James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

My contribution will be as short as Senator Boswell's contribution was long to this place, because many fine words have been said and many fine stories have told, and there are some stories that may get told afterwards. But I would like to associate myself particularly with the words of my National Party colleagues from Queensland and around the country and of my leader. I speak also as a former Young Liberal from Queensland—not quite of Paul's generation. I was in high school in 1988! I was at Innisfail high, actually.

I'm going to cherrypick a word that, actually, Senator Canavan used in relation to the National Party and in relation to Senator Boswell, and it's the word 'small'. Even though Senator Boswell, or Bozzie, was larger than life, his vow when he entered this place was to be the voice for small businesses, for families, for the smaller end of our society, and he upheld that vow.

When you travel around Queensland, as the LNP senators do, the two Liberals and two Nationals here, it's when you go to the north and the banana farmers, when you go up to Mareeba and the former tobacco growers and when you go to Hervey Bay, which used to have the best seafood festival in the country, where Ron Boswell was seen as a living deity because of the work he did for the fishers—that's the person who made this chamber a better place, made Queensland a better place and made Australia a better place.

As an LNP senator for Queensland, I would like to thank Senator Boswell, Bozzie, for the service. I'd like to thank his family for lending him to us for such a long period of time, and our thoughts and prayers go to all of you. May Ron's life mission continue not just with the National Party senators and not just with the Liberal Party senators in this place but with all of us—to stand up for what is right and for what is good. Vale, Bozzie.