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Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Page: 2709

Senator JOYCE (Queensland—Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) (12:53): I rise to concur with the remarks made by Senator Abetz and Senator Evans. Everybody is saying the same thing: we are talking about a lady of tenacity, a lady of stoicism, and a person of commitment; a person who apologised for her infirmities, as awkward as that made us feel, rather than make excuses by reason of her infirmities.

The public may not have known who Judith Adams was, but we certainly did. She was a person who showed that a commitment to the nation can be given at any time in your life. She joined the Senate at the same time as me and many others here. She was 62. I remember that at the time I was 38. She was a person who did not make age a barrier. She wanted to make sure that her contribution to her nation would be unambiguous, consistent and all the way through.

She showed that you could have a commitment coming from any area—she came from regional Western Australia, though born in Picton in the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand. She grew up with an affinity for and knowing what it was like to be a part of a regional area, as she was both here and in New Zealand. She showed that a person could come from any background and have a commitment to this nation. She was a person with a heritage—a heritage that linked so closely to ours, her grandfather having been missing in action at Chunuk Bair in, I think, August 1915.

This was a person who had many facets to her character, but I think the thing that resonates with so many people is what she represented. She represented the person who was quietly suffering in silence but working diligently and hard—even while going around, in many instances, in that little electric wheelchair. She was a person who really jerked us back into gear. We think about the small problems we have, and yet here was a person who obviously knew that her time was coming but did not show it; she just kept working on.

She was a person who had a commitment to her fellow man—I am sure she was never politically correct; 'fellow man', 'fellow person', whatever you like—and in 1967 she was part of the Colombo Plan as a nurse in South Vietnam. She also, later on, joined the New Zealand territorial army. That showed a passion, a patriotism and a commitment to her fellow man that resonated throughout her life.

As to her role in this Senate, I know how proud she was when she started. That was just another manifestation of an exemplary character. I found her, and I am sure that many other people found her, to be a person who was strong. If you asked, 'What is a word you could associate with Judith Adams?' it would be 'strength'. She was a person of strength. She was resolute. And there was that item that has been spoken about so often this afternoon—no fuss. She just hated people fussing over things. She wanted you to get to the point and get going or get out of her life and go away! But I think all of us feel it was a great honour to know Judith.

She also did much work with ovarian cancer and breast cancer; she had major roles to play with those. She did these things congruent with her life in politics. She did not just say, 'My life in politics is the be-all and end-all.' There were other facets that she would participate in on the way through.

I did not manage to go to her funeral; I had other parliamentary business. Fiona went, and I thank Fiona for that, though Fiona would have gone in any case. But it was a privilege to go to the funeral of her husband, Gordon, and to be with her at that point in her life. Once more, what shone through was a person dealing with the implications of the funeral and the organisation of the family. Most of us, at the loss of a partner, would be overwhelmed by grief; it was not that she did not feel the grief, but that she controlled it because she had a job to do. These are other instances of a person of great character.

She is survived by Stuart and Robert, and we see how they reflect their mother, their mum. I know our thoughts and prayers go out to Stuart and Robert. At least they will have the knowledge that their mother was a great person. She was great because her colleagues—who are the best people to judge you—the people in this chamber, saw her as a great person, saw her as a strong person.

She was absolutely partisan and passionate about Western Australia—sometimes, much to the grief of myself and others. On the loss of the single desk: she supported their views; she went in to fight for the views of her people. Likewise, she was a passionate member of the Liberal Party. And we respected that. Every person respects the person who puts the views of their party and the communal job above their own desires and follows that course. With Judith, there was no doubt about it; we knew which party she was in, and she pursued that course without diversion, and without diversion for her own personal goals. She did not have a personal goal; she had a party goal, and she pursued that. She was an enthusiastic supporter of the Australia's defence forces as well. It was something that went through her life and was so evident, especially in the exchange programs that we have in this place. Even at her age and with her past health issues, she wanted to be a participant and show her support for the Australian defence forces. These were all her mannerisms and why I think it is a great honour for us to have known and served with Judith Adams and to be a small part of a great person's life. I did not go to the funeral but I did write an op-ed for Judith in the Canberra Times. I will close with my final paragraph from that op-ed:

My recollection of Judith will be her intense interest in the lives of regional Australians. She committed to the task knowing she was never going to be a senior office holder. The reality is that many of the wider public would probably not even know her name. The strength about Judith was that this was not what was driving her.

She just wanted people to have their lives affected in a way which made things better for them. She didn't want the fuss and the bother of the laurels. Even when she was going around on her electric wheelchair in Parliament, she always said that this was only temporary and that she was getting better. I have a sneaking suspicion she realised the truth but just didn't want the attention to distract her from her job for others.

Rest in peace, Judith.