STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator HODGINS-MAY (Victoria) (13:34): I rise to honour my friend, Victorian colleague and the member for Brunswick, Dr Tim Read. In Tim's recent valedictory speech, he said: … for me, politics is the work you do to improve people's circumstances, not just now but in the future. Politics is hope in motion.

If all of us here in this building were a bit more like him, this would be a better place. It genuinely would be. Tim is a man of great courage, great integrity and, of course, great humour.

He has such courage that he used his public announcement of his terminal cancer diagnosis as an opportunity to launch a campaign to save VicHealth—a campaign that should never have been necessary. As a GP now fighting skin cancer, Tim knows more than most about the importance of investing in preventive health care. I stand with Tim and the community in the fight to save VicHealth.

Tim has made the Victorian parliament a more democratic and transparent place during his time there. Tim's tireless work secured a major transparency reform—the opening of ministerial diaries in Victoria. Now the public can log online and see who is in the ear of the government, who is influencing them.

It's something that we've been pushing for at a federal level. Tim helped to secure this in the Victorian state parliament. This week, as perhaps the final feather in his cap, but not necessarily, Victoria finally abolished undemocratic group-voting tickets.

Tim and the Greens have driven this campaign for years, now ending the absurd practice that, effectively, allowed people to buy a seat in the Victorian state upper house. Tim, thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your service to the Greens.

We are going to miss you.