Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a privilege for me tonight to rise to pay tribute to a wonderful Tasmanian whose life, sadly, was cut far too short, and that's the late Dr Vanessa Goodwin, who was the Tasmanian Attorney-General, the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council and the member for Pembroke, on Hobart's eastern shore. Dr Goodwin, for those who didn't know her, had a long and distinguished career serving the people of Tasmania, working hard on the areas that were of interest to her and the things that she was passionate about.

Vanessa—by way of background—completed her studies in law at the University of Tasmania, continued on with her studies to attain a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, and then came back to Tasmania and attained a Doctor of Philosophy in the same area, again from the University of Tasmania. Vanessa was no stranger to politics, contesting the 2006 state election in the electorate of Franklin and then, a year later, contesting the 2007 federal election in the seat of Franklin and then, finally, contesting the Pembroke by-election for the upper house state seat, in the south, in 2009, winning it for the Liberals.

While Vanessa was one of the most talented and hardworking ministers—or politicians generally—I've come across, she was also incredibly compassionate and cared deeply about the people she represented, the everyday people she ran into and the people she sought to do a good job for. One only had to have a close look at Dr Goodwin's first speech, which she delivered in 2009, after her election, to see what kind of a person she truly was and to see what excited her, what motivated her to do the good things that she did. Vanessa in that speech charted out, early on, her priorities, the things that mattered to her. Chief amongst them was the restoration of trust in government. Vanessa was one of those members of the Tasmanian parliament who led the charge in supporting the idea of the establishment of an integrity commission, a tool which she believed might restore some of the public faith in the democratic institutions of our state. Ahead of her time, she led that debate, and indeed we saw the establishment of an integrity commission.

Vanessa also spoke of her very strong desire to work with young Tasmanians to break the cycle of disadvantage. This is something that she continued to work on for the duration of her career, something she was ardently passionate about and something that was born out of the studies that she conducted at the University of Tasmania and Cambridge university. Her deep passion for the area of crime prevention for younger Tasmanians was a hallmark of much of the work that Vanessa did as a member of the Legislative Council and then later as the state's Attorney-General, Minister for Justice and Minister for Corrections. She supported innovative programs like TOOL and U-Turn, which had new ways of tackling youth crime and breaking that cycle that young offenders find themselves in.

Vanessa was also a consummate local member. Her door was always open to anyone. I know for a fact that the issues that were presented to her were always taken extremely seriously. That is because I had the good fortune of working with Vanessa not only for a number of years, between 2010 until my election here in 2016, but also for a brief period of time as her chief of staff. So I know just how seriously Vanessa took her job as a local member and as a minister in the Hodgman government.

Vanessa was also a true Liberal, following in the footsteps of her mother, Edith. Those from Tasmania who knew the late Edith Langham would know that she, too, was taken from us as a result of a battle with brain cancer. For many years, Vanessa contributed to the life of the Liberal Party in our state. If public opinion is to be believed, politicians are rarely believed to have a beating heart, but I can say for a fact that Vanessa Goodwin truly did have one. Just recently, on Friday, 9 March, there was a fitting tribute to Vanessa, to her life and to the contribution that she made to her state, marked by a packed-out St David's cathedral, where we were able to say farewell to our friend and colleague and a great Tasmanian. On behalf of all Tasmanians, including my colleague Senator Bushby, I can say definitely that Tasmania, and our lives, will be much the poorer without her.