Senator CALVERT (4:08 PM) —I, too, as a Tasmanian senator, wish to be associated with this condolence motion. Senator Abetz, who unfortunately has had to attend another meeting, would also like his name to be associated with the motion.

Those of us who were privileged to be at the memorial service held for Kevin on Thursday, 22 July, could not have been impressed more, not only by the number of people who were there but by the eulogies that were given by former and current serving members of the Defence Force. They spoke about just what sort of person Kevin Newman was. They went right back to when he was serving as a cadet officer and spoke about his military career. There were many enlightening anecdotes about some of his achievements and about some of the pranks that one would expect from young officers and young cadets. Without going through all of his achievements, I think it is important for us to remember that it was mentioned at the service that Jocelyn, his wife, described their relationship as `more than a love affair, but a great friendship'. This was mentioned in Partners, a book about Australian couples who have been together for a long time. I believe the Newmans were together since 1 July 1961.

My major association with Kevin concerned his management of all of the campaigns that I have been involved in. I have been re-elected successfully every time, and I think Kevin's success rate as the director of the Senate campaigns in Tasmania is second to none. Those of us who worked with Kevin—including Senator Watson and me—know that he would tell us in no uncertain terms what he thought we should be doing. His zest to get on and win inspired us all. He suggested that we should hire a bus to do our cam paigning. Without going into any detail, I can assure you that driving a bus with Jocelyn, Shirley Walters and Brian Archer was something that was an experience to be involved in. I was the driver, and half the time I was being advised by everybody which turn we should be taking. Nevertheless, we got around, we won the campaign and we were re-elected. Kevin's support and advice to the Tasmanian Liberal Party, to the federal Liberal members and senators, was always appreciated and very well regarded because his advice was always the best.

A lot of us probably do not realise how well Kevin was known by the man in the street, because of his involvement at all levels. Particularly in Launceston he tenaciously followed through all of his promises. He was involved in very great projects in Tasmania, such as the Australian Maritime College, the Launceston General Hospital and the Albert Hall convention centre. And, of course, he was one of the original supporters of freight equalisation.

Kevin was a very strong family man and supported Jocelyn, as we all know, very strongly, particularly after she became a very senior federal minister for Tasmania. I would like to express my condolences publicly to Jocelyn and her family and, as I said before, involve Senator Abetz in those remarks, because he unfortunately could not be here.