Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) | Hansard source

Today I rise to mourn a great unionist, a principled parliamentarian, a respected minister, a strong leader and an outstanding family man. Simon Crean was truly a great Australian. I acknowledge Simon's family, who join us in the gallery today. While I didn't know Simon as well as many of the others who have spoken here today, I do know that he was humble and compassionate and a man of great intellect. Labor through and through, he will probably be best remembered by the wider public for his time as opposition leader.

It's been mentioned many times today already, but his courage to speak out against the invasion of Iraq in front of then US president George W Bush exemplified his bravery and conviction. His assessment that friends must be honest with each other is a lesson for us all. I remember being so proud to see the federal Labor leader of the time take that principled position and express it at an enormous rally in Brisbane, when I was a little bit younger than I am now. The benefit of time would, of course, ultimately vindicate Simon's position.

Earlier as well as later in his parliamentary career, he held various ministerial portfolios, including trade, agriculture, employment, energy and the arts. There would be very few people who could say they served as minister under four different Labor prime ministers across the different decades. His time as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy was defined by the promotion of a reform agenda, opening up the possibilities for Australian food and fibre production to benefit from free trade. As minister, Simon drove Australia's first drought policy, led industry restructuring and was an early advocate of Australia's image as a clean, environmentally sustainable food producer.

Simon forged strong, respectful relationships with the agriculture sector which continued post-politics. He challenged the industry to be more proactive in identifying growth opportunities themselves rather than relying on government handouts. In 1993, he told a conference of agribusiness leaders on the Gold Coast just that:

The role of government was not to try to pick winners (they pick themselves) but to provide leadership and direction to an industry with tremendous export potential but … with a few exceptions, largely domestically oriented.

Things have certainly changed since those times. Simon championed workplace reform at every chance and used science to inform his agenda around food processing and food exports. He established the Agri-food Council in the nineties, bringing together the ACTU, CSIRO and the National Farmers Federation to identify opportunities to access the rapidly expanding Asia-Pacific market. His collaborative approach, bringing together industry, unions and other stakeholders, has been a big influence on me in my role as agriculture minister, especially regarding matters of agricultural trade, workforce and biosecurity.

Reform was something Simon pursued his entire working life. He was fierce and determined but approached every situation with the decency, kindness and generosity we've heard every speaker reflect on. As has been said many times, Simon was revered by people on all sides of politics. After his passing, countless agricultural organisations, including the National Farmers Federation, Grain Producers Australia, the Australian Livestock Exporters Council and Cattle Australia, all paid tribute to his life and service to the industry. Senator Ayres pointed me to an article in the Land, where the very famous—and well-deserved famous—meat processor Roger Fletcher reflected on the time he'd spent with Simon as minister. Simon wanted to hear from those directly involved in the industry about issues they thought the government could actually influence and make a difference on. The quote from Roger—which is prescient, given other developments recently—says: 'He didn't like to use consultants. He liked to go straight to those with skin in the game and get their direct feedback on any issue. He used to ask himself, "What do I need to do to fix this issue?" That's the kind of thing he would ask.'

News of Simon's passing came through as I was getting ready to depart Australia for Rome to speak at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization conference. It would have been the type of event Simon would have loved—bilateral meeting with EU agriculture ministers, as we tried to assist Minister Farrell to get the EU free trade agreement improved for Australian producers. I know Simon had done a lot of work on this through his role as chairman of the European Australian Business Council. In his work with European business and, previously, the Australia-South Korea business council, Simon championed Australian products and the benefits that bilateral trade would have for our nation.

It was at a European Australian Business Council event here in parliament that I last caught up with Simon. I was grateful he imparted some further words of wisdom to me in my current role. In particular, he was a strong supporter of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, on whose board he served, and he shared his thoughts with me as to how this group could support an agricultural reform agenda. It was another reflection of the generous advice Simon was always willing to provide to any of us in this parliament.

To Carole and Simon's whole family: my thoughts are with you during this time. May our comrade Simon Crean rest in peace.