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  4. 23 June 2004

Resignation of the Honourable Anthony Stephen Burke

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About this Item
SubjectsMembers of Parliament: New South Wales; Australian Labor Party: ALP: Federal; Elections: Federal
SpeakersBurke The Hon Tony; Egan The Hon Michael; Gallacher The Hon Michael; Forsythe The Hon Patricia; Nile Reverend the Hon Fred; Wong The Hon Dr Peter
BusinessAdjournment, Motion
Commentary Resignation of Tony Burke: Farewell Speech; Eric Roozendaal


    RESIGNATION OF THE HONOURABLE ANTHONY STEPHEN BURKE
Page: 9956


    The Hon. TONY BURKE [10.25 p.m.]: In my first speech in this Chamber I referred to my long-term involvement in the Federal electorate of Watson as a member of the Labor Party. I also made it clear that I was under no illusion that I was here with any personal mandate. I was elected to this place on an Australian Labor Party ticket and the 244 primary votes I received would not have seen me elected to Parliament. However, I never let go of the dream I had had since about the age of 16 of one day representing the people with whom I grew up. Some candidates told me why they had stood for election to the Legislative Council. The practical reality for me was that the Hon. Leo McLeay had announced that he was serving his final term—and it was the third term in which he had done so! I was not prepared to take the risk that he would never retire. I was also aware that the nature of upper Houses is such that when I did decide to stand down there would be no cost to the public in the form of a by-election.

    I have been determined not to abuse the opportunity I have had in this place. For that reason, when private members' motions dealing with Federal issues have been debated I have resisted the temptation to participate. I am also aware of the potential criticism as we get closer to the Federal election campaign that I am on the State payroll to be involved in State issues and that there is a strong argument that I should be spending only my spare time in the Federal campaign. The question is: How do we define "spare time" in a job like this? I was also determined to ensure that the timing of my departure should not involve any expense to the public. The last chance to have both Houses sitting without incurring the cost of flying honourable members back to Sydney from around the State is the parliamentary sitting tomorrow.

    Although there is every chance that the Federal election will occur later in the year, I do not think I should indulge myself by hanging around just in case and take the risk that a joint sitting could be required. For that reason, my resignation as a member of the Legislative Council has been passed to the Clerk to be handed to the Governor in the morning to give her the opportunity, should she wish, to hold a joint sitting tomorrow to fill the consequent vacancy. That vacancy has already been preselected. Following on logically from the previous speech, I sincerely extend my best wishes to Eric Roozendaal. He has always provided extraordinary support to Young Labor members in the 18 years during which he has been a member of the party machine. Given that my position here was the product of a strong positive result in the last campaign, there is no doubt about the campaign director's entitlement to take my place in this Chamber.

    I have had many highlights in my time in this Chamber. As honourable members are no doubt aware, I have loved the debate and got involved boots and all at every opportunity. The committee work, and particularly my work on the State Development Committee, has provided information, opportunities and memories that I will treasure forever. This Chamber was given over to scientific experts during the science summit to conduct a debate to which honourable members were observers. That was a great example of how this place can be used to facilitate community involvement and to assist us to become better informed. I am very grateful for my time in the place, but I accept that this is the adjournment debate, so I will limit my thanks. I well remember my time as a staffer in the Federal Parliament. The goodwill extended in this place is certainly not extended in that place. I have enjoyed the generosity of spirit that has been offered.

    At the end of my inaugural speech I referred to my genuine intention to have a positive working relationship with honourable members from all parties. That is exactly what has happened, and I am grateful to each and every member for that. This Chamber works well not merely because of the members—and sometimes despite them—but because of the efforts of the staff. I extend my sincere thanks to the Clerk and his team, to the attendants and to the other staff of the Parliament. I offer an ongoing apology that I have never uttered previously to the Hansard reporters given that my speaking notes have never borne any resemblance to the speeches I have ultimately given.

    An essential element of membership of a political party is party meetings. I will carry as a badge of honour for the rest of my political career, whatever it involves, having been a member of the Carr Labor Government. I acknowledge and thank members from the Legislative Assembly, particularly my friends Carl Scully, Paul McLeay and Milton Orkopoulos—who is in this Chamber more than anyone should be. I appreciate their being here tonight. The committee staff are extraordinary. I do not want to single out individual staff members, but I am sure that every member of the Standing Committee on State Development would want me to acknowledge Bayne McKissock and Cathy Nunn for their extraordinary professionalism in helping honourable members to produce a consensus report when on so many occasions we approached inquiry topics from radically different directions.

    I know that whenever members come out of the lift they see one person working diligently and flat out every day of the working week. Her name is Maria Iannotti. Maria has been my staffer during my time here and has done an extraordinary job, on various occasions, of making me look more professional than I probably deserve. I want to place that on record, as well as my gratitude to Maria Iannotti. There has been some focus in the media, which I do not want to go into in detail, about personal sacrifices that people may perceive I am going through in my move to the Federal Parliament. I make it clear that I am going to my dream job, and the personal sacrifice that is being made is on the part of my family. I am up front about that, and I extend my sincere thanks to my wife, Cathy, and my three gorgeous daughters, Liana, Caitlyn and Helena.

    Tonight I go from being the youngest member of the Legislative Council to being the youngest member of the Former Members Association. I am not exactly sure whether I will fit in there the way I did here, but I look forward to that. I hope to improve on the personal vote I got in the last election in my next run—otherwise the gravity of this error of judgment is extraordinary! There is something about the Federal Parliament that does not just go to its constitutional powers. It has a capacity, in a way, to affect the mood of the nation and to be involved in the debates that touch much more than the laws of the nation. I want to be part of that, and I want the rest of my career to be part of that. I hope that in my time here I have made a positive contribution to this place, and I go away with nothing but great memories. I thank you all.

    The Hon. MICHAEL EGAN (Treasurer, Minister for State Development, and Vice-President of the Executive Council) [10.32 p.m.]: On my own behalf and on behalf of my Labor Party colleagues and, I am sure, all members of the House, I wish the Hon. Tony Burke the very best for his future. I am sure I speak for this side of the House when I wish him well in the forthcoming Federal elections. I do not necessarily expect those opposite to join me in that wish. The Hon. Tony Burke has been here for only a short time—since the election last year—but he has really made a very significant mark in this place. He has undoubtedly been a very worthy member of this Parliament, a very talented young man. I have no doubt that he would have been a very successful future Minister in a Labor government in New South Wales, but I have no doubt also that he will one day be a very successful Minister in a Labor government in Canberra. Who knows, one day he might even have his own Labor government in Canberra.

    I only hope that he has been well tutored during his time in this place, and that he is fully aware of the evils of horizontal fiscal equalisation and the great damage it does in New South Wales. I have no doubt that as a backbench member of the first Latham government he will work for not only the people of his electorate of Watson but also the people of New South Wales generally, and will try to rectify the great injustice of the Commonwealth Grants Commission and what successive Federal governments have done to New South Wales. I have no doubt that he will take up that fight with a great deal of enthusiasm. As I said earlier, the Hon. Tony Burke truly is a very talented and intelligent young man. He has been a tremendous debater in this Chamber; indeed, he impressed members with his parliamentary skills right from the very beginning. He goes to Canberra with the advantage over other new members who will be elected at the forthcoming Federal election of having had experience in a Parliament and, importantly, in the oldest parliamentary Chamber in the nation—a Chamber that has had its day and should be abolished. Nevertheless, it has been a great experience for him.

    The Hon. Duncan Gay: The House will be here for many years.

    The Hon. MICHAEL EGAN: Don't be too sure of that. The House might well be gone before 21 February 2016.

    The Hon. Tony Kelly: I thought it was 27 February.

    The Hon. MICHAEL EGAN: It depends. I believe the Hon. Tony Burke will emulate only one other former member of this House, and that is the Hon. Ian Sinclair, who was a Country Party member here for a couple of years. Ian Sinclair's party saw his talent, and he then became a member of the Federal Parliament. Very quickly he became a Minister, I think in the Menzies Government in 1963, as a very young man. I have no doubt that the Hon. Tony Burke will emulate the Hon. Ian Sinclair not only in leaving this Chamber and being elected to the Federal Parliament but also—

    The Hon. Duncan Gay: He won't become the Country Party leader.

    The Hon. MICHAEL EGAN: No, he will not become the Country Party leader. However, he could well become the leader of the only true country party, which is, of course, the Country Labor Party. We wish the Hon. Tony Burke well. No doubt we will see him often, particularly those of us who are members of the Australian Labor Party. I am sure we will all see him around the traps here in Sydney and on our visits to Canberra, and we will also see him featured very prominently in the nation's media as he makes a very significant contribution to the affairs of our national Parliament. I wish you all the very best, Tony.

    The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER (Leader of the Opposition) [10.36 p.m.]: This impromptu announcement has no doubt caught members on this side of the Chamber with a degree of surprise. Although we expected it in the foreseeable future, we did not expect it this evening. In the short time that we on this side of the Chamber have got to know the Hon. Tony Burke—for me, it was during the count for Gosford in the last State election; we got to know each other very well—we have found him to be not only a man of ability, as the Leader of the Government said, but, from what we have seen this evening, a man of integrity. Even though the Hon. Tony Burke tries to dismiss or make light of speculation about what he is walking away from, what he is walking away from is a position as a future leader in this Chamber—a position in opposition in the future, and eventually a position in government in the future. He most certainly has leadership material written all over him. Not only does he have the ability to do the job, he also has the integrity to do the job.

    One thing I know I will miss is the Hon. Tony Burke's wicked sense of humour. One thing that the Federal Labor Party needs is a sense of humour, and the Hon. Tony Burke will certainly fill that vacuum very, very well. I ask the Hon. Tony Burke to take away with him and remember the friendship that members build across the Chamber. Many members who enter the Legislative Assembly adopt a certain view about the Legislative Council. It seems that they do not get to know the personalities, and they do not really get to know the way in which the upper Houses of this nation work. Members of the Legislative Assembly, to their loss, do not really get to experience the friendship to the degree that we in this Chamber experience. Members of the Legislative Assembly might scoff at that suggestion, but they do not really get to understand how well the Legislative Council works.

    [Interruption]

    But Milton only gets to work with the right wing on this side of the Chamber; that is where his true friendships lie. Be that as it may, the Hon. Tony Burke's humour will be sorely missed. For me personally, my vignette regarding his humour relates to the last couple of days. Tony is very generous. He decided to sponsor my son, who is doing a walkathon for his school. I thought the Hon. Tony Burke might have been Scottish when he suggested he would give my son $5 for walking 10 kilometres. However, the money duly arrived earlier this week—in 5¢ pieces! It was not lost on me, an ex-police officer, to have the money delivered in a brown paper bag. For me it underscored not only his friendship and humour but also the generosity he shows to somebody on this side of the Chamber that he is prepared to make little contributions that most certainly are not forgotten.

    The Hon. Duncan Gay most certainly wants it noted that he, equally, is going to miss the very qualities that I have mentioned this evening. He believes also that even though the Hon. Tony Burke will be lost to this Chamber, he will make a major contribution to the Australian Labor Party at a Federal level, and he has no doubt that in 16 years time when it again comes to govern nationally, for a moment or two, he will make an excellent leader of the Federal Australian Labor Party.

    The Hon. Duncan Gay: I would like to think that Tony will be the next Prime Minister.

    The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: I think he possibly will be. Wish him all the very best for the future, and for the Federal election. It is going to be a very tough marginal seat for him to hold on to, but I wish him good luck.

    The Hon. TONY KELLY (Minister for Rural Affairs, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister for Lands) [10.40 p.m.]: The Hon. Tony Burke mentioned the generosity of spirit in this House. The Hon. Michael Gallacher said that really only comes about because over the years this House has had a number of good and decent people as members. Tony epitomises that; he brings out the best in people. Tony is only getting back what he gives to everybody else.

    No one can doubt the amount of work that Tony has put into this House over the 15 months that he has been here. He has spoken more than 90 times on a number of issues. He has also been a very big contributor to the legislative process. Not only has he made sure that he has kept a watchful eye on the legislation but he has made sure that he has been involved in correcting some of that legislation; I think sometimes he has actually even written the amendments.

    Tony took over from me as Chairman of the Standing Committee on State Development, and I could not think of a better person to do so. That position will be vacant as of tomorrow. I hope we find somebody who will be able to follow in our stead and work as hard we both have. Scrutineering in Gosford was mentioned. Tony has also looked after our interests in this House. I know, for example, that the Hon. Tony Catanzariti would be very pleased to know that at the last election Tony Burke was keeping a watchful eye on the count for the New South Wales Legislative Council.

    Finally, I would like to say that Tony's history in the Shop, Distributive and Allied [SDA] union¯not only on behalf of the union and looking after the workers but from a moral and ethical perspective¯has always been that he has looked after legislation introduced in this place. He has had a big involvement in the Labor Party from a moral and ethical point of view, and we will miss that. Tony, I wish you the best of luck in Canberra.

    The Hon. PATRICIA FORSYTHE [10.42 p.m.]: On behalf of the Standing Committee on State Development I wish the Hon. Tony Burke well. I have to say we were an interesting committee of diverse backgrounds and experiences. While we have had only two inquiries—and, indeed, we have not completed the second—it has been a joy to be part of that committee again, to work with the members. It has been a joy because Tony has been an outstanding Chairman. The opportunity for us to present ideas and to reach some consensus is something that I hope is to the benefit of New South Wales. Tony, although I obviously do not wish you well in winning the seat of Watson, I personally wish you well. The committee has benefited from your time as chairman and I hope you have benefited from the experience that we have all given you.

    Reverend the Hon. FRED NILE [10.44 p.m.]: On behalf of the Christian Democratic Party I add our prayers and best wishes to the Hon. Tony Burke as he heads off to Canberra. Tony, we hope you win the seat of Watson—and I am sure you will—because you have a great potential to make a tremendous contribution to the Federal Parliament. We need more people like you there. The only sad point is that we are going to lose you from the upper House. You have been a great contributor. I suppose in some way you took on the mantle of the Hon. Johno Johnson, and you will be a loss. You are far more certain of being in the Federal Parliament than I am, but we will see what happens in God's providence in the future. God bless you.

    The Hon. Dr PETER WONG [10.44 p.m.]: I also take this opportunity to congratulate the Hon. Tony Burke. I thank him for his friendship. Henry Tsang and I recognised his talent from day one. We put on record that he promised us that when he becomes Prime Minister Henry and I will be invited to have dinner with him at the Lodge. Each year we fear that the Hon. Ian Cohen will introduce a euthanasia bill. I was expecting Tony, as a leading light, to lead us into the fight. Now he will be gone and we will be in trouble again.

    Motion agreed to.
    The House adjourned at 10.45 p.m. until Thursday 24 June 2004 at 10.30 a.m.
    ______________

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