Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the coalition to support the motion moved by Senator Evans and to extend our sincere sympathies to the family of Sid Spindler on his sad passing on 1 March. Senator Evans has properly detailed Sid Spindler’s very distinguished political career as a senator for the state of Victoria. I will not repeat the details of that remarkable life, but I would like to touch on the key contribution that Sid made to the Senate.

It can truly be said that Sid Spindler made the most of his term in the federal Senate. Like Senator Evans, I served with Sid in the Senate from July 1993 until his retirement in 1996, and he contributed significantly to debate in this place during his term here. He was a very energetic contributor to the chamber and his committee work and worked tirelessly on amendments to legislation. Those of us in the bigger parties forget that those in the smaller parties have to work very hard in covering a whole range of legislation. Sid certainly did that. He served as the law and justice spokesperson for the Australian Democrats, and he was a longstanding member of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and the Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority.

Of particular interest from my point of view was, as Senator Evans mentioned, Sid’s key involvement in the Democrats’ negotiations with the Keating government over their first attempt at legislating on native title, the Native Title Act 1993. He may regret that he was not here for another term. If he had continued for one more term, I have no doubt that he would have played a key part in the Senate debate in 1997 and 1998 on our government’s amendments to the Native Title Act, which I know only too well was the longest debate in the Senate’s history and one of the most difficult and complex.

Sid was probably one of the most frequent contributors to debate in the chamber during his term. His commitment to social justice was a strong and consistent feature of his work as a senator. He commenced a number of campaigns—campaigns to end child labour, to end discrimination against same-sex couples and to improve the treatment of asylum seekers. He had a perspective on issues different from most of those on our side of politics, but we respected the integrity of his position enormously.

Sid’s approach to issues was, no doubt, shaped by his remarkable earlier life. As Senator Evans mentioned, Sid spent his early life in war-torn Europe and then migrated to Australia in 1949 as a 17-year-old. No doubt that had an enormous bearing on his attitudes and political beliefs. It is one of the great things about Australia and the democracy that we have formed in this country that a man like Sid can come to Australia from war-torn Europe as a teenager and, ultimately, successfully become a member of this great chamber. It is a fantastic effort on Sid’s part and a great reflection on this great democracy of which we are all privileged to be part. He played a key part in the formation of the Democrats—a party that is of interest to those on our side because it was primarily formed by a former Liberal, Don Chipp. Sid worked closely with Don Chipp in the formation of that party. It is a reminder of the fickleness of politics that the Democrats, as of 30 June, will no longer have anybody in this chamber—something that would, no doubt, have made Sid extraordinarily sad.

Sid was very active after his retirement from the Senate. He was a prolific writer of letters to the editor, and he continued his work with and for Indigenous Australians, to whom he had an enormous commitment. As Senator Evans said, Sid and his family founded the Towards a Just Society Fund to assist Indigenous students at risk and prevent them from dropping out of their education. We all acknowledge the fundamental importance of education to the ultimate aspirations of young Indigenous Australians.

To his wife, Julia, and his four children, Karen, Chris, Linden and Rebecca, and their families: the opposition places on record its profound appreciation of Sid’s meritorious public service and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.