Retirement of Paul Mullins

Mr MORRIS IEMMA (Lakemba—Premier, and Minister for Citizenship) [2.15 p.m.]: After nine Premiers, 10 elections and probably 10,000 pieces to camera, it is time to say goodbye to an old friend, Paul Mullins—Mullows—and there is no more appropriate place to do it than here on the floor of this House because this place has been his whole life. Even though he never once sat here as an elected member—Paul has never won a single vote—he, nonetheless, has been a central part of our democracy for more than 30 years and I think it is right that we take time to honour him today. Reporters stand at the threshold between government and the people, and Paul has served the interests of the people and the interests of our parliamentary system well. He always understood that the vast majority of people who come into this Parliament are good characters with decent motives. He always understood the humanity of this place and to me that made Mullows not only a good bloke but also a better journalist.

Mr Andrew Stoner: Did you see his Christmas video about you?

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: I did see the video. I enjoyed it very much and I have to say it was one of the better ones of the Parliamentary Press Gallery Christmas parties.

The SPEAKER: All reference to the video is out of order!

Mr MORRIS IEMMA: Yes, Elvis is still alive! Paul's career in the Parliamentary Press Gallery began around the time of Watergate and it is fair to say that he has seen it all, including the member for Murrumbidgee missing those $40,000. He saw the last days of Askin and the old Labor men such as Jack Renshaw and Pat Hills, the rise of modern titans Wran and Carr, the age of the Independents and minor parties—Mullows has seen them all, known them all and won the respect of them all. Mullows might be a good bloke but he has never claimed to be a saint. Ask old Tom Lewis, briefly Premier in 1975 and early 1976. Paul was with Premier Lewis in a light plane, dive bombing the flames during a major bushfire when he started to feel airsick. Sitting behind the Premier he looked everywhere for a sick bag but there was none in sight. The only option was the Premier's very expensive tweed coat slung over the back of his seat.

I recount another great story from those days. There was a new freelancer in the gallery with a few tickets on himself. This ambitious young turk, in very typical fashion, said something to which Mullows took exception. Next minute the offender was on his back on the ground. This was not the first or the last time that Malcolm Turnbull has come off second best! Laconic, trustworthy, calm and professional, in doorstops with Ministers, he always made a point of ending with the same respectful phrase, "Thank you, sir" or "Thank you, ma'am"—old-school class, old-school style professionalism. He enjoyed the odd spritzer in the parliamentary bar on a Friday. Through his long tenure in this place Mullows earned affection and respect by the truckload and so it is with genuine emotion and regret that we say: Goodbye Mullows. You made a difference. You left your mark. You will be missed. "And that's how the main players have seen it today."

Mr BARRY O'FARRELL (Ku-ring-gai—Leader of the Opposition) [2.22 p.m.]: The Opposition is happy to respond to the Premier's ministerial statement to pay tribute to Paul Mullins. I am happy to lead on behalf of the Opposition for no other reason than the issue that the Premier omitted, which is that Paul Mullins, in addition to his media career, was once a North Sydney first grade rugby league player. For those of us who still regret the demise of the North Sydney Bears, since 1999 Paul has been a constant reminder of that once great team, which had not managed to win a premiership since 1922. As the Premier said, Paul Mullins has seen many Premiers and Leaders of the Opposition through this place—too many Leaders of the Opposition, frankly. So far he has seen only three Leaders of the Opposition become Premier, but we are working on that.

As a former President of the Press Gallery, Steve Chase, noted in the publication last year, Paul Mullins used to sayin a variation of the "your politics is local" commentthat the State round was a great one for a journalist because if a local story did not start in Parliament it finished up there in one way or another. Throughout his time in this place Paul Mullins has seen enormous change, including enormous change in this building. I listened to an interview with Paul Mullins on commercial radio when he was asked about his experiences. He listed his favourite Premiers, the man he calls Nifty as his first and Nick Greiner as his second. He also talked about the dining room. One of his former colleagues, Peter Sinclair, said to me:

Those of you who never worked in the old building don't know what you lost with the changes.

The media lost its own dining room, which overlooked the Speaker's Garden which was then located on the eastern side of the building.

The Press Dining Room was not a large dining room but it was plenty big enough to accommodate those who wanted to avail themselves of the splendid service: the white tablecloths, the snowy serviettes, the waiters whose sole job it was to minister to the attentions of the hungry and thirsty journalists, the phone number for the bar written in pencil beside the phone on the wall and the prompt delivery of trays of beers. In one corner of the dining room stood the massive steel cabinet in which the meals were kept warm if the House was thoughtless enough to interrupt journalists' mealtimes.

Mr Speaker, you will remember that they were the days for journalists, pre Michael Costa. They are the things that members of Parliament no longer enjoy in this place. I want to correct the Premier in relation to Paul Mullins' decision to use Premier Tom Lewis' pocket on a plane trip. It was in fact a plane trip to Dubbo to turn the first sod of the Western Plains Zoo, which Tom Lewis was so heavily associated with. With him on that famous day was John O'Hara, a significant journalist in the history of the Sydney Morning Herald, and someone known to this side of the House, Tom Lewis' press secretary, Jim Jolly, who has been seen here in more recent times. Paul Mullins is one of the characters who has come through this place. He is someone who has had the respect of all people. The immediate past president of the Press Gallery, Alex Mitchell, emailed me today to make the following point:

When news bulletins threatened to be swamped by celebrities and trivia and generally dumbed down, "Mullo" never flinched from telling it reliably and dramatically from Macquarie Street.

Alex Mitchell concluded his email by saying:

He's a legend of the Press Gallery but not, regrettably, at North Sydney where he played unrecognised rugby league.

One of Paul's great mates, one of his continuing tennis mates and a former head of the Daily Telegraph bureau here, Peter Grimshaw, describes Paul as:

from the old school a journalist who would not betray a confidence just to get a story. You could talk to him off the record without fearing that it would appear in the media the next day. And that is why he was able to remain so popular for so long at Parliament.

On a personal level Peter said:

He is an incredibly loyal friend who will do anything to help a mate. He is generous and will never forget a friend. On top of that—

I disagree with him here because I would add the member for upper Hunter to this comment—

he is probably the best company you can have in a social setting with his array of stories both true and exaggerated!

As the Premier said, this is a bloke who, from your first press conference in this place, always addressed you as "Sir", no matter what he really thought about you at that time, and he is a man of great skill. He produced a documentary on his favourite Premier, Neville Wran. It was called Wran—The Man Behind the Image, unkindly dubbed at the time "the image behind the image". Within a short time of Paul Mullins starting in this place, another great institution finished. Blue Hills finished after 32 years on ABC Radio. Paul Mullins has given great service to this place. He is one of the few journalists to last so long. Only three members of Parliament have served for longer in this place—Michael Bruxner, Joe Lawson and Jack Renshaw. Paul Mullins will always be part of the history of this place. He leaves us with the goodwill of all those on this side of the House.

The SPEAKER: On behalf of the House I join the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition in congratulating Paul Mullins on his fantastic career. As has been said, he is the longest-serving journalist in this place, and a former president of the Press Gallery, with 33 years reporting from Macquarie Street, from Askin to Iemma. On behalf of all members and, I am sure, many former members who could not be here today, I make this presentation to Paul Mullins. I am reluctant to invite Paul to the "bar", because he may get the wrong idea! On behalf of all members of the New South Wales Parliament I present to Paul Mullins a certificate of service, which has on the back the signatures of all members.