Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Honourable Speaker, I rise to offer condolences to Tony Rundle’s family on behalf of the Greens and to recognise the loss for many within the Liberal Party, including the Premier. I thank him for his words.
The late Premier Tony Rundle was thrust into the leadership of the Liberal government in Tasmania following the 1996 election. Former Premier Ray Groom had said he would not govern in minority and so, when no one party secured a majority in the 1996 state election, he stood down and Tony Rundle became Premier. Labor refused to engage in discussions to form government with Greens holding the balance of power and so Tony Rundle was sworn in.
From north‑west Tasmania, this former journalist and advocate for logging and mining, and the road through the Tarkine, had previously been on the record saying that the Hobart suburb of Battery Point had more wilderness in it than the Tarkine. It did not augur well for the Liberal minority government.
However, only a few weeks after being sworn in, the Port Arthur massacre occurred, with 35 people dying. It changed everything. Tasmanians went into shock. People everywhere reflected on the horror of the massacre and how it could have been visited upon them in Port Arthur that day. The community needed united and strong leadership, and Tasmania’s three political leaders, Premier Tony Rundle, Labor leader Michael Field and Greens leader Christine Milne, stepped up. Political infighting was not an option.
Not only did they collectively visit the massacre site, but Mr Rundle and Ms Milne visited the wounded in hospital together. As Ms Milne remembers, Mr Rundle spoke with relatives, friends and staff, and calmly accepted the sometimes hostile reaction of the victims’ relatives. He was determined to do everything he could to support the community and bring Tasmanians together. In so doing, he also earned the respect of the parliament and the community.
Tony Rundle included the Greens and the Labor Party in subsequent negotiations on gun law reform, and it was Tasmania’s agreement to pursue strong gun law reform that enabled then prime minister Howard to pursue this critical and historically significant reform nationally. If Tasmania had not supported gun law reform, it would not have happened nationally.
The significance of those reforms has stood the test of time. There have been no gun massacres in this country since, and Tasmania and our laws stand as a beacon of hope for other countries around the world which are today battling gun violence.
These negotiations paved the way for further reform negotiations. A degree of trust had been established. Gay law reform came next.
Premier Rundle led a party in which the Attorney-General, Ray Groom, was totally opposed to the decriminalisation of homosexuality, but with the Greens committed to this reform and having the numbers with Labor’s support, Premier Rundle agreed to give the Liberal Party a conscience vote, and further agreed that if the legislation passed the House of Assembly that he would then instruct the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council to facilitate the bill. It became law and made history, with decriminalisation finally achieved in 1997.
Then came, as former Greens leader Christine Milne describes, ‘one of the best days ever in the Tasmanian parliament’ and one of the days of which she was personally most proud in her 25 years in politics. On 13 August 1997, only months after the report was released and 11 years before Prime Minister Rudd apologised, Premier Rundle apologised to the Stolen Generation of Indigenous people in response to the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report. Premier Rundle said:
The apology is made not only to recognise the fact of the separations but also to further the reconciliation process by accepting that these removals should not have happened. In short, Sir, it is necessary to do so because, as has been said by an elder of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, Mrs Ida West, and I quote, ‘It is important to say sorry to them because what happened was so terrible’.
Honourable Speaker, Tasmanian Indigenous woman Annette Peardon was invited to address the Tasmanian Parliament, the first person to do so in 100 years. She said on that day:
Mr Speaker, Premier, honourable members, this is an historic occasion. It is a welcome gesture of the government and the parliament to apologise for what must be seen as one of the most tragic events in my people’s history. I believe it is the first time any Aborigine in Tasmania has entered the Chamber of the parliament in session, and I believe it is the first time anywhere in Australia an Aboriginal delegation has been invited to address the parliament in session.
The policy of the removal of Aboriginal children from their people was borne out of ignorance – ignorance for the basic human rights of Aboriginal children to be raised by their people.
It was a policy of genocide, make no bones about it. The policy was deliberate and calculated to make Aborigines like white people, to make us ashamed of who we are today, to deny our heritage and families.
That we stand before you today as the proudest of Aborigines you have ever seen or heard is evidence the genocide policy could not work.
Today’s response by this parliament is a sign of community maturity, of the state of Tasmania facing up to the responsibilities of harm caused to Aborigines by official policy instead of hiding behind notions of popular history.
When she finished her speech, the entire parliament rose to its feet and gave her a standing ovation.
Honourable Speaker, social law reform, gun law reform, gay law reform and the apology were not the only reforms that Premier Rundle pursued. He recognised the economic development model for Tasmania needed to change. We needed to diversify, so he pursued the Canadian province of New Brunswick model of pioneering information technology. He reflected at the time:
We established productive partnerships with New Brunswick. Nortel, a North American IT innovator, set up an operation here helping us value-add our IT industry. This included working with Stephen Haines to create Service Tasmania, a one-stop shop for government transactions and arguably the nation’s most sophisticated. As a result of this, call centres were established and laptops were promised to Tasmanian students and teachers.
Honourable Speaker, unfortunately, his progressive reforms were undone by his determination to sell the Hydro and his insistence on the development of a regional forest agreement, and also his undermining of democratic representation by reducing the number of councils and parliamentarians. When two of his Liberal members, Bob Cheek and Michael Hodgman, threatened to cross the floor to vote with Labor’s Jim Bacon so as to reduce the numbers in parliament with the purpose of disadvantaging the Greens in an attempt to eliminate the chance of a minority government, Premier Rundle gave in to them and forced the legislation through the parliament. He then called an election, which he lost. After more than a quarter of a century, the attack on the parliament was rectified with a reinstatement of the 35‑person House of Assembly that sits here in the Chamber today.
Reflecting on Tony Rundle’s substantial contributions to public life in Tasmania, it is more than fitting to say he was a person who had the courage of his convictions. He faced up to the challenges Tasmanians faced, and while we may not agree with all his solutions, we can agree that he was focused on the future and dedicated to delivering what he believed was in the best interest of our state and our community.
On behalf of the Greens, I give my condolences to Tony Rundle’s family, to his wife Caroline and his daughters Helen and Jane, and all the rest of his extended family. You should all be rightfully proud of the contributions he made to Tasmanians’ lives. The legacy he left lives on to benefit future generations. Vale Tony Rundle.
