Senator Brian Harradine and I have had several disagreements over the years, particularly on family planning issues, but we have come to like and respect each other. Last year Brian saved Australia�s only law to protect the diversity of ownership of Australia�s media, for which I will be forever grateful (see The debate that dare not speak its name and Brian Harradine: The voice of reason on media laws).

 

Brian is a major character in my book, in which I said of him:

�In my opinion, Brian Harradine is a statesman. If there�s one single politician I�d choose to have represent me on a vote of genuine bipartisan importance to Australia, it might just be him…

�Brian Harradine is a great Australian. One day someone will tell his story in the detail it deserves.�

Brian, the longest serving Senator in Australia�s Parliament, announced yesterday that he would retire. Here is his statement, and his summary of the highlights of his long and tumultuous political career.

***

HARRADINE STATEMENT

Senator Harradine will not recontest seat

I will not be recontesting my Tasmanian Senate seat at the next election. My term is due to end on 30 June 2005. I will leave the Senate as the longest serving senator in the current Parliament and the longest serving independent senator since Federation.

I have made this decision with some sadness and regret. After notifying my supporters of my intentions, I have received very strong appeals to reconsider. But I am sure they and other Tasmanians will understand that after reaching 30 years in the Senate next year, I would like to spend more time with my family. I would also like to concentrate on some writing, speaking engagements and bushwalking. (Margo: want to write for Webdiary, Brian?)

The Senator Brian Harradine Group will not be nominating another candidate for the election.

In my time in this place I have endeavoured to address public policy matters by applying a framework of social justice principles able to be understood and supported by all persons of goodwill who are committed to a just, free, equal, and life-affirming society.

When I was first elected to the Senate, I confronted a clear threat to the Australian way of life from Communists and the socialist left. From my first days in Parliament I urged a new and moderate path for Australia, arguing vigorously for economic justice for smaller states like Tasmania. I also demanded greater recognition and assistance for Australian families.

I am proud of my strong advocacy over the years for people suffering political oppression, for the rights of workers in Australia and overseas to organise, for initiatives to combat chronic unemployment and for assistance to refugees.

Throughout my parliamentary career I have sought to defend the dignity of the human person against attacks by those who promote a utilitarian philosophy.

In defending human dignity I have decried the objectification of women by the pornography and prostitution industries, tried to prevent the tragic destruction of unborn children through abortion and denounced the �what can be done should be done� technological imperative of some scientists experimenting on human embryos as though they are laboratory rats.

I am particularly proud of the role I have played in promoting and defending the Senate not as a rubber stamp for the government of the day, but as a true house of review scrutinising and refining the laws under which we all live. In the face of increasing centralisation of power, I have sought to ensure the Senate acts to protect the smaller states.

During the difficult GST debate, I remarked that you can be a rooster one day and a feather duster the next. But in recent times I have:

* secured $353 million for Tasmanians from the minority sales of Telstra. This money has contributed to the turn around in the Tasmanian economy;

* secured, as part of negotiations between the independents and the Government, an extra 1600 new university student places for Tasmanians by 2008, many of which will go to the state�s north and north west;

* brokered the Wik agreement which not only provided an equitable outcome for indigenous Australians, but also avoided a race-based election.

I will continue to strive to ensure Australia as a society measures up to the standard I have always espoused: that the measure of a civil society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.

***

Senator Brian Harradine: a short history

Family man

Born Richard William Brian Harradine on 9 January 1935 at Quorn, South Australia. His wife Barbara died in 1980 after 18 years of marriage, leaving behind Brian and their six children. He married Marian, a widow with seven children, in 1982. He and Marian now have 27 grandchildren. Marian and Brian Harradine share a love of bushwalking and have walked in most areas of Tasmania.

Work and Union

Brian�s first job was on the Commonwealth Railway�s (CR) Ghan and East West services. After parting company with the CR he worked with the Post Master General’s Department (PMG) – Engineering Division – in Adelaide.

In late 1959 Brian Harradine arrived in Tasmania as a union organiser with the Federated Clerks� Union. During his first weeks in Tasmania, Brian resided in the head office keeper�s quarters on the roof of the Franklin Square Government Offices building in central Hobart.

He was Secretary of the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council and a member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions executive for twelve years from 1964 to 1976. He was also instrumental in changing the first of the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council objectives to that of the International Labour Organisation (ILO): �To contribute to the development of an economic and social order in which people can live with freedom and dignity and pursue both their spiritual development and material well-being in conditions of economic security and equal opportunity.�

Founder of the Tasmanian branch of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and its president since 1967.

ALP member

Member of the ALP Tasmanian State Executive from 1965 to 1975.

Member of the Australian Labor Party Federal Executive from 1968 to 1975. Despite being repeatedly elected by the Tasmanian state conference of the ALP to the ALP Federal Executive, the socialist left voted to deny his right to sit on the Federal Executive for seven years. The Leader of the Opposition, Gough Whitlam, resigned as parliamentary leader to protest Brian Harradine�s treatment and was subsequently re-elected, defeating Dr Jim Cairns narrowly.

Expelled from the ALP by a 9-8 vote of the Federal Executive in September 1975. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam said at the time: �Harradine is the victim of perjured evidence.�

The Tasmanian ALP State Executive continued to support Brian Harradine. Rather than see further conflict between the Tasmanian branch and the Federal Executive, and to avoid possible Federal Executive intervention in the Tasmanian branch, Brian Harradine decided to appeal over the heads of the Federal Executive to the Tasmanian people and run for the Senate as an independent.

Independent Senator for Tasmania

Elected as a Tasmanian member of the Senate in 1975 as the first independent to win a Senate seat on primary votes. Senator Harradine achieved nearly two Senate quotas. Since elected to the Senate for six consecutive terms.

When elected he said he held no animosity towards the Labor Party. �In politics or the trade union movement, it is counter-productive,� he said.

He marked his first day in Parliament (17 February 1976) by deliberately taking the seat of the Opposition Leader, Gough Whitlam, at the centre table opposite the Prime Minister. Labor MPs and senators had boycotted the official opening of Parliament by Governor General Sir John Kerr. Senator Harradine said at the time: �Cabinet ministers started filling the front benches usually occupied by the Opposition. I felt this was too much and a position had been reached where the Government was getting it all its own way. I am sure many Labor supporters in Australia will be pleased that an Opposition presence was made.�

Balance of power

Between July 1981 and December 1984 Senator Harradine�s vote could become a deciding one, depending on whether the Democrat vote split.

Between December 1994 and March 1996, Senator Harradine�s vote, combined with the ALP, Democrats and Greens, was sufficient to carry legislation. If Senator Harradine voted with Senator Devereux and the Coalition, their combined vote was sufficient to defeat legislation. After September 1995 the vote of independent Senator Crichton-Brown (Margo: expelled from the Liberal Party) was also necessary to defeat Government legislation.

Between August 1996 and June 1999, Senator Harradine�s vote combined with Senator Colston�s and the Coalition Government was sufficient to carry legislation.

Between July 2002 and the present, Senator Harradine�s vote combined with the votes of Senators Murphy, Lees, Harris and the Coalition Government passes legislation.

In all Senate situations, irrespective of balance of power considerations, Senator Harradine has consistently argued the need to debate issues on their merits.

Some key events

In November 1976 Senator Harradine moved an urgency motion in the Senate to note that Queenstown was facing a 40 per cent cut in its workforce as a result of job cuts at the Mount Lyell mine on Tasmania�s west coast. Senator Harradine was subsequently appointed to the Select Committee on the Operations of the Mount Lyell Company. The Committee reported in December. The company�s financial problems were largely addressed by the Government�s decision in November to devalue the Australian dollar. The Committee recommended the Government consider further support for the copper industry. The company responded by halving its planned retrenchments.

In February 1978 Senator Harradine called for the establishment of an Australian coast guard. �The current method of maritime sovereignty enforcement is inefficient, wasteful and a drain on Australian defence capabilities. Naval patrols and aerial surveillance equipment are wastefully under-utilised in the essentially civil tasks involved in fisheries patrols and Australian law enforcement offshore�. The coast guard would address the problem of illegal foreign fishing boats and drug running. He also called for some of the manufacture of the coast guard fleet to be undertaken in Tasmania.

In August 1980 Senator Harradine presented what was described at the time as a �massive� petition of over 22,000 Australians to the Senate calling for the restoration of the value of family allowances. He has spoken on family allowances and the need to provide adequate support to families since 1976. The importance of this issue in the electorate was reflected in his record vote achieved in the 1980 Federal Election.

In June 1982 Senator Harradine chaired the Senate Select Committee on Industrial Relations Legislation. He reported to the Senate in October 1982 that the Committee found:

“The proposed legislation is an undesirable and unwarranted intervention into the field of industrial relations, particularly at a time when high levels of unemployment have already disturbed this balance. The Committee believes quite firmly that viable unions are essential for the operation of Australia’s system of conciliation and arbitration.”

In May 1985 Senator Harradine introduced a private members bill � the Human Embryo Experimentation Bill 1985, along with a petition with 100,000 signatures supporting it. The Bill sought to ban destructive experimentation on human embryos and anticipated by 17 years the debate over the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002. A Senate committee reported on the Bill in October 1986, recommending a ban on destructive research on human embryos, but the Bill was not given time for debate.

On 17 August 1989, as Chair of the Parliamentary Pro-Life Group, Senator Harradine supported the introduction of the Abortion Funding Abolition Bill 1989 into the House of Representatives. The Bill would have ended Medicare funding of abortion. The Bill was not given time for debate.

In September 1990 Senator Harradine successfully moved an amendment to the Patents Act to ensure that �Human beings, and the biological processes for their generation, are not patentable inventions�.

In August 1993 Senator Harradine criticised the government for having �no plans to compensate Tasmanians for the increased costs across Bass Strait through proper adjustment of the freight equalisation scheme�. The Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme was adjusted in the 1993-94 federal budget as part of negotiations between Treasurer John Dawkins and Senator Harradine. A Department of the Parliamentary Library budget review paper recorded �an agreement was made with Senator Harradine for the provision of a further $2 million per year for four years to alleviate Bass Strait shipping costs. This resulted in a 5% increase in TFES rates of assistance�.

In May 1996 Senator Harradine successfully moved an amendment to the Therapeutic Goods Amendment Bill 1996 (No. 2) which ensures that abortion-inducing drugs cannot be imported into Australia without the express permission of the Federal Health Minister, rather than it being the decision of a departmental officer.

On 4 December 1996 Senator Harradine successfully moved an amendment to the Higher Education Legislation Amendment Bill to ensure that the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) debt repayment threshold takes account of families. The income threshold at which HECS debts start to be repaid increased from the basic $20,700 to $23,478 for those graduates with a spouse, to $25,749 for those graduates with one child and so on. This takes account of graduates� capacity to pay.

On 11 December 1996 Senator Harradine supported the Telstra (Dilution of Public Ownership) Act 1996 (T1) which secured $183 million for Tasmanians for an unprecedented program combining environmental protection with technological advancement. This money was used to establish 59 on-line access centres throughout Tasmania, Telehealth centres, the Tasmanian Electronic Commerce Centre, Tasmanian Business On-line, landcare projects, walking tracks and facilities in the World Heritage area, National Parks and other Natural Heritage Trust projects.

In June 1997 Senator Harradine was instrumental in the establishment of an inquiry to examine the fairness of the settlement offered by the Commonwealth Government to recipients of human pituitary hormones who had contracted or were at risk of contracting the incurable Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). The inquiry also heard damning evidence that CSL and other Government bodies failed to protect public safety. (Senate Community Affairs References Committee Report on the CJD Settlement Offer, October 1997). Senator Harradine called for a more wide ranging examination of the issue of contaminated blood, which had wreaked havoc in the lives of so many innocent people.

In July 1998 Senator Harradine negotiated a compromise to balance preserving native title rights and a new system for the recognition and operation of native title. This negotiation helped to avoid a divisive race-based election that could have played into the hands of extremists. The agreement he crafted led to the longest Parliamentary debate since Federation on a particular measure – the Native Title Amendment Bill 1997 (No.2), known as the Wik debate.

In an opinion piece, Senator Harradine said:

�The ultimate result of the Wik debate is bipartisan acceptance of native title as a legitimate part of Australian law – a remarkable achievement given the vehemence with which the High Court was attacked after Mabo and Wik � the compromise I negotiated benefited indigenous Australians. It also held the line against attempts to further erode native title rights while delivering positive benefits such as the ability to negotiate Indigenous Land Use Agreements, improved claims and registration processes, and reaffirmation of the operation -of the Racial Discrimination Act.�

In July 1998 Senator Harradine�s persistent efforts to secure an inter-country adoption agreement between Australia and China were successful, allowing the adoption of Chinese children by Australian couples for the first time.

In May 1999 Senator Harradine prompted a Senate Inquiry into the operation of Australia�s Refugee and Humanitarian Programme after exposing the deportation of an 8 � month pregnant Chinese woman who was aborted on arrival in China. The Committee report A Sanctuary Under Review: An Examination of Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Determination Processes was completed in June 2000.

On 14 May 1999 Senator Harradine announced he would not support the Government�s GST package:

�But one thing can be guaranteed, and that is that the goods and services tax, once enshrined in legislation, will never be removed. Decisions we make now on this issue are not for the next three years; we are making decisions here that will affect generations. The question that I have to ask myself is whether I am going to be a party to imposing an impersonal, indiscriminate tax on my children, my grandchildren and their children for generations to come. I cannot.�

In May 1999 Senator Harradine reached agreement with the Government for his support for the Online Content Co-Regulatory Scheme. The Scheme was part of the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Bill 1999. The Scheme puts restrictions on Internet content that is likely to offend adults and was meant to provide for the protection of children from pornography.

On 21 June 1999 Senator Harradine supported the Telstra (Transition to Full Private Ownership) Bill 1998 (T2), negotiating another $150 million for Tasmanians, plus a further $20 million from Telstra. This led to funding for the Intelligent Island program, NetAlert to promote Internet safety to Australians, funding under the Networking the Nation program and the Launceston Broadband Project.

In June 2001 Senator Harradine called for the release of women, children and families seeking asylum, where their detention was not necessary for security or some other compelling reason, in a qualifying comment to the Human Rights Sub-Committee report on visits to immigration detention centres.

In February 2003 Senator Harradine opposed the war in Iraq on the grounds that he was not convinced that it satisfied the tests for a �just war�.

In June 2003 Senator Harradine successfully moved an amendment to the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill 2002 to ensure that a media proprietor could not own both a television licence and a newspaper in the same mainland capital city. This contributed to the rejection of the Bill by the Government and the House of Representatives.

In September 2003 Senator Harradine negotiated with the Government to change Therapeutic Goods Regulations to ensure that consumers will be informed if human embryos, human embryonic stem cells or materials derived from embryos or stem cells are used in the manufacture or testing of pharmaceuticals. Consumers can then make an informed decision as to whether they want to use these drugs. The Government agreed to require pharmaceutical companies to provide plain English advice in Product Information (pamphlets for medical professionals) and Consumer Medicine Information (pamphlets for consumers), which are available for all registered drugs in Australia. This was a world first.

On 24 October 2003 Senator Harradine boycotted a special joint sitting of parliament convened to hear Chinese President Hu Jintao in protest against continuing and appalling breaches of human rights committed by the Chinese government. Senator Harradine said the parliamentary address set a precedent by honouring the head of a totalitarian regime in the elected chamber and he could not take part.

In December 2003 Senator Harradine and his three independent colleagues negotiated with the Government over the Higher Education Support Bill to achieve a variety of benefits including an increase in the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) income repayment threshold from $24,000 to $35,000. The Bill secured more than $200 million in benefits over six years for Tasmanians, including an extra 1600 new university student places for the state.

In March 2004 Senator Harradine and his three independent colleagues negotiated with the Government to secure an extra $427 million in improvements to MedicarePlus. This included ensuring Tasmania had the higher $7.50 bulk billing incentive across Tasmania and ensuring an extra 6,600 individuals and families in Tasmania get access to the safety net. Improving the coverage of the safety net was the only concrete way, barring the Government properly investing in Medicare, of making sure lower income people are safe from the burden of high medical bills.