Mr TIM FISCHER (Leader of the National Party of Australia)(2.32 p.m.) —There are some similarities between John Panizza and Bert Kelly. Sure, they were in different chambers, had different times of service in the parliament and came from different states, but there was a degree of doggedness and determination about Bert Kelly which was replicated in John Panizza and which perhaps flowed from their love of the land. In the case of Bert Kelly, it was those beautiful hills due north of Adelaide; and in the case of John Panizza, it was the country around Southern Cross.

In his first speech to parliament in 1959 Bert Kelly laid down from the very outset what his philosophy was about and took a particular interest in the trade policy area. He recognised the importance of building access to markets for our exporters. In what may be an unusual but accurate picture when viewed from an historical perspective, Bert Kelly, in his first speech, actually praised John McEwen, trade minister, for the work he had completed in developing trade treaties at the time with Japan and Malaya. They were steps in the right direction, and Bert Kelly said:

I should like at this stage to pay a very warm tribute to the Minister for Trade, Mr McEwen, for the clear sighted way in which he has worked to do this very thing, that is, to help us sell what we produce.

This was perhaps the lull before the storm, given what developed over the onward debate about tariffs and protection generally and the role that Bert Kelly took up, especially as the Modest Member.

Throughout his parliamentary career Bert Kelly clearly laid down the problems that he encountered and the many difficulties on the trading front for farmers and exporters. He made clear in his writings, in a very crisp way, a degree of irreverence in respect of government, bureaucracy and the political correctness of the time.

Australia would be a much poorer nation if it had not been for the gradual rising influence of the ideas espoused by Bert Kelly and his ability to put them forward in a way which cut through. His ability to analyse and present simply the effects of the tariff, good and bad, on our economic institutions and fortunes convinced increasing numbers of people to look more closely at policy directions.

We must not forget his contribution in other areas, however. They extended beyond the area of tariff and trade policy, in which it is not quite correct to say that he was absolutely one way on the issue. Indeed, a letter to the editor in today's Financial Review offered some further comment on that aspect. He reached out from that to also take up a range of other issues, including rail standardisation across Australia. He joined such people as the former members for Farrer, David Fairbairn and Wal Fife, William Charles Wentworth and, indeed, the Right Hon. Ian Sinclair, the member for New England, in his previous portfolio roles, in helping to facilitate the decisions in tough budgetary circumstance to provide a standard gauge rail connection, particularly between Sydney and Melbourne, subsequently between Sydney and Perth and Sydney and Adelaide, via Broken Hill and Crystal Brook. That was a very good basis which led to the final completion of the standardisation direct between Melbourne and Adelaide.

In fact, in the conversations I enjoyed with Bert Kelly as a fellow member of the Modest Members Society, it was often this subject we talked about—as was his wont and my wont—and it was very true that that key committee played a key role in jogging the then Menzies/McEwen government along the path of facilitating that key rail standardisation at the time.

I join the Prime Minister (Mr Howard) and the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Beazley) in expressing the sympathy of National Party members to the family of Bert Kelly. There is no doubt that the parliament and the nation gained a great deal from the contribution that Bert Kelly made and the example he set to all of us who have been backbenchers at various times as to how there can be real influence and real power by a dedicated and determined backbencher.