Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I will be relatively brief. I don't know how I became a friend of Alex's and how he became a friend of mine. It kind of just happened. I don't know whether it started in the meetings we had in cafes when I was an adviser to Nick Xenophon, heading back to Adelaide. I don't know whether it was through my working with him on the economics committee. I note that people have been talking about his passion for road safety, but there were also other things he had passion for, including naval shipbuilding. He was very concerned about workers down in Adelaide. I'm just sad he didn't get to see that particular committee through.

I used to chat with Alex in the chamber and around the building, often with Glenn in tow. I think we all know that the two of them operated together, mischievously in some instances. What I will say about Alex is that he was simple and effective. I note Kristina made a mention of some frustrations that there might have been. Alex always saw things in a different way to others. Where other people found complexity, he found simplicity, and I think that was the source of his frustration with others in this place, in terms of professional frustration. I say 'effective'. I used to watch him in committees, and I never thought he was excited about too much. I even thought that some of his questions were quite boring. But then, when I went back and read the Hansard, I would think, 'That was a really good question.' He was really effective. So that was the other thing that struck me about Alex.

I will reveal something now. As we all know, when trying to get advocacy for any particular issue around this place, you think, 'Do I go to someone who's got carriage of a particular topic, or do I go to someone who's got passion for a particular topic?' Well, what I can say to the Labor Party, at least now, is that if Alex came to me and asked me for something, I almost always did it, just because I knew, particularly if it was a topic I didn't know anything about, that Alex would only come to me when he was passionate. He was just a genuine and honest guy. For me, that was enough, and I would always say yes to him. I can't think of a time when he asked me to support something and I said no. I think that comes down to how I would summarise him, and that is: genuine and honest and someone that I will miss.