Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:00): I move: That the House record its deep regret at the death, on 15 November 2023, of the Honourable Gerard (Gerry) Leslie Hand, a former Minister and Member of this House for the Division of Melbourne from 1983 to 1993, place on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service, and tender its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement. Gerry Hand's first tilt at a seat in parliament was in 1979. A former textile worker, he'd moved with his family from Warrnambool to Melbourne and stood for preselection in the seat of Wills. As a party organiser and a senior member of the Victorian Left, he thought he was in with a pretty solid chance. That was until a fellow called Bob Hawke nominated! I believe everyone in this place is, of course, familiar with how that worked out. So Gerry worked and he waited, but he didn't have to wait for long, because in 1983, with the election of the Hawke government, he became part of that remarkable new dawn, entering parliament as the federal member for Melbourne. And, as his former competitor, Bob Hawke, later put it, Gerry became a good friend and a strong supporter. Gerry served his nation through 10 years in parliament, including close to six years in the Hawke and Keating ministries. Perhaps the simplest key to Gerry's guiding light is the simple five words with which he concluded his valedictory speech in this place: 'Do not forget the poor.' He certainly never did. As a parliamentarian, he spoke powerfully of the disadvantaged working-class and migrant communities living in the high-rises of his electorate. He stood up for the disenfranchised across the country. He represented the needs and aspirations with energy and with conviction. What Gerry had was the greatest of combinations: a near boundless energy and a strong instinct on where to channel it. As Bob Hawke's Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Paul Keating's Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs, Gerry was responsible for what he saw as the two most exciting portfolios. He wanted them because they were people portfolios, areas in which he felt he could make a real difference. His carriage of legislation to establish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 1989 was eloquent, calling for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to 'take their rightful place as full and equal participants in the richness and diversity of this nation'. Gerry was determined for the Hawke government to be part of the journey even though it was a journey he knew he wouldn't see to completion. It's a journey, of course, that this nation will continue to carry on. But then Gerry didn't shy away from hard decisions or tough choices. He was always of the view that, as a minister, you just had to make them. In the immigration portfolio, he advanced tough policies on Australia's detention laws, and, as a member of successive reforming governments, Gerry was stoic in the face of criticism and disappointment. And when he retired from parliament, it was without regret—only gratitude. And now we express ours. In the words of Kim Beazley, Gerry was 'a man with a great gusto for life.' For his part, Paul Keating has described him as a true Australian and a true believer. And, as someone who worked closely with Gerry when I was a staff member in the former house for Tom Uren but also at national conferences as one of the people who convened the small meetings to discuss the direction of the party and the platform that was going forward, and as the New South Wales convener at the time that Gerry was the Victorian convener, we got on remarkably well. He was someone who always, always, put the collective interests first, rather than his own. He was an extraordinary negotiator, he was someone of great charm and good humour and he is someone who I continued to have phone calls with to give me the benefit of his wisdom—sometimes that was taken, sometimes not—over the years. He will be remembered by everyone in his electorate, who he really cared about with great affection. The electorate of Melbourne is of course one a bit like mine, that has undergone substantial gentrification but also has extraordinary pockets of great poverty, particularly with newer migrants and particularly in those high-rise housing department developments. Gerry Hand was passionate about helping the individual constituents and the cases that came before him. Our hearts go out to his family, to all who loved him and to all who grieve him. May Gerry Hand rest in peace.