Mr CADMAN (7:43 PM) —I too was unable to speak on the condolence motion yesterday for our departed colleague Peter Nugent, the former member for Aston, and I wish to do so now. People have spoken in the House of his attitudes, the causes that he took up and the projects that he involved himself in, but what I valued about Peter more than anything else was his character because, if one looked at the things he did here, one could see that his basic character underpinned all of the things that he took up.

I really enjoyed his honesty, his forthrightness and his direct way of dealing with problems and people. It meant that you were never in doubt in any way of what he felt or thought. In this place people take so much trouble to hide their true feelings and to disguise what they really think, but Peter Nugent was not one of those. Peter Nugent was a person who in fact presented himself and his thoughts honestly and fairly at every opportunity. I enjoyed that openness of character of his and I enjoyed the relationship that we had with him.

I also want to pay tribute to the things that I believe are his lasting contributions. I know that the human rights issues are the ones that people have remembered in the House, but I feel that one of his main contributions was to our lasting relationship with Asia. I enjoyed the membership of the parliamentary Singapore Friendship Group, and I knew that Peter had a very extensive knowledge of Asia and was very significantly drawing bonds and links with the whole of South-East Asia. I thought that was a lasting and invaluable contribution which he had passed on to others, and it will be an ongoing process which cannot be reversed or changed, because he was right.

Another contribution was his professional knowledge of technology. This House would not be the same without Peter's contribution to the Presiding Officers' committee that dealt with the technology and the advances we are making. He was a professional in that area and had great knowledge. His contribution to each one of us in our electorate offices and here in the parliament is going to be lasting and ongoing because he brought a breath of fresh air to the way in which we view technology.

I want to pay tribute to a past friend, a friend who made a great contribution to this parliament. He was valued in the good times and the bad times. He and Carol certainly had a mixture of both, in a professional sense and in a personal sense. I want to convey my personal condolences and those of my family to Carol and indicate to her how much Peter was valued here, both for his representation of his electorate, which was fine and was the basis of much of what he undertook, and for his goodwill. I pay tribute to him for that. In particular, I valued him for his character.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER —Before I call the honourable member for Chisholm, I remind the House that the occupant of the chair exercises absolute discretion on the standard of dress. While, as a general rule, the chair would suggest that printed T-shirts are in the same sort of area as the string shirts that former member Mr Steedman was expelled from the House for wearing by Speaker Harry Jenkins, on this occasion I will allow her to speak.