McCormack, Michael, MP

Mr McCORMACK (Riverina—Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development and Leader of The Nationals) (14:22): I too endorse the eloquent words of the Prime Minister and the opposition leader about Tim Fischer, and I do want to take up some of the words that the member for Grayndler has just stated about Tim reciting punctuation and grammar to journalists. I was one of those journalists—in fact, I was the editor at The Daily Advertiser when a member of the press gallery, no less, who shall remain nameless for reasons, when Tim had used the word 'fiefdom', unfortunately, had it come out in the paper I was editing as 'thiefdom'. You can imagine Tim the next day not quite demanding a correction but sort of scratching his head as to why that had happened and perhaps the calibre of the editor who had allowed it through! But, indeed, Tim and I were great friends. We were great friends then. We were great friends until his sad end. Judy has lost a wonderful husband, and Dominic and Harrison have lost a magnificent father. And Tony has lost a beaut brother, and we as a nation have lost one of our finest—one of our very best. We've witnessed a massive outpouring of tributes. We as politicians could only hope, as Anthony has just said, for such a send-off, such appreciation of our works and our deeds. Indeed, we live, I suppose, in a different era. Tim was around in politics before social media, but he made his own social media. Indeed, I remember taking a call from him. He was phoning through a story from the Collingullie phone box—there were phone boxes back in those days in some of these little communities! It was just a village just west of Wagga Wagga. And then all of a sudden, when he tried to get out of the telephone box, he was bailed up by a cattle dog. Undeterred, he called back, and that then became the story of the day—not just locally but indeed nationally. He knew how to milk a story for all it was worth! He was a giant of Australia. He was a giant of the National Party and of the Country Party—I wear the Country Party tie today, as we enter our second century as a party. In one way or another, his actions have had an impact for the better on us all—Labor; Liberal; independents; the National Party, certainly; and perhaps, Adam, even the Greens. The outpouring of appreciation must come as some extra comfort to Judy, to the boys and to Tony. Tony gave what I thought was one of the most magnificent tributes at Tim's 29 August memorial service in Albury. It was Tony who spoke of Tim's life from childhood—Tony knew, because he was there, and he told us those log cabin stories of early childhood at Peppers at Boree Creek—through to Tim's final days. I also wish to acknowledge the Lockhart mayor, Rodger Schirmer, because Tim loved Lockhart and Lockhart loved Tim. The local shire is deeply mourning Tim's passing. As I said on the day of Tim's death, he was a mentor, he was a friend, he was a guiding influence, he was an inspiration. I remember coming here in 2010, newly elected as the member for Riverina, and I was going to an inauguration dinner hosted by the then Speaker, Harry Jenkins. Tim rang me on the way: 'Gweetings from Wome; Tim Fischer here'—as if I needed to be told! He then gave me a dissertation about Harry Jenkins and how great a Speaker he was, about the parliament, about what I needed to do, and about what the National Party needed to be focusing on. Of course, he was right—as always. Tim loved country people. Country people loved him. They knew he cared. They knew, as the Prime Minister said, that he would listen. When you were talking to Tim, you were the only focus. He concentrated on you and you alone. He would always act on people's needs, wants and expectations. He promoted regional Australia like no-one else, wherever he went—and he went everywhere. From his work in the rural industry, his service in Vietnam, his contribution as a member of the New South Wales parliament for the seat of Sturt—which then became Murray—and his contribution as a member of the federal parliament for the seat of Farrer as a shadow minister, a minister and then Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer was always in there doing his level best. Behind the gentle man was an absolute determination to listen, to act, to deliver and, most importantly, to turn up. Much has been said and written in recent weeks about Tim's role with then Prime Minister John Howard in tightening semiautomatic and automatic firearm controls after the horrific 1996 Port Arthur massacre. This was about restricting the misuse of weapons, especially across urban areas. But, to be effective, the actions had to stretch nationwide. We need to understand that Tim was the leader of a party representing regional Australians, not long in government after 13 long years in opposition. This was a time of intensive work to establish a new agenda, to establish the credentials of the new government and to bring the people with them. This was not a time to rock the boat, and it was particularly difficult for the National Party. But the point is this: Tim Fischer—and Mr Howard, too, of course, as well as John Anderson and others in the government's leadership—saw what needed to be done. They didn't flinch. They didn't shirk. They did it. A lesser leader might have baulked; not Tim Fischer. He was convinced that action was needed. What was right took precedence over what might have seemed less risky, less challenging. It was a move of conviction. It was a difficult time, yes, but we had the right man in Tim Fischer. There are Australians today who are alive thanks to those reforms. There are Australians today who owe their lives to those reforms and to Tim Fischer. As we look back two decades, we see that the gun control reforms have endured—rightly, appropriately and justly. They endure because they were right then and they're right now. As with the courageous firearm reforms, much has been said and written in recent times about Tim's love of all things railway. His writings will endure, and he gave public forums on rail, including book launches, right up to recent months. When he might have been forgiven for saying, 'No, I'm tired; I need to rest,' he carried on. He wanted to sell his books, of course, and they're available at all good book stores! Amongst Tim's many contributions, he will forever have ownership of the fact that a steel wheel on a steel rail creates one seventh of the friction of a rubber tyre on a bitumen service. Tim said that—of course he did! Tim was at the centre of a government that saw the opening of the Alice Springs to Darwin railway in 2004. After a century of talk, he got on and he delivered. He loved his railways. He loved the Inland Rail. He was a big fan of that. I recall I was going to see Jacinta Allan, the Victorian transport minister, and I happened to mention this to Tim a couple of days beforehand. Just as I was about to walk into the Victorian parliament to meet her, I got a text from Tim telling me everything I needed to tell her, advise her and warn her and to make sure that it actually happened and I'd better just do it, and Jacinta had better too! Tim Fischer understood what nation-building was all about—less debate, more delivery. It was the true mark of the man. We don't just honour Tim Fischer the person today; we honour a massive, enduring contribution to our nation. In honouring Timothy Andrew Fischer AC, as we sense deep sadness, we also celebrate and commemorate. We celebrate a life so well lived. We celebrate a contribution so large to his nation, to his beloved National Party, to his beloved coalition. And each and every one of us celebrates his life alongside his family. We give thanks for his life and we especially thank Judy and the boys for giving so much of Tim's time to us.