Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Share this | Hansard source

President, may I also extend to you my congratulations on your election to this high office.

I rise this afternoon to also pay tribute to a remarkable Western Australian, a deeply committed public servant and a stalwart of the Liberal Party—that, of course, is Senator Dr Alan Eggleston, who passed away on 13 May 2025. In doing so, I want to associate myself with the very generous remarks made by Senator Cash and those made by Senator McAllister and Senator McKenzie.

Alan served this chamber and the people of Western Australia with quiet dignity, fierce intelligence and an unwavering sense of duty. His was a voice of regional Western Australia, grounded in the red earth of the Pilbara, shaped by his medical background and driven by an enduring belief in fairness, opportunity and service. Alan Eggleston was not only a senator for Western Australia; he was a senator of Western Australia. He was a champion of remote Australia before it became fashionable, an advocate for regions too often forgotten by Canberra, who considered it the responsibility of government to provide a fair go for all Australians, no matter their postcode.

It was a privilege to have had published in the West Australian newspaper just recently an obituary written by me for Alan, and I'm grateful to the West Australian newspaper for giving me that opportunity. I'll just make some brief remarks this afternoon and make some personal observations reflecting on his life in local politics and his early involvement and lasting involvement in the Liberal Party, his contribution to shaping the north-west of Western Australia and his long legacy to me and others in this Senate chamber who had the privilege of working with him.

Alan's commitment to service led him to local government, serving as mayor of Port Hedland from 1988 to 1991. He approached this with a calm pragmatism and understood that policy is not something cooked up in offices in Perth or in Canberra; it was lived day by day by local people. Alan was president of the Kalgoorlie North division of the Liberal Party from 1980 to 1984 and the WA state Liberal Party vice-president from 1981 to 1985. He was an active member, deeply respected for his policy insight and the authenticity of his views. He was not a party man for party's sake. He believed in the values of liberalism, especially its emphasis on individual dignity, enterprise and limited but effective government.

Remarkably, Alan's election to the Senate almost never happened. At the 1987 federal election, Alan stood in the unwinnable sixth position on the Liberal Party ticket. He had contested a Senate spot for the 1990 federal election but withdrew his candidature while the selection meeting was taking place. Alan was finally elected to the Senate in 1996, winning the third spot on the ticket by just a single vote. Alan reportedly said that, over the years, many people came to him and said they were that one vote.

But it was his tireless advocacy for northern Western Australia that defined his parliamentary career. He used every tool available to a senator to fight for infrastructure and services for the Pilbara, Kimberley, Gascoyne and beyond. He spoke powerfully about the impact of the mining boom on regional housing and social cohesion. He lobbied for improved air services, better roads and the need for skilled workers to be attracted and retained in remote towns. He never tired of reminding those in Canberra—those in this Senate chamber—that WA was the engine room of our national economy and that those who lived and worked in the north deserved to share in its rewards. He also fought hard for Aboriginal communities and understood that health outcomes were about more than hospitals; they were about housing, education, clean water and community trust.

We heard from Senator Cash about the 22 years of service he provided in various forms in the township of Port Hedland, and of course he was the local GP in Port Hedland for many, many years. I grew up in Port Hedland when Alan Eggleston was its local GP. My father was the local policeman, and, while I never knew Alan Eggleston when I was five or six, my mother does tell the story of how she recalls, while she was pregnant perhaps, encountering him in his surgery all those years ago. What a remarkable revelation about how life twists and turns and then finds itself meeting again, having had the opportunity, as I did, as a more mature kid that grew up in Port Hedland, of working beside him in this Senate chamber.

Within the WA Liberals, Alan was a mentor, a sage source of advice and, for many, a moral compass. He was never one for factionalism or internal games. He encouraged younger Liberals to visit the regions and see life beyond the metropolitan bubble. Alan believed that the Liberal cause was strongest when it remembered its country roots—when it stood up for small-business owners, pastoralists, local volunteers and the battlers who keep rural communities running.

His policy contributions behind the scenes were significant, and he was instrumental in shaping the party's thinking on how we delivered practical outcomes where the circumstances were culturally and geographically complex. Shortly after his coming to the Senate, in 2012 the coalition was beset with two very important issues—important to Western Australians most particularly. The first was a very heated debate about whether or not to continue the process of deregulation of our wheat export markets. Anyone who knows anything about wheat exports knows that the bulk of wheat exports from our country come from Western Australia. Curiously, at the time, the coalition government, led by Tony Abbott and Barnaby Joyce, wanted to reverse the success of wheat deregulation. Alan and I were quick to our feet as Western Australian senators to say 'not in our name'. It was a moment in this Senate chamber when I learnt a very important political lesson: don't blink first. And, of course, having to cross the floor—as Alan and I were prepared to do, to support WA wheat farmers—wasn't necessary because Senator Joyce, at the time, and Senator Nash, at the time, didn't call a division.

The second issue speaks to Alan's commitment and indeed the commitment all Western Australians have to maintaining our federal structure. The Rudd-Gillard period saw the Gillard government bring forward a referendum proposition to recognise local government in our Australian Constitution. That referendum bill reached the Senate. That referendum bill passed the Senate. Alan and I, with senators Bushby, Fawcett, Back and McKenzie, used the privileges that are bestowed on us as backbench senators to oppose that referendum bill. Again, curiously, the coalition had a bipartisan commitment to that referendum proposition. That bipartisan commitment was challenged in our party room, and Tony Abbott and others saw the wisdom of then advocating against that particular referendum proposition. But of course the referendum never happened, because Kevin Rudd called an election for the first possible Saturday for that referendum, and we've never heard of the recognition of local government in our national Constitution ever again—and long may that be the case. Alan Eggleston was the first republican I ever met in the Liberal Party, but I chose not to ever hold that against him!

I extend my deepest condolences to Alan's family, friends and former staff; to the WA Liberal Party, who have lost a cherished elder; and to the people of the north-west, who have lost a champion. Let me use these last words as a way of sharing with this Senate chamber what others have said about Alan. The first is from Elsia Archer, a champion of regional Western Australia and a local icon in the small township of Derby in WA's far north Kimberley region. Elsia said, 'Alan was one of life's finest gentleman and cared for all.' The second is from Evi Ferrier, Alan's companion and partner of many, many years. She said: 'Alan was a remarkable playmate. He was always willing to join me in anything, even tap-dancing master classes and swimming in the ocean all year round.' In her last conversation with Alan, she told him, 'I love you more than the world.' Alan responded, 'What about the dog?'—good humoured and fun to the very end.

Alan Eggleston is, as far as I've been able to discover, still the only Western Australian senator to have ever appeared on a poster for Perth's Fringe festival.

I know, Senator Brockman; I didn't know that either until Evi sent that to me.

We have lost a remarkable individual, a person who has served our state with great triumph and always with the greatest humility. Again, we extend condolences to Alan's family, to all his friends and to those in the Senate chamber that had the privilege and honour to work with him.