Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise today with great pleasure to have the opportunity to pay tribute to Martin Bruce Cameron. He was a man of incredible courage and extraordinary independence, and he left a huge and lasting impact on my home state of South Australia.

Born in 1935, Martin's life was absolutely marked by his commitment to rural and regional Australia and, particularly, his community—from his commitment to national service to his study of agriculture, which he went to New Zealand for, and the work that he did on his family property near Millicent in the south-east for much of his life, even during his time in public life. But it was his sense of justice and his desire to give voice to his community that was, I think, probably the driving force that brought him into politics.

As Senator Cash mentioned, 1965 was the pivotal point when Martin decided that he could no longer just be a farmer. He had to get himself involved in politics, and he joined the Liberal and Country League on the back of a bill—the South Australian state government's Road Traffic Act—that sought to restrict the transport of live animals and produce by road. Martin thought that was egregious and damaging to his community, so he said that, instead of whinging from the sidelines, he would get into a political party and do something about it.

It didn't take him long before he decided that he was actually going to have a tilt at getting into the South Australian parliament, and, in 1968, he famously lost his election in Millicent by one vote. Needless to say, it was contested, and the Court of Disputed Returns determined that there needed to be a by-election. Unfortunately for Martin, that by-election saw quite an overwhelming victory for his opponent, who had previously only won by one vote. But, typical of Martin, he was always going to push the boundaries and make sure that he didn't die wondering what the result would be.

He had a brief stint in this chamber—a short five months—when he filled a casual vacancy created by one of his very close friends, but Martin's heart was always in South Australia, which was demonstrated by his behaviour for the whole time he was here. You would have thought that there was no other place in Australia apart from South Australia from his contributions—always asking questions about South Australia, talking about South Australia and completely ignoring every other state and territory. Although he recontested his Senate position unsuccessfully, I think he was happiest when he went back to South Australia and was able to represent his home community in the South Australian parliament. So, from 1971 until 1990, just shy of 20 years, Martin served in our state's upper house in South Australia.

He was a true Liberal politician. He was a reformer and he was a principled man who was quite happy to accept the criticism of others as long as he was standing up for what he absolutely believed in himself. He was central to the foundation of the Liberal Movement, alongside Steele Hall, both of whom served in both this parliament and our parliament in South Australia. He also helped to ensure that all South Australians, regardless of gender or status, had the right to vote in the upper house, and he regarded this reform as one of his proudest moments in the South Australian parliament.

But Martin wasn't just a man of politics. As Senator Cash mentioned, he was also a bagpiper—although, I must say, he wasn't a very good one! I can attest to that through personal experience. Martin and I were lucky enough, many, many years ago, to have had the opportunity to sail in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Now, whilst the rest of us were packing a very small amount, because that was all the kit we were allowed to take, for some weird reason Martin decided that his entire kit was going to be made up of his bagpipes. Whenever it was calm enough, Martin would stand on the deck and would try and pipe out at tune, if you could even call it that, which resulted in many comments from the crew about who was killing the ship's cat! One morning, to our great surprise, we heard the bagpipes being played absolutely beautifully. So we all raced upstairs, wondering what had transformed Martin's clear lack of musical talent, only to find that somebody had commandeered Martin's bagpipes and was making a significantly better effort of punching out a tune than Martin was. You'll be pleased to know that we never heard Martin play the bagpipes again!

But he brought colour and he brought character to our public life. He was a smiling Scott, known for his sharp wit and his sharp questions. He was absolutely relentless in debate, especially on matters like health policy. But he was motivated by a genuine concern about the wellbeing of South Australians. It is something that I think all of us in this chamber absolutely care about—that is, the wellbeing of the people that we represent in this place—as do those that represent us in the other places in our states and territories. Even after Martin retired in 1990, he continued to serve his community. His involvement was very broad, including fisheries, heritage, sailing, Aboriginal health. There was a long list of things, but everything was tied back to his support for his community, and his commitment to public life never dimmed through his entire life.

Martin embodied the values, the true liberal values, that the Liberal Party holds dear: individual freedom and civic responsibility. Martin remained a member of the Liberal Party and a member of our state council till the day he died. I'm pretty sure that Martin voted for me for every one of my preselections, bar one. It was only the last one, when ill health prevented him from travelling to Adelaide to, I'm quite sure, vote for me. But no-one will ever know now, so I'm going to claim that victory!

On behalf of the Liberal Party and the people of South Australia, I offer my condolences to his family, to his wife, Barbara, who he was married to for 65 years, and to his five children, Mary, Jane, Kate, Sandy and Robert. May they take comfort from the incredible contribution that their father and husband made in South Australian and Australian life. Vale, Martin Cameron.

Question agreed to, honourable senators joining in a moment of silence.