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 6 January 2026, of the Honourable Ronald (Ron) Leslie Doyle Boswell AO, former senator for Queensland, 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 government to acknowledge the passing of the former senator for Queensland Ron Boswell, or Bozzie, as he was known, on 6 January 2026 at the age of 25—'of 25'! He would have liked that!—at the age of 85. And I want to express our condolences, and my personal condolences, to his daughter, Cathy, and granddaughter Sophie Beasley; his other family and friends; parliamentary colleagues; and others who are mourning his passing. I pay tribute to his late wife, Leita, and his son, Stephen, too.

Ron said it best himself: he might not have been pretty, but he was pretty effective. He served as senator for Queensland for more than 31 years and as leader of the Nationals in the Senate for 17 of those years. Ron Boswell, or Bozzie, as he was known to friends and colleagues in this place, was a forceful advocate for Queensland, for farmers and fishers and for small businesses. He saw his role in this place as giving a voice to those who lacked the institutional heft to advocate for themselves, and it was a role he discharged, honourably, for decades.

He was born in Perth in 1940, son to Bill and Phyllis Boswell, and his father, Bill, was a clerk by profession, a devout Roman Catholic, and his mother, Phyllis, was, in many ways, a woman ahead of her time—a working mum, which, in those times, was less common. At 13, he moved to Brisbane with his father. At 14, he left school and he entered the world of business, as an office worker for the Queensland Insurance Company. He quickly turned this into a budding career, deploying his affable nature and keen salesmanship to quickly become the youngest rep in the industry—all before his 18th birthday. I served with Bozzie; I did not know this till I did this. It's a great story.

These early experiences and his work to establish his own small business in his 20s shaped Ron Boswell's political values. Ron Boswell credited much of his early political involvement to his beloved wife, Leita, who passed away in 2021. It was she who encouraged his involvement in the Nationals and facilitated his connection to party luminaries like Joh and Florence Bjelke-Petersen and Bob Sparkes. Ron and Leita's involvement in the 1974 election helped the Nationals win their first urban seat and deepened his engagement with politics. And this culminated at a crossroads familiar to many in this place: choosing between work outside politics and seeking elected office. Ron's decision to leave the world of business and to seek elected office led to a 31-year career and an enduring contribution to Australian public life.

Ron Boswell entered parliament from third on the Nationals ticket in the 1983 double dissolution election. It was a turbulent time to be entering parliament as a Nationals member. When I read this, I thought: 'There seemed to be quite a few turbulent times.' But fair enough! Ron was the only gain for the party at that election, and, before the coalition agreement, came to be under immense strain, as can happen from time to time. It wouldn't be long before Ron made the principled decision to support the expansion of the parliament, despite the senior coalition party's strong opposition.

After 1990, Ron was elected as the leader in this place, a position he would hold for a record 17 years, and, I would reflect, I doubt that anyone will serve in the modern era, in the contemporary era, for a period that long as leader. In this role, he worked effectively with both sides of parliament. A lifetime defender of small business, he worked with Labor senator Chris Schacht to amend the Trade Practices Act, helping to protect small businesses from the monopolising power of larger retailers. Similarly, he used the Nationals' crucial numbers in the Senate to advocate against allowing geography to be a barrier to accessing health, educational and telecommunications services.

Ron Boswell spent a great deal of his later parliamentary career fighting back against the rise of the far right. And, as a Nationals senator for Queensland, he was familiar with the concerns that newly-emergent far-right figures sought to exploit. In a speech to this chamber in 1997, he said this about the then member for Oxley, now Senator Hanson:

I wish that the world was as simple as Pauline Hanson makes it out to be. I wish that the solutions were as obvious. But the truth is, they are not. … While she provides a temporary emotional outlet for fear and uncertainty, her solutions would only entrench trauma, insecurity and division.

Ron described defeating Pauline Hanson and One Nation in a race for the third conservative Senate spot at the 2001 election as his greatest political achievement, and he risked his career to stand up to what he called Senator Hanson's aggressive, narrow view of Australia.

I went back I looked at the contribution I made—as I was lucky enough to serve with Ron Boswell in this place—when he retired from the parliament, and, with the Senate's indulgence, there are some extracts of that I'd like to read now. I said:

In relation to Senator Boswell, Bozzie is one of the great characters of the Senate. I went up to Senator Boswell after his speech and said, 'The place really won't look the same without you.' I was reflecting, as Senator Boswell spoke, on his election in 1983 and I was trying to think where people—

a number of people in this chamber—

might have been at that time. … Senator Birmingham … was probably in primary school …

…   …   …

… it's an extraordinary period of service from that election in 1983 through to now. He—

Ron Boswell—

faced the people, I think, seven times. It is meritorious service to this place and to our country. I assume also … that Senator Boswell must be one of the last senators—if not the last—to have served in the Senate chamber of the Old Parliament House. Senator Boswell, that is, perhaps, a mark of the generational change that your leaving this place demonstrates.

There are many things that can be said about Senator Boswell. I think he had one of the best re-election slogans I have ever seen: not pretty, but pretty effective. I thought that was fantastic. I disagreed with it, obviously.

To which there was laughter. Then I said:

I actually meant that I disagreed with the 'pretty effective' part, not the 'not pretty' part. Anyway, I am glad you took it that way.

There were a number of things that you said in your speech tonight, Senator Boswell, which really resonated. One of them was that you have been a strong voice in your party room. There is no doubting that. Sometimes, frankly, we have enjoyed that and sometimes it has been more difficult for us. You have really taken the maxim that one has to be a strong voice inside one's party as a core political creed.

…   …   …

He—

Ron Boswell—

said tonight in his speech that politicians must have the courage of their convictions. I agree with this. Senator Boswell showed the courage of his convictions when he stood up against right-wing extremism. He deserves enormous credit for his stand against the far Right of the kind that was symbolised by Pauline Hanson.

Others have spoken—as has Senator Boswell—of the long fight against the far Right political movement, probably culminating in the 2001 federal election, which was the election when I was elected to this place. That was when Senator Boswell vindicated his position by refusing to preference One Nation. Senator Boswell competed directly with Pauline Hanson—the woman who famously said that Australia was being over-run by people who looked like me—and defeated her to retain his Queensland Senate seat, again relegating the far Right to the political wilderness.

…   …   …

Senator Boswell faced defeat at the hands of Pauline Hanson herself in the Senate race of 2001 but he said that he would refuse, point blank, to swap preferences with a One Nation leader.

I say to you, Senator Boswell, that for this principled stand you deserve not only my thanks but the thanks of the parliament and of the Australian people. At a time when debates about racism and freedom of speech are still present in this country I think all of us would do well to remember Senator Boswell's position. I wish him well in his retirement.

He continued that fight until the very end, and, last year, former senator Boswell wrote critically of One Nation in the Australian, labelling them 'the party of complainers' and 'the people who point at problems but never lift a finger to fix them'. On that point, former senator Boswell was consistent. He instinctively understood that support gained through appeals to grievance can only be fleeting and that forces can be used to sow division in communities. He proudly championed the practical, and he knew a key bulwark against the extreme right in this country was a strong centre right.

This isn't to say that he and I didn't ever have disagreements. We did—as many of his speeches in Hansard can attest to. In 2011, he wryly asked me this during question time:

In my 71 years, Labor has only ever delivered six budget surpluses, an average of one every 12 years. Minister, will I have to live to be 83 before I see another Labor surplus budget?

It turned out that he was spot on. In the 83rd year of his life, we did deliver a surplus budget—something, of course, those opposite failed to do in their term of government.