CONDOLENCES

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (10:40): With the passing of Bruce Baird last week, Australia lost a real gentleman, a true parliamentarian and just a thoroughly decent human being. Tellingly, the respect and admiration for Bruce knew no political boundaries. That much was demonstrated in bittersweet fashion by the mix of the crowd who turned out to farewell him at St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney on Monday.

Bruce was a man perpetually on the move. As his daughter Julia noted in her eulogy, he 'loved to be in motion through water, through air, through life, through the endless throng of fascinating humans he had not yet met'. In his 84 years, he met so many.

Bruce had the uncommon distinction of serving his nation as a Liberal Party member at both the state and federal level, including as transport minister in the Greiner NSW government. It was a portfolio that he handled with such aplomb that I was pleased to appoint him years later as the inaugural chair of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator board. I also engaged with Bruce regularly with the tourism portfolio that I held in opposition for a number of years and as transport minister, of course, in government.

Bruce should also be remembered for his success as the minister in charge of Sydney's bid for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. What an extraordinary gift that was to my home city and to our nation. In whatever role he served, whether it was in parliament or leading bodies, including the Tourism & Transport Forum and the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council, he served with distinction, principle and humanity, all underpinned by the luminous power of his faith.

Bruce Baird lived his values. He went to the detention camps and he listened to the asylum seekers tell their stories. To Bruce, they weren't some shadowy, abstract other; they were fellow human beings who dreamed of something better for their families.

He stood strong for them and he changed lives. A perfect summary was offered at Bruce's funeral by Joseph Marigold, who escaped persecution in Iran and ended up in detention at Villawood. He said: 'Bruce listened to us.

He helped save us. We owe him. And now I am an Australian citizen.

I want to do everything I can to help save others.' There was no denying Bruce's personal magnetism. His son Mike, who, of course, became the Premier of New South Wales, at his first press conference spotted the large media pack clustered around someone else there in Macquarie Street. When he asked one of his staff who on earth the person could possibly be, Mike was gently informed, 'It's your dad.' Our hearts go out to Mike, Julia and Steve.

May Bruce Baird rest in a peace as beautiful as the peace that he felt every time he stepped into that surf at Manly Beach. May he rest in peace.