Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its sadness at the death, on 24 June 2025, of Martin Bruce Cameron, former senator for South Australia, places on record its gratitude for his service to the Parliament and the nation, and tenders its sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

I rise on behalf of the Labor government to acknowledge the passing of former senator from South Australia Martin Bruce Cameron at the age of 89. At the outset, I convey my condolences and the government's condolences to his family and friends and to his parliamentary colleagues, who are mourning his passing.

Martin Bruce Cameron was born in Millicent, in my home state of South Australia, in 1935, the only son of a pioneering farming family with Scottish roots. He was educated in local country schools and then boarded at Scotch College in Adelaide, which was my school. Even to the time when I was there, farmers from the south-east often sent their sons and daughters to board there. After national service with the RAAF and agricultural studies in New Zealand, Martin returned home to farm alongside his family.

His appointment to the Senate in 1969 came somewhat suddenly, following the death of a close family friend, Senator Keith Laught. It was a short term; Martin Cameron served for just five months before his Senate term expired in 1969. Former senator Cameron reflected that he did not particularly enjoy his time in federal parliament. It perhaps started inauspiciously when the Clerk of the Senate dropped the Bible on which Martin Cameron was to be sworn in into the wastepaper basket. Now, this is what I was told—I'm assuming it is true, Mr Clerk!

Martin Cameron expressed frustration at the lack of interest in South Australian matters from his peers in Canberra, something which drove him to ask questions almost exclusively on South Australian matters, and he was critical of the lack of interest in federal matters from the Adelaide press. And so it was in South Australian state politics that Martin Cameron made his extensive contribution to public life. He entered the South Australian Legislative Council in July 1971, backed by one of the great leaders of both the Liberal Party and also the state, former premier Steele Hall. Martin Cameron would go on to join Steele Hall's breakaway Liberal movement and would remain an influential ally of Steele Hall's throughout the latter's long parliamentary career.

Martin Cameron was a politician unafraid to speak out on issues he considered to be matters of principle. The liberal movement of which he was a part was socially liberal and committed to electoral reform in South Australia, leveraging popular demands for change to force the Liberal and Country League leaders to enact aspects of Labor's proposed electoral reforms—reforms that would expand the franchise and reverse the so-called Playford gerrymander.

Martin Cameron defended democratic values and advocated for universal suffrage in the South Australian Legislative Council, often against more extreme voices on his own side of politics. He memorably described some of these voices as 'the extreme Right of the political spectrum in Australia and, as such, the lunatic fringe'. Over time, Martin Cameron became a respected elder of the South Australian parliament, known for firm views but always open to considered debate. He supported progressive legislation in the South Australian parliament. He stood against attempts to limit women's rights to abortion, held liberal views on homosexuality and advocated for Aboriginal health and community engagement.

If I might make a comment here, we in South Australia have long prided ourselves on being a state that is moderate. Those members of the liberal movement and members of the Liberal Party who made so many changes to the state over the years of their influence have had an historic and important role to play in the character of our state, and Martin Cameron was one of those.

Upon leaving the South Australian parliament, Martin remained active in public life. He was appointed by the Bannon Labor government to the board of the South Australian electricity trust. He led fisheries and marine sustainability efforts and was passionate about sailing and the seafood industry. He was also a lifelong republican, chairing the South Australian branch of the Australian Republican Movement and acting as a vocal supporter of the 'yes' case in the 1999 republic referendum.

Martin Cameron was of a generation of South Australian Liberals who strove to hold their commitment to the public good above party politics and did what was right even when it was difficult. I want to record my personal respect for his actions and the course he took. May that legacy endure. Once again, in closing, on behalf of the government, I express my condolences following the passing of Martin Bruce Cameron, and I extend my sympathies to all who loved him.