Abbott, Tony, MP

Mr ABBOTT (Warringah—Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): I rise to support the words of the Acting Prime Minister. Frank Walker was a long-serving New South Wales Attorney General, as well as Special Minister of State and Minister for Administrative Services in this parliament. Frank Walker's political life was devoted to infuriating conservatives, and in this I have to say that he was wildly successful. He upset conservatives in his own party as readily as conservatives on the other side of the parliament and in the wider community. By his own lights he was certainly a man of principle and he was someone who suffered for his beliefs. He was reportedly beaten and bashed for sitting with Aboriginal people in a segregated country theatre. His family pet was reportedly killed and its head dumped on his doorstep while he was a corruption-fighting minister in the Wran government. As the Acting Prime Minister has made clear, his personal life was marked by tragedy, and he spent much of his post-parliamentary life supporting people with schizophrenia. In this role, quite rightly, he was universally admired. He certainly has helped to make mental health something that all sides of this parliament are very concerned about, and I well remember the welcome he gave to the former government's Better Access to Mental Health Services program. On behalf of the coalition I offer our condolences to his family, and to all who knew him and loved him.