Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Every day here, we begin by paying our respects to Aboriginal people, the traditional custodians of this land. Words are cheap without actions. If we really respected our First Nations people, we would do so much more to walk the path towards reconciliation and justice and heal the wounds of the past. I rarely hear the words 'truth and treaty' spoken these days—or 'closing the gap', for that matter. We know what needs to be done; let's get on and do it.

I want to make an important disclaimer suitable for this day and age, and that is that this speech has been written without the use of AI—and also probably that viewer discretion might be required for the bros in the manosphere, because there will be some real men tears today and it may be triggering to some of them.

Last autumn, in my home town of Bicheno, we copped one of the biggest swells I've ever witnessed on the east coast of Tasmania. And, by the way, Bicheno, my home town, just got voted the No. 1 small town in Australia by Australian Traveller magazine—not to mention there have been some recent UFO sightings off the coast that have been well publicised. That has nothing to do with my retirement—or I hope it's got nothing to do with my retirement! Nevertheless, it appeared the force of this swell picked up the sand and pushed the barway connected to Redbill Beach across to beautiful Diamond Island, a hundred metres north. When another massive swell hit a few weeks later, this time from the north, a whisper began about town that something very special and magical was going to happen—underground rumours and whispers that a mythical wave might come to life.

I'd heard it all before, but, looking through my telescope, there it was. I could barely believe my eyes. Through the pines and the afternoon sea mist, long walls of ocean energy were rolling perfectly off the island, the dark figures of a few local surfers flying down their faces—and they're okay with me doing this tonight, because it's a public place and everyone knows where it is. With only a few hours of light left, my son, Finn, who's here tonight, and I couldn't get out there fast enough. My local beach that I feel deeply connected to had transformed into one of the best waves in the world, and that afternoon I shared some of the best waves of my life with my son.

Getting back on the beach in the fading light, the ocean a perfect mirror of an intense magenta sunset, I remember putting my arm around Finn and saying, 'This is as good as it gets for me.' I couldn't help thinking, 'How many of these moments have I missed over the years, always travelling, constantly away from home?' Walking back in the dark, surrounded by the thunder and energy of the surf, my decision to leave politics was made. I reckon I've got at least 10 good years of surfing left in me, so I am going to make hay while the sun shines.

I'm only too aware that the deep connection that I share with my coastline is a blessing and a source of inspiration. But, truth be known, it can also be a burden. David Attenborough recently stated:

After … 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on earth is not on land but at sea … If we save the sea, we save our world.

Those of us who have eyes wide open to what's happening in our oceans know that it's going to take a lot of saving. When you're connected to nature, you see the wounds of the world—wounds that are largely self-inflicted in places like this and the other parliaments of the world. That makes them more painful, harder to bear, especially when you're one of the rare, privileged few who get elected to parliament but struggle to turn the tide.

As I was sitting on my surfboard in that autumn dusk, the lights from Nic's famous little penguin-viewing platform and rookery should have been flickering on. The sandbar should have been alive with these iconic creatures—and I have one of them on my lapel tonight—returning from fishing in the open ocean to feed their chicks. But the lights were off. The penguins vanished that summer. For the first time in its 35-year history, the Bicheno Penguin Tours closed up shop. This was the biggest tourist attraction in town, and it was distressing and devastating to my community. My wife, Natalie, and daughter, Bronte, who are also here tonight, and I went for walks through the penguin rookeries that summer and watched helplessly as the penguin chicks left behind slowly starved to death waiting for parents who wouldn't return, wandering around dazed in the sun, eating sticks, desperate with hunger. Not one survived. A marine heatwave had forced their parents too far out to sea in the search for food. Some of them eventually returned, towards winter, as the water cooled, but far too few and far too late. The marine heatwave, I remind you, is linked to the burning of fossil fuels.

Looking north from that same sandbar, this area of coastline was historically so full of giant kelp that it was famously difficult to get boats into the area. It was so thick it would foul their props. In 1839, Charles Darwin, on the voyage of the Beagle, visited Tasmania and the Southern Ocean, falling in love with these exact same giant kelp forests, stating:

I can only compare these great aquatic forests … with the terrestrial ones in the intertropical regions. Yet if in any country a forest was destroyed, I do not believe so many species of animals would perish as would here, from the destruction of the kelp.

How prophetic. Darwin was hauntingly right. It took less than two centuries. The giant kelp has now long vanished from my coastline, along with the profound loss of biodiversity he predicted. Ninety-five per cent of all Tasmania's giant kelp forests have disappeared. This loss is directly linked to the warming of the East Australian Current and the march of marine invasive species. Both are tied to climate change.

Bicheno, typical of so many small towns on Australia's east coast, used to have dozens of operating fishing boats. Only a few remain now. The loss of this habitat has had devastating consequences for Tasmania's fisheries and the communities that rely on them. The loss of fisheries and tourism income in just one small town among many along the Great Southern Reef is one of the economic consequences being felt because of the greed of the fossil fuel industry and our corrupted political system that has for decades refused to act meaningfully on climate change. I've spent the last chapter of my Senate career travelling the nation working with scientists, other inspiring individuals—many of them here tonight—community and environment groups; using my platform to bear witness to the sad decline in our natural world; raising awareness on the devastating impacts that our addiction to fossil fuels is having on our oceans; and advocating in here for the strongest possible climate action.

That 2025 summer, that marine heatwave, smashed also our World Heritage coral reefs, and for the first time we recorded mass coral bleachings on both the east and west coasts at the same time. I joined scientists at Ningaloo Reef and out at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef—also with Penny, Steph and Larissa—and saw the devastation caused by water temperatures that reached as high as 36 to 38 degrees Celsius. That's bathwater. If a bushfire destroyed millions of hectares of precious World Heritage biodiversity on land, it would be declared a national emergency—but not heatwaves at sea, apparently.

Senators, look at what else is happening around our coastlines. Six hundred and fifty thousand shearwaters washed up dead on Australia's east coast beaches last summer, believed to have starved to death because of a marine heatwave. Travel west to witness the algal bloom and dead sea in areas of coastal South Australia—also linked to a marine heatwave. And it is with great sadness that I relate that, while I was writing this speech yesterday, new counts on South Australia's giant cuttlefish have plummeted to record lows. Just like with Bicheno's penguins, tourism operators in Whyalla have cancelled cuttlefish season, with millions in expected losses, while populations of fur seals are declining and other species are weakened further as the new strain of pathogenic bird flu also arrives on these shores.

Go further west and witness the massive decadal loss of seagrasses in central Western Australia—a thousand square kilometres—and up, across the Top End to North Queensland, to witness catastrophic mangrove diebacks. An estimated 40 million trees across thousands of kilometres are believed to have perished.

It's official. As of yesterday, July again was the warmest month our oceans have had globally on record. They are literally off the charts. Models now show the strong likelihood of a record El Nino and the real possibility we will all get a taste of two degrees warming above pre-industrial levels next year, in 2027.

But you won't hear any of these truths in the Murdoch press misinformation machine. A death cult of powerful corporations and elites in and outside of parliaments continue to do what they've done for more than 40 years—either deny climate change altogether or lie, deceive, delay and distract from what's necessary to decarbonise our economies and radically reduce emissions in line with what the science tells us.

We are all collectively the frog in the pot, metaphorically and literally on top of a gas stove, and we can't climb out or extinguish the flame because a bunch of lying, greedy bastards won't let us do it. They will go to any lengths to protect their profits, including legalised bribery and blackmailing of corruptible political parties. This is happening globally. It's frightening, and it's bloody infuriating. If you told me, as a senator starting 14 years ago, about what I'm seeing now—especially this ongoing stubborn denial, greed and disregard in the face of our safe climate breaking down—I wouldn't have believed you. And I came in here as a climate ocean campaigner.

But, then again, in 2012, I hadn't witnessed the historic Clean Energy Future Package—legislated by the Labor and the Greens' power-sharing government and held up as a global standard in climate policy—defeated by the climate denial machine in this country. I hadn't witnessed with my own eyes LNP senators laughing as they did a joyful 'ring o'Rosie', dancing on the grave of this same legislation in this chamber and in the other one. That legislation has turned out to be the only real historic climate action ever seen in this country.

I hadn't yet worked and lived through a decade of the swamp and desert years of climate policy paralysis under the LNP, which I note continues to this day, or witnessed three prime ministers toppled over climate policy or witnessed a Labor government, elected in 2022 after campaigning on climate action, repose national climate targets whose ambition equated to two degrees of global warming—a death sentence for most of the world's coral reefs. Even today, astonishingly, the Labor Party is still approving new fossil fuel projects. In particular, the clock is ticking on the approval of fossil fuel giant Woodside's Browse project to drill and risk pristine Scott Reef and fuel the recent shameful expansion of the North West Shelf extension out to 2070.

Twice, I've watched Donald Trump get elected and become arguably the most important man on planet politics, the narcissist-in-chief of our ally the United States, an antiscience climate denier totally corrupted by big money from his fossil fuel and billionaire donors and a puppet for powerful interests dividing us and risking our future. The question I keep asking myself—and everyone I know, by the way—is: how did our system get infected by this mass political psychosis? Information is power, and those who control this control the agenda. But our information environment, which dictates the daily decisions we make, has changed radically since I started as a senator. It's official that most of us now get our news from social media platforms, a system set up to incentivise engagement and that rewards anger, outrage, fringe views and the spreading of lies. Politics has itself become entertainment that feeds on this anger, these lies and fringe views. Engagement hackers use rage baiting to lure voters and channel them towards more extreme, dangerous political views.

I remind senators the World Economic Forum, two years in a row, in 2024 and 2025, said that disinformation, the poisoning of our information system, is the biggest threat facing humanity. This disinformation, combined with the physical threats posed by climate change, they labelled as humanity's biggest long-term threat. While politicians and parliamentarians are at the pointy end of our climate wars, there exists a well-oiled denial machine behind the defeat of climate policy globally. PR firms, consultancies, think tanks, compliant conservative media outlets like the Murdoch press, and mercenary online armies funded by billions of dark money are often linked to fossil fuel interests coordinating global efforts to obstruct climate action. Don't take my word for this as a Greens senator. Ex-Chief of the Defence Force, Admiral Chris Barrie, and his climate security experts group, recently released a report stating this organised campaign to be akin to information warfare. In a world where AI provides an industrial platform for endless dis- and misinformation, we have to restore trust in science, our democratic institutions, public policy and polity.

Senators, if we lose this fight, we lose everything. There is much we can do as a parliament to tackle this and reset the agenda. There is hope. I'm proud of the work and the recommendations of the Senate select committee I recently chaired that looked into this clear and present danger, and I want to acknowledge some of the other members here tonight—Senator Pocock, Senator Darmanin, Senator Ananda-Rajah and Senator McLachlan—for working cross-party on getting this report done. I urge you all, please, in the years ahead, to jump into this critical work before this cancer on climate action and our democracy becomes terminal.

I feel like I've given it a good crack over the last 14 years. Some political waves caught, some missed. Some people have said to me, 'Peter, it's a good time to be leaving politics.' I know it's the right decision for me and my family, but, truthfully, it doesn't feel like a good time. But I accept there probably never is a good time. If you care about the environment, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the need to fight for a pathway for justice and reconciliation for our First Nations people, to unshackle ourselves from the US military industrial complex and so many more issues, your work is never done. But it gives me great comfort on the eve of my departure that other warriors in this chamber, across political lines, and this parliament are willing to stand up and carry the torch on such critical issues.

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate my successor, Vanessa Bleyer, who's over here in the chamber today. You'll be all getting very familiar with Vanessa shortly. She will be a formidable senator for the Greens, for Tasmania and for nature. Murray, I think I can say confidently you'll probably be wishing I was back in six months time after you've been grilled by Vanessa a few times.

Senators, we really do have one of the best jobs in the world to build platforms for change. We get to poke our noses into nearly everyone's business. We have incredible tools, powers and resources at our disposal, especially the committee system. Clerk, President, I've been so fortunate to have initiated and chaired dozens of Senate inquiries in the past 14 years, and I'm in awe of the committee staff that I've worked with over the years. I'm sure all senators in this chamber feel the same way. But I wanted to give a special shout out to Patrick, Stephen, Tas, Alan and Kate to just name a few.

I'd also like to thank you and all the Senate staff, especially in the chamber here tonight—the parliamentary staff, the COMCAR drivers and security guards—from the bottom of my heart. Of course senators would be nothing without our staff—overworked, underpaid and often unrecognised, consistently going beyond the call of duty. And it is a calling for our staffers.

Thanks and respect to Jess McColl for the work she does in Larissa's leader's office and to all Greens staffers for what they do—in fact, to all staffers. But to my crew especially—Megan Jolly, Eddie Gray and Chloe Preston, Jack Fittler and Lily Mimica, who are currently working with me, and it's great to see some of the old gang back in the building tonight, in particular Charlie Goldberg, Thomas Moore and Tim Beshara. Also a big thanks to Emma Anglesey and Matti Rose, who couldn't make it.

Now, I didn't want to write this bit, because I felt like it was too scripted, so I'm going to kind of speak off the cuff here. Megan, my chief of staff, has been with me since I started, which is a massive, massive task, let me tell you. And I don't think I can remember that she's ever taken a day's sick leave, but I'm sure she has! She's an absolute trooper. Thank you for protecting me. Your intuition is legendary. I've learnt to take advice because of you, and you're nearly always right—just like my wife too, by the way! I wanted to say this is as much your journey here tonight as it is mine, and it absolutely couldn't have happened without you.

To Chloe and Eddie: someone once said to me that I was lucky to have hired the daughters of two fishermen—brought up on the coast, down to earth, straight shooters, salt of the earth and more than a bit of salt in their blood, lovers of the ocean. I just wanted to say to you both tonight—there you are, Eddie—enjoy your break that you're going to have and time with your beautiful partner, Gandy, and with your dogs and time in the ocean. I'll look forward to seeing you in the soup! I feel like we've been to war together. You followed me all around the country and you've always had my back. Thank you. Chloe, I kind of feel like your time with me is only going to be a footnote in one chapter of your book. You've had such a fascinating life. You're such an incredible individual, and I'm so fortunate that you have consistently saved my bacon on so many occasions—although you're vegan, and I shouldn't have used the word bacon! But I'm eternally in your debt, and I look forward to keeping our relationship going.

Jack, when you joined me, you had twins. You came to my office. You started an MPP. You took out a mortgage. We all looked at you and thought: 'What the hell. This guy is incredible.' Mate, you should be so proud of what you've achieved. You have not only turned up day in, day out and been an incredible friend and confidant, but you have achieved great things and you should be very, very proud of that.

Lily, thank you for the million views that you've got me on social media in the couple of years that you've been with me! It's been really good to work with you, and the Greens are very lucky to have you. Libby especially is lucky that you're now going to go and join her office.

I wanted to say, more broadly, thank you for your loyalty—that means so much to me—and your respect, your humanity and your good advice. You stuck with me till the end and you never wavered, and I'll be forever grateful. Not yet! I'm close. I wanted to say tonight a big shout-out to Fraser Brindley, who, sadly, passed away while working in this building three years ago to this week. I dearly wish he was here with us tonight. Working for Nick and me and the Greens for many, many years, Fraser proved MPs weren't the only ones driving change in this place. He turned up every day and he did change the world. He was a leader and a giant in our movement. His inspiration and memory is a compass that we still take our bearings from. His mum, Helen, is with us here tonight. Please know your son is dearly missed and was loved and respected by so many of us.

Sorry; this is called a circuit breaker—because I knew this was going to be a struggle. That one's for the manosphere, President!

Our team, over the years, has got some serious work done. We've helped people almost every day, and together we've had a powerful platform to fight for change. But I wanted to say tonight that any achievements we've made have been collaborative efforts, working across our party room and across the political aisles. Getting Senate work into policy outcomes and legislation isn't easy. Forget the making sausages analogy; it's more like baking a cake. You can have all the best policy ingredients added and mixed in the right way, but if the oven is not set to the right temperature, it will flop or be inedible. That temperature is the politics of the day, and this building is the oven. I'd like to think my team has baked a few delights over the years.

I'm proud that we got an effects test, arguably one of the biggest competition policy reforms in a decade, and we did that working with the Nationals. I'm proud that we've legislated in this place tranche 2 anti-money-laundering laws, and I wanted to especially shout out to Deb O'Neill, who's not here tonight, for her decades of work on this, and to Senator McKim and to Fraser. Multinational tax transparency and multinational tax avoidance laws—working with the coalition over many years, we've got billions of dollars from big corporations to help pay for schools and hospitals. A royal commission into banking and financial services shook corporate Australia and led to significant legislation in this place. Crikey, there's a whole book in the telling of how that royal commission came together. I did want to say it was a combined effort, working across the aisle with the Labor Party and with the coalition—especially Wacka Williams, who I wanted to give a very special mention to tonight, and to Sam Dastyari for the work and the leadership he showed on this. I'm proud that we solved the backpacker tax impasse in return for $100 million for Landcare and Indigenous Protected Areas. A levy on the big banks to help pay for services that protect our most vulnerable—I could go on.

I'm also proud my team and I have initiated some groundbreaking world's first Senate inquiries into tackling marine plastic pollution, shark protection and risk mitigation, exploring the impacts of warming oceans on our coral reefs and marine habitat, the dangers of seismic blasting in our oceans and, of course, the need to tackle climate driven marine invasive pests like the long-spined sea urchins that are doing so much damage to my precious coastline. There was also an inquiry into how we stop illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean—which I think, Senator Colbeck, you were involved with—and whaling in the Southern Ocean. The last inquiry, I think, stood me in good stead for probably the best and most challenging experiences of my parliamentary career, being the only politician willing or stupid enough to self-fund a trip to Tokyo and directly lobby the Japanese parliament to stop this barbaric practice. I'm confident our parliamentary work has helped communities and campaigners better protect their oceans, coastlines and wild places, and it's a solid foundation for others to continue to build on.

Last night I did an adjournment speech, shouting out some of the important fellow travellers on my journey, like the many scientists I've been lucky enough to work and campaign with. I also have very fond memories, and will always have fond memories, of the environmental campaigners I've been privileged enough to work with. There are too many to list here tonight, but a special thanks to Darren Kindleysides, the previous CEO of the Australian Marine Conservation Society and, in the chamber tonight, Paul Gamblin, the new CEO. Thanks for arranging a beer with Tim Winton, too; I'll be eternally grateful for that, Paul. Also Alexia Wellbelove, who I've worked with now for well over a decade. Thanks for being here tonight, Alexia, and thanks to all the crew at AMCS for all you do, and, in fact, to all the marine conservation organisations.

Of course, my other tribe are surfers. I'd like to shout out tonight to Josh Kirkman and Tim Silverwood, who are here tonight. Tim, you get a double mention because I'm about to talk about plastics in a second. Thank you for being here tonight. At Surfrider Foundation, where I was a board member before I came into politics, Drew McPherson, Damo Cole, Brendan Donohoe, Wendy Harmer and Paul Maddock, to name a few.

My last act in the Senate tomorrow is bringing on a private member's bill for debate to make producers of plastic packaging responsible for their pollution. I'll be thanking many folks tomorrow when we talk about this issue, but a special thanks to Jeff Angel, Tim Silverwood again, Gayle Sloan and Suzanne Toumbourou, who are here tonight. I really appreciate you being here, and I hope you come along tomorrow too. I'm proud to have worked and fought with so many legends, and I hope post politics we can continue to work together in some way.

Reflecting on the last 14 years in this place, there is one thing I'm especially proud of. It was the opportunity to play a small leadership role working with so many of my heroes and campaign to get Australian journalist Julian Assange out of his Belmarsh prison hell and back home to Australia. I have a spray painting by Tasmanian artist Jamin of Australian father of the year Terry Hicks, the father of David Hicks, on my office wall here in parliament. Terry has always been a hero of mine because of his love for his son, a love that conquered all. When Julian Assange's father, John Shipton, came to parliament in 2018 seeking help to get his son safely back to Australia, we discussed Terry's odyssean efforts against all odds to get his son David out of Guantanamo Bay so he could face a fair trial and extradition back to Australia. The first Trump presidency made it clear they were out to get Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. They wanted his head on a pike. They set out to extradite him to the US to face a bogus trial behind closed doors and a probable virtual death sentence. It was a dark and trying time for Julian's family and his supporters, who, like Terry Hicks, were up against some of the most powerful forces on the planet.

But this wasn't just an attack on Julian Assange; it was an attack on press freedoms and universal human rights, an attack on all of us. It was meant to send a message. And, as we warned at the time, it was a taste of things to come. If I recall correctly, John, who's here with Julian's brother, Gabriel, you were only able to get a few meetings in your first trip to parliament. I think they were with myself and Andrew Wilkie. It seemed Julian was persona non grata in this building back then. Great revolutionaries threaten entrenched powers with an inevitable backlash. The political assassination of Julian's character and freedom over the years meant few politicians wanted to lend him a hand at the time, including, to be fair, amongst my own mob.

John and I had many discussions over the years about how we could humanise Julian and rebuild his reputation, such as documenting his family's fight to free him and establishing a Parliamentary Friends of the Bring Julian Assange Home Group. Within five years of the establishment of that parliamentary friends group, a handful of MPs grew to 65 senators and MPs from across the political divide—and it's a deep political divide—calling for Julian's release and return home. The motion backing his return to Australia passed the House of Representatives. Our parliamentary friends group also embarked on the most unlikely parliamentary delegation to Washington, I'll wager, ever seen by this institution, including Senator David Shoebridge and Senator Alex Antic—who also said he was going to come tonight; sorry, Alex!—Monique Ryan, Tony Zappia and Barnaby Joyce. Because we were able to put our political differences aside to campaign for the release of an Australian who was being tortured in a maximum security prison, so too did the Democrats and Republicans, and an alliance was built across the Pacific.

Gabriel, you did a magnificent job, including by, I understand, accidentally bumping into senators and congressmen on trains and at the coffee cart, getting us meetings and building the most unholy of alliances. That was very successful in the end. Our presence was certainly noted in Washington prior to an important visit from our prime minister. Tonight, I would like to personally thank the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, for the quiet diplomacy and leadership he showed when getting Julian Assange home, which, by the way, I'm sure our not-so-quiet diplomacy from the parliamentary friends group aided and abetted. I thank Kevin Rudd, who hosted us in Washington, and the British high commissioner at the time, Stephen Jones, both of whom played a significant role in Julian's return home to his family. And, of course, this wouldn't have been possible without his wonderful wife, Stella, brother, Gabriel, and father, John, and so many other champions, like Jennifer Robinson, Greg Barns, Stephen Kenny, Barry Pollack, Geoffrey Robertson, Nils Melzer, Scott Ludlam, who has also joined us tonight, Flick Ruby and way too many others to mention here tonight, who all took up the campaign and legal battles that ultimately got Julian released. While Julian is home with Stella and their boys, Gabriel and Max, the campaign continues to clear his name of charges negotiated during a plea deal to return home.

I helped start this political campaign because I could see John loved his son, as I do mine, and would do anything to help him. That's what inspired me. It was nothing more complicated than that. Sometimes you need to be true to yourself and follow your heart, listen to your humanity, ignore political expediency, be inspired by great people and never give up fighting.

On that note, I want to acknowledge Bernard Collaery, who is also here tonight—thank you for being here, Bernard—and what he sacrificed personally to get justice for whistleblower Witness K and the people of East Timor. On the topic of whistleblowers, I understand Gabriel has now established the Information Rights Project, which fights for whistleblowers facing persecution. And, importantly, David McBride has his parole decision tomorrow. Good luck, David. There are many in this parliament who support you.

Speaking of love and family, I'm so lucky to have had such strong women in my family life: my mum, Rosemary; sister, Kerri; wife, Natalie; and daughter, Bronte. Mum, who can't be here tonight—I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with her—was always the original greenie and a loving, empathetic mother to all. She could also be really bolshie, and that's absolutely where I get it from.

To my kids, Bronte and Finn: Bronte, I actually found this note this afternoon, serendipitously. 'I love you, Daddy'—this is 2012, the very first week I started and gave my first speech—'Just remember: don't listen to them. Just think of surfing with Finn and I in Bicheno. Don't forget us.' I've never forgotten either of you. I'm so proud of who you've become and proud of the fact that I can say that you and Finn are two of my best mates. I'm so sorry I was away so much of your life. I hope I've done you proud. I might get that box off you again in a second.

Love and gratitude also to my brother, Dave, in Freo, to my sister, Kerri, who is watching this live with Martu mob out in the Little Sandy Desert tonight, and to my father, Tony, a man of principles and deep conviction who worked hard with my mum to give all our family the best chance in life.

Nat, my beautiful wife—not just my soulmate but also my best mate—I'm grateful for your love every single day and I would be lost without you. I remember dragging you over to Tasmania 23 years ago. We'd lived in seven cities in 10 years and you wanted to put down roots in WA, which is fair enough, but I remember you eventually relenting and saying to me, 'I think we've got one last adventure left in us.' Here we are in the Australian Senate 23 years later, and I hope we've got more adventures ahead. I love you. Thank you.

In 2022, the Australian Greens celebrated 50 years since the world's first green environmental party, the United Tasmania Group, was established—I apologise to Mehreen and David from the New South Wales Greens, because this is often very controversial—in the Hobart Town Hall in 1972. And if I speak loudly enough, hopefully I can talk over them. Could you bring them to order, please, President! Could you bring my colleagues to order! I often say that Tasmania's most important export to the planet was the green political movement, and I feel so proud every day that I'm part of a movement that turns up day in, day out, rain, hail or shine, to change the world.

Obama was right when he said politics is hope in motion. That's why I joined the Greens in 2008. I thank each and every Greens member and supporter from the bottom of my heart, and a special mention for the Tasmanian Greens' long-term and long-suffering convenor Damien Irving. Thank you for your steadfast support over many years, and to each and every Tasmanian who voted for me, giving me this opportunity of a lifetime.

The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet and stoking hatred and grievance for their own ends are counting on you, me and all of us to give up. That's their strategy. I can say with confidence tonight that there is no bloody way that is going to happen—not a chance in hell. The Greens will never ever give up.

So to my comrades and fellow green warriors and mates—to each and every one of you—you're all wonderful. It's been an honour and a privilege to serve with you and those who have gone before. I think the ultimate compliment to all of you is that I actually genuinely do feel like I'm a better human for the time that I've spent with you, and I'm so grateful. I thank you for your support and your respect.

I want to give a special shout-out to leaders of political parties—and this is all leaders of political parties; I don't think there is a harder job on the planet—and especially to previous party room leaders Bob Brown, who I replaced; Christine Milne, who was a mentor to me; Richard, who's a good mate; Adam, who's a good mate; Larissa; and Nick, with your time being the leader of the Tasmanian Greens. It is literally the hardest job on the planet. It's completely thankless. The buck stops with you and you are a lightning rod for so much discontent, including in your own party. It's the most difficult job.

Everyone has different theories of leadership, but, in my opinion, a leader—a true leader—enables and works to bring out the best in each and every member of their team. If we all shine so do you, and our movement benefits. Larissa, you've done such a wonderful job doing that, and you've got this, mate; you've got this. I'm nearly finished, thank God!

This is not an easy job—we all know that—especially when you care deeply. I know most people here—in fact, all people here—do. The wheel moves slowly in this place, and it can be a heavy burden to bear sometimes. So please look after yourselves, comrades. May all your journeys bring you wisdom in the struggles of the heart and courage in the heart of the struggles ahead.

Lastly, to all my fellow senators—for at least another 48 hours, anyway!—all of us here are ordinary people who have been given an extraordinary opportunity. One day, you will likely also be standing here giving your valedictory. I ask you to reflect this afternoon on how you want to feel when this happens, whenever that may be. Here's a little message from over thousands of years for you, some stoic wisdom and reflection from Marcus Aurelius that I think is particularly and especially important for all of our time here in the Senate: 'Whatever you do, you're going to be forgotten anyway. So live your life in such a manner that, while you remain, you belong to yourself.' Adios and thank you.

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

Senators, I do have a list in front of me, so I'm going to go through the order because there are quite a few speakers. If we can get Senator Whish-Wilson back, that would be lovely. He can hear all the nice and maybe not-so-nice and funny things people are going to say about him.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) | Link to this | Hansard source

They'll all be nice!

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

They'll all be nice, as Senator Duniam just said!

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, Senator Pete Whish-Wilson had some pretty big shoes to fill when he entered the Senate to replace Bob Brown as a Greens senator for Tasmania in 2012. Big shoes, but, as our resident surfer, Pete always seemed more comfortable barefoot. Nevertheless, over the last 14 years I have been proud to watch him fill those shoes. He's brought to this place a rare combination: the analytical mind of an economist, the instincts of a campaigner, a huge heart and care for people, and a deep and abiding love of the ocean.

Pete's path to parliament didn't begin as a staffer or a bureaucrat but in Tasmania's pristine environment and alongside hundreds of thousands of people fighting for a better world. Standing among more than 200,000 people marching against the Iraq War, Pete realised that caring deeply wasn't enough; he had to be prepared to act. He was moved to fight for our common future, both for people and for the planet, and he had the courage to turn that conviction into action. Back home in Tassie, that determination drew him into the community campaign to protect the Tamar Valley from the proposed pulp mill, and it ultimately brought him into this chamber.

During his time in parliament, he's been a relentless advocate for nature, the climate, ecosystems and wildlife, and fairness. That commitment has shaped much of Pete's work in this place. In 2012, he was the first-ever senator to raise in the Australian parliament the scourge of plastic pollution choking our oceans. He has since led the charge in parliament by establishing three landmark Senate inquiries into marine plastic pollution and Australia's recycling crisis. When it came to commercial whaling in 2013, Pete gatecrashed a diplomatic function in Canberra and gave the Japanese prime minister a handwritten letter from Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson urging Japan to cease its commercial whaling in the Antarctic. He's the only Australian politician to visit Japan and lobby its politicians and parliament directly to end this cruel and unnecessary practice.

He was also the first MP in the Australian parliament to oppose the introduction of industrial supertrawlers, leading the parliamentary campaign to have them banned from Australian waters. His work included establishing a historic Senate inquiry in March 2014 into the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters, including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, after which the government agreed to carry out two 40-day customs patrols in the Southern Ocean.

Whether the threat came from plastic pollution, industrial fishing or commercial whaling, Pete brought the same qualities to the fight: deep knowledge, persistence and an absolute unwillingness to accept that protecting our oceans was too difficult. Pete brought that same persistence to his work in the Treasury portfolio. Drawing on his own experience in economics and finance, he challenged concentrated corporate power from a position of real authority. He secured the effects test in competition law reform. His work was fundamental in pushing for and establishing the banking royal commission, which led to more than 70 pieces of legislation, including tightening the screws on banks and insurance companies; a levy on big banks to pay for schools and hospitals; multinational anti-tax-avoidance laws; new, sweeping anti-money-laundering laws; and multiple tax-transparency measures.

He's also been a prominent, longstanding critic of investor-state dispute settlement clauses in trade agreements, which give big corporates control over domestic laws that might seek to protect the environment ahead of corporate profits. He introduced a private member's bill to ban these ISDS clauses in 2014, and his advocacy has had an impact. These clauses are now tainted, and they're used less frequently.

Pete understood that markets are created by political choices and that governments can choose whether they serve entrenched corporate interests or the public good. And he brought that same determination to causes that were difficult, unfashionable or too easily ignored. He's been a strong voice on medicinal cannabis for pain management, and he never shied away from sharing his own personal experiences to help reduce the stigma for others.

There are, in fact, few challenges that Pete has ever shied away from. He's been calling out the manosphere—and I love that 'real man tears' tissue box!—and he's been calling out the toxic stereotypes that rob men of the full experience of human emotion and often drive violence against women. Just a few weeks ago, he stood in this place and demanded that we 'wake the eff up' to the avalanche of AI slop and foreign bots in our social media feeds. His work on the Senate select committee inquiry into information integrity on climate change and energy showed just how strong the denial machine of conservative think tanks, PR firms, consultancies, third-party campaign groups and some conservative media outlets was working to throw sand in the gears of climate and energy policy in this country. And now we're seeing that same denial machine invading every area of our democracy.

Pete was also a vocal opponent of the detention and potential extradition of Julian Assange and a founding member of the Parliamentary Friends of the Bring Julian Assange Home campaign, along with our former colleague Senator Scott Ludlam, up there in the gallery. In December 2019, Pete tabled a petition with more than 200,000 signatures, one of the largest petitions ever presented to the Senate, calling on the government to intervene and to ensure Julian's safe passage home. For Pete, this was never an abstract argument about diplomacy or process. It was about an Australian citizen whose freedom and wellbeing had been left hanging in the balance. I too would like to acknowledge that we had Julian's dad, John, and his brother, Gabriel, in the gallery just before for his speech.

That willingness to take up a cause before others were ready to act is just as evident in his work back home in Tasmania. Pete was campaigning against salmon farming and in defence of the Maugean skate well before most others. At his 2015 Senate inquiry into this issue, another Tasmanian senator stormed out halfway through the first day, calling it a witch-hunt. Last year, that same senator joined Pete in demanding an end to salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour.

That kind of advocacy is rarely comfortable. It means being dismissed, attacked and sometimes standing almost alone. Pete has never let that deter him. And that story captures something essential about Pete. He's never needed an issue to be fashionable, easy or immediately winnable. He does the work, he builds the case and he keeps going until others catch up. And, when they do catch up, the debate has often shifted because Pete has refused to let it disappear.

Pete's connection to the ocean has been evident throughout his work in the Senate. In fact, he might be the only senator whose policy toolkit has ranged from establishing landmark inquiries to encouraging Australians to eat more sea urchins. That perspective has been especially evident in the debate over shark mitigation. He's rejected the fear driven calls for culls and lethal control programs, without ever dismissing the anxiety and trauma experienced by coastal communities. Instead, he's championed practical, evidence based measures that better protect people without indiscriminately killing marine life, including shark-spotting drones, personal deterrent devices and improved public education. He led a Senate inquiry into shark mitigation and, right up to his final weeks in parliament, continued calling for the federal leadership needed to make our beaches safer for ocean users and wildlife alike.

But, beyond the inquiries and the campaigns and the reforms, I will miss the person behind them—his conviction, his humour, his passion and clarity—and the certainty that, when Pete took up a cause, he would see it through. Our oceans need defending, and I will miss having Pete here to fight for them. I will particularly miss having him here just behind me, with a ready, warm smile, the support of a friend and the humanity that he always brings to his work. He is a good man, and the Greens have been lucky to have him, and the Senate has been lucky to have him. His duty to help the world is not done, but he will do it in a way that ensures that the other pulls on his heart—his family and the wild places of Lutruwita—have more of him than we do.

Pete entered this chamber with Bob Brown's very big shoes to fill, and 14 years later he leaves with a legacy entirely his own. Our oceans still need defending. Corporate power still needs challenging. Governments still need reminding that justice is not optional. But every one of those fights is stronger because Peter Whish-Wilson has been part of it.

Pete, thank you for your courage, your tenacity and your friendship, and for showing what can be achieved when conviction is matched by persistence. Tasmania and the parliament are better for your service. We will all deeply miss our senator surfer, but the tide has shifted because you were here.

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

I wish to make my contribution to this magnificent episode we've witnessed in a senatorial career. Pete and I have worked so closely together over the last 14 years. In fact, I was sitting here earlier today thinking, 'How long has Pete been here—18, 19 years?' It's because you're that much a part of the furniture. I just want to say on behalf of government senators, Peter, but, selfishly, for myself, mate, that the 14 years that you and I have spent on the rural and regional affairs and transport committee—and, my goodness, haven't there been some luminaries on there, apart from you and me? With Senator Colbeck—and who could forget Bill Heffernan and Barry O'Sullivan and 'Wacka' Williams, just to name a few? No, seriously—real luminaries and us.

But to sit there, Peter, with your political background, your environmental—I call you an environmental warrior. I apologise—environmental campaigner. Mate, you're both. In that environment that we did for 14 years, traditionally you were not political allies of ours on certain parts of the agricultural industry. Yet the respect that you drew from every witness—I never, ever saw one witness take you on or want to have a blue with you. The respect that they showed you, mate, was phenomenal. I wished, and we all wished, that we could have that same respect from a couple of the witnesses, Peter. I've really enjoyed it, mate. I want to wish you and your lovely wife all the very best, mate. I'm going to miss you on the RRAT committee; make no mistake about that. I'm going to miss you in Senate estimates, mate, at nine o'clock at night, when we've got AFMA there and it's a toss-up between you and Richard as to who's going to be the senator for fisheries from Tasmania—oh, I forgot Bozzie too. Bozzie was on that committee. There's another luminary. I apologise, Ronnie. You're in our memories at all times.

Mate, we got a couple of things, and I just want to touch on a couple of real quick things. I was in New York. I've never been one for making big speeches about the environment, but in my first speech I did say, 'We've got to leave it better than what we found it,' because I'm too busy doing another industry that's probably not as clean in the atmosphere as we'd all like it to be. But I was at a lecture with John Kerry, I remember. Peter, I think I rang you. I heard John Kerry speak, and I'd gone there with no preconceptions: 'Just have a listen; let's see what the great man's got to say.' He talked about the ocean and he led with this comment: 'For every second breath you take, thank the oceans.' I know this sounds a little bit weird and a bit creepy, but, mate, I thought of you. I actually thought of you, to the point where I even came back and said, 'Geez, Pete—the work you've been doing and what I've heard there.' Good on you, mate. Keep up that great work. I know you will.

What a magnificent speech! To the staff of Peter: you've kept him intact. When I first heard Peter's speech, I thought, 'I like this bloke.' He was a stockbroker, a viticulturalist, a winemaker and a surfer. I think, 'What the hell are you doing in the in the Greens, mate?' I said, 'This is going to be interesting.' You were a pretty snappy dresser back then, Pete, until you decided the tie was—sorry to do that to your family and that. But he used to wear a tie.

Mate, all the very sincere best to you in your semi-retirement or your next few years. You've told me you're going to be buying the Sprinter van, and I tell you what, mate: if I find that you pop out of the desert—if you've been on the Canning Stock Route or on the Tanami—and you pop out in Halls Creek and you're in the Kimberley, in my area, and I don't know that you're there, look out, mate. I told you: give me a shout when you get there.

I'll leave you on one thing, people. I love this bloke, but one of the stories he told me once—I think you're more Western Australian than anything, Pete; come on, let's be honest mate—was about when he actually met—I'll ad-lib here—a Western Australian icon, in Bon Scott, under the old Fremantle Traffic Bridge. I'm not going to repeat that. That's your story to tell, mate. You had me in giggles. I've never forgotten it. I'd love to meet Bon Scott too, and you're lucky he didn't punch you in the frigging nose or whatever it was.

Peter, all the very best, mate, for you and yours. Take care, brother. I'm going to miss you.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an honour to be able to make a brief contribution, along with a couple of other coalition senators, to thank Peter Whish-Wilson for what he has done for the people of Tasmania as a Greens senator in this place. It is safe to say that we haven't always agreed on a lot of issues and often find ourselves on different sides of the chamber, but, as Senator Waters said just a little earlier on, the humanity with which you have discharged your duties in this place, the respectful nature of the way in which you've been able to find a way to disagree with us and others—the government, sometimes—I think is a credit to you. I think the way others have summarised—indeed, your own valedictory statement outline your approach to the way you've been a senator for your state and a warrior for your cause—is a testament to you. While there were areas of disagreement, there is nothing quite like being a Tasmanian to unite people who have vastly different views. I know that you and Senator McKim and others right across the political spectrum have always found a way to find common cause when it comes to matters of Tasmania.

I particularly want to point out your contributions when it comes to matters of Antarctic policy. As a co-convener of the Parliamentary Antarctic Alliance, your leadership there, your passion for the subject matter, your detailed knowledge of what was going on when it came to matters of Antarctic science and your personal relationships with experts in the field were things I was always in awe of. I know that the parliament will be poorer for losing that, but I'm sure you're going to give your blessing to one of your colleagues to carry on in your stead. That was important work, and, as Tasmanians, we do have to keep the fight up to ensure that we remain the gateway to Antarctica for Australia's Antarctic science program. I am grateful for the work you did there.

You're nothing if not passionate, you're nothing if not consistent, and you're nothing if not a warrior for your cause. So I'm grateful for the contribution you've made and the way you've done it, and I thank you for your service to the people of Tasmania. We can say to your family now, 'You can have him back.'

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Peter, I don't even know where to start, mate. Thank you so much for your contribution not only to this place but, of course, to the people of Tasmania and, more importantly, to our environment and to Mother Nature. No-one could ever doubt your commitment to wanting to fight for a better world—one where our kids are safe, our air is clean, our oceans are clean and healthy, our air is clean and healthy and our soil is clean and good for food. The bare basics of what we need for humanity are what you've fought for, and you've always done that.

You're someone who wears your heart on your sleeve, and I think that that, at times, means that debates in this place have sometimes been really difficult, but it is what has made you a great politician. It's what has made you a great advocate for the issues that we all care deeply about, a great advocate for our party and a great advocate for the people of Tasmania, because you have a very deep conviction of what you believe is right, and it doesn't really matter who's in the way. You can be a bloody bulldozer—you really can—and you push and you push and you push, and you do not care whether that upsets people or whether people are in the way. If it's the right thing to do, you will get there. But let me say, as Larissa and others have said already, that, in being a bulldozer, actually, you have such heart and humanity at the base of that, and I think that is what makes you a particularly special person in this place, because, when you talk, we know that you believe it, and we know that you will be straight about the losses, the gains and who it's for.

I don't know anyone who's been able to make the issue of waste as interesting and as important as you have. I remember you saying to me once, 'Recycling's not very sexy, but I'm going to try and get some media attention on this or try and push this.' You have never dropped that. You have fought for that. When it comes to the bigger fights that we have in the environment movement and the changes we need to make, I think it's very easy to get stuck in the policy detail and the wonk of it all, and you actually find ways of talking about why this matters to people—whether it's the ocean, whether it's waste, whether it's the air we breathe, whether it's how you feel when you walk through a forest. This is actually about how we are connected to Mother Nature, and you bring that in spades. We've had our barneys over the years, but we've also had some great wins together. Sometimes it's you and me against the rest of them. That's been my favourite.

Pete, you're going to have some wonderful adventures. This is not it. It'll be a new life and a new world, but you're doing it with all of the experience of the last 14 years, and I really look forward to seeing where you go next. I have a feeling that it won't be the last time we see you in this building. I think you'll be knocking on our doors and telling us whether you think we're doing the right thing, or not, pretty bluntly and pretty clearly. So I look forward to the outside advice just as much as I looked forward to the inside advice. Thank you.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, Senator Surfer, I can already see you riding away on a wave, and it's really well deserved as well. That was such a beautiful valedictory speech. I think it's really difficult to condense 14 years of politics and activism and life into 45 minutes or so, but you did it so beautifully. You did it with such heart and soul. And you did it like you always do—by being yourself. And along the way you did give us a lesson in climate science and climate history, as well as the history of the Greens. But some of us might agree to disagree with that. And you sure have given it such a good crack, Pete—an incredible crack.

I actually didn't know you, Pete, until I got to this place in 2019, but I did know quite a few people who did know you, and this is what they always told me, 'You'll get what you see; you'll get a real human—a really nice bloke, someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, a bloke's bloke but also a person's person.' And now we know you are a little bit of a 'wife guy' as well in the best possible feminist way—and really good on you! I was also told that you have humanity, integrity and honesty and a real fire to protect Mother Nature and the climate. I have only seen that fire burn even more brightly in the time that I have known you, and that has really inspired me. So thank you, Pete.

From day one, to be honest, I found everything that I was told to be exactly true. On top of that, I admire so much your commitment to really fight hard for the issues that you care about. I have been lucky enough to be part of those fights and partner with you in some of those fights about the common things that we both care about. I'll just mention two of those things. One is, of course, the privilege to campaign with you protecting sharks in our oceans and the other is joining tens of thousands of people in New South Wales to protect our coastlines from that horrific PEP-11, which was going to blast and drill off the pristine coast of New South Wales. That was one of those fights we did win, alongside the fierce, fierce campaigning of communities. PEP11 was indeed rejected in 2025. I've been very proud to stand alongside you and thousands of people in that fight, and I will continue the fight to end the barbaric cruelty against sharks while also making sure that people who love to go into the ocean are protected as well.

One thing that I think I will never forget is the fierce passion with which you, Senator Whish-Wilson, have tried to unmask the perils of misinformation and disinformation in this age of AI slop and of bot farms funded by those which you so eloquently mentioned in your speech and who deliberately try to undermine climate protection and our democracy. I do hope that there are others in this place who can assume the mantle in the way that you have done. So thank you so much, Pete. We love you. Happy surfing.

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

It's sad to see you go, Pete. We've had our moments on a range of issues. I'll start where I grew up, which was in and around the water in southern Tasmania and the things that are important to me. I think that, despite the differences in our approaches, we've always been really looking for the same sorts of things.

I remember back in 2010 putting some funding into the coalition policy for research on ocean temperature change on the east coast. Not a lot of people wanted to talk to me about it at that point in time, but we are talking about it now because it's recognised as a global hotspot. The things that you have reflected on—the loss of the kelp beds and all of the change that's occurred down that coast and the way it's changed from how I experienced it as a kid, swimming, diving and fishing in that environment—we would both reflect on and want to see the same things at the end of the day. I had the opportunity to do some work in the fisheries portfolio, where we had different perspectives on some of those things, but healthy oceans was always something that I was looking at. We had different ways of going about that. I still carry that desire.

As for the commentary about the sharks, I've got to say that I think we need to respect that they are in their environment and we're going into their environment. It's a bit like how we don't swim in the Northern Territory because there are crocodiles. There are researchers that I've been talking to for a long time about the changes that we made to our fishing gear that meant more sharks would survive, and it has resulted in healthier oceans. We need to continue to increase those numbers. They're really important. I hope that, when you're surfing, they leave you alone, mate! We do want to see more of them, and that's going to have an effect on our utilisation of that environment. There's no question about that. That is important. We need to respect them and that environment. We need to respect how we use it—and, in some cases, probably where we use it.

We've talked about oceans, as I've said. We've talked about wine and agriculture. We've talked about IUU fishing; I think we both had a real desire to see an end to that. We had some successes, particularly in the Southern Ocean with toothfish and the work that occurred down there.

One thing I have to say that I admire in you is your persistence for your cause. There's rarely been a word wasted in the pursuance of your cause. It didn't matter what forum we were in—and we shared quite a few forums on occasion; you always had your political angle, your perspective, built into what you said. The guard was never down. You knew what you were there for, and you pursued it. And sometimes, as you've indicated in your speech tonight, that isn't easy. There's a whole heap of pressures that apply to all of us that have the privilege to be in this place. I have to say that I respect that strength and courage that you've displayed on some of those issues that you've talked about that were really difficult to work on—and you were probably the first or the only one. That's not easy.

As we discussed at a hearing only last Wednesday in Hobart, these days particularly the forces, the pressures and the influences that come to bear are very, very difficult to handle both politically and personally. I get the toll. And while we sign up to this, I know that your family would have felt the toll probably more than you, because you see everything that's going on. Your family doesn't get the whole story all the time. Those pressures that are placed upon us make it sometimes very difficult because you've got to manage that side of things as well.

Congratulations on your service. Congratulations on your achievements. They're important. I enjoyed our last trip to the Northern Territory and talking about photography and birds on the way home. I hope that the sea eagles keep an eye on you. I hope there are plenty of them around where you are and that they watch over you. I wish you many happy days in the surf, and more like that autumn evening, in the future, particularly with your family now that they've got you back. Congratulations on your service, and all the best in whatever it is you do next.

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Pete, we're going to miss you, particularly in that sort of unfashionable outer ring on the ground floor where we're neighbours. Having a neighbour like you with a heart as big as yours has been a true pleasure in this place. I see how much you care. I see how much you care about nature—particularly the oceans—and I watch you fight for it. I've seen how much it hurts when you can't protect it. We're in Greens politics; we care about stuff. But of the senators that I've seen put their heart into this, and who have campaigned from their heart, none have done so as clearly and directly as you, Pete. I know how much it has hurt not to be able to protect all the oceans you love.

But I don't know anyone else who could make the Maugean skate seem sexy. It's not the most beautiful creature on the planet. But when you talk about it, and when you connect it with nature and you connect it with your heart, we all love it. And we all love it partly because you share that love and you connect with it. It's one of the remarkable things about you, Pete.

I do remember going off to Washington with you, Barnaby Joyce, Alex Antic, Monique, Tony and Gabriel, and we kind of needed you there to keep that liquorice allsort together. The reason why you were important to that trip to Washington is that you'd been there. You'd been there when no-one else was willing—or almost no-one else was willing—to join with you on that fight, because you knew it was right. You spoke about it, and I won't repeat why you said it was right, but again it was your heart and your principles. Plenty of us have principles; few of us have that heart. For you, Pete—you don't just work on principle. You don't just work on some higher level speech. You go out and you do the work, and you often do the work when no-one else will do it. I reckon you and I are both glad we don't have to hear any more about Pistol and Boo, and probably so is Gabriel.

You chose, in these last 12 months in the Senate, to chair the Senate inquiry into mis- and disinformation, and again you did the work. You just turned up and you did the work. It was your last 12 months. You weren't doing a victory lap or an honour lap. You were doing some of the hardest committee work that I think any of us have done, facing personal attacks and endless hours, and you did it bravely. You did it not just for all of us as Greens and not just for all of us as senators; you did it for everyone fighting that slop and that mis- and disinformation. I'm incredibly proud of that work, and we collectively have an obligation to pick it up and do it. Again, it's proof that you go and you do the work, Pete, and we are so grateful for that. When it comes to mis- and disinformation, though, I will point out that Petra Kelly came to Sydney and saw the green bans and then went to Germany and started the first ever green party, and the Greens NSW kicked off in August 1984—but more on mis- and disinformation later.

I'll finish with this. You've heard, tonight, about your ability to work across the chamber, but there's also work that few people see. I have a particular note of gratitude from my chief of staff about a moment when you didn't really know her but you called up and showed solidarity when she was under attack. You're there when it matters. You're always there when it matters, Pete. That genuine sense of care rather than ego shapes your work in politics and what you said about your team—about Megan and also about Jack and Eddie. My team have seen the work of Jack and Eddie in particular in parliament, so thanks to them for the loyalty they've shown you, Pete. Go well, Pete. Stay close, surf and don't change.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I go back a way with Pete. In fact, Pete surfaced in Tasmania for me—probably out the back of a wave and through some kelp fronds—in the pulp-mill campaign, the campaign against Gunns Ltd's toxic, forest-chewing pulp mill that was proposed for the Tamar Valley. I was in the Tassie parliament at the time, and Pete was one of the real leaders in the community campaign against that mill. As always, it's the activism that won the day. That toxic mill was knocked off, the beautiful Tamar estuary was never polluted and our forests were saved from that. Pete, I think during or perhaps just after that, ran for us—was it in Windermere?

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

He got drubbed, if I remember correctly—

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I got 16½ per cent!

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Completely drubbed—just like Bob Brown did in one of his first elections, I might add, so it was a well-trodden pathway. I don't mean to inflame my colleagues from New South Wales, but this was prior to us moving to member elected ballots to preselect our political reps—

Please, David. I was on the panel that Pete and others presented to. I don't know if you even know this, Pete—I'm going to slightly break confidence—but it was a very close-run thing. This is not a reflection on any of the other candidates, because you actually were up against a field of very, very strong candidates for this position, but we got that one right. We got that one right, preselecting you, and I've never regretted that. I've never regretted that for a moment, because you are an absolute warrior, Pete. If I were ever unfortunate enough to get conscripted and go to war, there is no-one I would pick to go with me over you, mate, because you would never let your mates down. You wouldn't be fighting so much for the country, in my view. You would stand there with your mates, and you would do whatever it took to look after your mates. You'd leave no-one behind, and I know that about you.

You're a warrior for nature, and others have talked about that. There are a couple of classic Pete moments; I just can't let the chance go by here. One which I really admire that went viral around the world was calling for Army snipers to shoot dogs that attacked the fairy penguins at Bicheno. We woke up to the global headlines, there. I know the birdos were very happy down in Tassie. The hardcore conservationists were very, very happy with that, and I do admire that. I think that was a classic Pete Whish-Wilson intervention.

One that I'm not so sure about, though—and I'm not going to demand answers from your staff, here—is that I do want to know who let Pete put out that postcard of the penguin with its guts hanging out in full colour into the letterboxes of Tasmania. It's not the greatest piece of political communication I've ever seen in my life. In fact, I won't dob in who, but one of my staff members still has a copy of the memento of how not to communicate politically. It's one that's gone down in our little office history, mate. Again, it embodied one of your greatest characteristics.

We've heard about Pete the politician, but Pete the person, for me, has two really enduring character traits. One is courage, and I've spoken about that, but the other one is honesty. There's not a lot of artifice about you, Pete, and not a lot of bullshit about you. You're a straight shooter, and you and I have had a couple of honest conversations over the journey, and, in fact, I remember one phone conversation. I won't go into the details, but the levels of honesty both ways were so high. I think I might have suggested that we just pause the conversation and resume it later when we'd both decided to be slightly less forthright with each other. I won't go into any further details, but you've never held a grudge, and I really respect that about you. We've agreed to disagree a couple of times, and we're still really, really good mates. I really appreciate that, Pete.

Your wines—I remember texting you a year or so ago because I somehow forgot to drink a bottle of—was it the 2015 Pinot?

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

2013.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

The 2013 Three Wishes Pinot. I found it in my cupboard in the kitchen, and I messaged Pete. He's going, 'Oh, that was a really good year! Save it,' so I saved it for my 60th birthday—family dinner, 60th birthday. It drunk like a $500 bottle of burgundy. It was an absolute ripper, mate.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

You contacted them—

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I did. It was an absolute ripper. I remember you for your wines, but more for who you are. I know this is the end of a chapter, but it's not the end of the story. We all know that, and we know you've given this a massive crack, and it's time to spend a little bit of time with your family.

Your love for your family has shone through in what you said. I'll see you on the streets and see you in the forests, mate. I might see you up a tree one day; I might see you in the waves one day. Hook into a few barrels, Pete, hook into a few walls, carve a few turns, and spend time on your beloved ocean.

I will. Pete has just asked me because he won't get a chance to speak again. A shout out to Scott Jordan and all of the team from Bob Brown Foundation, keep up the good fight, folks.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

Sorry, I missed my turn. I thought Shoebridge would talk much longer. I want to say to Senator Surfer: you are a good man. There are a lot of good people in the Greens, and you are certainly one of them. I feel really sad that you're not going to be around. You're the only one in this whole place that stands up for oceans. You're the only one that talks about oceans in this place. You will be missed, and we all have to take responsibility for the legacy that you are leaving us to continue protecting oceans and protecting country.

I've appreciated you personally and all of the work that you've been doing, particularly on PFAS. We had a good time on the PFAS inquiry, learning about all the poison that we're ingesting and that our oceans and earth are ingesting. That was a really lovely time. I didn't know about the Maugean skate until you mentioned it. You've left such an impact on me personally as a sovereign black woman who also supports the Greens, even though I'm not one anymore. Your fight for the Maugean skate that continues to be threatened by the Tasmanian salmon industry is another legacy we must continue to fight.

There's your work on waste and recycling and reducing plastics. I'm looking forward to your private senator's bill. What a great way to go, keeping country and people safe. You respect us as First Peoples of the lands and you've always ensured that we're part of the conversation, so thank you. Not many people in this place make sure that happens.

There was your involvement in the release of the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. When I had the justice portfolio, the first yarn that we had was, 'Oh, you know I do the Julian Assange stuff.' I'm like, 'Mate, that's yours; I'm not going to take all that work away from you just because I've got the portfolio.' I learnt so much about that as well from those yarns. You're just a good man. I really appreciate you and I respect you. Thank you for giving your dad and your husband to this place. You know how crazy it makes everybody, but he's maintained his sanity.

You did invite me out for a joint or a reefer on the front steps of parli, which we never got to do. We've still got 48 hours, so if you've got any around I'm happy to fulfil that and end with a beautiful moment. Thank you for all that you've given to this place and to our people and to all people in this country.

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

I know we're getting between Pete's family and friends and drinks and celebrations and reflections, so I want to be brief. I want to really thank Pete for his work in this Senate. I've only known you for the last four years, but I'm very much aware of the work that you've done over the last 14 years. You're a man with a love for oceans and a love for coastlines—for the rugged Tassie coastline. Looking at your first speech and reading you quoting Gandhi about being the change you wish to see in the world, you can clearly see that has driven you over the last 14 years when it comes to raising issues that at the time were not popular. They did not have popular support. Some that you still talk about still don't. You talked about Julian Assange and how long that took to get popular support. You were clearly one of the earliest to be talking publicly about that. Shark nets are still an uphill battle, yet you're constantly pushing for recognition of the ocean and of species like the white shark and of respect for science. You've clearly made a big contribution when it comes to things like plastics and the circular economy—the way we set up our economies as humans.

Then there's the Great Southern Reef. That's something that I've really enjoyed learning more about from you and your advocacy. I think it really highlights one of the great tragedies that we face in this country—that we are losing so much that so many Australians actually don't even know we have. I think you can only fight for something that you love and you can only love something that you know. I think what you've brought to this Senate is a knowledge and a love of the oceans of our home planet that sustains us. We've seen your fight in this place to actually recognise that we are part of nature, that we're totally reliant on nature and that the decisions we make in this place have a huge impact on our country, on this incredible continent we get to call home.

I was reflecting on some of the things you said in your speech and was reminded of a line from one of my heroes, Aldo Leopold, when he talked about how 'one of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds'. I can sense the anger and the disappointment in what we're losing here in Australia and globally, and we should be angry. We should be. We should be furious about what we have allowed to happen and what we currently are continuing to allow to happen. We are destroying our home planet. We are destroying the very thing that sustains us physically, emotionally and spiritually. I was really reminded of Tim Winton's book Juice. It's set in the future, looking back and basically telling a dystopian tale of what potentially lies ahead if we don't actually have the juice, have the moral courage to stand up to the forces that Pete talked about in his speech, to the forces who are currently profiting from the status quo. I think that that is something that all of us will take in our work from your words and what we've seen of you over the last 14 years in this place.

So thank you, Pete. I wish you all the best on the next chapter. I assume and hope there's a time of reflection and family and catching waves. I'm sure this is not the last we'll see of you and you'll be knocking on doors and putting your time to good use. So thank you very much. Maybe you'll chip and sand your board again. So we'll see you in Bicheno.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

You can drop in any time.

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I've been dreading this day for a long time. I've only been in here for a short time. I didn't know a lot about you when I came here. I think the only thing that I'd been told was that you had an interest in UFOs, actually, and, surprisingly, you haven't even raised that with me in the time that I've been here. I just got a message from my loved ones, and apparently Otis has tuned in to watch tonight. But he tuned in just as Nick was sharing your campaign about shooting dogs on the beach. He says, 'Oh, damn, he was my favourite Greens person!' He's watching tonight because you have made an impact on me and you've made an impact on our family—despite your hatred of dogs! No, that is not true. He's a dog lover.

Pete, I've only been here for a short time, but you have been such a trusted adviser to me and such a mentor to me on everything, ranging from the great scam that is carbon capture and storage through to the propaganda machine and the immense and deeply damaging misinformation webs that are destroying our democracy. It's been a real privilege to learn from you across so many areas. There's a lot I'm going to miss about you. I'm going to miss that little sparkle in your eye. You know when Pete's going to either do something really cheeky, like drop an f-bomb in the chamber, or say something really genuinely empowering and beautiful. I'm going to miss those hairs raising on my arms when you speak about the things that you love so dearly and the people that you love so dearly, as we heard tonight. I'm genuinely going to miss the confidence you gave me to do this job. Everyone's had that wink from Pete. When you're a bit nervous and you don't know if you've said the right thing, you look around and Pete will give you a wink and you go: 'Okay. I'm alright.' You've given me the confidence to be myself in this job.

One of those moments that I reflect on is sitting next to you at Woodside's AGM after none of those gas corporate CEOs would turn up and so we turned up to their AGM in Perth recently. I just remember that my stomach was in knots and the reassuring pat on the back you gave me just instilling in me that we are here for a reason and not to take this privilege for granted and to do absolutely everything we can within our power to fight for Earth's natural living organisms.

You haven't been a bulldozer to me, Pete; you've been a real mate and someone that I genuinely trust and confide in, really, as much as anyone else in my life. I'm so, so grateful for that. We're all going to miss your conviction, and I think that across the aisle we've heard that tonight. They say we all stand on the shoulders of giants, and I know you do not see yourself as a giant, and you'd probably think that's pretty cringeworthy, but the truth is that so much of what is possible for us today and going into the future is because of the earth that you have laid over your time in this chamber over the last 14 years.

To Nat, Finn and Bronte: thank you so much for sharing your husband and dad with us. We're all better people, we're a better chamber and it's a better world because of the time that you've shared Pete with us. But I am so glad that he's returning to you all and surfing some more waves. Thank you for your service. I know I'll see you in Bicheno, and I hope many of us do, so let's get on down there. Thank you, Pete.

Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Colleagues, I had the great privilege of collaborating with Pete on the Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy. Pete, I regard this as a seminal piece of work—as groundbreaking work which I think has opened the door for a really rich vein of inquiry which will now branch out from the work we did.

I can't tell you all what this work was like for us. We were in the trenches. I felt at times that we were under attack, and it was like you and me against the world. I felt, sitting next to you as a newbie, really unfamiliar with the processes of the Senate and, frankly, the powers of the Senate. I was unfamiliar. This was uncharted territory for me, but you were a steadying influence. You had my back at times when I was faced with some pretty unsavoury commentary. I was going to say 'unsavoury characters', but let's not attack the man. Play the ball, not the man, right? I will say 'unsavoury commentary'. You had my back, and you called that stuff out publicly. Frankly, some of that stuff was misogyny. It was, and it was directed at me, which was something unfamiliar to me, because I came from medicine. I didn't really deal with that stuff. To have to deal with this in a public forum was confronting, but you stood up against that stuff, and I will forever be grateful.

But the work itself was incredible. We pulled back the veil on what you and I—and now, I think, a lot of other people in the commentariat—call the denial machine. We never found a smoking gun, but we certainly mapped out the actors and we showed how this network effectively operates and who the key players are. We identified some of their backers—absolutely fossil fuel interests—but we also revealed the vector, and that is the social media platforms. We revealed the technical and financial architecture that allows this stuff to be propagated and amplified and then to divide and sow doubt. You're absolutely right: we are in a polluted information environment and it is information warfare. It is a frontier where we will either win or end up on our knees.

The work that we did on this report, led by you and the strength of your conviction, has meant that it is now being picked up by other committees. It's been picked up by the electoral matters committee, who can see synergies, and it's also been picked up, I think, by the departments and institutions that underpin this place in communications, in the AI Safety Institute that has been stood up and in the climate and energy space. Certainly I was so proud of this work that I sent this book—I'm such a nerd—to all our key stakeholders. If I were to die tomorrow, I'd die happy because of my children but also this work, and that's because of you, my friend. So go well. Go strong. You are a warrior. Thank you.

Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm probably going to need that tissue box at some point. It can't sit there the whole time! When I was so unexpectedly catapulted into this place, I was shit-scared and excited, and I very quickly looked around—in this new team of incredible human beings that I was suddenly working with, who I'd mostly watched on TV, because I'm also a bit of a sad nerd in some ways—for people that I could connect with on what I now understand to be, I think, a bit of a brain level. And you were one of those people straightaway, Pete. Your friendship during our time together has taught me so much and kept me going through some tough moments, and I am so grateful to you for everything that you have given to our movement across this incredible period of service.

I've been sitting here thinking about what I was going to say, and I didn't want to prewrite too much because I wanted it to be authentic, because one of the things that you've taught me is the sustaining nature of authenticity in this job—that this institution, if left to its own devices, will grind us all into compliant tubes, joyless and mildly rolling around the place, and so it is in the individuality and in the authenticity that we find reason to keep doing it.

So I only wrote two notes. One was: thank you from WA, because you have been a stalwart bloody friend of our party and our movement. You are one of the people that are always willing to jump on a plane and come to WA for an event, to support our campaigns, to fire up our volunteers and to connect us with the spider web of relationships that you have across our state—all of which seemed to lead back to some of our best oceans, just coincidentally, I'm sure! So a big thank you from the WA Greens to you. I'm not empowered to extend an honorary membership, but rhetorically I can!

The other thing I wanted to do was just name-check a couple of things that you have taught me really tangibly, because, for most of the time I've been here, I've been behind you, by one seat. There have been two things. One is that, whenever I get a text message from my office to say, 'Jordon, you look like you're on your phone and not listening to somebody,' it's always when you're speaking, because it's right in the direction of the camera. but I've been able to observe you at close quarters as you've worked, and I'm bloody lucky to have done that. You've taught me so much about the value of working across the aisle with people about whom, at the party level, you might think, 'What do we have in common?' But I think I wasn't too long in here before you were doing the work with your team—with Wacka Williams, Barry O'Sullivan and members of the Labor Party—all behind the scenes, to bring about the banking royal commission. And then there's the work that you've done with Glenn Sterle and others with whom, on other policy issues, we wouldn't agree, but you've connected with their humanity and found a way to get a good outcome for the community. I've shifted in my approach to this job from when I started, when I was quite 'in, out, en garde' with people, based on which party they came from. I've shifted to something where I'll chat to nearly anybody, and it's part of watching you do that and get that for people.

Your love of—I know everybody's said it, and it's hard to say it better than everyone's said it, but you have taught me so much about the value of our oceans, not just to the biosphere but almost on a spiritual level: the way that the oceans call us back to a part of ourselves that is critical to human beings continuing to be anything worth being. I feel at times that you've called us, as a party, back to the oceans and let the oceans take us back to ourselves. I've watched that happen in people's eyes. In a capitalistic life that is so based on bloody KPIs and materialistic nonsense, I've watched you talk about giant kelp forests and Maugean skates in a way that's put a bit of hope back in people's eyes, and it's beautiful. It's beautiful.

You've also taught me to listen—because I'm going to own something here. When you first started talking about a Maugean skate, I remember I was not paying full attention, and I looked up and I thought, 'What? Roller skating?' There's a place called Maugean and he wants to skate. I thought, 'It's a Pete thing. Anyway, get back to what you're doing.' You just kept raising it and raising it and raising it until I had to google it to find out what the heck you were continually bringing up. Then you went and did it. Campaigns are the work of a lot of people, but it was you who decided to walk out of the gym in your shorts, with a towel over your shoulder, and go shout at the Prime Minister at a press conference. You'd continually bring this thing up in such a powerful way and get a really wonderful outcome for people—marching always. Scott once described you to me as somebody who marches relentlessly to the beat of their own drum, and, my God, haven't you! That's been a hell of an example.

I also want to thank you for all of the times that you and I joined in a piece of cake or in the advocating for the eating of cake or in sneaking off for cake, and for your patience in explaining some of the basics of economic systems and sharing that wisdom. I've sat down with you for far longer than my team allocated for me to do so. We've talked about interest rates and these things. You've been very generous with your time and understanding, always.

I concur with everybody that's mentioned that twinkle in your eye. I bloody love it. I will bloody miss it. I think I'll end my impromptu speech with it, which is my favourite intervention of that twinkle in your eye for me, ever. The couple of times that I've been part of our incredible movement when we've had a change of leader, and those are tense times—as anybody who's ever been through them know—and every single time there would be a moment where we're finally coming to ratify the decision, and there's that kind of 'speak now or forever hold your peace' moment when anyone else can nominate, and every single time you've put your hands up and there's been a moment where everybody in the room goes, 'Oh my God, is he going to?' It just breaks the tension and humanises what is a deeply mechanical process. It's bloody wonderful, man.

You have an ability to know precisely either what should be said but isn't being said, or what maybe shouldn't be said but let's say it anyway. You just name it up, break the tension and bring us back to being human. For you to have that ability after the decades in here is an example that we can all strive for. The fact that you ended your speech by reminding this room of people that we will all be forgotten and so we should grip the opportunity to do everything we can with it is, I think, one of the most beautiful and fitting ways I could ever imagine somebody like you finishing this chapter of your life. So, well done.

Your family are incredible people. Nat, I'm really sorry we've taken him away from you for all of these years. I'm bloody glad that you all get to be back together again. I hope you do get some time off—some proper time off. Surf the waves, forget about the place, let it all go and then come back to it in the way that you want to. I will always pick up your call and be happy to have it, man. You're welcome in WA any time and, yes, go surf that wave of joy into the next chapter. I love ya.

Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm not going to talk for very long, Pete, because I'm going to be the one who cries a lot. Every single thing that every one of our team has said about you is 100 per cent correct and more. I didn't know you very well either when I came into this parliament. I don't think I even really got to know you very well until the last two years. I really appreciate the way you took me to Heron, a place that's in my backyard that I'd never been to, despite having lived in Gladstone for 13 years. I really want you to take me back there one day when I can actually get in the water.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Absolutely.

Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I also really appreciate, as other people have said, your courage in saying what is sometimes hard to say. As the party room chair, sometimes that makes my job really tricky, but it's always been important and it's been important for us as a team to think about and work through and reflect on. So thank you for being prepared to raise those things.

I really appreciate the way in which you have fought for issues of justice and social justice, because, in many ways, that was what brought me to the Greens. I think it's being part of this team and working with people like you that has actually increased my love for nature as well. I spent a lot of time doing things that weren't that, and so I've appreciated seeing those things through your eyes and the eyes of other people in our team too, who really care about that stuff.

I think I'm one of the few Greens who's never been to Tasmania other than for Greens meetings. I've been six times over the last decade and it's either been a committee hearing or a Greens meeting. I absolutely would love to come and visit it properly with you.

Nat, it's been a real pleasure meeting you through Pete, and I hope we get to see each other more in the future. We've been enjoying sitting here in the chamber looking at videos of camper trailers on silent, and I'm hoping to be the one who leads the way. I can't wait till you get yours, and I hope that you hit the road and come up to Queensland and come through Gladstone. Darin and I would love very much to have you. Finn and Bronte, I don't think we've met, but you have such an amazing dad and I'm so glad that you get to have him back and see him more.

I think the other thing that I feel like we have in common, Pete, is that we're the only two members of the party room that have a two-flight trip to get home. I know what that means in terms of the extra time that you're away from your family, and so I really understand why you want to be around them more.

I'm not going to say any more, because I feel like everyone else has said it, and it's five past seven and Barb still needs a turn. But I really, really have loved getting to know you, Pete, and I really hope that we get to spend more time with each other when you're out of this place.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

You will.

Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

Lucky last. Well, we have a kind of tradition in our party room. If someone else has said something and you agree with it, then you really should just shut up, make space and not make the meeting longer. I agree with everything that my colleagues have said, Pete. You have been an amazing colleague.

We've done two specific things together which really exemplify you for me. The way in which you make space for women is very powerful. We did a hearing in Renmark with the wine growers. Not only are you incredibly comfortable with people who grow things and who are in the world of farming and agriculture—you have such respect for them, and they respond to you—but you pushed me forward to do my job. Not everyone shares in this place. Some people find sharing really, really challenging. You are a sharer, and you are a generous sharer who makes space for women to lead. And the other place you did exactly the same thing was in the CSIRO work recently, around the shocking cuts to our scientists. Once again, you are held in such respect, as others have said, in the world of science, and not every senator has that experience and the smarts and knowledge to bring to that table. Those scientists really love you, and they love what you do. You can see it in the room when you're there. But once again, you said, 'No, Barb, you go; you're out front,' blah, blah. So you pushed and worked with me in a way that was incredibly generous.

I think we can all see that also in relation to your staff. We show who we are in the way we work with our staff and the way we lead our staff. Your love and appreciation of your staff, who are clearly amazing—to have the same chief of staff for 14 years! That is incredible. It's incredible that anyone lasts as a chief of staff for 14 years, to me, personally. That is an amazing feat. But to have them at your back means you have also been at their back, and that is leadership, and not everyone can do that. Leadership under pressure in this institution is a really hard thing to pull off. But to be loved by your staff—I know you have had your moments of tension, because who hasn't? But to have taken them with you and to be thanking them and to have had meaningful relationships with them is a huge achievement. So thank you for modelling the way in which to be a decent boss in a place where decent bosses aren't always to the fore.

The other thing I really love about you is the connection between the heart and the head, and we saw it tonight. That was a powerful speech you gave tonight. It was a powerful speech—a political speech, but it was a speech also full of love. And your politics are motivated by two things: knowledge in the head and the facts and all of that experience, but also the gut, in here—the heart and the gut together. That authenticity that others have spoken about is very real, but it joins those two things. It's a real reminder to all of us that, to last in this place—I don't love this room every day, I've got to be honest. It isn't a place where you always feel that people are authentically themselves and able to speak who they are and be the person they are. But you show us that. You have shown us that. You've shown me that over and over again.

I'm not going to list your amazing achievements. They're impressive. You've done things that matter. You haven't just done the bits. You haven't just turned up to the committee—'your turn to do X or Y'. You have chosen things that actually matter out there in the world, to the planet more broadly and to politics internationally. There's obviously the work of whistleblowers generally, and your most recent act around drawing our attention to dis- and misinformation and that toxic body of effort to undermine and wreck our democracy. It is hard to leave at this moment because it's a new moment in our politics. You feel it deeply because you've engaged with it. But I want to thank you for your courage in exposing that cesspool and handing it to us, in a written piece of work, to pick up and do what we will with it.

Your support for me, your humour—you make me laugh often. I feel you at my back. I've never felt that there was a knife in your hand, which is a fine thing in a colleague—to not have the knife! You are there for us. I've watched you say things in the party room, for example. As we all do in our party rooms, we don't always agree with each other. Sometimes disagreeing is hard. You have disagreed in a very respectful way when that needed to happen, and I really appreciated seeing you do that, because it's important for all of us to have better politics that allow disagreement.

I'm going to find it really hard to acknowledge Nat, Finn and Bronte, because you have lent us this beautiful man for 14 years. It's not nothing. It's a lot. And we have really benefited. This chamber has benefited from you lending him to us. We thank you for your sacrifice and for keeping him on the road and keeping him grounded, because that's what our families do.

Thank you also for bringing your love of animals, the ocean and our planet to us. Thanks, Pete. I've really loved working with you.

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Canavan also has a contribution.

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

I won't be long, but I did want to pay tribute and put on record my admiration for Senator Whish-Wilson. I apologise I couldn't be in the chamber for your valedictory speech, due to other commitments, but I do want to pay credit to the contribution you've made. I saw that particularly firsthand as chair and deputy chair of the various Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport Committees. Senator Whish-Wilson had enormous knowledge of very detailed agricultural and farming issues, so much so that I thought, at some stages, he could have been a Nat. But then, over the past year, he really got stuck into me! I gave it back too. So I just want to let you know none of it's personal. I might have a slightly different tone than Senator Pocock. I do think this place is a battleground. It's not all about love; we're going to have disagreements from time to time. I think we've got to talk those out, debate those out, to get to better outcomes. You can leave this place with your head held high knowing that you engaged in that battle in a respectful way, in a determined way, and gave it your all. So all the best, Senator Whish-Wilson, with your future career, and thank you for your service to our nation.

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I believe that concludes the valedictory and probably calls time on the prop!