Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Leader of the Opposition) (12:27): I join with the Prime Minister in honouring the life of the Honourable John Charles Kerin AO, born in Bowral, New South Wales. He joined the Labor Party as a student, motivated primarily by the controversies of the Vietnam War. From his late teens to his early 30s, he was a forestry worker, brick setter and farmer. Indeed, he worked some 80 to 90 hours a week on the land. It was John's love of the land that saw him take up a job as an economist at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 1971. Part of Gough Whitlam's It's Time campaign, John was first elected as a member of the House of Reps after winning the seat of Macarthur in 1972. His passion for his electorate and the country was clear for all to hear in his maiden speech. He described his electorate as one: … of incredible beauty, where the grass is green, the soil is rich and the cows are contented. The economist John also expressed his concerns about the excessive rate of inflation at the time. He said it was the 'major economic problem facing Australia' and 'the worst distributor of income'. John served as a solid and sage backbencher for Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Alas, his longer-term ambitions were cut short when he lost his seat in Labor's 1975 landslide defeat. But he returned to ABARE. Evidently his time in government had not quenched his political thirst, for, in 1978, after his former prime minister retired as the member for Werriwa he successfully won that seat in a by-election. Joining the opposition led by Bob Hawke, John was catapulted into the position of shadow spokesperson for primary industries in 1980—a role very much befitting his background and experience. After Hawke's election victory in '83 he took on that ministry, and by '87 the energy portfolio was added to his responsibilities. He was an unwavering champion for Australian farmers. Under Prime Minister Hawke's leadership, John helped to eliminate many tariffs on agricultural imports. He introduced policies to increase farm productivity, and he championed research and development programs. After Paul Keating unsuccessfully challenged Bob Hawke for the prime ministership in '91 and resigned as Treasurer, John was appointed to the role. John would later admit he was not so lucky to have been Treasurer. The laser-like gaze of the media was on John immediately. From the get-go, comparisons were being made between him and the long-serving Keating. It was an unenviable position to be in. That pressure culminated in an infamous press conference, where John forgot a particular economic term. It was an honest but fatal mistake which saw him ousted from the role of Treasurer—yet another cruel reminder of the unforgiving nature of being part of the game of politics. John would later lament the change in character of the media in Australia, a media which he said, increasingly concentrated 'on question time and issues of conflict and personality to the exclusion of dreary policy'. After losing the Treasury portfolio, John was appointed as the Minister for Transport and Communications by Bob Hawke. But after Keating challenged Hawke again, this time successfully, the new Prime Minister appointed John as the Minister for Trade and Overseas Development. Following Labor's '93 election victory, John decided to be the master of his fate. He chose to exit politics on his own terms and not repeat the events of '75. In his valedictory address, John said he would write a book, 'The formation of agricultural policy in Australia', but joked it would have a readership of about three people. Yet write a memoir he commendably did, entitled The Way I Saw It; The Way It Was. John's political memoir was also an insightful commentary on agricultural and natural resource policy. His observations remain salient for all of us today, that policy-making requires patience and perseverance, that emotional involvement has to be well managed if long-term policy solutions are to be achieved and that the best decisions were and are the ones where the most thought-through analysis and preparation are involved. John saw the bad side of politics, describing it as, 'a combination of theory, egomania, megalomania, mediamania and the rules of Gaelic football in a derived environment'. But he also treasured its good side. John said: The real buzz for me in politics has been that no two days are quite the same, you can grow and you get enormous opportunities. Post-political life saw John chair many notable national and state based boards and councils responsible for coal, soil, land, grains, forestry, fisheries and water management. His cumulative life's work saw him rightly appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia. On behalf of the coalition, I offer my heartfelt condolences to John's colleagues, to his community and friends and, most importantly today, to his family, represented in the gallery and more widely. May he rest in peace. The SPEAKER: As a mark of respect to the Hon. John Charles Kerin, I ask all present to rise in their places. Honourable members having stood in their places— The SPEAKER: I thank the House. Debate adjourned.