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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-07 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Gallacher, Senator A.M.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:20): By leave, I move:

That the Legislative Council expresses its deep regret at the death of Senator Alex Gallacher and places on record its appreciation of his distinguished public service and that, as a mark of respect to his memory, the sitting of the council be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

It is with sadness that we speak to this particular motion. I am sure more members, in particular of the Australian Labor Party, will speak to the motion at the sad passing of Senator Alex Gallacher. From my perspective, he was a relatively young man, having been born in 1954. Others who are younger may well see it slightly differently.

He was born in 1954 in Scotland. He came to Australia and worked in a variety of occupations prior to joining the union movement. He was a labourer and a truck driver. He was then employed as a ramp services operator for a period of 12 years with the old TAA (Trans Australia Airlines). In 1988, his long career and association with the labour movement commenced with his involvement in the Transport Workers' Union of Australia, SA/NT branch.

He worked his way up from an industrial officer, which was a position he held for four years from 1988 to 1992. He was then an organiser from 1992 to 1996. He then became state secretary of the TWU for a long period, from 1996 to 2010. He also served as federal vice-president for two years from 2005 to 2007 and then president for three years from 2007 to 2010.

In 2010, he was successful in achieving preselection for the Australian Labor Party to go into the federal Senate and served there for a period of approximately 11 years, from 2010 through to 2021. I think his initial term actually began on 1 July. As one of those vagaries of the Senate, you are elected but you sometimes have a delayed start date. His delayed start date was not until 1 July 2011. He was subsequently re-elected in 2016 and 2019.

In his first speech—and we are going to enjoy a first speech of a new member in our chamber later on today—–he listed his three main priorities, two of them unsurprising: transport and road safety. The third one, which was of great interest to him through his career, was superannuation. He did, and I guess it was a product of the times, warn his own party, the Labor Party, against becoming a captive to a new Green agenda.

He did speak at length in his first speech and a number of other speeches in relation to the impact of a carbon tax on the trucking industry, the transport industry and what impact there might be. In particular, he talked about the potential impacts on self-employed truck drivers and the like. His interests were very much about the transport and trucking industry.

I am sure that, as I said, members of the Australian Labor Party may well speak in greater detail about his active engagement in the Transport Workers' Union and some of those important issues to truckies and the trucking industry. With my finance hat on as Treasurer, I did note his interest in his first speech and in a number of other speeches in terms of superannuation.

In his first speech he talked about the main threat, from the worker's viewpoint, in terms of superannuation, being the level of uncertainty about share markets. That is, I am sure, an accurate reflection of many of his members but also an accurate reflection of many others who invest in superannuation in terms of the vagaries of the national and international share markets in terms of impacts on superannuation balances.

He went on to argue, in his first speech, about alternative opportunities in terms of superannuation investments and fund investment, and let me quote him:

The things you drive on, work in or fly out of—you can see them and they cannot disappear in a global financial meltdown. They generally behave in a predictable way and should deliver a higher return than cash.

He went on to argue that there needed to be an awareness campaign, but his argument then was—and this has been a growing argument over the last 10 years or so, and I guess it probably pre-existed 2011 as well—an argument about investment in infrastructure, things you can touch and feel, things you can see, and the increasing importance of funds management, industry, investment of superannuation funds in infrastructure investments.

We have seen a number of superannuation funds pivot towards infrastructure investment as a solid buffer in terms of balancing both the cash balances in a fund and also the exposure to share markets, whether they be domestic or international share markets. Senator Gallacher, in his first speech, was certainly reflecting the views of his members in terms of certainty of returns. He highlighted the fact that the priority, or the major, investment probably for most of his members was the purchase of a house.

After the purchase of a house, their major investment, present and future, was going to relate to their superannuation and so it was important that they were educated about superannuation investments and about what the best returns might be. In his own way, he argued that superannuation funds should be looking at spreading the risk amongst a variety of investment options within the portfolio interests.

I did meet Senator Gallacher on a number of occasions, generally at industry functions and the like. Messages of condolence were sent from federal senators on all sides of the political fence—I note from our side Senator Simon Birmingham as the Leader in the Senate, from the Labour side Senator Penny Wong and a variety of other federal labour senators, and also members of the Senate crossbench who had worked with Senator Gallacher.

All of these messages had a constant theme of acknowledging his hard work on behalf of working Australians, in particular members of his particular industry sector but generally a capacity to try to work together with other senators across the political divide on matters of shared interest. That was, as I said, a constant message or theme that came through all the public condolence messages.

With that, can I speak on behalf of government members in this chamber to publicly acknowledge his contribution to the community, to his political party, to the trade union movement and to the federal parliament, and pass on our condolences to his family, his friends and acquaintances.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): I rise to support the motion before us. As the Treasurer has outlined, Senator Gallacher was born in Scotland in 1954 and came to Australia as a 12 year old with his parents. He passed away at the age of 67 at the end of last month after a battle with lung cancer.

Senator Gallacher was a man who loved life and lived it to its fullest. He was a fierce and uncompromising advocate for workers, especially in the transport industry, and a loyal and committed member of the Labor Party, who always served his constituents, his union, his industry and his state with passion.

He joined the Labor Party in the late 1980s and has served as a delegate to state council, right up to a delegate to the ALP national convention. A former truck driver and a unionist, Senator Gallacher joined the TWU in 1988 and eventually became secretary and treasurer of the SA and NT branch. He was, as has been outlined, an industrial officer and organiser, and served in a national capacity with the union. Senator Gallacher was first elected to the Senate in 2010, and subsequently re-elected in 2016 and 2019.

In his first speech to parliament, Senator Gallacher listed transport, road safety and superannuation as three particular priority interests. In his first speech he said:

I've been involved in the transport industry all of my life. In my humble opinion there is no better place to work. There is no smoke and mirrors, just plain talking, hard working employees and employers alike in a tough competitive industry, which works harder than most people imagine and continues to work while most people are asleep.

At the conclusion of Senator Gallacher's first speech he quoted former President Roosevelt in a line sent to him by his daughter, which he strived to emulate in life and in work. He said, 'Far and away the best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at something worth doing.' For all those who knew Senator Gallacher, they would attest that he did strive to emulate that quote.

I got to know Senator Alex Gallacher a little on a trip to Eyre Peninsula in late 2018. Senator Gallacher was a very good and dear friend of WA Labor senator, Patrick Dodson, and Senator Gallacher accompanied Patrick Dodson and myself to the unveiling of a monument at Elliston, the first monument that spoke to massacres that occurred during the early colonisation of South Australia. As well as those policy areas that were to do with his industry and working people, I know Senator Gallacher had a deep passion for Aboriginal people in South Australia, and Senator Patrick Dodson very much appreciated his wise counsel in many areas.

Senator Gallacher also served as chair on several parliamentary committees, including foreign affairs and trade and economics, and as deputy chair on the Joint Select Committee on Road Safety. Federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has described Senator Gallacher as a conscientious, no-nonsense man who knew what he stood for. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Senator Gallacher's family and friends at this time.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:32): It is with sadness that I get up today to say a few words on the passing of Senator Alex Gallacher. I first met Alex Gallacher in 1996, during our negotiations with the Federated Gas Employees Industrial Union and the Transport Workers' Union for amalgamation. I had spent months negotiating with the previous secretary and turned up one day to a room where Alex Gallacher was heading the negotiations. I had a few concerns at the time that the quite good conditions that we had negotiated—conditions for the union amalgamation—were not going to go ahead as I was hoping.

But those concerns were ill founded, because Alex showed that he respected the work that had been done and he abided by and supported the agreement right until I left the union. Unbeknownst to me, within a few months of the amalgamation I was embroiled in quite a hard fought union election, as the previous secretary to Alex got up a team and took him on. I threw my support behind Alex and we won and won well. Lo and behold, four years later we had another election, and people who understand union elections know they can be pretty tough. There is no middle ground: you either win and go and represent the members, or you lose and you go and look for another job—a little bit like being a member of parliament, I suppose.

I then worked with Alex from 1997 to 2006, and I went on many a picket line with Alex. I served on the national conference with Alex over many years and I saw the way Alex operated, and he was held in very high regard by everyone who knew him. He was a tough negotiator, but he also understood that, at the end of the day, you have to negotiate an outcome, so he never dug a hole so deep for himself that he could not get out.

He was a down-to-earth sort of person, no airs and graces, but once you got an understanding with Alex that was his bond. His word was his bond and he took great pride in sticking to any agreement he would make. Alex stood up consistently and passionately for the rights of his fellow Australians at work and for their right to come home safely from work. There was no stronger advocate of the Safe Rates campaign than Alex Gallacher. It was his driving force, and he took that into the Senate with him when he went there in 2010.

He served on a number of committees, but the one that he really made an impact on was the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport. He rejected the notion that Labor should only campaign in the cities and spent a significant amount of time in the regions, supporting the regions. On many of the trips I did on the Natural Resources Committee, we would go into a community and they all knew Alex Gallacher. Alex spent a lot of time out there, and he was a very tough and strong supporter of the regions. He understood the challenges that they had and he did what he could to help make life a little bit easier.

It is a great sadness that he has passed away. I had the pleasure of being invited to his COVID-restricted service last week and it was very sad. I then went to the celebration of his life, where the people who were there and the experiences they had had with Alex showed that he had a very productive life and the world was a better place when he left.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:36): I also rise today to share my condolences on the passing of my federal Labor colleague Senator Alex Gallacher. Alex dedicated his life to the labour movement and the interests of working people. As a proud trade unionist and as a senator, Alex put South Australia and South Australian working people first.

When Alex was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2019, he approached it with the same courage and determination to face this challenge as he had with many other challenges. He fought this until the very end. I remember stories of my federal colleagues saying that he was still travelling to Canberra to be part of the sittings at the start of last year during the pandemic because he felt that if there were other people who were working and unwell and they had to go to work so would he.

Since his passing, we have heard from his colleagues on both sides of the house about Alex's reputation for being a straight shooter, a no-nonsense man who stood for what he believed in. We have heard about his second to none work ethic, his humble nature and his selfless commitment to support and mentor others.

I remember that Alex was elected when I was in my 20s. I did not think Alex would have my phone number, but he called me and I was so honoured to receive a phone call from him. He then said, 'I want you to come into my office and help set it up, and get us on track about what we should be focusing on, which communities we should be getting in contact with and reaching out to.' I really appreciated the opportunity to be a part of his team at the very beginning.

From his family, we have heard that he was a dedicated father, grandfather and husband, and he will be missed by his brothers and sister and his family and friends in Australia and overseas. Alex was a family man who will be fondly remembered by everyone he crossed paths with. To his wife, Paola, his children and grandchildren, and to the TWU family and his friends, I share my deepest sympathies.

We are all very privileged to be in these roles in this place and in the other place, both state and federal. One of the greatest privileges is to share these stories and for them to be in our Hansard, our state's history book, forever. As we will see today, your first speech will mean something forever. It will be there for others to reflect on and to see if you are able to stay true to what you were saying in your first speech. Alex sure did that.

During his first speech, we have heard time and time again today that he had those true commitments of putting workers first but also of thinking about not just the instant future but the broader future, looking at superannuation to make sure we had those mechanisms in place so that we can have a secure and healthy future.

The other significant thing is that when Alex walked in the door for the first time he had two staff members, Peter Gonis and Matt Marozzi. They were also there the last time he walked out of the office. That is a significant thing when you are in parliament for 10 years: to start with your staff and end with your staff. That is a true sign that he was a dedicated man, a family man, and he made everyone around him his family. With those words, I would like to say thank you to Alex for standing up for what he believed in, never changing his course and always staying true to his values.

The PRESIDENT: I ask honourable members to stand in their places and carry the motion in silence.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

Sitting suspended from 14:41 to 14:51.

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