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Thursday, 10 May 2012
Page: 3151

Senator MILNE (Tasmania—Leader of the Australian Greens) (16:03): I rise this afternoon on behalf of the Australian Greens to wish you all the best, Senator Sherry, for your future. I have had the privilege of being part of the Tasmanian team in the Senate for a very long time and I recognise that Nick is leaving on what is effectively his 21st birthday in this place. As with everyone who achieves their 21st birthday, what they aim to do is get the keys to the door, and that is what Nick is doing right now—getting the keys to the door after having spent a good many years here in the national interest. He is now able to take the benefit of that experience in the national interest to whatever career he now pursues. But, as Senator Evans has suggested, I doubt that it can be anything other than in the area of superannuation because that has become such a personal passion for him.

I want to put on the record the fact that he was Australia's first ever minister for superannuation. He took that issue from where it once was—hardly anyone ever talked about superannuation or thought about the retirement years—to being a matter of great concern to a lot of people. Again as Senator Evans mentioned, Senator Sherry has always spoken of the need to lower fees in the superannuation industry and to provide better retirement incomes for people. That is the basis of what he has argued for so long, and it led to the Cooper review. I do not think people are aware that that is what drove the Cooper review, the first ever systemic, in-depth review of the operation, efficiency and performance of Australia's compulsory $1 trillion superannuation system. That review, released in 2010, was very important. I have to say the Greens look forward to working with the Gillard government to improve the superannuation system in the future on the back of the work that you have done getting it to where it is, holding a national conversation and moving to make sure that it is fairer and delivers in the best way possible for people. No doubt there will be an opportunity to work with you wherever you go in this field, because it is something the parliament will be trying to work through in the future.

In terms of his representation of Tasmania, Nick is very well known around the state but particularly in the north-west of the state, where he has represented people with a genuine sense of engagement with the issues they have, trying to deal with those issues at a constituent level and through the parliament. Of course, before going into the superannuation field he worked on a lot of rural and regional issues and still does in his capacity representing Tasmania in the Senate.

I wish him all the best. I note that he talked about his family and his children as being the joy of his life. One of the great things about getting the key to the door out of the Senate is that he will be able to spend an awful lot more time with the people who give him so much joy in his life. I wish you all the best in that, I look forward to continuing to engage with you and I acknowledge the many years you have contributed to the public interest in the service of the nation.