effort.

Alex was spot on and straight to the point. That's how he always operated.

At the wake Zoom, Michael Kaine, National Secretary of the TWU, summed up a really incredibly important point about Alex. He said: 'He would take the problem in front of him, distil it into a bite-sized grab and then figure out how to use the bite-sized grab to fight for the rights of working people. That's what he would do and he would do it really, really effectively.'

Michael also told a story about his trip to South Australia after joining the national office. For those who don't know, the TWU had the tradition of having seven warring factions. It makes any political party here look tame. Alex always fired directly to everybody about what he believed in. Michael said in talking about the threat of Work Choices: 'I landed at the Adelaide Airport fully expecting to hop in a cab. I walked down the stairs and at the bottom there was Alex.' I said: 'Jeez. I didn't expect to see you here, Alex.' Alex said, 'Do you think I'm going to let the assistant national secretary just come to Adelaide and walk around by himself unchaperoned?' Of course, Alex put Michael in front of the officials—another baptism of fire for Michael—and key delegates, who could all see the angst regarding Work Choices and clearly see what the TWU needed to do. Alex was outspoken again and very supportive of incredibly important steps that were decided by that group of workplace leaders and union officials. He was drawing the crowd out. He was getting people to say things that could be in conflict with what he was saying, because he wanted to draw people out to make sure the best decisions were being made.

It's not just union officials and workers who had tremendous respect for Alex. He drew respect from the employing side for his toughness, his perseverance, his plain talking and his commitment to working people. During the Zoom wake, Steve Schofield, who used to be the head of industrial relations at Qantas, said: 'I butted heads with Alex on a number of occasions.' Steve said that he had a lot of mentors over the years on both sides of the table, but you wouldn't guess that Alex was one of them. Steve told a story about 11 September 2001, a horrible, uncertain day for us all, but particularly for those in the aviation industry. Steve said: 'I got two phone calls in the morning on September 11. One was from Alex. He said words to the effect, "Listen, young fellow, it's going to be a tough couple of days, but if there's anything we can do as a union just let us know."' That was a side of Alex that many didn't see. Then there was the side that many did—the side that was as tough as nails.

Matt Burnell, an official at Alex's South Australian branch of the TWU, told a story about the 2017 South Australian branch elections night. Matt was watching the count together with Alex's chief of staff, Matt Marozzi. Both Ian Smith and Alex were asking how Ian was going in the count. The two Matts looked at each other and wondered how they were going to tell Ian that he'd lost. Worse still, he said, 'How am I going to deal with Alex? He's going to kill us both.' Fortunately, Ian got over the line in the end so never had to find out Alex's wrath.

Alex's other passion was superannuation, as has been mentioned. He strongly believed that working people deserve a retirement with dignity. In his first speech, he said:

Members will always demand value for money, and it is my belief that this is best achieved by the industry fund not-for-profit model, with all profits back to member accounts. Trustee directors representing employer and employees and only acting in the best interest of members are a world-class model.

Various studies have shown that many funds have received brand status with loyalty driven by industry participation and trust in the board of representatives.

Alex was the first chairman of the TWU superannuation investment committee. Frank Sandy, the current CEO of the TWUSUPER fund, summed up on the night of the Zoom wake: 'I have wonderful memories of a person who was strong, direct, really clear and always with a purpose. While we are doing this, we are doing this for members. "Are we doing this to make things better?" That's the question Alex would ask. They're my memories of Alex.'

Paul Ryan, one of the employer-side directors at TWUSUPER, added: 'We and every transport worker owe Alex a debt of gratitude that could probably be measured in dollar terms. If you want to go back to when he started, it was worth somewhere around $100,000 over the last 15 years. That's per member.' That's the additional legacy that Alex leaves, and it's a lasting legacy.

Lou Coia, on the TWUSUPER executive team, told me: 'Alex was a wonderful person. He seemed always to have time for me. He would always ask me and was interested in my life. He was a wonderful person and a gentleman.' That was Alex, and is his legacy, at TWUSUPER.

Then there's the legacy of Alex at TWU itself. Barry Norton, a TWU organiser in Alex's South Australian-Northern Territory branch, said: 'There are a few times over the last 2½ years where people have walked in. They've been union members for the longest time and they remember Alex for what he did. I'm very well aware of the boots that I'm trying to fill and I will do my best to do that, because of Alex being the previous Northern Territory organiser.'

Nick McIntosh, the national assistant secretary of the TWU—one the Zoom participants for Alex's wake—described him as a mentor. Nick said: 'He always spoke words of wisdom. He was always welcoming to me. There were good times. We had conversations in his Parliament House office, where he would never say too much but just enough that I could tell exactly what he was getting at. You could tell just from the interactions how smart he was, how switched on he was, but, most importantly, how much he would always stand for working people.' Alex stood for working people all his life. That's the best way to remember him in this place. That's how we remember him at the TWU—and all of his work colleagues and the people he represented and protected, and defended and supported.

Alex's most important legacy is his family—his family of staff, as was mentioned previously, but also his children and grandchildren, and, of course, his very loved Paola. I think we can all recite many occasions when Alex would talk to us about the love of his family and what they were getting up to. He was such a great family man. We saw that as part of his real worth and real value.

I know this was used a bit earlier today but I thought I might use it again as I think it describes something very accurate about Alex. In his first speech, Alex said his daughter Caroline sent him a quotation of Theodore Roosevelt:

Far and away the best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Of course, Alex's record, both here and at the Transport Workers Union, was an affirmation of that. His good friend Ian Smith, the secretary down there—a very close mate of Alex's—told me that, when Alex was getting treatment, literally the following day he would go on the golf course. I haven't heard of anyone else who gets treatment who can do that, but Alex did it because he was determined to make sure that it didn't hold him back from doing the things he had a passion for. That's why he came back to the Senate to speak and be involved, despite the dangers of COVID, particularly for people in his circumstances. He was a man with passion and dedication and a person worth emulating. Thank you, Alex. I'll miss you, mate.