Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep regret at the death, on 13 July 2008, of the Honourable Peter Drew Durack, former senator for Western Australia, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

Peter Durack was one of Western Australia’s longest serving senators, retiring from the Commonwealth parliament after 22 years in federal politics and a political career that spanned almost three decades. He was highly respected across the political divide and was known as a kind, mild-mannered man of great integrity who made a remarkable contribution to law reform in this country.

Peter was born in Perth in 1926 into one of Western Australia’s pioneering families, the Duracks. He was educated at Christian Brothers College and Aquinas College in Perth and went on to study law at the University of Western Australia. It was during his time at UWA that Peter first became politically active. Peter was very quick to nail his political colours to the mast. In 1944, at the age of 18, Peter co-founded the UWA Liberal Club, just a few months after Sir Robert Menzies established the Liberal Party. Widely acknowledged as a great debater and a brilliant student, Peter was awarded the 1949 Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia and completed a Bachelor of Civil Law degree at Oxford. After graduating he practised law in London and then continued working as a lawyer upon his return to Perth. He had a highly successful legal career which culminated in his appointment as QC in 1978. However, by then his career as a lawyer had already given way to his passion for politics. Peter was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1965 as the Liberal member for the seat of Perth in the WA Legislative Assembly. He served in state parliament only until 1968, which is when he was elected President of the Western Australian Liberal Party, a position he held until he entered the Senate in 1971.

Peter’s early years in the Senate coincided with the period of the Whitlam Labor government. Peter was part of the block of coalition senators that caused the Whitlam government so much agony and eventually he formed part of the new Fraser government that came to power in the wake of the 1975 dismissal. After just four years in the Senate, Peter was appointed to the ministry of the new Fraser government. He was initially made Minister for Repatriation in 1976, which was renamed Veterans’ Affairs three months later. Peter served in this position for another year until Bob Ellicott resigned as Attorney-General in 1977. He held that position until the election of the Hawke Labor government in 1983.

As Attorney-General, Peter Durack steered one of the most significant periods of law reform in Australian history, particularly in the area of human rights and civil rights. His best known achievement was the introduction of the Commonwealth freedom of information legislation in 1981, which for the first time gave Australians legally enforceable rights to access information held by government. The legislation represented a significant expansion of civil liberties for Australians.

As well as being heralded as the father of FOI, as Attorney-General, Peter was involved in preparing the two-airline agreement and the broadcasting and television legislation. He brought changes to copyright law, administrative appeals and the powers of Federal Police and ASIO and he was involved in the settlement with the states on offshore sovereignty. He worked on the Acts Interpretation Act aimed at instructing the judiciary to take into account the purpose of legislation when interpreting it, and played an important role in the ending of appeals to the Privy Council. Peter also oversaw the appointment to the High Court of Sir Ronald Wilson, former Governor-General Sir William Deane, and Sir Gerard Brennan, who went on to become Chief Justice.

During his time as a senator Peter also served as Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate from 1978 to 1983 and as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1983 to 1987 and again from 1990 to 1992. He was also a member of a long list of parliamentary committees which included Regulations and Ordinances, Publications, Scrutiny of Bills, Privileges, Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Industry and Trade, National Resources, Finance and Public Administration, Securities and Exchange, Civil Rights of Migrant Australians, and Foreign Ownership and Control. Peter retired from the Senate in 1993, but he continued to play an important role in mentoring the next generation of Liberal politicians.

Peter passed away on 13 July this year. He leaves a long legacy of public service. In tributes to Peter Durack from former political colleagues he has been remembered for his central role in one of the most constructive periods of law reform and human rights protections in Australian history. On behalf of the government I offer condolences to his family, in particular his wife, Isabel, their children, Anne and Philip, and their grandchildren.