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

Senators, it is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 8 November 2025 of the Hon. Graham Frederick Richardson AO, a former minister and senator for the state of New South Wales from 1983 to 1994. I call the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

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

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its sadness at the death, on 8 November 2025, of Graham Frederick Richardson AO, former Minister for the Environment and the Arts; Minister for the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories; Minister for Social Security; Minister for Transport and Communications; Minister for Health; and Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories, and former senator for New South Wales, places on record its gratitude for his service to the Parliament and the nation, and tenders its sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

President, I rise on behalf of the government to acknowledge the passing of the former senator for New South Wales Graham Richardson on 8 November at the age of 76. And I convey at the outset the government's condolences to his wife, Amanda, and son, Darcy, and to his family and friends and parliamentary colleagues mourning his passing.

Graham Richardson was a truly larger-than-life figure in Australian politics. He served as a senator for New South Wales for over 11 years and a cabinet minister in both the Hawke and Keating governments. Richo, as he was known, was prominent in Australia's public consciousness for decades, and his impact was felt far beyond this place. His was a storied generation of Labor figures: Hawke, Keating, Evans, Faulkner, Ray and others, leaders who in each of their own ways shaped our party and in turn the nation.

Graham Richardson was born in Kogarah in 1949, the son of Fred and Peggy Richardson. His father was a senior clerk in the Postmaster-General's Department and later a union official, his mother, Peggy, an office manager. Both were involved deeply in union and community life. Immersed in politics from an early age, Graham Richardson joined the Labor Party at 17 and quickly established himself as a leader amongst a generation of ambitious young Labor figures in New South Wales—figures who would go on to play key roles reshaping the Labor Party and, with it, the country.

He served as the general-secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party from 1976, at the of just 26, until elected to the Senate at the 1983 double-dissolution federal election. At just 33 years of age, he was then the youngest ever senator elected to the parliament. In his first speech to this chamber, Graham Richardson pointed to the first line of the Labor Party's national economic platform of the time to succinctly summarise his commitment to the people of New South Wales who had elected him. It read simply, 'Labor believes the ultimate aim of economic policy is to promote the wellbeing of the people.'

In his first term he sat on the newly created Joint Select Committee on Electoral Reform, and there he drew on his considerable experience as party secretary and campaign director, advocating on the committee for reforms to ensure a strong, functioning parliamentary democracy. The committee made a number of sweeping recommendations designed to make Australian elections fairer and voting easier. The most lasting of these was for the parliament to legislate for an independent electoral commission. The Australian Electoral Commission is something all of us in this place—indeed, all Australians—should cherish and work to continually strengthen.

Graham Richardson was elevated to the Hawke government's ministry in 1987 by the man he had helped install as Labor leader back in 1983, Bob Hawke, and under Prime Minister Hawke he served as minister for the environment and the arts and, later in the life of the Hawke government as Minister for the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories.

As many have remarked since his passing, it was in his role as minister for the environment that Graham Richardson made his most lasting contribution to Australian public policy. Graham Richardson understood before many others that public consciousness of the environment was growing fast. He deployed his considerable talent for attracting attention in service of crucial environmental issues. He exercised his substantial political clout within the government to ensure that the environment was considered seriously at cabinet level to an extent previously not seen. And he used his considerable influence to broaden Australia's national conversation around environmental protection. He built alliances with green groups that were not necessarily, at the time, natural allies of the Australian Labor Party. He was media savvy, quick witted and prepared to push boundaries. And Graham Richardson went on to become one of the most effective and perhaps, for some, unexpected environmental advocates in Australian political history, something that was even recognised by Bob Brown.

As the Prime Minister has said, there was more to Graham than the long lunches and tall tales. He loved and lived all of what politics can be—service, calling, art and craft—and his work helped elevate the cause of environmental protection at a turning point in Australia's political history. As minister, he oversaw the protection of the Daintree and Kakadu, amongst other areas of wilderness. And he said this:

My memory won't be around for very long, but the rainforests of north Queensland will be around forever.

That is a remarkable legacy and an enduring act of solidarity with future generations.

Graham Richardson continued in the cabinet under Prime Minister Paul Keating, serving as Minister for Social Security, as Minister for Transport and Communications and, finally, as Minister for Health. In social security, he grappled with the rapidly changing social policy landscape as the Australian economy struggled in the early 1990s. In transport and communications, he navigated an increasingly complex media and communications environment. As health minister, he advocated for Indigenous health, motivated to improve the poor conditions he had seen visiting remote communities, and he went on to secure what was then the largest ever investment in Indigenous health. This, like his environmental advocacy, demonstrated that, whilst Graham Richardson certainly believed in power, it was not power only for its own sake. And, as a minister, he deployed a sharp political mind and astute political judgement honed through years of hard politics.

Graham Richardson retired from the Senate in 1994. Upon announcing his retirement from parliament, he declared:

I have been happy in it … I will be a lot happier out of it—

a typically blunt declaration from a man who rarely minced words. Leaving parliament didn't mean stepping back from public life for Graham Richardson, and he continued as a fixture of Australian political life for decades. He turned to journalism, radio and television. He became one of Australia's most recognisable political commentators. And his memoir, Whatever It Takes, published soon after leaving office, cemented his reputation as a man unafraid to confront his own controversies. His life was famously colourful and at times controversial, and indeed in his valedictory address to this chamber he noted he had had 'never laid claim to being perfect'. As such, his legacy isn't simple, nor is it straightforward. But ultimately it is that of a Labor warrior—a fighter for what he believed both for and within the Labor Party, the party which shaped him and which in turn he shaped. In later years, he channelled his remarkable determination into a fight for his health. He undertook that fight with trademark resolve.

Graham Richardson was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2020 for his distinguished service to the people and the parliament of Australia. As Prime Minister Albanese has noted, Graham Richardson made one final promise in his final months to his wife, Amanda, who I welcome here today, and to his son, that he would live to see his son D'Arcy, who is also here, complete his Year 12 exams. Graham kept his word.

Once again, on behalf of the government, I express my condolences following the passing of the Hon. Graham Richardson AO, and I extend my sympathies to all who loved him.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, rise today to speak on the condolence motion for the Hon. Graham Richardson AO. Much has been written and said about Graham Richardson since his passing earlier this month, but what is beyond doubt is that he led a significant life and he left an enduring mark on federal politics, both within the Australian Labor Party and also in his service to this place as a minister of the Crown.

Graham Frederick Richardson AO served as a senator for New South Wales from 1983 to 1994. During that time, he held a series of influential roles in the Hawke and Keating governments and made a substantial contribution to the direction of his party. His parliamentary career followed many years deeply immersed in the organisational work of the New South Wales Labor Party, including his time as the party's state secretary. Across those years, he was involved in internal debates and decisions that helped shape the modern Australian Labor Party and, in turn, the governments it went on to form.

In government, Senator Richardson held a number of ministerial portfolios. He first served as the Minister for the Environment and the Arts, later adding responsibilities for sport, tourism and the territories. In subsequent ministries, he served as the Minister for Social Security and later as the Minister for Health. Having followed the same path through those portfolios, I have some appreciation of the challenges and the responsibilities that he carried during his time in those portfolios. He also participated in the work of several parliamentary committees, including the joint committee on electoral reform, whose recommendations contributed to the establishment of Australia's Electoral Commission and the reforms to electoral funding and disclosure frameworks. Senator Richardson's ministerial career was marked by a capacity to exercise influence both within the parliament and through the broader structures of his party. He played a role in significant environmental decisions, including the protection of rainforests and wilderness areas and matters involving the Kakadu National Park. His position in Labor's Right ensured he remained a central figure in many of the defining debates of his era.

After leaving the Senate in 1994, Senator Richardson continued to play a visual role in public life. He authored the political memoir Whatever It Takes. It seems like a very appropriate title for a book written by Richo—a title that has often been understood to reflect the varied interpretations of his career, from an appreciation of his determined and resolute approach to recognising the complexities he openly acknowledged. Whatever view one may take, his writing and commentary form part of the public engagement and continued debates to this day. He went on to a long career in the media, including talkback radio, print commentary and television. He remained, and still remains, a recognisable and often forthright voice in the national political discussion. His later years also included corporate and advisory work, as well as his contributions to major events such as the Sydney Olympic Games.

At the time of his passing, it is fitting that the Senate acknowledges Graham Richardson's service as a senator for New South Wales and his contribution as a minister of the Crown. His career, with its achievements, its debates and its complexities, reflected the realities of public life and the significant impact one individual can have on that.

My personal interactions with Richo were experiences that were colourful, and I was never left wondering what his views were on the topic we were discussing. He was a man who could be easily described as interesting, of conviction, and always prepared to share his views, no matter how controversial.

So, on behalf of the opposition, I extend my sincere condolences to Senator Richardson's family, and also to his friends and colleagues, and to the whole Australian Labor Party, who have lost one of theirs. We recognise the loss of a husband, a father and a grandfather and of a political movement. We offer you all our deepest sympathies at this difficult time.

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

I rise today on behalf of the National Party to acknowledge the passing of Graham Frederick Richardson, a formidable figure in Australian politics, and, for many of us in this chamber, a reminder of a different era of parliamentary life. Much has been said about Graham Richardson, the Labor warrior, factional operator, powerbroker, fixer and colourful Labor identity. He understood his role in the labour movement, as evidenced by his autobiography, with the title Whatever It Takes, a book that became a must-read text for a generation of political aspirants. But today I want to reflect on the Richardson who does not always appear in the official biographies, one I came to know personally.

When I was a young senator, particularly as Deputy Leader of the National Party, many years ago, Graham was unexpectedly generous with his time and advice, despite coming from opposite sides of politics. When others on your own side are telling you to bide your time, Graham was encouraging, enthusiastic and, of course, unfailingly direct about not wasting a moment in this place.

Born in Sydney in 1949, the son of a respected union official and a mother who worked as his father's office manager, Richardson was shaped early by the Labor movement and the realities of working-class life. His parents were not Labor Party members, but they were fiercely anti-Communist, a sentiment that informed his later ruthless and absolutely single-minded determination to keep the New South Wales Left at bay, including stomping on the early career of our now prime minister.

Richardson joined the Labor Party as a teenager and, after a brief period at university, plunged straight into the world of political organising. He was a fast learner. By his 20s, he was already a key operative in the New South Wales Labor machine, and, by the late seventies, he was the party's state secretary, navigating the brutal factional battles of the era. He entered the Senate in 1983, beginning a parliamentary career that saw him serve as minister, negotiator, tactician and political lightning rod. Graham Richardson was undeniably a senator to his core. Those of us who've been here for a long time know when we meet a senator's senator, as opposed to other people here who aren't senators' senators.

He understood the importance of this chamber—

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

There was a pause!

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

Just take a look around! He understood the importance of this chamber and its role in our democracy, particularly ensuring that there wasn't a rubber stamp for the executive, a place where legislation was scrutinised, contested, amended and, at times, defeated. That is all of our job. Graham knew the power structures, the evolving nature of the Senate, the delicate balance between government and crossbench that defines this place. Even when his own prime minister was dismissing the Senate as 'unrepresentative swill', Richardson defended its—our—purpose. He understood, perhaps better than most, that this chamber's authority is a shared endeavour.

Please be in no doubt that, had Senator Richardson and I been contemporaries, we would have been fierce and passionate adversaries in this chamber. As a daughter of a timber worker, I would have fought him every step of the way on his portrayal of forestry communities. Indeed, Graham Richardson's most controversial and enduring political legacy was to deal with the Greens in Tasmania in 1989. This was the agreement that brought the Greens formally into the fold, to secure support for the minority Labor government in Hobart, a decision that reshaped Australian politics well beyond Tasmania's borders. Inside the Labor Party, it was bitterly contested. Then the finance minister Peter Walsh warned that Labor would become hostage to sectional interests rather than governing in the national interest. Whether history proves Walsh or Richardson right is a matter I'll leave for others on this day—although, I obviously have my own view.

In reflecting on his ministerial legacy, it's impossible to ignore Graham Richardson's decisive role in the aftermath of the Helsham inquiry into Tasmania's forests. The inquiry's majority report had recommended keeping much of the contested southern forests open to forestry, an outcome that placed the Hawke government in an awkward political position which guaranteed continued opposition from environmental activists. Richardson, the then serving environment minister, believed the findings of the inquiry were inadequate both scientifically and politically, and he refused to accept what he viewed as an untenable compromise, telling Hawke, in characteristic Richo style, that the answer is, 'No, you'—insert expletive.

In one of the most assertive interventions of his career, Richardson persuaded cabinet—and overruled his own prime minister—to adopt the minority report instead, expanding World Heritage protections far beyond what the inquiry had recommended. The decision was, for many Tasmanians, a deep betrayal of the regional communities, and a precursor to the forestry politics that have evolved and often escalated ever since. What we now know today is that Richardson's win was the activists success in their onward quest of moving the goalposts. But it also showed Richardson's unmistakable style, a tough-minded minister prepared to use ministerial discretion and an instinctive understanding of seizing the key moments of politics when they arrive.

That Tasmanian settlement had profound consequences for rural and regional Australia. His engagement with forestry debates, particularly the fights over old-growth forest, wilderness protection and also the Daintree and Kakadu decisions, placed him squarely in the centre of the environmental conflicts of the era. I now think of how the nation finds itself in the midst of yet another environmental battle, one in which the government is trying to save the environment by destroying it.

Graham Richardson was many things: partisan warrior, factional head kicker, bon vivant and later an insightful media commentator on a variety of channels. But he was also a parliamentarian who believed in the contest of ideas, in the importance of debate and in the value of a robust Senate and a robust cabinet. He believed, too, that politics was a human enterprise run by flawed humans, of whom even Richo himself would concede he had flaws—and, yes, he had a few. Yet his encouragement of younger senators, even those from the other side, his disarming ability to charm and destroy in one fell swoop reminds one of the often forgotten verse from Peter in the Bible, that charity covers a multitude of sins.

On behalf of the National Party, on behalf of those who respected him across the aisle and on behalf of my own personal relationship, I extend all of our condolences to his family, his colleagues and his many friends.

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