Abbott, Tony, MP

Mr ABBOTT (Warringah—Prime Minister) (14:33): On indulgence—I rise to acknowledge the passing of one of Australia's most popular writers, Colleen McCullough AO. Colleen was not always the most critically acclaimed of our authors, but she was a long one of our most read and her stories did indeed become our stories. The most acclaimed of all was The Thorn Birds, the story of Father 'What-a-waste' I suppose we might describe him. I have to confess that as a teenager I found it an absolutely enthralling yarn. She enthralled millions of readers for decades, deftly crossing genres: crime mysteries, what she lovingly called the 'chook books' and history. Her own life was itself a made-good story as she defied the low expectations of her family. Her father wanted her to leave school as soon as it was legally possible. She did not, and our nation is the better for that. She went on to study at Sydney university and in London, and for 10 years she taught neurophysiology at Yale University in the United States. It was Dr Colleen McCullough who set up the neurophysiology department at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. She did eventually give in to the urge to write, and while the world certainly needs its doctors it also needs its writers. She helped us see into the worlds of outback Australia, delve into the vagaries of love, reimagine historical figures and play at detective. She was prolific, she was diverse in a way that perhaps no other Australian author has been and, fittingly, the National Trust declared her a living national treasure. I extend condolences to her husband, Ric, to her family, to the people of Norfolk Island, where she lived for many, many years, as well as to her millions of fans around the world. We will miss her. She was one of the best and, as she said of The Thorn Birds, 'You can't repeat a great act'.