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

I rise tonight to pay tribute to Tim Picton. Tim was a beloved father, husband, brother and son to his wife, Priya; his daughter, Charlotte; his parents, Fiona and Michael; his sister, Jo; his brother, Chris; his grandmother, Ruth; his parents-in-law, Shavita and Murray; his sisters-in-law, Connie and Natara; and his nieces and nephew, Anna, Clara and Alex. It's a heartbroken family, but beyond that heartbroken family is a heartbroken Labor family.

Tim Picton left his mark around the nation on our movement. He showed enormous promise as the president of Young Labor in South Australia. He worked, as Don said, in the offices of my cabinet colleagues, Amanda Rishworth and then Don himself. He was part of Dan Andrews's election campaign in Victoria and then worked in his government. Then, as the state secretary of Western Australian Labor, he directed the campaign for one of the biggest landslides in Australian history, delivering the re-election of Mark McGowan in 2021. It was a famous victory, a victory that transformed the political landscape in Western Australia, the kind of victory that bears legends. And he went on to drive a strategy tailored to Western Australia in the 2022 federal election that was central to our success, with a gain of four seats in Perth. But he was just getting started. He was 36, and we all knew he was destined for even greater success. A world of opportunities lay ahead of him, and Tim had shown an ability to achieve whatever he set his mind to.

I had the privilege of working with Tim on many occasions. We were often on the same strategy caucus, and I'd see him when I was in Perth. He always brimmed with energy and enthusiasm. He networked relentlessly. He knew who everyone was and he made sure you talked to the right people. What was clear was this: he always had purpose, he always had a plan and he was always determined to win. But he did know that winning is a collective task for Labor people; it is never a solitary pursuit. It is a very special thing, a meaningful thing, to be in the political trenches with your comrades and to come through battle and hardship together—the connection, the loyalty, the solidarity it fosters, to struggle together and to succeed together in the contest of ideas. His love of that contest was also a love of the many talented, hardworking and principled people with whom he worked.

The many people in our Labor family are in a state of terrible grief, terrible pain, whether their time with Tim was in Young Labor or campaigns in SA, Victoria or WA. Here in this place I want to share my sincerest condolences with them. There are too many to name them all, but I do want to particularly recognise Senator Whitaker, who worked with Tim, and also my South Australian colleagues, to whom my heart goes out, Minister Rishworth and the whole Farrell family. Senator Farrell spoke very movingly a moment ago. I know this has been very deeply affecting for him, Nimfa and Tess, who were very close to Tim. I also want to recognise Senator Farrell's chief of staff, one of the most highly esteemed people in this place, who has been close to Tim and Priya for many years, along with many other friends of Tim, who are grieving—Andrew, Jonathan, David, Hannah, David, Robbie, Mark, Mikaela, Simone and many more.

It is always hard to lose someone. It is hard to lose a friend and a comrade in such harrowing and senseless circumstances. It is a profound and devastating shock. So I extend my personal sympathies to all my friends and colleagues who are grieving. And to Tim's family: my deepest condolences for your immeasurable loss. But perhaps most of all, all our hearts break for young Charlotte, the love of Tim's life, who turned four while her father was in the Royal Perth Hospital ICU. As Don spoke about, the Prime Minister wrote a letter to Charlotte so that when she is older she will know what she meant to Tim and what he did for our party and our country.

At the memorial in Perth, Tim's sister, Jo, said that Tim's essence was 'there from the very beginning'. She said:

Two and a half weeks early and in typical Tim style, he came in a dramatic rush despite being scheduled for a caesarean. … always doing things his own way, in his own time—

that restlessness, that eagerness to make things happen that has helped shape our nation.

We will never know what this extraordinary man would have done with a longer life, but anyone who knew him knows that his legacy and his legend were just beginning. Rest in peace, Tim Picton.