Dr NELSON (Leader of the Opposition) (2:04 PM) —I rise on indulgence to join with the Prime Minister in recognising the service of the 14 senators who are leaving the parliament at the end of this week. I also recognise and pay my respects to the Democrats for the contribution that they have made over a long period of time. I will not name or speak about all of the 14 senators who are leaving the parliament, but I would like to briefly speak about two, one Labor and one Liberal.

The first is Senator Robert Ray. While an adversary of ours and someone who brought trepidation to us when he was in opposition in Senate estimates, he was also for six years the nation’s Defence minister and did an exemplary job in that role. The Senate and indeed the Labor Party will be diminished for his leaving. He has made a significant contribution to this place and to this country.

One of the Liberal senators retiring is Senator Rod Kemp. I pay special tribute to Senator Kemp, who, for five years as the Assistant Treasurer of this country, in the Senate day after day took questions of a quite complex and a politically loaded nature in relation to the goods and services tax and the major reforms to Australia’s taxation system. For that in particular I pay tribute to Senator Kemp, along with the many other things that he has done in this place.

I also recognise that, had she not died in April last year, Senator Jeannie Ferris would also be leaving the Senate today. Her memory, I know, is one that is respected across both sides of this parliament for the contribution that she made in this place.

In relation to the Democrats, we too have a very high regard for the Democrats for the role that they have played in the Australian parliament and the Australian Senate. We always regarded them as men and women who were driven by idealism, deeply rooted in the conviction that they ought to make Australia a better place by creating a balance of power between the two major political powers. Of the many things that the Democrats were able to achieve—while it could be argued that they paid a political price for it—their role in making sure that we had major taxation reform in Australia’s long-term interest in the late 1990s is arguably from our perspective their greatest contribution to this place. I wish all of the four retiring Democrats the very best for the future and thank them for the professional way in which they have conducted themselves in relation to our senators and for making Australia a better place.