Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): If you could travel back in time to a Liverpool dock in war-scarred Britain, you might find Chris Hurford—or Hurford-Jones, as he was then. The future immigration minister, New York consul general and Labor Unity faction founder is a ten-pound Pom, waiting with his family to board a ship to Australia. He is still a teenager, but already his life is spread across the globe: India, the land of his birth; England, the land of his father; and Australia, the land of his mother and his wartime refuge—the land of his future. All of this movement helped to create a core value that would never budge from his heart—the importance of family—and all three countries of Chris's nomadic life helped set him on his journey towards the Australian Labor Party. In India, it was the caste system; in Britain, it was the class system and, later, the achievements of the Attlee government; and, in Australia, when he worked as a chartered accountant in Broken Hill, it was the trade union movement and its role in protecting workers in one of the toughest environments in the country. As Chris himself would later note: This Broken Hill apprenticeship for a future Labor member of Parliament was hard to beat, even if I say so myself. He returned to the UK to enhance his education at the London School of Economics. While there, he also upheld the ancient tradition of crossing the world to fall for a fellow Australian. Her name was Lorna Seedsman, an Adelaide social worker. It was the beginning of love, marriage and a family. When the time came to return to Australia, Chris decided to jettison the double-barrelled 'Hurford-Jones' that he viewed as the burden of his christening. It was 'Jones' that was lost—and not for the last time. Indeed, after a couple of tilts at state politics in South Australia, he went federal, winning the seat of Adelaide from Andrew Jones, the Liberal member who once described alcohol as 'the devil's urine'. Chris got a 14.3 per cent swing. Following an apprenticeship of shadow portfolios, including Treasurer and industry, he became part of that extraordinary line-up of talent that was the first Hawke ministry. Chris held a range of portfolios, but he made his most particular mark as immigration minister. Upon his appointment in 1984, you could hear the voice of that young nomad from three continents breaking through. He said this: 'No prejudice of any kind will be tolerated by me. I invite the opposition to allow immigration policy to return to the honest bipartisanship of earlier times.' With Chris, the head and the heart operated in harmony. He developed a skills based immigration policy, to help build the economy. He worked to enhance the special humanitarian program in relation to South Africa, focusing on victims of apartheid who had suffered politically-motivated persecution. Economist Tim Harcourt, who was privileged to have Chris as a mentor, recalls how a determined Chris strove with Don Dunstan to recruit talented women to run as ALP candidates for the South Australian parliament. Among them was Tim's mother, Joan Harcourt. As Tim recounts: When my Mum got pregnant with my younger sister, she rang Chris to say as an expectant mother she would have to withdraw her candidacy. Chris would have none of it. He just said, 'What wonderful news! In fact Lorna is pregnant with our third—you'll have them at the same time!' I think Chris would certainly have approved of the baby boom that has happened on this side of the House in recent times! This 10-pound Pom enhanced Australia with his talent, integrity and decency. We were lucky to get him, safari suits and all. I got to know Chris as a young man in the Old Parliament House, and he was always willing to provide a word of advice to a young ALP member coming up. On behalf of Chris's great Labor family, I say to his first and dearest family: you are in our hearts. We are touched that so many of you have joined us here today: Chris's children Alex, David and Richard; his daughters-in-law, Margaret Hogan and Emma Hurford; and his grandchildren, Georgia, Tom, Clare and Matt. We join you and the rest of your family in sorrow, in pride and in gratitude for a life well lived. May Chris rest in peace. Debate adjourned.