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

It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 6 January 2026 of the Hon. Ronald Leslie Doyle Boswell AO, a senator for the state of Queensland from 1983 to 2014. 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 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.

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

Come on! Stay nice!

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

I had to say that—fair enough. Having delivered the second the year after, I can honestly say to former senator Boswell that we trying to do our part to bring the average down.

Despite our differences, those of us who knew Ron will recall fondly the friendly and decent way he treated his political adversaries. Particularly after what has occurred this week and today, I was reflecting before I stood up about the fact that Senator Boswell speaks to a very different time in this chamber, because he was courteous. He and I disagreed on many issues, but he was always courteous to me, and I hope I was generally courteous back. He was a gentleman in a way that I think too few people in this place are today, and I appreciated that.

He said in his biography, 'I never considered the Labor Party as the enemy; they were the opposition.' Of course, he was thoroughly committed to the National Party. He believed he could have more influence as the Nats leader in the Senate than by taking up a ministry, although I'm told the opportunity was presented to him many times. He left parliament on his own terms as a National Party statesman. In his valedictory speech, Ron Boswell reminded us:

Each of us in this place steps in, and out, on one page of a continuing history; it is for others to write the future. There is still much to achieve; the job is never-ending.

Ever practical, he always knew that even a career as long and storied as his would someday end. We would all do well to remember this.

Australia's democracy is richer for Ron Boswell's service, and I once again extend my condolences on behalf of the government to his family—those here today and those watching from afar—and to all those who called Ron a friend.

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

I, too, rise to pay tribute on behalf of the opposition but, in particular, the Liberal Party. Senator Bridget McKenzie, the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, will obviously give the lead tribute on behalf of the Nationals.

As I said, today we pay tribute to the life of the Hon. Ronald Leslie Doyle Boswell AO, former senator for Queensland. I have to say, when I first read that line—as Senator Wong has said and Senator McKenzie and, in particular, Senator Colbeck—it's difficult to even come to terms with that name because he was only ever known in this place as Bozzie. But today, as we gather in this chamber, we do so in the presence of those who loved him most. In particular, I acknowledge and warmly welcome to the Senate Ron's daughter, Cathy Boswell, and his granddaughter, Sophie Beasley. Cathy and Sophie, your father and grandfather gave more than three decades of his life to the service of our nation, and we honour him today.

As I said, Ron Boswell was known to all of us simply as Bozzie. In fact, if you referred to him as Senator Boswell, I honestly think he didn't even know who you were talking to. To say that he was a giant of the National Party was a complete understatement. Not only was he a giant of the National Party; he was a stalwart of the Senate and a tireless champion for Queensland but, in particular, for regional Australia. Elected to this place in 1983, he served, as we have now heard, until his retirement in 2014, and that was a remarkable 31 years, three months and 26 days. On reflection now, the reality is that we actually have some senators in this place who are younger than his entire service.

He was the 369th member of the Senate and the 57th senator for Queensland. But, more than those numbers, he was without a doubt a conviction politician in the truest sense of the word. Bozzie came to this parliament as a manufacturer's agent—a small-business man who well and truly, from firsthand knowledge, understood the pressures faced by those who back themselves, employ locals and keep regional communities alive. From the very beginning, he promised to be a strong voice for small business, for primary industries and for traditional family values. If we all look back at Ron's contribution in this place, that was precisely what he was.

Another thing that we all loved about Bozzie was that there were no airs and graces. There couldn't be; that just wasn't Bozzie. But he also never pretended to be anything other than who he was. The following slogan I think we're going to hear several times throughout all of the tributes to Bozzie today. As I said, he embraced it. His famous campaign slogan, 'Ron Boswell—he's not pretty, but he's pretty effective', captured Bozzie perfectly. There was no artifice with Ron, no spin, no carefully crafted persona. What you saw was quite literally what you got: direct, principled, determined and effective.

For 18 years—some people don't even serve 18 years in this place—he served as Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, from 1990 to 2007, guiding his party through opposition and government. Each one of us in this place knows that that longevity in leadership speaks volumes. In politics, longevity is earned through trust, through loyalty and through the confidence of one's colleagues. Bozzie had all three.

He also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services from 1999 to 2003, a role that perfectly aligned with his passion for the bush. He understood that infrastructure, transport and communications are not luxuries for regional Australians; they are, in fact, lifelines. Upon his retirement, he nominated improvements in bush telecommunications as one of the highlights of his career. That focus on practical outcomes, on making life better for people outside of the capital cities, defined his parliamentary service.

Bozzie was also the Father of the Senate from 2008, and that is, of course, as senators know, a title given to the longest serving member of this chamber. It was a role that he well and truly wore with quiet pride. He understood the history and traditions of this place. He respected its processes, its committees and its capacity for rigorous debate. His service across an extraordinary number of committees, ranging from national resources to foreign affairs and defence, from environment and communications to rural and regional affairs and transport, reflected both his breadth of interest and also his work ethic.

But, if there was one chapter of Ron's career that he himself singled out, it was his 2001 electoral battle against Senator Hanson. In his valedictory speech, he did describe it as the fight of his life.

Bozzie, as so many of us know from working with him, was a man of deep and abiding faith. That faith informed his politics, and it also shaped his world view. He spoke passionately, on so many occasions, on issues of life, family and marriage. Many in this chamber will have disagreed with him, sometimes strongly, but no-one could ever doubt that his views were sincerely held or that he expressed them with clarity and with courage. He was never afraid to stand alone if that was where his conscience led him.

He was, as so many colleagues and those who knew him said following his passing, a conviction politician. He articulated arguments with force, he championed stronger competition laws to protect small businesses, he stood up for fishermen, he backed primary producers, he was one of the first to raise concerns about the policy settings around energy and the subsidising of renewables, he fought for vulnerable Australians overseas, and, even in retirement, after 30-plus years in the Australian Senate, he never stopped working. I'm sure we're going to hear from contributions today that he was always on the phone, always engaged and always ready with advice.

In 2020, Ron was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia. It was a fitting recognition of a lifetime of service to his party, to Queensland and to our nation. Yet, for all of his public achievements—and there were many—we know that the centre of Ron's life was his family. He was married to his beloved wife, Leita, for more than five decades until her passing in 2021. Together they endured the heartbreak of losing their son, Stephen, in 1999. Those who knew Bozzie well know how deeply that loss affected him. Through joy and through sorrow, family was his anchor.

I sat with Bozzie once on a plane from Sydney to Perth, and it was around a 4½- to five-hour trip. Probably the one thing that he wanted to discuss with me the entire trip was the losing of his son, Stephen. I think I got a completely different perspective on Bozzie once I'd listened to him for those five hours—how much he loved his son, how it affected him, how he would never forget him, but, more than that, how he knew each and every day they had to go on.

He was immensely proud of his daughter, Cathy, and of his grandchildren. Cathy and Sophie—and I know you'll hear more of this day—your father and grandfather spoke of you often with enormous pride, and that pride was evident to us all.

Ron's memoir—30-plus years in the Senate; it doesn't also stop you writing a book when you leave, though—was published in 2023. Again—we're going to become very familiar with this—it bore the title Not pretty, but pretty effective. It was a classic Boswell: self-deprecating, honest and quietly proud of what he had achieved. He charted a life that began in Perth in 1940 and led, through party service in Queensland and leadership with the Nationals, to more than three decades in this place. He was part of an era of National Party figures who lived and breathed the bush. He chaired his local branch. He served on the management committees. He was a central councillor of the party from 1976 onwards. His commitment was lifelong and selfless.

In reflecting on Bozzie's life, we see a man who believed that politics was not about personal advancement but about service—service to small businesses struggling under red tape, service to farmers facing drought, service to families seeking stability and opportunity, and service to a nation whose unity he cherished. The Senate, as we all know, can be a place of fierce contest, and Bozzie understood that. He loved a great debate; he relished it. But he also understood that beyond the contest of ideas lies a shared commitment to our great country, and that is why, even amongst those who disagreed with him, there has always been respect—respect for his integrity, respect for his conviction and respect for his warmth. As we record our sorrow today, we also record our gratitude—gratitude for 31 years of faithful service, gratitude for the leadership that endured for nearly two decades and gratitude for a life lived with conviction.

To Cathy and to Sophie, your father and grandfather has left an enduring legacy in this parliament and in our nation. May you take comfort in knowing that his service is recognised, his contribution is valued and his memory will endure in the history of this place.

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

I rise as Leader of the Nationals in the Senate to thank both the Leader of the Government and the Leader of the Opposition for their honest, kind and very thoughtful contributions. We are at our very best in this chamber when we do remember those past, irrespective of our differences in political persuasions and the contribution that we all seek to make in this chamber on behalf of our nation and our communities.

Senator Ron Leslie Boswell AO served in this place from his election as senator for Queensland in 1983 until the expiration of his seventh term in 2014. That is an extraordinary 31 years, three months and 26 days. For 17 of those years, Senator Boswell was Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, a position for which he gained great respect across the political divide. The fact that both the Prime Minister of Australia and former prime minister John Howard both attended his funeral in Brisbane is, I think, testament to the esteem he was held in right across the political spectrum, and what an amazing sight it was to see his former National Senate colleagues Barry O'Sullivan, Nigel Scullion, John 'Wacka' Williams, Peter and Julian McGauran—although, on Julian, we'll never get over that defection in Victoria—and Sandy Macdonald, act as pallbearers at his funeral.

Bozzie, as he was known, was a champion of many issues, notably small business, but also primary industries: fishing, sugar, pineapples, tobacco and beef. He was also a champion of the family and of traditional rural and family values. He was a man of faith, a man of conviction. He held firmly to positions on abortion, on euthanasia and on same-sex marriage

In taking the honour to participate in this condolence motion, I want to mention a few things about Ron Boswell that were emblematic of his work as a senator and as a person and from which we can all learn, from his long and distinguished career. The first was that Bozzie never sought the heady stratosphere of being a cabinet minister. He turned down numerous opportunities to become a minister when he could have so easily demanded to be one. He did serve four years as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services from 1999 to 2003 and in various shadow ministerial positions, including regional development and external territories, northern Australia and external territories, and consumer affairs. But Bozzie knew instinctively that there was often more power, influence and freedom being on the outside than as a cabinet insider. He could always stay true to his values and closer to the people who elected him by being a troublesome outsider—and troublesome he was. On telecommunications for the bush, on the sale of Telstra, on the sugar industry, on trade, on pharmacies, on banks, and when it came to post offices, carbon taxes and competition policy, Bozzie was troublesome indeed, irrespective of who was sitting on the treasury bench.

Senator Boswell also made a calculated but principled decision to rebuff what one might broadly call the lunar right in Queensland. Despite the claims by the Greens and prominent members of the ABC, Australia is not a racist country—not remotely. We're one of the most welcoming countries in the world, where people from every corner of the Earth come to live, to start a new life and to grow, contribute and prosper. But that is not also to say that there are no racists in Australia. Following warnings from former journalist Tony Koch from the Australian about the League of Rights, Bozzie set about investigating and then distancing himself from the group, which had infiltrated the highest level of the Queensland National Party and were moving into evangelical churches across Queensland as well. This was a group that was deeply antisemitic and racist, denied that Jesus Christ was a Jew and had crackpot ideas about social credit and the economy. In a landmark speech in 1988, Bozzie spoke out against the league. For many months afterwards, the retribution was savage, but eventually the churches too recognised that they were being used by the league. Bozzie believed in the dignity and respect of every person, regardless of creed or colour.

It's worth noting that later, when he took on One Nation, Bozzie says he 'fought against the party with all the fora available to me as a senator', but in his memoir he writes: 'I did not participate in any attempts to involve the criminal justice system. Hanson's prison sentence was a grave error that only saw her become a political martyr—not a strategy I would ever support.' Bozzie believed that traditional rural values of community, patriotism, property rights, private enterprise, supporting traditional faith and the family, which are all under attack from globalism, liberalism and socialism, were battles enough on their own without having to deal with the conspiracy theories of crackpots. Indeed, leadership in a democracy is not agreeing to every populist theory or current opinion. Very often it is saying what is unpopular but what is also right.

A former insurance and paintbrush salesman, Bozzie was a strong proponent of the private enterprise philosophy that encouraged people to run their own businesses, but not unbridled markets. As he said in his maiden speech:

The National Party, however, will not and does not support the argument that the market must find its own level, the big must get bigger and the small must wither and die. My party wishes to see private enterprise flourish and grow with all Australians enjoying the benefits which this creates.

It was a theme throughout his career. 'Market power is so fundamentally important to the prices of everything we put into the supermarket trolley,' he wrote in his autobiography, co-authored by Joanne Newbery. Early in parliament, working in cahoots, as he so often did with a variety of souls, with South Australia Labor senator Chris Schacht during the Hawke government, Bozzie successfully struck a blow for the reform of the Trade Practices Act, much to the chagrin of his Liberal Party colleagues. Bozzie recalls reminding his Liberal colleagues in the joint party room of a speech by Sir Robert Menzies in which Australia's longest-serving liberal prime minister said:

Australian Liberals are not the exponents of an open go, for if we are all to have an open go each for himself and the devil take the hindmost, anarchy will result and both security and progress disappear.

Deregulation, Bozzie warned, was not the answer to all problems. He also used the committee system in the Senate effectively, establishing deep connections into regional Australia, where he championed so many causes, including the freedom of Lindy Chamberlain. As the ever-astute John Roskam, former IPA chief, said of Ron Boswell:

He is a far more significant figure in Australian politics and public policy than 80 per cent of people who have been a minister.

Thank you, John, as always, for your insightful recollections. Roskam compared Senator Boswell with the late Bert Kelly, a long-serving Liberal backbencher whom no less than Gough Whitlam described as 'the most influential modest member of Australian parliament'.

Yet, despite this, Bozzie was also a fierce coalitionist. He was a Queensland National and admiring confidant of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen in his younger days, and he recognised the value and the superglue of the combined strength of the Nationals and the Liberals. Yes, it's true that later in his career he worked closely with the Katter party and regretted the amalgamation of the Queensland right-of-centre parties into the LNP, because the Brisbane Liberals had become the dominant force within the LNP, but Bozzie's ways of doing politics was elbows out and spare the niceties, and I think anyone that ran into him or was bowled over by him in the corridors would always recall that he was often carrying lunch on his tie—for afters!

I regularly visited his apartment, overlooking the Brisbane River, following his retirement, where advice flowed, as did terrible coffee and biscuits. Yes, Bozzie, I have my riding orders. But he always said to me, 'If you're going to lead, bloody well lead.' Anyone who's been on the end of multiple phone calls from Bozzie when he wanted something knew this methodology very well. If he didn't get around the brick wall in front of him, he'd knock it down. Very often he didn't bother making an appointment; he'd just barge into ministerial offices when he needed something. And he never really retired from politics, giving advice to sitting MPs on an almost daily basis—and many sitting here today will know of the constant phone calls.

He also was an influential player behind the scenes. I think of the sacking during question time of former CEO of Australia Post Christine Holgate and the role that Bozzie played throughout that Senate inquiry in supporting Ms Holgate through that period. He championed fairness to the very end, irrespective of who you were. And he wrote newspaper columns, and his last was on his last birthday. It was about betrayal and how much he loved our party.

Ron's beloved wife, Leita, died in 2012 and was a driving force behind his career but also a great support to him. After the couple lost their son, Stephen, to a brain haemorrhage, a situation he never got over, Ron and Leita built a high school in East Timor in his honour. It was an act of extraordinary generosity but one of many such acts of generosity that Ron made during his life.

They are survived by his daughter, Cathy, who is here in the gallery together with Sophie, who is also here—also Tom and Will and his great grandchildren, Charly and Bonnie, of whom he was so proud. This is not a man who didn't just speak about family values. He lived family values.

I would also like to recognise his National Party colleagues Llew O'Brien and Colin Boyce, who he also loved.

Bozzie, you were a remarkable man, a great Queenslander, a mentor and a guide. We will miss you dearly. And it would be remiss of me if I didn't encourage you all to buy his book—always a salesman! It's well worth the read. Our party, our parliament and our nation are greater for your service. Vale, Ron Boswell.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise as a National Party senator cast in the footsteps of Senator Ron Boswell—something that I think we all aspire to. I wish to extend my condolences upon his passing to his daughter, Cathy, to Sophie and to the rest of the family who couldn't be here today. I extend my condolences to all those who loved him and to those who respected him and who were impacted by his political conviction and community advocacy. They certainly broke the mould with Ron, and I don't think there will ever be another senator like Ron Boswell. He has been a blueprint for those who follow.

Many people will refer to Senator Boswell as Boz and Ron and every other thing, but to me he will always be Senator Boswell. The first times I came across him were when would ring the party line to the station to speak to my father, and his calls, of course, were legendary across the state. He was generous with his advice, as Senator McKenzie has already said, and honest to a fault. When I stood for preselection, he said to me: 'I won't vote for you. I will vote for the incumbent senator. And you should only ever believe those people who say they're not voting for you'—very wise words! Immediately after my preselection, he said, 'Now I will always vote for you.' It was a generous to do.

I take this opportunity to remember and acknowledge Leita Boswell, who stood with Ron for over five decades and whom he recognised in his valedictory speech by saying this:

I could never have got to the Senate, nor remained here as long as I have, without you.

We also know that Leita was responsible for introducing Ron to the National Party in 1974.

Ron's final words to this place, with the collaboration of St Paul, reflect also how he left this world on 6 January this year:

'My time of departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have run the race. I have kept the faith.' Thank you very much. God bless and goodbye.

Senator Boswell grew up in Perth, living what he described himself as a tumultuous childhood. At the age of 14 he left school to work as an office boy in a Queensland insurance company. He was immensely proud of his working history and believed his success would come through selling and salesmanship, which of course proved to be more than true. On the back of years of hard work as a young man and a sharp mind for business, Senator Boswell started his own successful hardware business, and who knows how successful his enterprise could have become if he had never discovered politics.

While he grew up as a Liberal, his wife, Leita, and her family were long-term members of the Queensland Country Party, and it was at a conference for the newly renamed National Party that Senator Boswell was first introduced to politics. As a successful businessman and volunteer within the National Party, his first volunteer role was identifying small-business owners to run for preselection in the bayside suburbs of Wynnum and Manly. I believe that it was during these efforts that he decided it was Ronald Boswell himself who would make a good politician and great figure for working and small-business Queenslanders—and how glad we all are that he did.

During his opening speech, the newly elected Senator Boswell stated:

I will do all in my power to aid the growth and development of this nation as a whole—Queensland in particular …

And this dedication stretched incessantly throughout his career. Senator Boswell fought tirelessly for the development of regional and remote communities all over Australia. During his valedictory speech, Ron stated that getting modern telephone, email and internet to the bush was one of his career highlights.

Senator Boswell was incredible loyal to the National Party. He believed in its ongoing purpose in representing regional Australia and small businesses across the nation. However, he was never afraid to stand up for his beliefs and his community, crossing the floor on multiple occasions, often to his own career's detriment. However, Senator Bowell never seemed overly concerned with this risk. In fact, he consistently called out career politicians and believed that his experience in the real world—in primary industries and business—was his biggest advantage in representing Queensland. As a small-business owner himself, Senator Boswell was intensely determined to give Australian small businesses a fair go. He strongly defended small retailers against the deregulation of trading hours, which threatened to overload and overwork family owned businesses just so they could compete with big retailers. He was a major supporter of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, advocating for the model that only pharmacists should own community pharmacies. Often alone he challenged big businesses and large retail chains, never scared but always dedicated to give a voice to the businesses and organisations who rarely were given the chance to defend themselves.

Senator Boswell's fierce and determined spirit for Australian small businesses, like tobacco, fisheries and farmers, did not fizzle out after his retirement. In the words of my colleague Senator Canavan, he was always on the phone, fighting to protect the livelihoods of fishermen, for stronger competition laws to protect small businesses, to help vulnerable Australians overseas and to defend life. Senator Boswell strongly believed in an egalitarian Australia, where every Australian, regardless of their level of education or where their home is, and every Australian business, regardless of size or location, gets a fair go.

As I said before, my first contact with Senator Boswell was answering the party line to Devonport, looking for dad. My brothers and I made it quite the competition to see if we could get him to give us some more details of his call, and it was mostly to our disappointment that we never broke him. His calls around Queensland, though, were legendary, campaigning and speaking to people on every issue possible. Later on I worked with Senator Boswell as State Secretary of the National Party, but he was the true fighter for important places in parts of Queensland and Australia that most politicians never went to. His funeral, as Senator McKenzie said, was an extraordinary gathering—in the words of Banjo Paterson, 'a gathering of the fray'. From prime ministers to party presidents and party members, people gathered from around the state and country to farewell such a great man. And Cathy's tribute to him was extraordinary.

Finally, I will tell you that, as a younger woman, I bought a house based entirely on Senator Boswell. I was walking around, unsure if this was the right place for me. And a cupboard door swung open, and across it was the big campaign sticker: 'Boswell—not pretty but pretty effective.' I said, 'It's a sign!' I bought the house very happily.

Senator Boswell was a great Australian. He will be respected as a great man, a campaigner for everyday Australians and one of the great characters in Australian politics. Vale, Senator Ron Boswell AO. Thank you for your most honourable service and your contribution to our nation.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to pay tribute to a great Queenslander, a great senator, a great servant of the National Party and someone who is a huge loss to many of us. It was a shock a couple of months ago when I received a call on my phone from Ron Boswell. It wasn't a shock to get a call from Ron Boswell, but, when I answered, his daughter, Cathy, who's here today, was on the phone and gave me the very sad news of Ron's passing.

Ron was 85 years old, but you just never thought he could be stopped. He'd had had a fair number of close health shaves in recent years, but he always pulled through. You got yourself into a false sense of security that he would always pull through. It's been very sad to not receive those calls, sometimes multiple a day, from Ron in the last couple of months. When I got into this place, I in effect took over from Ron Boswell. Ron retired at the 2013 election, and I had the great honour of being the National Party candidate at that election to eventually take over this spot in 2014. I said at the time that I was very lucky in a way. It was a huge challenge to fill Ron's massive boots, but I was lucky because Ron Boswell had written the book on how to be a good senator.

Thankfully for all of us, he has now actually written that book, which you can go and buy. As Bridget has said, we checked this morning, and it's not in the parliamentary gift shop right now, so we'll have to fix that. Ron will definitely want us to fix that. But please get yourself a copy, because it does demonstrate what we're here to do. Ron never lost sight of what the vocation of politics is about. If you read that book—in fact, you don't even have to read it; you just read the table of contents of the book—it's not about winning elections or different positions that Ron achieved for himself. All of the chapters of the book are things like 'Wool and wheat', 'Ginger groupie'—work that one out—'Bananarama', 'Have I mentioned fishing?', 'Pharmacies' and 'Sugar seats'. Every little chapter is a little vignette of how Ron was presented with a problem that someone had—a problem that a business, a farmer or a fishing business had—and how he went about working his guts out to fix that problem for that person or that group of people. More often than not, he was successful for them because of his tireless efforts to just fight for people. That's what we're here for. He went to Africa to help one of his constituents get out of a Mozambique jail. He travelled there to do that. He'd be on the phone to ministers and premiers all the time. He once had a huge blue with the Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, over the sale of fishing markets, which he eventually changed Joh's mind on.

The other thing this demonstrated from his book may be something we've lost—not so much on what we do now, but the way things work now is different. In that era, Ron could often call up the Premier and, in that conversation, change his mind. With that meeting of that group of people, he could get a result. I find, in my experience, that is much harder to achieve, seemingly, because we now have this layer of bureaucracy, process and probity—things that maybe had to come post the Joh era, but there is now a big barrier between the people and the politicians. People who have a problem or an issue are frustrated at either the incompetence or sometimes just the ignorance of the people making decisions about their lives. They can't get through to the decision-makers. There's just a massive, massive gulf between the people and the ruling class that maybe wasn't there when Ron was around, or at least Ron was able to bridge that gulf so often, and people felt like they were served by the political process.

Ron took up all these causes, and, as those titles of chapters demonstrate, a lot of those causes were on farming issues and primary industry issues, but I think it is important to note that Ron himself was an atypical National Party senator. He did not grow up in the bush. He grew up in Perth and Brisbane. He himself did not come from a farming background. What really marked Ron out as an exemplar of a National Party politician wasn't his background; it was the fact that he always fearlessly fought for the small against the strong, for the weak against the powerful, for those who had no voice or opportunity against those who had a direct connection to the powers that be. That is what marks out the National Party—we always stick up for the small as much as we can. Ron exemplified that in spades.

When I first came across Ron, I had gotten a job with Barnaby Joyce., and I was driving around with Barnaby, as we often did in western Queensland, late at night. I said to him, 'What I can't understand, Barnaby, is that the worst climate change energy policy is the renewable energy target, but no-one's against it.' He went off. He went: 'Ron Boswell is against it. You need to go talk to Ron Boswell.' This would have been in 2010. I said, 'Okay, I'll look up Ron Boswell.' I spoke to him, and it immediately struck me that he was, as he would like to say, a paint brush salesman. I think he was a bit higher than that, but he would say he was a paintbrush salesman. He had no extensive schooling; he left school at 14. He spent very little time in academic exercises. He, at a gut level, got the absolute rubbish we were told about energy—and are still told about it—more than anyone else. Ron Boswell had more common sense than all these people who spend their lives in energy, who build models about it and who read lots of books about it combined. I immediately got it. This guy, how did he know that? How did he know? It was because he went through the school of real life. He went through classes of hard knocks and knew rubbish—and some other words we would probably describe it as—when he saw it. He just knew it. He knew these people were full of it because he had seen it before in his life and been hurt by it.

I would take a hundred Ron Boswells over the expert class that rule over us. The 'expertocracy' is not working out for us. We need people like Ronald Boswell with real, hard life experience who know what works and what doesn't. Ron, in that book I mentioned, spent a lot of time talking about how we could get people with more real, hard life experience into this place. We'd be wise to look at it.

That book was never really about Ron. I remember reading that book then going back and reading it again. He had one paragraph in that book about his ministerial ambitions. He was a parliamentary secretary—what we now call an assistant minister—and he lost that position in backroom dealings that happen in this place all the time. It was never something he brought up. He had every reason to be spiteful about it but he just got on with life, helping people, and he never really worried too much about it. That is an example for all of us, because he wasn't in this for himself; he was in it to help others. And he was in it, I know, to help his family as well, who were very close to him. As I said, it was a great honour to take over from him as a National Party senator for Queensland. I did disappoint him in taking this position over because I decided to move the office to Rockhampton. He lobbied me hard against that—just typical of Ron. I was on the receiving end of calls, where he was saying, 'You have to be in Brisbane, Matt. These are all the people to talk to. You need to be here.'

He wanted to reconvene the LNP state council. I told him, 'I can't do that, Ron. I told the state council I would be outside of Brisbane.' He said, 'That's okay, we'll reconvene the whole body—400 people around the state—and you can go to state council to tell them that you have changed your mind and that you will be in Brisbane. They will ratify that and we'll be on our way.'

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would have voted for it.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, that's right. Ron never took no for an answer, but I did do it. Someone taught Ron how to use a mobile phone. That person definitely has some questions to answer. I had received all these calls. I thought, 'If I had an office in Brisbane, I would probably come home a lot of weeks after the Senate, walk into my office and there would be Ron at my desk directing my staff, continuing to work, because—as others said—he continued to work. He eventually forgave me for the decision to go to Rocky, after we won the seat of Capricornia in the 2016 election. But, as I said, he just kept going—a lesson for all of us as well.

I do want to pass on my condolences not only to Cathy and Sophie, who are here today, but also to Tom and William, who work in the frontiers of our country and couldn't be here today. Cathy called me not only to let me know but also because his family were keen to have a state funeral for Ron, which I think was well deserved. I do want to put on record my thanks to the Prime Minister, who listened to those requests and made that happen. The Prime Minister did not just make that happen but, as others have said, he came and attended the funeral as well, which was very good of him.

Ron's passing is a great loss, I believe, to all of us because he was someone who worked with everyone in this building for the betterment of this country, for the betterment of Australia, and particularly as a champion for the great state of Queensland. Vale, Ron Boswell.

Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, disappointed Ron in my first close dealings with him. As a New South Welshman, I had run into Ron a few times, but not too often—until I went up to work on the 2012 Keppel election with Bruce Young in Queensland. Senator Boswell came up and organised a visit to a mango farm, where he became concerned that I'd never tried a mango in my life at the age of 40-something. After I had it and thought it was a bit meh, he proceeded to give me a review of my parentage, tastes and abilities in life that was not complimentary.

I thought that was it for me and Ron for the rest of our relationship, but, in 2016, I was able to run the campaign for Barnaby Joyce in New England, and Ron reached out because he wanted to help. He wanted to give advice, as he always did, and he wanted to be part of something that he thought was important—that Barnaby beat Tony Windsor in that election. He was very kind to me, and I think he may have forgotten the mango incident. He certainly gave advice and good counsel, and he was phoning twice a week to help out and give me his views on things and how he was seeing it. Many of those things I took on board, and I probably forgot to give him credit. He also gave me an interesting bit of advice, when we were doing a campaign, that was poignant. He said, 'You always regret the things in life that you don't do, not the things you do do.'

I regret, from hearing some of the stories here and from Nationals colleagues—I'll get some of the staff stories later—that I didn't know him better. I think you can be judged on how you act here in the views of those around you and those that work for you. So many of his staff I have spoken to over time have such fond memories and such bad stories, which I can't tell most of—but some I will. It comes up that Ron's politics were built from life, like Senator Canavan said. It's the life experience and the lived experience. They shaped everything he did here.

The last chance I had to speak with him was in 2024 after we had the supermarket inquiry. It was the first time I crossed the floor. We voted with the Greens and some others about market power and divestiture powers. He phoned me after that and said that I did the right thing—that there'll be pressures, but always support the little guy, which is something that came through. He gave some of his experiences, especially what he did on pharmacies. It was really interesting for me to know that here was Ron Boswell watching this thing from afar, like an omnipotent political player that comes out and just says those sorts of things. I was concerned. It was the first time I walked across the floor, but it was an issue that he knew was going on. That was very important to me, and I thank him for helping me out with that.

When I go to some of his staff and talk to them, they say that it wasn't just the way he worked on policy; he was a mentor to many of them. He was kind to them. I don't want to say 'false idol', but they saw him as someone they really aspired to be. They went further than just the work. They were talking about his generosity of time, his advice—very, very direct advice. Some of them said that he's the only man that could spend five minutes telling you how wrong you were and then you'd be thankful at the end of it. Under chaos, he became calmer. He was normally calm, but, when the pressure really came on, he was calm. He was a rock and he was solid. He was staunch and he was loyal. Being loyal—don't we miss that in today's politics?

One of them mentioned that there was the other side of Ron—Ron the matchmaker, which I'd never heard much of. He was always keen to connect young Nats or young people with each other, and there is more than one happy marriage to this day that was sorted out by Ron. He not only connected business and fixed problems but also connected people. I'll also drop that Cate, who told me this story, said that she was always a task too hard for Ron, even, and that she didn't manage to get there. They always thought he had a tendency to be a romantic at heart, and they thought that there.

But what came through in a number of stories is that he seriously fought for people and how serious he was about his pastries. He was very serious about his pastries. He was not casually interested but seriously, seriously interested in assessing small towns by the quality of their bakery. For him, the standout was, I'm told, the Blackbutt Bakery in Queensland. It was the gold standard he would use to judge. In 2009, when he stepped in to oversee the electorate of Hinkler while Paul Neville was representing Australia in the United Nations, Paul knew Ron had been there, not because of a memo and not because of a handover document—none of that. It was all the pastry flakes on his seat in his office that gave it away. That was Ron—always fully committed, always fully engaged and always very committed to a quality pastry.

The staff tell me—and I again acknowledge the staff members—that one of his proudest achievements was actually working with Labor across the aisle and working with Senator Chris Schacht to amend the Trade Practices Act to stop the mergers that would substantially increase the cost dimension. To this day, that was one of the proudest things that his staff were telling me that he quite loved to do, because it was always about that. It was always about getting the outcome. It didn't matter if it got press. It didn't matter if it got news. It was about helping someone. Just that fact of helping someone removed barriers to do that. We're hitting an era when politics has firmly moved towards optics. He was always about impact. He was always about the outcome, not the story, and that's such a great thing.

So I regret I did not have more time with a person that is viewed so positively by so many that have been close to him. I regret that I wasn't always the recipient of more advice, as I was in 2016, from Ron. I thank him for his comfort in 2024 when I was doing something that was scary for a first-timer in doing it like that—but he thought it was right. Queensland is better for his service. The Nationals have been better for his service. Thank you to his family for sharing him with us for so long, and may he rest in peace.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First, can I acknowledge the contributions of my friends from the National Party. I thought they were just outstanding, and you really did justice on this occasion, so you should really be proud of those contributions. Also, I associate my remarks with the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Before I say anything else, I just want to acknowledge the presence of Cathy and also of Sophie.

I'm going to give you the perspective of a member of the Young Liberals in Queensland during the course of much of Senator Ron Boswell AO's career. I was reading his valedictory speech, and a few things stuck out to me. The first was the extraordinary length of service—31 years and 118 days. It is just phenomenal—absolutely phenomenal.

The second is that my good friend Senator Richard Colbeck, who is sitting next to me, actually got a mention in Senator Boswell's valedictory speech, where he said:

Prior to the September election, I worked closely with professional and recreational fishing groups, especially the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation and its CEO, Allan Hansard. Guided also by my colleague Senator Richard Colbeck, the Liberal-National coalition developed a policy to keep the marine parks but remove the fishing bans till scientists could take a sensible look at how these parks should be managed. In government, we kept our promise and have removed the fishing bans. I am enormously proud of that achievement.

Of course, Ron Boswell was absolutely passionate about Queensland fishers and the fisheries industry in general.

Then there is the other point he made in his speech, and this was a great inspiration to me at the time as a member of the Young Liberals. He said in his valedictory speech:

Politics is an honourable calling but will remain so only if politicians have the courage of their convictions. In 1988, I tackled the League of Rights, a far-right-wing, anti-Semitic organisation I saw as trying to exert influence over the churches and other areas of society.

At that time, I was 19 and in the Young Liberals, and I and my family and so many Liberal Party supporters were so thankful for the work that Senator Ron Boswell did in that regard. He got so much admiration from people all over Queensland, across all political philosophies for the work he did holding the line against those vile extremists, who believe—I think Senator McKenzie referred to the 'lunar right'—everything from the Holocaust being a hoax through to other extraordinarily vile ideas.

He continued in his valedictory speech:

For me, this was a defining moment: to be taken seriously, you have to stand for something. In the fight of my life, against Pauline Hanson, I risked everything to stand up against her aggressive, narrow view of Australia. Defeating Pauline Hanson and One Nation in 2001 has been my greatest political achievement.

In 2001, I was in Papua New Guinea. I was a young professional lawyer—maybe not so young—in Papua New Guinea. Many of us on the non-Labor side of politics saw the immense importance of that campaign. And, whilst the Liberal National Party did not combine until 2008, I can tell you from personal experience that many members of the Liberal Party voted strategically in that Senate election. Many supporters of the Liberal Party voted strategically in that Senate election to give Ron Boswell their first preference. I remember seeing him at Sydney airport in December 2001 when I had to come to Sydney for business, and he was sitting down waiting to be picked up. I went up, shook his hand and said I was proud to vote for him. 'I was proud to vote for you.' I wasn't the only one. A lot of us realised the importance of that battle, which he won.

I want to say a few words about that campaign. I will quote from a story in the Financial Review on 2 November 2001 by Sam Strutt. It reads:

Although traditionally the National Party is not the natural constituency of the ethnic community, about one-third of the 300-plus audience at yesterday's official launch—

this was at the National Party's 2001 Senate campaign launch—

of the Queensland party's Senate campaign were from the Chinese, Vietnamese or Taiwanese communities—

one-third of the people at the National Party Queensland Senate campaign launch—

Queensland National Party Senator Ron Boswell conceded that he would not receive enough votes from the party's traditional support base rural and regional voters to get him across the line on November 10.

"The vote's got to come in from all of Queensland," he said yesterday.

"I need every vote I can get."

Senator Boswell said the ethnic community was supporting him because of his strong stand against One Nation and Ms Hanson.

"I think the Chinese, Vietnamese and Taiwanese support is there with me to stop Pauline Hanson," Senator Boswell said.

"They see me as the best way to do that, so they are supporting me," he said.

They did support him in overwhelming numbers, and he was successful. He defeated Senator Hanson for that Senate spot. It didn't just end there, though. He maintained that relationship with those communities, in particular the Vietnamese community. I've had the privilege since being elected to this place of establishing a relationship with that wonderful Vietnamese community—50 years last year, the anniversary of their coming to Australia after the fall of Saigon.

On 21 June 2012, he actually presented a petition signed by 55,000 signatories urging the Australian government to push Vietnam to improve its human rights record. That was 11 years after, with the support of that community, he achieved that remarkable success against Pauline Hanson. He was still working for the Vietnamese community and presented that petition. In 2013, I was working on a booth in Queensland—Queenslanders will get this—in a place called Acacia Ridge in Brisbane for my dear friend Malcolm Cole, a candidate in the 2013 election. Ron actually came to the booth to see how his booth workers from the Vietnamese Queensland community were going. He was still mobilising booth workers from that community.

Then, following the drought in 2018 in Queensland, he actually worked with the Vietnamese community to raise money for people in need in western Queensland. I quote from a speech which the Hon. Amanda Stoker gave on 16 October 2019 in this place:

Past president of the VCA Viet Tran first got the idea to hold a fundraiser after his friends who run a business at Miles told him about how the drought situation was crippling them.

…   …   …

He set about organising a drought appeal dinner and dance. He contacted former Senator Ron Boswell—

to organise that.

The Vietnamese community of Queensland raised $25,480 for the farmers in need in western Queensland. Still he maintained that relationship with the Vietnamese Queensland community.

So, in giving last words in this contribution to this debate, I want to give my last words to the Vietnamese community of Queensland and put their words on record. I want to quote to you from a letter from a very dear friend of mine called Viet Tran:

IN 2001, the Vietnamese community in Queensland unanimously decided to support Ron Boswell in his bid for re-election to the Senate. It was the first and only time that the community by-passed its non-partisan policy to support a parliamentary candidate because of his stand against Pauline Hanson.

In June this year, Boswell spoke in parliament about the human rights situation in Vietnam—

This letter was dated 24 September 2012. It goes on:

With Labor's Mark Furner, he sponsored a petition in the Vietnamese community raising concerns about the human rights dialogues between the Australian and Vietnamese governments.

Our community will lose a strong representative voice in parliament in 2014. However, our friendship with Ron Boswell will last forever. I will always cherish his "He's not pretty but he's pretty effective" T-shirt that he gave me during the 2001 campaign.

We thank him …

That's from Viet Tran of the Queensland Vietnamese community in tribute to the late Ron Boswell AO.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to 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.

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

I rise to associate myself with the words of my colleagues in relation to the life of the Hon. Ronald Leslie Doyle Boswell AO—and I acknowledge his daughter, Cathy, here in the chamber, and Sophie as well; I know they've gone—and the service he gave to this place for more than 31 years. I was not a member of the National Party; I was a member of the coalition, alongside Ron. By the time I arrived here after the 2001 election, at the beginning of 2002, Bozzie was a very experienced player in this place. I arrived at the same time that he'd been victorious after that 2001 campaign that so many of our colleagues have talked about and one that was really important for us all at that point in time. It was an important fight to be had, and it was symptomatic of Boz. It demonstrated Bozzie's capacity for fight, his strength of conviction which he showed all through his career, his principles in the way he conducted himself and also, as Senator Wong indicated, his respect. He would have the fight, but it would be done respectfully. I think that reflecting back on Ron's service is something that would be of service to the way this chamber operates now, as has been indicated by a number of others.

Bozzie was always very self-deprecating. He talked about himself as being a paintbrush salesman. But he was a successful small-business operator, and he brought that small-business success and common sense into the way he operated in the chamber. When we were working on committees together, he always conducted his questioning of witnesses or officials of agencies keeping in mind the people who were his constituents and the issues he was interested in.

I first met Boz when he was Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Regional Services. He was a Queenslander, yes, but he loved coming to Tassie on an annual basis for a holiday and stayed at Bicheno on the east coast. One particular day in January 2002, Bozzie was supposed to be in Devonport to do a sod turning for a new highway overpass. We were all there at the appointed hour, or a little bit before, waiting for Boz to turn up, but there was no sign of Boz. For about two hours, Bozzie was '20 minutes away'—'Yeah, I'm only 20 minutes away; I'm only 20 minutes away!' As I found out later, talking to Boz when we went for a walk up the mall and a cup of coffee, Bozzie had the wrong day; he thought the sod turning was the next day. But, once he realised what was going on, he hopped in the car and took off, and we happily conducted the sod turning for the new overpass. He did introduce me as 'Senator-elect Robert Corbett', so he hadn't had time to read his notes all that well! But we went on to get on exceptionally well over a long period of time.

We served on a number of committees together. Senator Cash reminded me this morning that we served together on the Select Committee on Climate Change. That was quite a ride, I can tell you: Senator Cash, myself, former Senator Macdonald and Bozzie on our side, and I was chairing the committee, with then senator Christine Milne as deputy chair. If you, in any way, happened to threaten a pineapple farmer or a cannery as a part of the process of implementing the new policy that was being proposed—heaven forbid. Bozzie would erupt, and his line of questioning would follow very intensely the impact on his pineapple farmers or the canneries that supported the pineapple farmers.

He was like that with all of the issues that he worked on—bananas, the importation of ginger. The number of inquiries and discussions that we had in those days—Senator Sterle, who sat around the table for many of those, would remember the Senate inquiries into biosecurity and importation of ginger into Australia, bananas, pineapples and all of those sorts of things. Bozzie was always there to defend the industries and the local communities in Queensland, and he would do it earnestly. He would make sure that they all understood what was going on. And, of course, as has been mentioned by so many people, he supported small business. A proper system of competition policy was always something that was very important to Boz. His seafood barbecue that he organised with his friends in the fishing industry at Christmas was legendary and something that we all wanted to be a part of.

He did have the odd mishap, poor old Boz. He was a larger-than-life character in more than many ways. One morning, at a House committee meeting, Boz stood up, and his trousers stayed in the chair. Boz sat straight back down again, and I never saw him without braces after that day. They became part of his persona—Bozzie with his braces. He was never without them after that particular morning.

I mentioned his frequent trips to Tasmania and his love of some things Tasmanian. In Tassie, there is a very rare delicacy that we—some of us—enjoy, and that is a food called mutton bird. It's a short-tailed shearwater. They are for people with a particular taste. My mum and dad love mutton birds. They'll have an annual feed of mutton birds. Dad calls it his 'annual grease and oil change'. They are very greasy birds. They're known by the Indigenous community in Tasmania as yolla. It's a customary Indigenous practice, but other people like mutton birds as well, and so did Boz.

Bozzie hadn't been to Tassie for a while. He'd been talking to me about how much he loved mutton birds. One day, on the way back from the Wynyard Show, I saw a sign out saying 'Mutton birds for sale', so I said to Gaylene: 'Let's stop in. We'll grab some mutton birds, and I'll take them up to Boz. He'll be delighted.' I went into the shop, got four mutton birds, brought them up and gave them to Boz. He was delighted. He said, 'I'll go up to the dining room and I'll get them cooked.' For those who aren't initiated in the cooking of mutton birds, you need to take great care. They are extremely pungent. My mum cooks them outside in the carport—wrapped in tinfoil—in a little barbecue so that the smell doesn't get in the house.

Bozzie gave no such warning to the kitchen staff up in the members' dining room. When he turned up two hours later to pick up his mutton birds, they were undertaking a full industrial clean of the entire kitchen in the members' dining room because the mutton birds had stunk the place out—not that it worried Boz. Boz collected his mutton birds, took them back to his office and enjoyed mutton bird sandwiches for lunch. He thanked me at question time later that day, and we were regaled of the story of the staff in the dining room. They told him, 'Don't ever bring that stuff back here again into our dining room, because we're not cooking it for you.' But Bozzie was not concerned about it at all. All he was worried about was that he'd had a very good feed of mutton birds and mutton bird sandwiches for lunch.

Bozzie, as has been mentioned, when he wanted something or had something on his mind, was an irrepressible force. It was one of his values. If he wanted to ask a question at question time, he was going to ask a question at question time. There was no point in arguing with him. The tactics committee would give Bozzie his question, and he would duly ask it, and he would run the issue from there.

But he was great to work with. He was really great to work with. As Senator Scarr mentioned, during the period between 2008 and 2013, there was a proposal from the then government to close huge swathes of the ocean around Australia, which put at threat the fishing industry not just in Queensland but right around the country. Bozzie, I and a couple of others worked extremely hard on this, and the number of people who we managed to engage on that particular issue was significant. Brett Mason said to me, after the 2010 election, that it got him re-elected. In 2013, we took a policy to the Australian people which kept the marine parks but took away the closures and left capacity for the industry to stay there while we had a proper process and a good review by scientists. Then, in 2017, the marine parks were proclaimed with the same boundaries but with a hugely reduced impact on the fishing industry. That was a huge success, I think, for us all and something that I was delighted to work on with Bozzie.

I have to say, as a Liberal, I am extremely proud to have received a mention in his book, because there weren't many of us that did. Bossie was a Nat. That's the way it was. We all accept that and we respect that. But, as Senator Scarr mentioned, it was part of his last speech, and it was mentioned in his book. I'm very proud of the fact that we were able to work on an issue of that nature—a very practical issue that was to the benefit of our communities around the country, particularly in the fishing industry, as it was at that point in time.

That's what personified Boz. It is that sort of thing that personified who he was. He was a person of conviction. His family was extremely important to him, as so many have already said. He worked hard for his communities, and, while I didn't always agree with him on some issues, his strength of faith showed through, and that was a key part of who he was and what he did. He's right that he wasn't all that pretty, but I think he was more than pretty effective; he was very effective. But the way he played his politics was with respect. It was about achieving things for his communities and doing the things that he promised he would do, loyally and with respect.

I believe that this country is better for that significant service of Senator Ron Boswell. I am proud to have worked with him and proud to call him a friend and colleague. I extend my sincerest condolences to his family and to his other colleagues who miss him, I know. He was a great servant of the parliament, his state and the country. He deserved the recognition he got through his AO. I very sincerely extend my condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Boz.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to associate myself with the remarks that have already been made and to honour the life and service of former senator Ron Boswell AO, a man known affectionately to his colleagues and friends as Bossie. Of course, I never called him Bossie in the time that we were here together. But his passing marks the end of a remarkable chapter in the history of this chamber and the federal parliament.

Senator Boswell served this nation for more than three decades from his election to the Senate of Queensland in 1983 until his retirement in 2014. In that time he became one of the longest serving members of this chamber, the Leader of The Nationals in the Senate for many years and ultimately the father of the Senate. His was a career defined not by titles alone but by conviction, loyalty and an unwavering commitment to the people he represented.

Although he came to represent Queensland, it is worth remembering that Ron Boswell's story began in Western Australia, where he was born in Perth in 1940. That connection was something that I always quietly appreciated. Western Australians who head east often carry with them a certain independence of mind, and Ron Boswell certainly did. Of course, leaving Western Australia was also an astute political move, noting that the National Party has not had a senator elected from Western Australia since 1975.

While our time serving together in this chamber was brief, it was long enough to observe the deep respect he commanded across party lines. He was a parliamentarian who understood the institution, respected its traditions and believed profoundly in the responsibility entrusted to those elected to serve. Ron Boswell entered politics from small business, and he never lost sight of those roots. In his first speech he promised to be a voice for small business, primary industry and family values, and, by any fair assessment, he kept that promise. He understood that farming, fishing and small enterprises were not abstractions in an economic model but the lived reality of Australians working hard, often in difficult conditions, to build a future for their families.

That lived experience shaped his politics and gave authenticity to his advocacy. Over his career, he fought many battles, some policy driven, others political, but always guided by what he believed was right. He was proud of his work improving telecommunications in rural and regional Australia, ensuring communities in the bush have access to services many in our cities take for granted. He championed primary industries, stood up for regional jobs and advocated strongly for competition policies that protected small operators against concentrated market power. These were not fashionable causes in every political season, but he pursued them with persistence and determination.

To echo the remarks of Senator Scarr—importantly, Senator Boswell also demonstrated moral courage in confronting extremism when he saw it. I came to know a man called Ron Boswell, the political person, in the 1980s, as a young Liberal not in Queensland but in Western Australia. In 1988 he took on the League of Rights, a far-right antisemitic organisation attempting to exert influence within sections of the community at a time when doing so carried real political risk. He later reflected that this was the defining moment in his career because, to be taken seriously in public life, you must stand for something. This willingness to draw a clear line against intolerance speaks to his character and his understanding that democratic institutions must be defended not only through policy but through principle.

As we've heard today from many, those who worked closely with him speak of not only his strength but also his warmth, honour and loyalty. Ron Boswell was effective because he worked hard, built relationships and understood that lasting outcomes often require persistence rather than headlines. He mentored younger colleagues, contributed more than 1,100 times in this Senate chamber and never lost his sense that serving in parliament was both a privilege and a responsibility.

Beyond politics, Ron Boswell was a man of faith, family and resilience. The personal dimensions of his life remind us that behind every public figure is a private life marked by love, hardship, perseverance and loss. In 2020, he was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia—as Senator Colbeck has said, fitting recognition of a career dedicated to public service and to the communities that he represented. Yet I suspect that, for Ron Boswell, the greatest honour always was the trust placed in him by the voters who returned him to this parliament time and time again over seven elections. Ron Boswell once quoted the words of St Paul in reflecting on his own career—that he had fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith. Few could dispute that assessment. He served with conviction, he stood by his principles and he left this parliament having made a lasting contribution to the nation.

On behalf of Western Australians, particularly those who take pride in one of our own making such a significant mark on national life, I extend my deepest condolences to his family, his friends and his former colleagues in the Nationals. May he rest in peace.

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

I would also like to associate myself with the incredible remarks of many of my colleagues in here today. I think every single one of them told their own personal story about how a great man impacted our lives. It's been a fun afternoon to hear them all. I rise to make my own personal contribution on the condolence motion for the late Senator Ronald Leslie Doyle Boswell AO. As everybody has mentioned, to most of us he was just Bozzie.

I was deeply saddened to learn of Bozzie's passing, at the age of 85, because, as many have said before me, it marked loss of a generation of politicians in this place—a generation of politicians that, in the eyes of many of us who are still here, were absolute legends. He was one of the most fierce and faithful champions for what's right and was prepared to go to the wall to make sure that what was right was defended.

Bozzie was an old-fashioned Nat who never shied away from a fight, and for more than three decades he became known not just as a representative of Queensland but as a tireless representative and advocate for rural and regional Australian communities right across the country, not just in his home state of Queensland. He understood instinctively the strength that the nation must place on our rural and regional communities. He was a tireless voice for people who work in the bush, who work hard every day to catch and grow our food, and for the communities that support our farmers. From the local pharmacist and the GP to the post office or the pub owner, Bozzie was always there supporting them. He never wavered from standing up for the little guy, and no issue was too small to fight for.

In this chamber, he never, ever wavered from being a steady hand—principled, practical and grounded. He brought a deep sense of loyalty to his party, to his constituency and to this place. But, above all else, the thing that I will remember of Bozzie is that he had incredible integrity. Even for those that disagreed with him—and there were many—they always knew exactly where they stood with him, and you could only respect somebody for their absolute commitment to honesty. He was committed to his values, he was committed to his faith and he was committed to the people that he represented. As I say, he was determined that rural and regional Australia would never play second fiddle or be disadvantaged by the actions of those of us in this place—a determination that I think is shared by many of us.

One of my favourite Ron Boswell memories epitomises his persistence when it came to an issue that he was really passionate about. Above all else, Bozzie hated hypocrisy and, in his own words, 'those virtue-signalling greenies'. When those greenies threatened the kangaroo industry in Australia, Bozzie went in to bat. Back in 2013-14, Bozzie decided he was going to take on the Californian government after they banned the import of kangaroo meat based on the argument that kangaroos in Australia were about to become extinct. Bozzie was so incensed by this thought that he decided to start his crusade against the Californian legislature. It was a completely futile task; one senator from Queensland taking on the entire Californian government and legislature was probably never going to end up in great success. But Bozzie never, ever gave up. He advocated against California on just about any issue he could get his hands on until the day he left this parliament, and I can assure you that, even after he left this parliament, he would make regular calls to me to make sure that I was still taking it up with the Californian government, because by that time I was assistant minister for agriculture and apparently it was my job to represent the roo shooters of Australia in his absence!

But Bozzie believed in service. He believed that representing people in this place was an honour and a responsibility, and something he never ever took lightly. He worked hard, he listened carefully and he fought passionately for the issues that matter most particularly to regional Australians. Those who, like me for a very short time, had the privilege of working alongside him know of his determination but also his incredible warmth, his humour and his sense of mateship.

I'm not going to disappoint and be the only person in this place not to mention his slogan and the title of his memoirs, Not pretty, but pretty effective, because Bozzie was effective. He was effective as a politician. He was effective as a parliamentarian. He was very effective as a representative of the National Party and of rural and regional Australians. And he was always on the lookout for a new recruit.

I became the subject of his recruitment drive when I came first to this place. I was sitting up the other end, immediately adjacent to the National Party, because I was the last person in, so I immediately abutted the National Party seats on this side of the chamber, because we were opposition back in 2012. I gave my first speech, and Bozzie was sitting with 'Wacka' Williams. They turned around and they said to me straight after the thing that my speech clearly indicated that I actually was a closet Nat. I assured them that wasn't the case. I came from a state, South Australia, where being a Nat was, in conclusion, probably something akin to being a kangaroo in California—close to being extinct. But that didn't stop Bozzie, because when I arrived at my desk the next day there was a National Party membership form sitting on my desk.

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

It's still there, Annie! The offer's still there.

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

Some days, Bridget! But, seriously, his contribution to public life leaves an incredibly lasting legacy, and I don't think there'd be anybody in this place who, when they leave here, wouldn't be proud to go out with the legacy that Bozzie left. The policies that he developed shaped the debates that influence regional and rural communities to this day, and they will continue to be a part of the strengthening of our rural and regional communities and the fabric of modern Australia because of the actions of Bozzie in this place.

I extend my deepest condolences to Cathy and to Sophie and Tom and Will, his great-grandchildren and his family and friends and all of those who had the privilege of working alongside Bozzie throughout his long and distinguished career. Today we don't honour just a long-serving senator but a man of conviction, a man of loyalty, a man of deep commitment and a man that so many of us proudly can call a friend. Vale Bozzie, my friend.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Very quickly, I'd like to pay my respects to Bozzie and contribute, in a couple of minutes, some fond memories I have of Ron Boswell. When I first came here in 2005, sitting right opposite there was Bozzie, right in the corner like a happy Buddha. He owned that corner, and he owned everyone around him, and I must say it was a pleasure to serve with Bozzie for nine years, until he pulled up stumps in 2014.

But I have two very quick memories of Bozzie. When I was brand new and we all got the call, you had to go to Government House—remember when you were brand new and you dutifully got in the car and you all piled over there, thinking, 'What the hell am I doing here?' But I did it, and as I pulled up out the front, I got out of the car with former senator Hutchins, another dear friend, and he said, 'Follow me.' We walked in and there were some lovely young people in Army uniforms and Navy uniforms and Air Force uniforms. They were serving little bits of food—

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

Hors d'oeuvres?

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hors d'oeuvres—thank you, President. There's Bozzie, this mountain of a man—this was suspender-and-braces days—standing in the room, and in this hand he had a sausage roll and in this other hand he had a party pie. There's this tiny little lady standing there with a plate of spring rolls, and—I kid you not—Bozzie went, 'Huh!' He looked at the sausage roll. He looked at the party pie. In went the party pie as he grabbed the spring roll. I thought, 'Only Bozzie could do that.' And that was Bozzie.

Another very, very fond memory is Senate estimates in the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, which I had the pleasure of chairing for six years in government from 2007 to 2013. Bozzie would always come in the back way, and you knew, like clockwork, Bozzie was going to turn up to ask questions around AFMA and fishing. That was his forte. He'd walk passed everyone, bumping chairs as he was coming down the skinny stretch where the staff sit, and he'd go straight to the bickie room with a cup of tea, and he'd get a handful of bickies. Bozzie would come back, and he'd bang every seat as he was on his way back down. He'd fall back into the seat. You would hear this thud, and then you would hear 'ugh!', and he'd say at the top of his voice, while people were asking questions, 'Sterlo'—he couldn't sit next to me and ask; he had to scream from the other end—'have we done fisheries yet?' And I'd say, 'Jeez, Bozzie, you've missed it again,' and the word was similar to 'ugh!', and then there would be a flurry of biscuits flying—he was like the Cookie Monster—and there would be crumbs and everything flying. I'd sit there—every year for six years!—and I'd say: 'Bozzie, I'm only winding you up, mate. They're coming on next.' And he'd say, 'Good.' But I'm saying that there are some very dear and fond memories of Bozzie.

Bozzie was an absolute legend. I'm not going to repeat what everyone else has said. What a man. What a unit. What a leader. What a politician. I just tell you what—if I were in Queensland when Bozzie was on the hunt, you might have got me in the Nats! Might have! Might have got me in the Nats! But it was only Bozzie or my very dear friend—

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

We're listening!

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I said 'might have' if I were a young bloke in Queensland back then in '83. My very, very dear friend former senator Barry O'Sullivan. My last memory of Bozzie—I had the privilege of sitting down at that Brisbane institution the Breakfast Creek Hotel, because Bozzie had just lost his wife, and Sully had knocked up a catch up for three good amigos. We spent a Saturday afternoon in the Breakfast Creek Hotel with Bozzie and with Barry O'Sullivan and myself, and—I tell you what—it was a lasting memory. Bozzie, thank you for the memories, mate. Vale.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I just wish to add a few words. I didn't have the honour of serving in this place with Senator Ron Boswell. I did luckily encounter Senator Boswell—and he will, to me, always be Senator Boswell, Senator McDonald, as a staff member for Senator Mathias Cormann. I think it's worth reflecting that, in that period—I'm talking about the 2010 to 2013 period, a time when Senator Boswell had already served 27 years in this place—he served on the scrutiny of new taxes committee which was the committee of the Senate that looked at the carbon tax and the mining tax. I think it's fair to say that that committee was one of the key avenues for prosecuting the arguments that did, in the end, see the Liberal-National coalition return to government. And there was Senator Boswell, after having served 27 years—I think it's fair to say he was getting towards the end of his career—in those communities, prosecuting the case, and, always, when Senator Boswell was in there prosecuting the case, it was about the impact on small business and about the impact on individuals. I suspect Senator Canavan may have actually written quite a few of those questions in a former role as well. But Senator Boswell was always there standing up his community and standing up for the constituency that he saw as sending him here. He will be remembered. He played such an important role in this institution, to his family and to his friends. May he rest in peace.

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