Senator BUTTON (Leader of the Government in the Senate) —by leave-I move:

That the Senate expresses its deep regret at the death, on 31 March 1988, of the Rt Hon. Sir William McMahon, GCMG, CH, former member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Lowe from 10 December 1949 to 4 January 1982, a former Minister of the Crown and a former Prime Minister, places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

I am sure that all honourable senators were saddened to hear of the death of Sir William McMahon. Sir William, Australia's twentieth Prime Minister, was born on 23 February 1908 in Sydney. His mother's death four years later prompted his father to hand his upbringing over to his wife's family. Educated at Sydney Grammar School, he was later accepted into the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney. After graduating, he went to work for a firm of Sydney solicitors. In 1940 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and he was appointed a lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Battalion but was denied the opportunity to serve overseas due to a hearing impediment. After Sir William was discharged in 1945, with the rank of major, he returned to the University of Sydney and graduated as a Bachelor of Economics.

Bill McMahon won the new seat of Lowe for the Liberal Party in the 1949 general election-a seat he held through successive elections until his retirement from Parliament in January 1982. He was the last of the so-called `forty-niners' to sit in this Parliament. As part of the first post-war conservative government, Bill McMahon did not have long to wait for a place in the Ministry. He was appointed Minister for the Navy and Minister for Air from 1 July 1951 to July 1954. Up until the time he assumed the prime ministership in March 1971 he held in succession the portfolios of Social Services, Primary Industry, Labour and National Service, Treasury and External Affairs. He held the position of Vice-President of the Executive Council from June 1964 to January 1966 when he became Deputy Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party. Sir William was Prime Minister of Australia from March 1971 to December 1972.

Sir William McMahon had a distinguished parliamentary career. He was a Minister of the Crown for 21 years. He served on various committees of the House of Representatives and represented this country at a number of international conferences. He was appointed a member of the Privy Council in June 1966, a Companion of Honour in January 1972 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1977. Sir William was a man who, even after his retirement from the Parliament, maintained an enthusiastic and constructive interest in political and economic issues.

It is customary for members of a deceased member's party to give some anecdotal material about him. I cannot do that to any great extent, but I must say that Sir William maintained an interest in political and economic issues after his retirement from this Parliament. He used to phone me from time to time with words of advice or otherwise. He once was kind enough to tell me that if I retired from politics he was sure that he could get me a job in the private sector with a salary of $250,000 a year. I declined that invitation because I felt sure that in his customary way he was still working for the Liberal Party.

We all feel a great sense of sadness at the loss of a colleague who distinguished himself as a parliamentarian, as a Minister, and as a dedicated member of his own Party. On behalf of the Government in the Senate I extend to his widow and family sincere sympathy at the passing of a fine Australian.