Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 8 August 2025 of John Odin Wentworth Watson AM, a senator for the state of Tasmania from 1978 to 2008.

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

I move:

That the Senate records its sadness at the death, on 8 August 2025, of John Odin Wentworth Watson AM, former senator for Tasmania, 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 former senator for Tasmania John Watson on 8 August 2025 at the age of 88. At the outset of my remarks, I want to convey the government's condolences to his wife, Jocelyn; to Mr Geoff Watson and Mrs Rosemary Pollock, who are in attendance today; to his other children, Ian and Fiona; to their partners; to his many grandchildren; and to parliamentary colleagues who are mourning his passing.

John Watson was born in Launceston in 1937, and he studied commerce and economics at the University of Tasmania before embarking on a professional career as a chartered accountant, company director and lecturer at Launceston Technical College and the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education. Before entering politics, he managed a textile manufacturing company, an experience that shaped his deep interest for industry in regional communities, and he was profoundly affected by the closure of textile mills in Launceston, something he remarked as underpinning his decision to seek public office. John Watson was elected to the Senate in 1977, and he served Tasmania for three decades. Upon his retirement at the conclusion of his term in 2008, he held the position of what was described as the Father of the Senate. He had parliamentary service that was extensive.

I had the privilege of serving with Senator Watson. I remember him as courteous and conscientious. I remember him as a senator far more focused on policy than on partisanship. He held positions on nearly every major committee, from finance and public administration to economics and community affairs. He was temporary chair of committees for over a decade, and he held responsibility as shadow parliamentary secretary to the deputy leader of the opposition in the early nineties. But I think it is the case that it was through his committee that John Watson made his greatest mark. He served for many years on what we'd describe as JCPAA, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, working to strengthen accountability and transparency of government.

I think it is undeniable that his most prominent and probably most influential work was in chairing the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation for a decade, contributing ably to the foundations of Australia's modern retirement income system. His work in this area was recognised across party lines. Labor under Hawke and Keating of course conceived of universal superannuation, but, as Senator Watson noted in his valedictory, it fell to him as the Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation to persuade his own party to accept it. This is a very important contribution, and it was one that was rightly acknowledged at the time by the then Labor minister for superannuation and fellow Tasmanian senator, Nick Sherry. I do recall we used to say that the Tasmanians had the superannuation sewn up.

John Watson's background in commerce and taxation meant he understood technical detail and financial implications as well as the long-term benefits of universal superannuation, and importantly he used that understanding to build consensus. As a direct result our superannuation system became one of the strongest in the world. In this way, John Watson contributed to a more secure retirement for millions of Australians, and this is a fine legacy.

Beyond superannuation Senator Watson was a strong advocate for Tasmania, campaigning for infrastructure. He fought for Tasmanian exporters, and he stood by communities facing industrial and economic decline. I remember him as someone who worked with people across political difference, and I remember him as someone who always carried himself with the dignity and courtesy in this place that earns respect from all sides. John Watson was also a man of principle and a man of faith. A committed Christian, he served as Secretary of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, helping to establish the first National Prayer Breakfast in Canberra, an event that continues to this day.

He was a man known for his humility. He found his calling in committee rooms, in patient work and in improving policies in ways that have outlasted political cycles. He was a compassionate man. This was evident in his advocacy for refugees and new arrivals to Australia, helping many individuals and families to secure a future in their new home. His valedictory speech in 2008 is notable for its humility, particularly given the length and breadth of his service. In it he reiterated his view:

Those on low incomes, the disadvantaged and refugees, in fact all those who have had difficulty in getting their voice heard, have been high on my agenda.

In remembering John Watson, we recall a life of service to Tasmania, to the Senate and to Australia. Once again, on behalf of the government, I express my condolences following the passing of John Watson AM and extend my sympathies to all who loved him.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the opposition today to mark the passing of former Senator for Tasmania John Odin Wentworth Watson AM, who passed away on 8 August 2025 at the age of 88.

In mourning his passing, we honour a life that was devoted to service, to family, to faith, to community and, of course, to his state of Tasmania, but, ultimately, to this nation. On behalf of the coalition, we extend our deepest sympathies to his beloved wife of 62 years, Jocelyn; his children, Ian, Rosemary, Fiona and Geoff, and their partners; his many grandchildren; and his wider family. They mourn the loss not only of a public figure but of a deeply loved husband, father and grandfather. I acknowledge in particular his daughter Rosemary and son Geoff, who have joined us here today in the Australian Senate; his wife, Jocelyn, who is actually watching the live stream at home in Tasmania; as well as his children elsewhere in the world, who are also fortunate enough, because of technology, to be able to watch this condolence via the live link.

As we have heard, John Watson served in this place for three decades, from the 1 July 1978 until his retirement on 30 June 2008. Unfortunately, I didn't actually have an opportunity to serve with Senator Watson. I commenced my service in the Senate on 1 July 2008. So he closed his three chapters of serving Tasmania as a senator whilst I opened mine in serving Western Australia as a senator. At the time of leaving the parliament, he was the Father of the Senate. This is, of course, a title conferred on the longest continuously serving Senator. That milestone reflected his remarkable endurance in this chamber, but, more importantly, it reflected the esteem in which he was held by his colleagues on both sides of politics.

Born in Launceston on 25 January 1937, John Watson grew up in Northern Tasmania. His education at the University of Tasmania led him to degrees in commerce and economics, qualifications that would define his career both before and during his time in the Australian parliament. He became a fellow of multiple professional institutes: the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Certified Practicing Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, and the Taxation Institute of Australia. He worked as a chartered accountant, company director, textile industry manager and primary producer. He also lectured part time on economics and commerce at Launceston Technical College and the College of Advanced Education. Now, these were not incidental experiences. They grounded him in the real economy and gave him a professional acumen that he brought to bear in his parliamentary service.

John Watson was elected as a Liberal senator for Tasmania at the 1977 election and took his seat in July 1978. He was re-elected at every subsequent poll until his retirement in 2008. And, over that 30-year career, he contributed to an extraordinary breadth of committees: economics, finance, public accounts, superannuation, regulations and ordinances, environment, education, rural affairs and many more. His committee record today would probably still hold the record as one of the most extensive in modern parliamentary history. He served as a temporary chair of committees for 13 years and as a member of the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Trust. He was also active, as we've heard, in interparliamentary work and the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship.

But, above all, John's legacy is most deeply etched in the field of superannuation. If Paul Keating is remembered as the architect of universal superannuation then John Watson deserves to be remembered as one of its master builders. He chaired the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation during critical years when the framework of our national retirement system was being tested, refined and entrenched. At a time when superannuation was still viewed as a privilege for public servants and the wealthy, he saw the merit of extending it universally. He understood that a scheme of compulsory saving, if properly designed, could secure the dignity of millions of Australians in their retirement. John Watson's professional background as an accountant gave him a rare ability to scrutinise complex financial structures. His was the careful, methodical mind that cut through the jargon to identify weakness, press for accountability and improve legislation. John Watson was instrumental in persuading the Liberal Party to accept the superannuation guarantee levy. In doing so, he helped clear the path for one of the most important social and economic reforms in our modern history. Today, Australia's superannuation pool exceeds $3 trillion, and it is not an exaggeration to say that millions of Australians will enjoy greater comfort and independence in retirement because of John Watson's quiet, diligent work. Senator Nick Sherry, who later became minister for superannuation, praised him on the floor of this chamber, acknowledging his role in pressing departments for answers and insisting on accountability during the late-night committee hearings that shaped the final system. Cross-party recognition of this kind is rare in politics. It spoke to John Watson's integrity, his diligence and his skill.

In his first speech to this chamber in 1978, John Watson spoke of the privilege of entering the Senate and of his commitment to both Tasmania and the nation. He set out a philosophy that was grounded in respect for enterprise, a belief in personal responsibility and a recognition of government's role in enabling opportunity. He warned against the dangers of excessive regulation, but he also stressed the importance of fairness. Those words foreshadowed his later work on superannuation. He was not a man to seek the spotlight. He was not a headline maker. But he was a problem solver, and he believed that government should act in ways that improved people's real lives, not merely its own image.

After retiring from politics, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2014 for significant service to the parliament of Australia through a range of committee roles and to the community of Tasmania. This honour was richly deserved.

In addition to his Senate career, John served his local community as a councillor on the West Tamar Council. That step from national to local life reflected the values that he always held. Service was not about prestige but about making a difference wherever he could.

Those who knew him describe him as a man of faith, humility and dedication. He was secretary of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship during the 1980s, and his personal faith remained a guiding compass throughout his life. John Watson will be remembered for his patience, his integrity and his analytical mind, but he will also be remembered for his warmth. He was courteous, even in disagreement. He never mistook politics for personal animosity. He believed in the dignity of this chamber, and he carried himself with a quiet authority that earnt him the respect of colleagues on both sides of the aisle. He did not chase the microphone but, when he spoke, people listened. And when he questioned witnesses in committee hearings they knew they were being held to account by someone who had done his homework.

Today as Australians plan their retirements, as families save for their future security, and as our superannuation system continues to underpin both household wellbeing and national prosperity, the name John Watson deserves to be remembered. He may not have sought recognition, but his imprint is unmistakable. Every Australian who enjoys the benefits of superannuation owes a small debt of gratitude to John Watson's diligence, persistence and vision. On behalf of the opposition I extend our heartfelt condolences to Jocelyn, to their children and grandchildren and to all who knew and loved John Watson. He was a man of service, a man of principle, a man of faith and a man who leaves behind not only a grieving family but a nation that is stronger and fairer for his contribution. May he rest in peace.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to add my comments to those of my colleagues in recognition of former senator John Watson. I thank them for their comments. I also acknowledge his daughter Rosemary and son Geoff in the gallery, alongside some people who worked with John. I think we have some of the staff who worked on the Senate committee with him here in the chamber as well—Richard Gilbert—which is also a recognition of the respect that John is held in. I'll start by extending my condolences to Jocelyn, his wife of 62 years, as has been said, herself an extraordinarily qualified lady who served her community strongly, as well as John's children, Ian, Fiona, Geoff and Rosemary and their families and all the grandchildren.

John's Senate record is quite an extraordinary one, as has been mentioned. In talking to some colleagues today, mentioning the fact that he served in this place for 30 years did raise some eyebrows. And of course John, in that context, was what you'd have to call a survivor. He served from 1978 to 2008 and, as Senator Cash indicated, just because he hadn't had enough public service he went on to do five years on the West Tamar Council to continue serving his community. But that was John. John was somebody who had an extraordinary radar for the community. He had strong connections to the community. Senator Wong mentioned the closure of a business that he was manager of in the 1970s, when things were changing significantly economically. We heard a couple of weeks ago at the celebration of his life that he went around town looking for jobs for every member of that business and found a job for everybody—and at the end of the day he was the one without a job! So he came here for 30 years.

They were the things that grounded John Watson, and they were the things that set John Watson up and connected him to his community and followed him and drove him for a long period of time. He said in his valedictory:

The tragedy of the Kelsall and Kemp closure changed my attitude to life and refocused my priorities when I reached Canberra. Those on low incomes, the disadvantaged and refugees, in fact all those who have had difficulty in getting their voice heard, have been high on my agenda.

He did that all through his career—

This has been reflected through my close association with community organisations such as refugee groups, churches and City Mission—

an organisation that itself recognised his length of supporting giving to that organisation over so many years quite recently—

and in the later years with Australia's oldest benevolent institution, the Launceston Benevolent Society.

John was very closely connected to his community. That's a demonstration of the sort of person that, in 1978, came to the Senate from Tasmania.

As you might imagine, and as has been indicated by colleagues, someone who serves here for 30 years has a committee membership list as long as your arm—or both arms! John was an extraordinarily qualified person. He was a part-time lecturer at the Launceston Technical College, a chartered accountant, a company director, a part-time lecturer at the College of Advanced Education and a member of the Scotch College Council. He was a farmer, and he loved his farm. His sheep, I understand, won a blue ribbon at the last Exeter Show; John was quite rightly proud of that. So he was still actively involved.

To his qualifications, he was a fellow of the chartered institute of secretaries, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, a fellow of Certified Practising Accountants, a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia. He had a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Tasmania. You knew that when he was asking questions at a Senate inquiry they came from a learned background. He brought all that to the Senate.

John served for 27 years on the Joint Standing Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. That in itself is somewhat of an achievement. Apart from a short period as a shadow parliamentary secretary, John served his entire career on the backbench. He resigned his position as a shadow parliamentary secretary because he crossed the floor due to not agreeing with some proposals that were being put up and supported by the opposition, and happily went back to his committee work on the backbench. He did say in his valedictory speech that he didn't cross the floor quite as many times as his immediate predecessor in this place, who crossed the floor 150 times; John only managed three or four. But it's a different world today. Sir Reginald Wright, his direct predecessor, had quite a reputation and, I think, still holds the record for the number of times crossing the floor; in fact, he may have had a track backwards and forwards in Old Parliament House! But John did make that reflection in the context of his work.

While he served for 27 years on the Joint Standing Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I think it was his work on the Select Committee on Superannuation that really made John stand out. As the new system of superannuation was being developed in this country, the parliament decided, on a motion moved by the Australian Democrats at the time, that there needed to be a select committee to scrutinise the development of the new legislative frameworks. That committee was established. Over its time it only had about 20 members on it. John served on that committee for the entire time of that committee, and there were only ever two chairs: Nick Sherry was the first chair, who chaired for two years, from 1991 to 1993; and the chair from 1993 until 2003, when the committee ceased to exist—remembering that this was a select committee, not a standing committee of the parliament—was John Watson.

When you consider that this particular committee was also a committee that scrutinised legislation, the fact that John Watson was appointed as its chair in 1993 until 1996 under a Labor government is a testament to John Watson—an absolute testament to John Watson. The fact that he had the integrity to work with the other members of the committee—which was one of the features of the committee that's mentioned in the reports, I have to say. They were intent on working together. They were intent on building a knowledge base within the committee so that they could effectively scrutinise the legislation that was being brought before them and make the contribution that they have made to the superannuation system in this country.

That particular point—that John, as a member of the opposition, was chairing the committee that scrutinised legislation on behalf of the parliament and that that appointment was made by the Labor Party—is a real testament to John. I'm not sure that sort of appointment would be made today, to be frank, but it is a real tribute to John Watson that that appointment was made. He chaired the committee then until 2003, when it ceased to exist—for over 10 years.

The committee was quite prolific. It tabled 56 reports. It made 276 recommendations. It held 188 hearings, which is an average of one every three weeks for twelve years. It took 4,762 submissions, and, at one point when superannuation was quite hot, the committee's website reached 42,000 hits per month. So the work of the committee was being watched and scrutinised, and John was driving that work. It still holds the status of the longest running Senate select committee in the Australian parliament's history—12 years and three months. I'm not sure another one would survive that long in the future. I would like to acknowledge Richard Gilbert, who worked in the secretariat for the committee.

There were a number of comments made on its formation. Senator Sid Spindler, who was the Democrat spokesman for Treasury, moved the motion for the committee and said:

We were concerned that there was no formal vehicle for independent input to the Government's decision-making in this increasingly crucial area of economic and social policy.

That was the rationale for the committee being put together in the first place. The committee had a strategy and a modus operandi that was paying specific attention to the question of how it was going to manage its work, the tasks allocated to it, and even devoted one of its reports to describing and reflecting upon a very self-conscious approach.

There were a number of themes: the inquiry process was something that needed to be consciously planned; the committee must remain focused on policy and not get sidetracked by trying to solve specific problems; if the committee's work was to be relevant to the policy debate, its reports would need to be timely, and they were; the committee must develop its own expertise, which I've already mentioned; and the committee must be self-confident and proactive. The committee was quite proactive, sometimes to the chagrin of portfolio ministers, I have to say. One of the committee's key roles would be to promote debate and public awareness, and, as I've mentioned in the stats of the number of people who interacted with the committee website, the committee certainly achieved that.

As has been mentioned, there are some tributes to the committee and the work of John and former senator Sherry in the conduct of their work:

I want to pay tribute to … its chairs, Senator Watson and Senator Sherry, who have been fiercely independently minded and have given their governments a right royal razzle dazzle whenever required over the course of the last 12 years.

So they were very, very determined to make sure that their work was effective. The quote goes on:

It is an example of the Senate working at its best over a long period of time. It is an example of what Senate committees can do when they work together: look at the information, put politics aside and actually produce good policy. As a result the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation has been one of the most effective committees this Senate has seen over the past 12 years.

Senator Sherry said:

We cannot test this information by referring the bills to the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation—

This is when the committee was disbanded—

We cannot test this information by referring the bills to the Senate Select Committee on Superannuation. That committee has been abolished or it has lapsed—they are having a barbeque after 12 years, which I am missing—so there is no opportunity to ask those detailed questions.

So Senator Sherry was obviously lamenting the fact that the committee was leaving. Senator Coonan, not so unhappy to see the committee go, said:

Driving a stake through its heart! … I don't think it will be dead until you cut off its head and stick an apple in its mouth.

So, as I said, it did do its job in asking questions.

A friend of ours—and I'm sure Senator Askew might elaborate on this a little later—mentioned at John's celebratory celebration that at one point in time during a committee debate John Watson stood up and said to the minister, 'This will have this bad effect if you pass this amendment.' The minister argued a little bit but then asked that the committee report so that he could go away and find out whether John was right. The minister did not go on with the debate because he knew that John Watson had stood up and said there was a problem with this amendment. So he suspended the debate, came back and continued with it after having checked it out. That was a comment passed to Don from a former clerk of the Senate, who noted that action. So the respect for John goes across the parliament.

I found this article that was published on 23 June 2008, not long after John had retired from the parliament, by Alan Thornhill, who asked the question, 'Who is John Watson, Anyway?' And the article starts:

You may never have heard of outgoing Tasmanian Liberal Senator John Watson, but you will probably have good reason to thank him one day.

Your retirement will almost certainly be much more comfortable than it might otherwise have been, because of his work.

Paul Keating has, quite rightly, taken much of the credit for overhauling Australia's superannuation industry. But it was the quiet work that Senator Watson undertook in the shadows of parliamentary committees that made Keating's vision of worthwhile superannuation for all Australians a reality.

I think that's a great tribute for John, along with the respect that was paid to him by others in the parliament at the time—to chair the committee as an opposition senator.

As I said before, to survive for 30 years in this place, you have to have a pretty decent survival instinct, and John certainly had that. In 1996, I was a candidate for preselection for the Senate—along with a number of other notables, including former premier Robin Gray—and John, very keen to continue his parliamentary career, rolled up with a lawyer's trolley full of Senate inquiry reports that he had authored through the Senate committee and rolled that into the preselection room to demonstrate his efforts and the work that he'd done. And it was effective, because neither myself nor Robin Gray were preselected for that particular election. Jocelyn Newman, Paul Calvert and John Watson prevailed for that particular ticket.

In the subsequent preselection that he contested in 2000, for the 2001 election, John turned up with his pathology reports to demonstrate that he was still fit and ready to go and could serve another term, and he succeeded in being preselected at No. 2 on that ticket and served until the next election. Of course, as we know as senators, there's always someone who's looking for our job or thinks that someone else might be better. So these were—deservedly and properly—very robustly contested preselections.

Yes, Senator McKenzie, former senator Abetz was a player. There's no question about that in that process. The ticket in 2001 was Paul Calvert, John Watson and me. That was the point at which I first came to work with John as a colleague.

As has been mentioned, John was a man of faith, and, through the words that I took from his valedictory, you can see how he applied that. He actually lived that. He actually lived that in the way he interacted with people in this place on a daily basis. He wasn't somebody who shoved it down your throat. He wasn't somebody who was an evangelist as such. But he lived his faith and he observed it. He was a pioneer in the place, as has already been mentioned. He and colleagues in the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship pioneered the first National Prayer Breakfast, held in Old Parliament House, which continues today as an annual event. John was part of starting that.

Something that I didn't know about John is that he contracted polio as a child. He went on to become a very good athlete. He used to race the trains and the trams home, and he held a state record in athletics for many years. That's not something that I necessarily would have associated John with, but it showed his persistence. He loved his farm, his cattle and sheep and spent quite a deal of time there, and his family remember those times, I know, very fondly. As I mentioned, he won a blue ribbon very recently.

His engagement with Launceston City Mission, in particular, I think is something worth noting. Of course he was deservingly recognised with a membership of the Order of Australia after his retirement from the parliament. I don't know that I can think of anyone who would be more deserving of that honour.

I want to finish with a little bit of a poem that was read by his son at the celebration of his life, because I think it also encapsulates John. It's the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling. He encouraged his children to learn the poem, and they did. I think it says something about John's philosophy and the way that he worked and operated in this place. It goes:

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

There are a number of other verses to it. I won't put all of that on the record, but I think it's worth going back and having a look at because it's probably not a bad message, either, for all of us. But it says a lot about John Watson that that was something that he valued and taught to his children.

In closing, I extend my deepest sympathies to Jocelyn and the family. It's great that some of them are able to be here and that others can watch the live streaming today. It was a terrific tribute to his life that a few of us attended a couple of weeks ago. It was a deserving tribute to somebody who made a significant contribution to his local community and to his state but particularly to the country through his work on the Select Committee on Superannuation.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Nationals, I rise to pay tribute to former senator John Watson, who served the state of Tasmania valiantly for an extraordinary 30 years. John became Father of the Senate in 2005 until his departure from politics in 2008 and was succeeded by our own dear former senator Ron Boswell. Senator Watson was, in tandem with former fellow Tasmanian Labor senator Nick Sherry, an expert without peer in superannuation policy in this parliament. Senator Watson's contribution to Australia's superannuation system, as a coalition MP, was very important. How much of the super system we all benefit from today was through Senator Watson's hard work and participation in countless inquiries, committees, speeches and advocacy, mostly as a backbencher, should never be underestimated. That's been expanded on by my colleagues.

Senator Watson persuaded the coalition, despite considerable opposition from sections of the Liberal Party, that compulsory saving for your retirement was a good idea. We all owe him a deep gratitude for his vision and hard work. To Senator Watson's wife, Jocelyn, and his family, some of whom are in the chamber today, I offer my party's deep condolences, Vale, John Odin Wentworth Watson.

Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm honoured to contribute to the condolence motion today relating to the late John Watson AM, who was a senator for Tasmania for exactly 30 years. I attended former senator John Watson's funeral in Launceston just two weeks ago and, unsurprisingly, there was a very large congregation, including colleagues, both state and federal, many former staff, friends and, of course, John's family and extended family. A particularly lovely touch was the presence of the Railway Silver Band, in their bright uniforms, who played at the conclusion of the service. John Watson was patron of the band for many years both as a senator and after.

Not many senators achieve 30 years in this place. It is a feature of the churn of members that there are few in the chamber who shared these benches with John Watson. The Leader of the Government, Senator Wong, as she mentioned, Senator Carol Brown and my colleague Senator Richard Colbeck all served with him. At his funeral, the point was made that there is only a handful of senators since Federation who have made such a substantial contribution to the development of policy in Australia without achieving ministerial office. One of those who falls into that category would be former Tasmanian senator the Hon. Peter Rae AO and another is the man we are remembering here today.

As has been mentioned, John Watson's contribution to the development of Australia's superannuation and taxation laws cannot be overstated. He served on the longest established select committee in the Senate's history, the Select Committee on Superannuation, as we've heard, which was later renamed the Select Committee on Superannuation and Financial Services and operated from 1991 to 2001. Most unusually, in 1993 John Watson was elected chair of that committee. This was a time when opposition senators did not hold chairmanship of committees. But it was universally accepted across the political divide that there was no-one in the parliament who knew more about the complexities of superannuation and retirement income than John Watson.

John graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Economics in 1960 and then a Bachelor of Commerce in 1962. It was most uncommon at that time for a person to undertake a combined degree. He continued his education and became a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, the Taxation Institute of Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants. John commenced in an accounting role at the Kelsall and Kemp textile mill in Launceston and steadily rose up the ranks to end up as managing director. He was one of very few members of this place to have been managing director of a large manufacturing company. Another who comes to mind is another Tasmanian senator and great friend of John's, the late Senator Brian Gibson.

However, when the Whitlam government decided to end textile, clothing and footwear tariffs, the economic effects on Launceston and the Tamar Valley were nothing short of devastating. Launceston had long been the home of not only Kelsall and Kemp but also Coats Patons, James Nelson and Waverley Woollen Mills. They employed hundreds of people, and hundreds more had ancillary jobs because of them. There were often three generations of people who worked in these mills because they were good and beneficial employers. Only the last of these three exists today. The others were destroyed by the tariff decision. John Watson spent weeks, as we've heard, driving around Launceston, trying to place his staff in new jobs when Kelsall and Kemp was to close. At the end of that task, as we've heard, he was left without a job himself.

John stood for the Senate in the half-Senate election in 1977 on a ticket with Shirley Walters, the first woman Senator from Tasmania, and Brian Archer. He was in the risky third seat and not assured of election. However, huge numbers of Kelsall and Kemp workers, not traditionally Liberal supporters, came out en masse to distribute leaflets and support him. They wanted to repay what he had done for them.

As history shows, John was elected easily and took his seat in July 1978. He was re-elected on six subsequent occasions. He decided that the way to succeed in the Senate was to find an area to specialise in, and he had one that was ready-made because of his astute accounting background. It is fair to say that John Watson together with his Labor Tasmanian colleague Nick Sherry deserve huge recognition for the tremendous amount of work they did in developing superannuation policy. John particularly fought for many years, right up until he left the Senate, to try and make superannuation completely portable, and I know he was conscious that there was still work to do in that area.

However, he did not confine his work only to that area. He served on the Joint Committee of Public Accounts for 27 years, including as chair and vice-chair, and he was part of 57 reports that committee tabled in that time. Richard Gilbert, who is here today, who was a Senate officer and secretary of the superannuation select committee before going on to head up the national superannuation association, paid warm tribute to John at his funeral and recalled taking a draft report into his Senate office for what he thought would be a quick sign off, only to leave three hours later after John Watson had read every word and laden him with many comments and suggestions. He said he learnt never to make that mistake again!

John was a staunch supporter of Tasmania, following in the vein of the senator who he'd succeeded, Sir Reginald Wright. John was prepared to cross the floor when he felt some decision would adversely affect his state, but he never did it without advising his leader and he never did it in a way that was designed to embarrass his party.

John grew up as a member of the Presbyterian Church, and his Christian faith was a strong guide in his life. He attended the then Scotch College in Launceston and later served on the council of the school. A stained-glass window in the college chapel was relocated at John's expense from Chalmers Church in Launceston when that church closed as a place of worship. John Watson was, for a long time, secretary of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship and instituted the National Prayer Breakfast, maintaining strong links with many senators and members and their staff, across party lines. He took great care to invite interesting speakers for those events.

John Watson maintained a farm on the west Tamar, just outside the town of Exeter in the Tamar Valley. There he ran sheep, and he was very pleased, as Senator Colbeck has mentioned, only recently to have been awarded a first prize blue ribbon at the Exeter Show.

His interest in agriculture led him into a surprising diplomatic incident in Canberra. In 1989, he was a member of the organising committee for the World Sheep and Wool Congress, which was held in Launceston. Delegates came from across the globe to attend the meeting. John Watson was given the task of encouraging the USSR to send a delegation. He made an appointment with the agricultural counsellor at the Russian embassy, and, at the appointed time, was driven in a Commonwealth car the short distance from Parliament House to the embassy on Canberra Avenue. As his car arrived, the gate of the embassy opened to allow another vehicle to leave the compound. Knowing they were expected, Senator Watson told the driver to drive on through. The embassy, however, had other ideas, and the heavy gates closed on the car, crumpling each side of it. I understand the Russians did not turn a hair, and the meeting went ahead with no comment at all.

It was appropriate that, in 2014, John was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his parliamentary service—in particular, the improvement of financial services and protection for Australian people.

John was strongly supported throughout his career, both at Kelsall and Kemp and in the Senate, by his wife, Jocelyn, who herself is well known in northern Tasmania and was herself honoured in the Order of Australia for services to pharmacy. At the funeral, each of John and Jocelyn's children, Ian, Rosemary, Fiona and Geoff—and I acknowledge Rosemary and Geoff in the gallery today—spoke warmly about an aspect of their father's life. It was, as funerals should be, a celebration of a life, and, in this case, a life of exemplary service and commitment to Tasmania and Australia as a whole.

On a personal note, my late father was a good friend of John Watson and shared many of his values, and that made it particularly moving to hear those stories and memories referred to at his funeral. My brother, former senator David Bushby, served with John briefly towards the end of John's career, and, personally, I have been fortunate to have ongoing support and encouragement from both John and Jocelyn over the years, always showing a genuine, caring interest in my activities. On behalf of my extended family, I send condolences to John's family, particularly Jocelyn, their four children and their partners, and their 12 grandchildren, Caleb, Noah, Oli, Douglas, Chris, Lachlan, Jackson, Camden, Sarah, Elise, Samuel and Rachel. It is my pleasure to support this motion of condolence today.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to contribute to this debate by associating myself with the remarks of colleagues who have commemorated the life and legacy of John Odin Wentworth Watson, a former senator from Tasmania. While I didn't have the opportunity to serve with him and missed that by quite a few years, I did have the great honour of observing the legendary John Watson, both as a member of our party in Tasmania and also as a staffer in this place. Seeing the man at work in the way that has been described by so many was truly a sight to behold. It was an amazing contribution he made over a period of time. As I said, having not worked with him as a senator but being able to see him at work in his home state of Tasmania on the ground, it was clear that he had quite the fire in his belly for community service. Much of that has been chronicled here. You talk to so many people, particularly in northern Tasmania, that have benefited from his work. You can see the mark that he left on his community, on his state, and why so many of the contributions today reflect on that so much.

As my Tasmanian colleagues would know, though, one thing that our party members will miss most and missed post 2008 was his publication of 'Dialogue', which was an immense document that came out at regular intervals for members. It's something that I know members of our party feel very let down by the current crop of Tasmanian Liberal senators not replicating, but that was an amazing piece of information that a senator who spent a lot of time away in Canberra was able to provide back to his membership, the people that sent him here, to Canberra, to be a senator from that state. Despite me only having an association with John Watson in the last decade of the three that he served in this place, he had no signs of slowing down. He was still going at full pace. As his daughter Rosemary said in some notes she provided to my colleagues and me and comments she'd made on her father's passing, 'He had two speeds, go and stop, and it was mostly go.' I think that's evidenced by the comments that have been made there.

In Tassie you'd see him at community events. You'd see him at school assemblies. He'd be representing his community and taking on issues on their behalf. He'd be doing the same for statewide issues here on a regular basis, threatening to cross the floor and often crossing the floor in the interests of our state—I think that is something that meant he was truly a senator in the traditional sense—but also on behalf of the individuals that would go to him and seek help. He would not turn his back or close his door on anyone who was seeking help. We saw that in his pre-Senate days, as has been outlined here, but it was certainly in his time as a senator.

In the notes that Rosemary, his daughter, provided to us, at the end of his time as a senator he was recognised by the Investment & Financial Services Association with an industry excellence award. When the award was presented the chair of that body, David Deverall, said: 'Former senator John Watson is readily acknowledged by all and sundry as the quintessential quiet achiever. John devoted many years to strengthening Australia's financial regulatory framework and superannuation system with his attention to detail and forensic analysis.' Because, as Senator Richard Colbeck said just a moment ago, three decades in the Senate wasn't enough, he went and ran for local government, which I would argue is a harder level of government to work in, particularly in Tasmania where you are in the sights of many. He did five years on the West Tamar Council.

John Watson's achievements in this place are many, and his legacy is immense, as you can hear today. Many Tasmanians and indeed Australians have benefitted from his hard work, his efforts and his commitment to public service. But his legacy for those of us in this chamber today and those who'll come beyond is to be reminded by this. It doesn't matter what seat you occupy in this chamber, whether you're in government or opposition, whether you're on the frontbench or the backbench, there's so much you can achieve. Senator Watson wasn't a frontbencher for long at all. Yes, he might have been in government for periods of time, but some of his greatest achievements, as we've talked about here today, came from his time as an opposition senator. I think that is truly something to reflect upon as we go about our jobs here; it's certainly something I will.

In closing, I do want to reflect on his time as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Audit. I'm not a numbers person, and I never will be. John Watson was, can I tell you, and as was pointed out earlier, and as John's daughter, Rosemary, provided in some documentation to us here, presented with a certificate for his long service on that committee. In the certificate it says he was a member for 27 years, one month and nine days. I worked out, if my maths is not off, that that is 10,911 days. I did that committee for 79 days, and that was more than enough! So I say thank God for people like John Watson, who have made the contribution they have and made Australia a better place. Vale, John Watson.

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