Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to honour the Hon. Peter Nixon AO, a giant of the National Party, a champion of the bush and a man whose legacy is etched not only in policy but in the lives he touched right across this nation and throughout regional Australia.

I am the newest of the Nats in here, so I guessed all the good stories would be taken by the time I stood up! So I'm going to take a slightly different view of what we're going to do. I'm going to shine a light, from the seniors of our party I've spoken to, on what he meant to them and the feelings on that. They say that they reveal the heart of a man who never lost sight of the people he came here to serve. He was a master of connection. He carried the spirit of the bush into every room he entered. He had an uncanny ability to make the complex machinery of Canberra feel human, and he went back and he translated that policy into the language of farmers, of small-town mayors and of families across the land. He didn't just come here to represent regional Australia; he embodied it in everything he did.

What set him apart, when I talked to these people, was his refusal to let power dim his humility. He was a minister who answered the late-night calls, as we heard, from country councils; who drove the dusty roads; who went to see the farmers and met them on their terms. These weren't gestures; that was his genuine way of life. He was authentic all the way through.

I think of the tireless work—little things I didn't know about, like trying to get a shipping line to go down to Bass Strait or his early push for air service to remote towns. Again, these are things we're still fighting for now—proper connectivity to regions. We've heard he was generous with his time. He was a mentor to so many young MPs and not-so-young MPs, including a future prime minister—not even all National MPs. I didn't know things like that. They all tell me he'd listen, he'd advise and he'd often challenge them with a dry wit. There is something that came through in a couple stories I was told from New South Wales. He had a pause. You would know him better than us. There would be a pause in the conversation which would tell them they'd potentially done the wrong thing, without him saying they'd done the wrong thing.

He didn't chase headlines; he just fought for hard-earned truths. His approach to reform was uniquely Australian but grounded, ambitious yet inclusive. Whether on modernising technologies or strengthening rural postal networks, he always pursued progress that lifted communities. He took communities with him because that was his passion. He didn't want to leave anyone behind, and he knew lasting change required trust, not just policy.

Even in retirement, he remained a man of principle. He watched politics with a clear eye. We're hearing of the phone calls that came through. He was never afraid to call out his own side—us—when integrity demanded it. To him, public service wasn't just about popularity; it was about doing right by the people, from the smallest station to the largest city. As Peter once said, you don't do it for the thanks; you do it because people depend on you. Peter Nixon's legacy lives on in the roads that still carry our goods, the services that still bind our regions and the example he set to us all—that politics at its best is about building bridges between communities, between people, between places and between possibilities.

To his family I offer the New South Wales National Party's deepest condolences. To this Senate I offer a challenge: let us honour Peter by striving to serve with the same humility, the same purpose and the same unyielding commitment to those beyond these walls. May he rest in peace.