I’ll be very brief, given the time, but I want to associate myself with the worthy remarks being echoed tonight. I want to recognise your courage, Marise. As you mentioned in your non-eulogy before, as the proudest member of the small-l Liberal Party, you found yourself on the opposite side of the chamber to the majority of the rest of us sometimes. That takes a lot of courage, and I greatly respect that. It’s also an example I’ve used a few times since I saw you do that, so people can blame you.
I thank you for the courage you showed as foreign minister, as Senator Paterson has just said. It should be recognised that you, of probably all the foreign ministers over the past decade, were the first to take very substantial—and costly, in a way—actions against the bullying of the Chinese Communist Party. That took a lot of courage. You were doing this long before the coronavirus pandemic, but I think you showed great wisdom and foresight in calling out the need for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic. Your views were criticised at time, but time has proven that you were absolutely right to do so.
Finally, I want to remark on your efforts for suburban Australia. While I’m a member of the National Party and I proudly live in regional and country Australia, I grew up in the suburbs, and sometimes I think they are missed out a bit, almost as much as the regions. They don’t necessarily have the same services and same attention. They get looked down on a bit too. As someone who proudly came from Logan, I feel that. Thank you for all the efforts you made for Western Sydney. May many more senators base themselves in our suburban regions and fight for them as hard as we at the National party do for the regions. All the best for your future. Congratulations on a fantastic career. It has been an honour to serve with you here in the Senate.
