The SPEAKER (12:01): Members, just bear with me. I have a short statement to make before we get underway. I wish to draw the attention of members to the altered arrangements in the chamber and the Federation Chamber for this week's budget sittings. These arrangements reflect the current COVID-safe advice under the one-person-per-two-square-metre rule and are likely to remain in place until there is a variation in the risk profile.

Clearly, the most obvious change is the seating arrangement. For the first time since 5 March 2020, the full membership of the House can once again be accommodated within the chamber at one time. Each member has a nominated seat. Please sit only in your seat, and note that you will not be recognised by the chair unless you're seeking the call from your nominated seat. At this stage it has not been possible to seat all ministers and shadow ministers on their respective front benches, but this situation will remain under review.

During divisions, the tellers will continue to operate from near the Hansard table, which will not otherwise be occupied. This will avoid crowding down here near the Speaker's chair and where the clerks are. The questions put in any division will still be expressed in such a form as to minimise the need for most members to cross the chamber floor for any count. There are empty seats around the rear of the chamber on the side voting for the ayes. These can be used by the crossbench or others, and any occupants will be counted with the ayes during divisions.

There are precautions in place to ensure that all occupants of the chamber can be identified, if required, by contact tracers. Advisers using the advisers boxes are expected, on entry to the chamber, to scan the QR codes posted outside the chamber doors to my left and right. I have spoken to the whips and asked them to enforce this practice. Members of the media using the press gallery above me must use the QR codes located there as well. All visitors in public galleries will be known either to my office or to Visitor Services. Of course, a record is already kept of members attending the chamber, as you're aware. These steps are necessary in order to increase the number of people allowed to be in the chamber at any one time. Seating capacity in the Federation Chamber will return to normal, and advisers and visitors there will need to record their entry by scanning QR codes. You'll notice the placement of QR codes at the entrances to party rooms. Whilst it's not necessary for members to scan in for party room meetings, anyone else will need to scan in, and all occupants, including members, will need to scan in when the rooms are being used for other events. I've spoken to the whips about their offices managing events in the party rooms in a COVID-safe way.

In order to allow us to maintain a more normal operating environment within Parliament House, it's imperative that members and all building occupants continue to observe COVID-safe behaviours, including not attending parliament when unwell—it's particularly important with the onset of winter, when respiratory illnesses are, of course, more common, and any respiratory illness requires testing and isolation, pending results; observing COVID respiratory and hand hygiene, such as coughing into your elbow, hand sanitising and regular handwashing; and, when travelling, being aware of jurisdictional requirements and also registering attendance, including using QR codes, which are placed throughout the building.

The President of the Senate and I will continue to take regular advice from medical authorities on appropriate COVID precautions. Arrangements in the chambers and at Parliament House will be adjusted to reflect the expert advice, and, of course, I will advise members of any new developments. Finally, I encourage all members to download the Check In CBR app for use around the building and around Canberra, if you haven't already done so. I want to thank the whips, the Leader of the House and the Manager of Opposition Business for the discussions we had leading up to today's sitting, and I thank the House.

Mr MORRISON (Cook—Prime Minister and Minister for the Public Service) (12:08): I move:

That:

An address to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the following terms be agreed to:

YOUR MAJESTY:

We, the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, received with great sorrow the news of the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. On behalf of the Australian people, we express deep sympathy to Your Majesty and other members of the Royal Family, and give thanks for a remarkable life dedicated to service, devotion and commitment.

For almost 80 years, Prince Philip served the Crown, his country and our Commonwealth. He was part of a generation that we will never see again: a generation who defied tyranny, who won a peace and built a liberal world order that protects and favours freedom, a generation who found meaning in service over self and to whom we owe so much. Prince Philip, as consort to the monarch, is said to have remarked, 'Constitutionally, I don't exist.' That no doubt is true, but it belies the Prince's lifelong support of the Queen as an exemplar of a life of service. In Her Majesty's own words, Prince Philip was her 'strength and stay'.

They were married a remarkable 73 years—remarkable in any time, in any context, but even more remarkable under an unrelenting public gaze. It was a romance that began when he was a young officer in the Royal Navy. Prior to war, he graduated top of his class at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. At 21 he was the youngest first lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Like so many others, the war had tempered this young lieutenant. It forced him to confront who he was, what he valued and how he would live. He wrote after war's end to his betrothed:

To have been spared in war and seen victory, to have been given the chance to rest and re-adjust myself, to have fallen in love completely and unreservedly, makes all one's personal and even the world's troubles seem small and petty.

The then Lieutenant Mountbatten and Princess Elizabeth married in 1947. In keeping with the times, ration coupons were used to purchase the wedding dress. Five years later the princess became our Queen, and Prince Philip put aside his active military career and took up the role of royal consort and companion. It was a role that required another to shine, not him. That takes a certain humility, as well as a deep understanding of what service truly means. Whilst their partnership embodied the tradition and timelessness of monarchy, their partnership in another way was one ahead of its time—a husband who put aside his career to support and affirm the work of his wife.

The role of consort is one without a rule book. Prince Philip put his own unique stamp on the role with geniality, good humour, a genuine interest in others and a fair dinkum authenticity. By the time he had retired at the sprightly age of 96, he had undertaken some 22,000 public engagements. Those of us here have been to plenty of engagements, but I don't think any of us would pretend to a number of that scale. Again and again, he deployed his trademark lightheartedness to draw out people and put them at ease. It was an unfaltering service, always walking two steps behind Her Majesty. What you saw was what you got. If the photographers were taking too long, he'd tell them. If the environment was in danger, he'd indeed say it. If monarchy could encourage and inspire, he made sure that it did.

Sixty-five years ago, Prince Philip created the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, an award that is about young people giving their best, taking responsibility, persevering, developing skills, giving back and making a contribution. He described the award as a 'do-it-yourself growing-up kit', an award modelled on how the Duke himself saw life. In Australia alone, 775,000 young people have completed the award. Millions more have done so around the world. Every one of those lives gained a layer of texture because of that experience.

Internationally, the Prince was patron or president of more than 750 organisations and, of those hundreds, 50 were here in Australia. Many of them reflected his personal passions for conservation, science, industry, design, engineering, sport and of course the military.

Prince Philip was a frequent visitor to Australia over his life. In fact he first came to our shores as a midshipman aboard the battleship Ramillies in 1940 and again in 1945 aboard the Royal Navy destroyer Whelp. One trip that is almost lost to history but is worth recounting today here in this place was his visit to Australia in 1967, some 54 years ago. In February of that year, Tasmania experienced its most deadly bushfire, Black Tuesday, a day when 64 people died and more than 7,000 lost their homes. Less than a month later, the Duke visited Tasmania's fire ravaged southern region on what some dubbed a 'protocol-wrecking tour'. He travelled through Taroona, Kingston, Margate and Snug. He met with people and heard their stories. He listened, he consoled and he did his best to lift everyone's spirits. But that's not where the story ended, because a year later he returned to visit the same sites and the same people. He was checking in.

Over his 80 years of service Australians saw the measure of Prince Philip. More than the husband and partner of our sovereign, he was an authentic man, who, despite the protocol and privilege that surrounded him, sought to reach out and connect with people and good causes in his own way. He was a genuine defender of Australia. Today we place on record our gratitude for his lifetime of service to the Crown, to our Commonwealth and to our country. We honour, indeed, a remarkable life that bore witness to almost 100 years of history in the making of our modern world.

On behalf of all Australians, I extend our sincere condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and to the royal family in this their time of grief, but especially to Her Majesty. The image of her seated alone at her prince's funeral service was a very solemn one. I know she would have been drawing, as she always has, great comfort from her very deep faith. But let also now our Commonwealth seek to sustain her as she continues in her selfless and devoted duty to our Commonwealth and, indeed, to Australia. Let us, her Commonwealth, be her strength and her stay. To Her Majesty, we send Australia's love and respect, and to His Royal Highness, may he rest in peace.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (12:16): I join with the Prime Minister in giving an address of condolence on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on behalf of the Australian Labor Party. Prince Philip was always part of the picture. By the time any of us here in this place was born he was already a veteran of royal duty, a veteran of war, a veteran of life. In his near century His Royal Highness knew conflict and peace, empire and Commonwealth, turbulence and tranquillity. He was such a familiar face of the establishment it was easy to forget that as a baby his family smuggled him out of his native Corfu and into exile concealed in an orange crate. From there his childhood was an unrelenting cascade of chaos and loss. He was abandoned by his father. His mother went into psychiatric care. His beloved sister was killed in an air crash. He was shuffled between countries and schools and languages, left to depend on the support of relatives. Even though he was a royal he understood what it was to be an outsider. His cousin Alexandra, the Queen of Yugoslavia, remembered the young Philip as, 'A huge, hungry dog, perhaps a friendly collie, who never had a basket of his own,' and yet he rose.

In the Navy he found a sense of home. When the war came, bringing with it an enemy that was as relentless as it was merciless, he showed courage and clear thinking. He found love with Elizabeth, a love that survived and thrived even after they were thrust into the strange limelight of royal power far sooner than either of them had ever anticipated. During his many decades devoted to his Queen, his nation and the Commonwealth he also became an enduring part of the story of our nation. His first visit to Australia was in 1940, a midshipman aboard a battleship that escorted Australian troops from Melbourne to the Suez. He eventually became a regular visitor to our shores, not least of which was his extensive visit here with the Queen in 1954, as well as his opening of our Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956.

Just as he shared in our joys and our triumphs, he shared in our sorrows, seeing with his own eyes the awful devastation wrought by bushfire. Throughout it all he developed multiple connections here and ultimately built the lasting legacy in the form of the Duke of Edinburgh's award scheme. It gives great encouragement and support to young people as they grow into adulthood, both making them aware of their potential and equipping them with the means to reach it. Nearly 800,000 young Australians, my son Nathan included, have participated in and benefited from this scheme, amongst the more than eight million across the world who have participated so far.

He also took keen interest in other aspects of our great continent. As an avid birdwatcher, he was captivated by the rediscovery of the noisy scrub-bird in Western Australia. So it wasn't just an academic exercise; he campaigned to create the Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve to give it a fighting chance at survival. As he once told the BBC, 'The power that humanity wields over other species is something that must be exercised with a moral sense.'

It is true that perceptions of him often threatened to harden into caricature. But, as even British newspaper the Observer noted, there was a gulf between the media coverage and the reality of the man. Prince Philip, being Philip, was philosophical about this, offering the thought: 'Safer to not be too popular; you can't fall too far.' It was certainly my observation when I met him and the Queen during the first G20 meeting, during the global financial crisis, at Buckingham Palace. He was someone who showed that attention to duty, and could be very charming indeed.

Throughout it all, of course, there was his Queen Elizabeth. Prince Philip's death brings to an end one of the most remarkable and enduring partnerships of our time. Queen Elizabeth often found ways to describe the central place Prince Philip occupied in her life. Indeed, she once said that she owed him 'a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know'. It was such a poignant image of the Queen at the funeral—so sad. Amid the solemn pageantry, in the end there was just her, alone—a human being without the partner who had been her great counterweight in the adventure of life. We mourn Prince Philip but we also celebrate a long and truly remarkable life. On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I extend my condolences to Her Majesty and to the royal family.

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Minister for Defence and Leader of the House) (12:22): On behalf of the Australian Defence Force, I rise to extend our most profound sympathies to Her Majesty. With the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, we have lost a loyal and distinguished servant of our Westminster democracy and of our armed forces. We have lost a giant of our time.

At 18 months old, in December 1922, Philip was forced to flee his native Greece. Amid a military coup, his first naval voyage was to be an evacuation aboard the Royal Navy's HMS Calypso. The future royal consort spent the Adriatic crossing to Italy in a cot, fashioned, as the Leader of the Opposition pointed out, from an orange crate. The Prince's family found refuge in the western Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud. At a young age, parental circumstances saw Philip cross the Channel to live with family and attend school in Great Britain. It was here that this nomad found his home.

The Prince would go on to attend the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, graduating as best cadet. It was also at Dartmouth, in April 1939, that Philip would meet Elizabeth for the second time. They would soon enter into regular correspondence. The Nazi invasion of Poland took place less than six months later, and the world was plunged into devastating conflict. Philip joined the battleship HMS Ramillies in Ceylon—modern day Sri Lanka—in January 1940. It was aboard this vessel that Philip first visited Australia, taking part in the escort of ANZAC troop convoys to the Suez.

By March 1941 the 19-year-old Duke was serving on the Queen Elizabeth class battleship HMS Valiant in the Battle of Cape Matapan. The Greek prince, forced to flee Corfu on the corvette Calypso as an infant, had returned to Greece on a battleship to defend her. Philip's actions, directing a search light onto Italian cruisers which were subsequently destroyed, saw him mentioned in despatches and later awarded a Greek War Cross. The engagement was a major strategic victory for the Allies, including the Royal Australian Navy, which, as we know, served with distinction.

During the 1943 invasion of Sicily, Philip saved his ship, the destroyer HMS Wallace, from a likely lethal German aerial bombardment. Luftwaffe dive-bombers were undertaking a persistent night-time assault on the vessel when Philip seized the initiative. In the minutes the enemy aircraft was preparing to make another run over the Wallace, Philip set in motion an inspired diversion. He filled a wooden raft with rubbish and set it on fire. Smoke floats were attached to the end, and the raft was launched into the water. On its return, the German aircraft was deceived by the flames and the smoke, and the pilot mistakenly believed he had destroyed the British battleship on his previous attempt. Harry Hargreaves, who had also served on the Wallace, would later say, 'Prince Philip saved our lives that night.' Philip would take part in the Allied invasion of southern France, before joining the British Pacific Fleet. As First Lieutenant of the W-class destroyer HMS Whelp, the Prince would visit Sydney, Darwin and Melbourne. On 2 September 1945 he was present in Tokyo Bay, as the Japanese foreign minister signed the instrument of surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri.

With the war over, in 1947 the Prince married the love of his life, Elizabeth. Their first child, Charles, was born in 1948. One year later, Philip joined the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet at Malta, where he continued his promising naval career. The Duke was promoted to lieutenant commander and, in 1950, given his first command, the HMS Magpie. Fate then intervened. Philip's father-in-law's health began to dramatically decline, and, in 1951, he took indefinite leave from the Navy. Less than a year later, on 6 February 1952, King George VI passed in his sleep. Just as for Prince Albert, who was unexpectedly thrust onto the throne through the abdication crisis, the young couple found their lives jarringly changed forever. This ambitious and dynamic young naval officer would refocus his energy into a new form of service. He would support his Queen, whilst stridently carving out his own identity and role. He was a maverick and a moderniser, who led to navigate and ultimately strengthen an ancient and storied institution, and he did it his way.

Philip always proudly maintained his connection to the armed services and to Australia. On presenting a Queen's Colour to HMAS Cerberus during the 1954 royal visit, the Prince reflected: 'I had the good fortune to serve with Australian seamen on Australian ships in the last war in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific. I have a firsthand respect for their qualities. You have a splendid tradition to live up to, and I hope this Colour will always serve to remind you of the valour and achievements of the men of the Royal Australian Navy.' On 1 April 1954, Her Majesty appointed the Duke as Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Australian Navy, Field Marshal in the Australian Army and Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force. Philip had a very special affinity with our Army cadets and the Royal Corps of Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, serving as the Colonel in Chief of both.

Philip lived a truly remarkable life of service to the Commonwealth and to his Queen. As Elizabeth's strength and stay, he was the longest serving consort in history. He was Her Majesty's best friend, her closest confidante and her sounding board. From the good times to the horrible, Philip was always there, two steps behind. This House sends our deepest and most sincere condolences to Her Majesty. We stand with you, we grieve for you and we grieve with you.

Mr MARLES (Corio—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (12:28): Prince Philip had a deep connection with Australia. It began at the age of 18 in 1940, when, as a midshipman aboard HMS Ramillies, he helped escort Australian troops across the Indian Ocean to Egypt. In many ways, this first engagement with Australia came to characterise Prince Philip's life, because, as a decorated naval officer and as consort to the British monarch, Prince Philip's was a life of astonishing service.

He visited Australia on more than 20 occasions. So it was no surprise that, when the Queen and Prince Philip decided that at least part of Prince Charles's education should occur in another country of the Commonwealth, they chose Australia—more specifically, the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School. The outdoor education of Timbertop was inspired by the educational philosophies of Kurt Hahn, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, who, in 1934, founded the Gordonstoun school in Scotland, which was Prince Philip's own alma mater. It was a school to which he was devoted throughout his life. It was where his three sons did the bulk of their education and where Princess Anne sent her own children and served on the board of governors. As a boy at the school, Prince Philip was the guardian of Gordonstoun, the school captain.

When you look at the philosophies of Kurt Hahn, they speak to the essence of Prince Philip. Hahn believed that an education should give a child the experience of self-discovery, that it should enable a child the opportunity to meet triumph and defeat. Right there, you've got the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which Prince Philip established with Kurt Hahn in 1956 to provide young people with the opportunity to have new experiences through physical and community challenges. Since then, millions of people around the world, from 90 countries, have gained the benefit of participation in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award program. Hahn also believed that an education should give a child the opportunity of self-effacement in the face of a greater cause—in other words, that it should instil a spirit of service towards others. Instilling that spirit remains part of the educational tenets of Gordonstoun to this day.

Prince Philip served in the name of science, he served in the name of the environment and he served thousands of organisations throughout his life and, through them, millions of people in the Commonwealth and Great Britain. But, most especially, he served his wife and his sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, as the longest serving consort to a reigning British monarch, over an astonishing period of 69 years. Think about it: here was a man who was larger than life and charismatic and who, by instinct, probably would have imagined himself to be the one out front but who willingly made a decision to be the one behind and to make his life about providing support to another. Of course, that's a decision that millions of people make—to provide support to a husband or a wife, or to give loyal and faithful service to a leader at work—but Prince Philip's example reminds us that those who give that support are just as important as the ones who are out front, and that, in making that decision, there is in it a profound nobility and that, just occasionally, it is that person who gets recognition of the highest order.

After his visit in 1971, the people of the dramatically beautiful volcanic island of Tanna, in southern Vanuatu, came to literally worship Prince Philip as a living god. Whatever his status, Prince Philip leaves this world much loved, as the reaction around Australia to his passing has shown. His life is acknowledged here today by a deeply grateful nation.

Mr McCORMACK (Riverina—Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development and Leader of the Nationals) (12:32): I acknowledge the fine and eloquent words by the Prime Minister, the opposition leader, the defence minister and the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party about a truly remarkable man. His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was committed to a life of service, of service to others. He was undoubtedly Her Majesty's rock, so consistently was he with her, supporting and encouraging Her Majesty. However, recent statistics show that, since 1952, the Duke of Edinburgh had completed 22,219 solo engagements. That's truly amazing. Each and every engagement focused on reaching out to the peoples of the Commonwealth and, indeed, the world. These were not over five, 10 or even 20 years of service; this was a lifetime of service lived for others. Many people choose to retire in their 50s, their 60s or perhaps their early 70s. Prince Philip scaled back at age 96. Just imagine that.

For Australians, amongst his most enduring of legacies has been the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, as has been spoken of before. This youth development program empowers young Australians aged between 14 and 24 to explore their full potential, to be their best selves and to find their purpose, passion and place in the world, regardless of their location or circumstance. It is a fully inclusive program, with no social, political or religious affiliations. The award's national chair in Australia, Gary Nairn AO, said this:

We have lost a great man who, over more than 60 years, gave inspiration to young people to explore their potential and achieve success …

Prince Philip leaves behind a wonderful legacy that will continue to benefit youth across the world.

Indeed it will. This rings so true when we see the award's scope: since 1959, motivating 775,000 young Australians to set goals and challenge themselves as they build their lives. There are participants across the Riverina, my electorate, taking this opportunity with both hands right now, and, indeed, 60,000 volunteers are supporting 45,000 young Australians currently taking that very challenge.

Communities across Australia have responded with consistent enthusiasm to royal visits. Since Her Majesty's coronation, Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales, my home town, has hosted multiple visits. Indeed, I once complained when I was the editor of the Daily Advertiser at Wagga that we had actually had more royal visits than prime ministerial visits. Fortunately, we now get a few more visits from the Acting Prime Minister—but I digress. The Duke visited Wagga Wagga with Her Majesty in February 1954 and again in October 1973. In 1954, honouring their effort and reflecting the tremendous interest, tens of thousands of people turned out, despite the Wagga Wagga heat. It was reported that, of the 15,000 children gathered in the centre of Robertson Oval, 500 fainted in the heat and had to be stretchered off. Amongst the treasured memories of the 1973 visit are photographs of the Duke deep in conversation with Riverina College of Advanced Education students, many of them resplendent in their flared pants fashion of the day.

In 2000, as part of a three-day royal tour of New South Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University to see firsthand developments in the wine industry, the cheese making and the internationally acclaimed equine centre. Also that year, the Queen and Duke visited the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture right here in Canberra. This national centre had been recently announced as a joint initiative of CSU and the Anglican diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. As then Vice-Chancellor of CSU Professor Cliff Blake said: 'The university's inclusion in both the New South Wales and Canberra royal tours was indeed a high honour and significant recognition for CSU.'

The visit to the cheese factory on the uni campus back at Wagga Wagga brought one or two unexpected outcomes, creating headlines, indeed, that reached the United Kingdom. It came not long after intense press debate over headgear worn by Prince Charles on a tour of the Caribbean. The Duke's travelling party explained to the cheese factory team, 'He will be here for four minutes. He won't have time to put the hairnet and factory gear on.' The visit was a roaring success but left in its wake a batch of lemon myrtle herb cheese, valued at a couple of grand, with an uncertain future on the market. Someone said after the event, 'If it tests up safely, why don't we put it on the market as a Prince Philip special?'

A little more than three years ago, the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated 70 years of marriage with the Queen. Her Majesty is the only British monarch to have celebrated a platinum wedding anniversary. We are witnessing firsthand a most extraordinary period of service, highlighted by an extraordinary depth of personal commitment to the community, to the Commonwealth. Australians give deep thanks for the Duke of Edinburgh's lifetime of service and dedication. We extend our deepest sympathy to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family and to them we also say, simply, thank you.

Question agreed to, honourable members standing in their places.

Sitting suspended from 12:39 to 14:0 9

Mr MORRISON (Cook—Prime Minister and Minister for the Public Service) (14:09): I move:

That the House record its deep regret at the death, on 16 April 2021, of the Honourable Andrew Sharp Peacock AC, a former Minister and Member of this House for the Division of Kooyong from 1966 to 1994, a Leader of the Opposition, a leader of the Liberal Party and an ambassador to the United States, and place on record its deep appreciation for his service to Australia and offer its heartfelt sympathy to his family.

Andrew Peacock was a man of great loves, of achievements and of exhilarations. Of course, these extended mostly to his family, but there were so many others: the Liberal Party, the track, the Essendon Football Club. Each of them left him with his share of wins and losses, and near misses also: the 1984 and 1990 general elections, nearly chasing down former Prime Minister Bob Hawke; and the 1974 Melbourne Cup, where Leilani, which he co-owned, was the favourite and appeared to have the race in the bag until Think Big chased her down from the back of the field—as he said, 'A cup lost in the shadows of the post.'

He understood the evocation of Kipling: to meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same. Andrew Peacock lived that philosophy. He walked the corridors of this building and, indeed, the one down the hill, confident in his own skin, feeling utterly at home in his own life. It was an easy and a charismatic confidence that others were drawn to, a confidence seen behind the dispatch box; at the track on a Saturday, impeccably dressed, of course, with binoculars over one shoulder, studying the Wizard form guide in his hand; on the tennis court with his mate the late Teddy Kennedy; and networking with the A-listers in Washington, advancing our national cause.

Like his old sparring partner, former Prime Minister Hawke, Andrew Peacock had a charisma and a warmth that others were drawn to. He drew on it when he put his hand up as a 27-year-old seeking pre-selection to succeed Sir Robert Menzies in the seat of Kooyong. There have never been bigger shoes for someone to fill. But the 'colt from Kooyong', as he became known—a lifelong sobriquet, ever given in Australian politics—took that in his stride. For decades later, Andrew became a generous mentor to another young, optimistic and forward-looking Liberal candidate and indeed member for Kooyong. I know that the Treasurer wishes he could have been here today, Mr Speaker, to be honouring his great friend Andrew Peacock.

At the core of Andrew's beliefs was liberalism and its ability to help people live out the truest expression of who they can be. As he said in his Alfred Deakin lecture:

A Liberal society does not demand homogeneity and social uniformity. On the contrary, it relishes diversity.

A truly fruitful society is one which promotes a zest for differences. A society which accepts and encourages those differences as a natural expression of individual identity will be more creative, progressive and interesting.

It is worth recalling that at the lecture in 1983, a university student brought along her 16-year-old brother to hear Andrew Peacock speak. I understand it was the teenager's first political speech. That night, Andrew Peacock lit a spark in a young Tony Smith, as he did in so many other lives.

Andrew Peacock was a member of this House for almost three decades—a minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments. He made history as the then youngest minister ever when John Gorton made him Minister for the Army at the age of 30. He was minister during the Vietnam War. In the McMahon government he was Minister for External Territories, a role he held for just 10 months at the time but a role that reshaped him, our country and our dear neighbour, Papua New Guinea. He worked closely with the late Sir Michael Somare, whose passing we recently mourned here in this place.

Andrew Peacock visited PNG more than 50 times. It has been said of Andrew Peacock that he had charm—indeed, that he could charm the birds out of the trees. That is true, but his charm, connectedness and gift for friendships sprang from an ability to see things from someone else's point of view. He said of that time: 'I had to stop and remind myself that I had to put Australia first and not Papua New Guinea first.' He had grasped the 'why' of independence for Papua New Guinea—the pride of a people and the yearning to take responsibility for their own country, and the need for Australia to be not a colonial usurper but a friend to the aspirations of our nearest neighbour, pioneering our view of Papua New Guinea and, indeed, the entire Pacific as family.

In the Fraser government Andrew Peacock became one of our most accomplished foreign ministers. He built deep relationships across the region and was ahead of his time in promoting a reorientation of Australia towards our own region. He was proud of negotiating the Australia-Japan treaty of friendship. He was vocal in his denunciation of the Pol Pot regime in Kampuchea, despising what he called 'that loathsome regime'.

Andrew Peacock was a defining figure in our party, the Liberal Party, during the 1980s and the early 1990s. He led our party on two separate occasions. Approaching the half-century of Menzies's party, it was a time when the policy prescription of the party was being re-examined. At the fulcrum of those times were Andrew Peacock and former Prime Minister John Howard. This, of course, was a great rivalry, but Andrew said that through it all he and John never stopped talking. To Andrew, politics was always about engaging with others. He loved people. It was that ideal, and Andrew's ability to focus on the bigger picture, that made the colt a stayer. It's why Andrew was called back into service in 1997 by John Howard, who appointed him as Australia's ambassador to Washington—and a fine appointment it was. It was a role so suited to a man who felt so utterly at home with our American friends, so deeply ingrained in the importance of that alliance relationship and its foundational value to our own peace and security in this country.

Andrew Peacock drew much of his philosophy of life from racing: the 'ifs' of life; learning how to get up after a loss and dust yourself off; and being comfortable with both chance and fate. He loved the line from Les Carlyon's book on racing, Chasing a Dream:

If you insist two and two must always be four, if you think what should be will be, if you cannot dream a little, forget about the turf.

Andrew Peacock said his life was an endless adventure, and indeed it was—an adventure that saw him discover purpose in politics and achievement, and experience joy in the vagaries of his love of racing and the certainties of love from his dear family.

When Andrew passed, his daughters Caroline, Jane and Ann wrote:

You taught us to be our best selves, and in both triumph and adversity to keep our heads high.

What father wouldn't want their children to be able to say that of them? Lessons for us all.

Andrew Peacock was a treasure of our great party, the Liberal Party, and a devoted servant of our great country. To Andrew's wife, Penne, his children and his grandchildren, we offer our gratitude. We offer our condolences of both this place and, indeed, our party, of the government and of the country that Andrew loved and served for so long. May he rest in peace.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): Andrew Peacock certainly knew how to enjoy life, but he always gave the sense that he wanted you to be able to do the same. He could fully absorb the triumphs and the defeats of the race course, the footy field and the political sphere alike, and he strove to keep a sense of perspective. He may have lost the 1990 election against Bob Hawke, despite getting more votes, but he forever maintained that he had been more hurt by a Melbourne Cup loss. It's a sentiment Bob might have been able to identify with! It's doubtful the racehorses of Australia ever enjoyed such powerful bipartisan support as during the Hawke-Peacock period. Indeed, the Herald Sun's Patrick Carlyon wrote recently about them being together in the mounting yard at Flemington on Derby Day in 1988, Bob with his copy of the Sportsman, Andrew in his morning suit, the theatre of politics dispensed with as they stood side by side, absorbed in their love for horses.

Andrew injected a sense of style and colour into Australian politics that befitted his surname. He even brought glamour. Only Andrew Peacock could possibly have starred in a story about UFO hunting with Shirley MacLaine. But, crucially, Andrew also gave the sense that all that was good in life had to rest on a bedrock of decency and humanity. Consider his rage about the execution of two young Australian men by Pol Pot's forces in Kampuchea in the late 1970s. As foreign minister he was determined to withdraw Australia's recognition of the regime in Phnom Penh, setting him on a collision course with his leader. Decades later his anger had not softened, making a declaration of principle that we would do well to carve into the walls here: our first duty is to our own bloody citizens.

Then there was his unerring dedication to helping Papua New Guinea along its path to independence. When he was appointed Minister for External Territories in 1972, he flew to Port Moresby, only to find that there weren't any politicians around. An election was looming and they were off campaigning in their seats. As Donald Denoon wrote in his book A Trial Separation:

He … drove to the university at Waigani and talked for hours with anyone available. The students and staff were amazed that he came at all, let alone debated subjects such as self-government and independence.

…   …   …

Papua New Guineans were bowled over when he sat with them, shared a beer or a meal or a party, and listened rather than lectured.

At an official dinner in Port Moresby the following year, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam referred to Andrew's appointment as 'a piece of unexpected good fortune for PNG'. PNG eventually awarded him the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu and made him an honorary chief.

His sense of life was broad. He knew what mattered, he knew what to brush off and, importantly, he knew how to take the rough with the smooth in the adventure of life. Broadcaster Wendy Harmer recalls how mercilessly Andrew was sent up on the ABC's legendary satirical program The Gillies Report but that he was only too happy to sign her copy of The Gillies Report almanac. Indeed, the culprit himself, Max Gillies, says what a disarmingly good sport he was, even though Max cheekily played him as a bad actor with a dubious tan. Max tells me that Andrew's eyes lit up whenever he spotted him across a room, bounding over to greet him warmly, even introducing his tormentor like an old friend at a diplomatic function.

It was that inclusive warmth that Andrew Peacock carried with him into his role as one of our most successful ambassadors to the United States, along with his acute antennae for the political currents there. His former shadow minister for foreign affairs, Ian Macphee, once described seeing him in action in Washington: 'There was a special warmth with which people greeted Andrew. I can't think of a better ambassador there. He'll hammer them with charm and determination.' The observation has been made that Andrew was a peacemaker not a warmaker. It seems somehow fitting that, when he gave his first speech to parliament, the first MP to stand and congratulate him, according to records, was my old mentor, Tom Uren.

Andrew Peacock was a fine Australian, a man of principle, a man who never wavered from his small-l liberal values. On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I offer my condolences to Andrew's family. We were blessed to have him. May he rest in peace.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The SPEAKER (14:24): In recent days I have been speaking with Andrew's daughter, Ann Peacock, and on behalf of the family I've just got a short message from her to read to the House:

'On behalf of my sisters, Caroline, Jane and myself, and our father's grandchildren, Andrew, Woody and Christopher, we so greatly appreciate the opportunity to say a few words at the closure of this condolence motion. You have heard of daddy's career highlights, in particular his dedication to Papua New Guinea; the work he did in distancing this country from Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge; his relationship with world leaders; the respect he had for those on both sides of the House; his privilege of representing the constituents of his seat, Kooyong; and, finally, his passion for all Australians, and that passion included respect for all, from all walks of life.

He championed many causes, including the Indigenous, marriage equality and the principles of his party. He was quite religious, ensuring that we were brought up learning the messages of the Bible, attending church and respecting the words of the Bible. More recently, he and I did have some wonderful debates: I as a champion for the right to choose and the voluntary assisted dying legislation. But therein the debates would conclude with his words, "Only God has the right to take one's life," and that he has.

What we are left with is the love in our hearts and in our souls of the greatest, most giving, most caring, generous and thoughtful father. He always prioritised us. He was a father, and a mother for many years, all whilst holding down some of the greatest leading positions of the government and the Liberal Party. He will not die. He will live on in us, and we will uphold all that he taught us. We will never cease loving him and, as we were his priority, he is ours forever.'

As a mark of respect to the memory of the Hon. Andrew Sharp Peacock, I ask all present to rise in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

The SPEAKER: I thank the House.

Debate adjourned.

The SPEAKER (15:28): Before members leave the House, I'll just update the House about arrangements for this evening and Thursday evening. I ask all members to note the usual arrangements and, importantly, the courtesies that will apply to the Treasurer's budget speech this evening and equally to the Leader of the Opposition's speech in reply on Thursday evening. As with all proceedings of the House, the member with the call is entitled to speak without interruption. In accordance with precedent, should I determine that a member be required to leave the House under standing order 94(a), the member will be advised by written note. I haven't had to do this during my time as Speaker. It's important that those courtesies are maintained. I ask all members to ensure that their guests comply with COVID-safe measures in place in the building. I trust there'll be cooperation from members and their invited guests in the galleries, for whom they are responsible. It should be the aim of all members that both nights proceed smoothly for the benefit of the House and for those watching and listening to procedures.

To finish off, for the information of members, almost every year during the budget speech and during the budget-in-reply speech, I get a note alerting me to the time. The clock is there as a guide. This is the one occasion where both the Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition don't have a time limit. We don't want to encourage them to be unlimited, but there is not a 30-minute limit on the speech or on the Leader of the Opposition's reply.

The SPEAKER (15:29): I present Auditor-General's audit reports Nos 33 to 36 for 2020-21. Details of the reports will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.

Documents made parliamentary papers in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 28 March 2018.

Mrs WICKS (Robertson) (16:19): I wish to make a statement on behalf of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit Committee concerning the draft budget estimates for the Australian National Audit Office and the Parliamentary Budget Office for 2021-22. In doing so, I'd like to acknowledge the presence in the chamber of the deputy chair, the member for Bruce, and to thank him and all members of the committee for their ongoing role in the important work that this committee does.

The committee is required under the Public Accounts and Audit Committee Act 1951 and the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 to consider the draft budget estimates of the ANAO and the PBO and to make recommendations, including to both houses of parliament, regarding these estimates. With regard to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the committee has been informed that the PBO has sought additional funding of $3.6 million over four years in the 2021-22 budget to allow it to maintain and expand its publicly available research. The PBO states that additional funding over the 2021-22 to 2024-25 period would allow the continued production and publication of new material during the peak period of the six to nine months around an election. It would also assist in improving the usability and accessibility of the PBO's website, assist in the hiring of a team of five staff to expand the PBO's work, and allow the PBO to maintain its special appropriation. This is substantially similar to the PBO's $3.1 million request last year, which the government did not fund in the previous budget.

The JCPAA recognises the important role that the PBO can play in shaping the parliament's and the public's understanding of our economic and fiscal environment. The committee notes that the agency received $5.3 million in the 2019-20 budget to uplift its funding base to meet demand and modelling costs. The JCPAA supports the Parliamentary Budget Office's request for additional funding over the forward estimates, acknowledging the continued difficult budgetary conditions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

With regard to the ANAO's 2021-22 budget estimates, the Auditor-General is seeking supplementation of $8.8 million in 2021-22, rising to $11.6 million by 2024-25—or $41.4 million over four years—to address existing cost pressures and to restore, by 2024-25, the ANAO's capacity to meet its longstanding target of delivering 48 performance audits annually. The committee has advised that this will also assist in ensuring that quality and auditing standards in financial statement auditing are met and maintained. The ANAO states that supplementation is required to deliver an appropriate number of performance audits, to conduct mandatory financial statement audits, and to meet quality standards in IT and data storage security requirements.

The committee notes that in recent years the ANAO has delivered a reduced number of audits. In 2019-20 the ANAO delivered 42 audits and in 2021-22 the Auditor-General forecast delivering 40 audits, falling to 36 by 2024-25. In the ANAO's 2019-20 annual report, the Auditor-General has outlined that this is due to several factors. These include insufficient resourcing; higher-than-average audit costs resulting from cost pressures, including the need to train new staff due to high turnover; more complex audit issues; challenges from entity recordkeeping systems; and increased contract out costs for financial statements audits.

The JCPAA further notes that the ANAO has reported an operating deficit in recent years, including a total operating deficit of $3.117 million for the 2019-20 financial year and a $4.778 million operating deficit in 2018-19. It notes that this is inclusive of one-off costs for property. The ANAO is also seeking funding of $3.1 million in 2021-22, rising to $8.9 million by 2025-26—or $30.7 million over five years—to implement mandated performance statement audits, following a recent pilot program.

As part of the pilot, audits were completed on two entities: the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Veterans' Affairs. These audits aim to drive improvements in the transparency and quality of entities' performance reporting and to increase entities' accountability to the parliament and the public. The ANAO submits that this pilot demonstrates benefits in improving the reliability, relevance and completeness of performance statements of the entities involved. The committee notes that developing a methodology and capability for performance statement audits has been a long-running project over many parliaments and supports the intent of such audits.

The committee endorses the Auditor-General's request for supplementation to build the capability of the ANAO to return to a capacity to deliver 48 performance audits annually by the end of the forward estimates. The committee considers that increased funding consistent with a return to the historic target is important in the near term to commence that trajectory. Further, the committee considers that there are opportunities to provide for a more sustainable, ongoing funding model to avoid regular returns to the government and is examining this issue in its 10-year review of the Auditor-General Act 1997.

Finalisation of this report need not preclude a funding commitment in this budget. Members of the JCPAA acknowledge the difficult budgetary conditions due to COVID-19, in which this request is made, whilst understanding the importance and value of a robust audit function in achieving value for taxpayers and greater efficiency and effectiveness of government expenditure. The committee also endorses the Auditor-General's proposal to implement mandated performance audit statements in a staged approach and recommends that ongoing funding be provided to the ANAO to undertake this work.

I thank the Auditor-General and the Parliamentary Budget Office for their work in support of the parliament and the JCPAA. I present a copy of my statement.

Sit ting suspended from 16:27 to 19 : 30

Mr SUKKAR (Deakin—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness, Social and Community Housing) (20:11): I present the following ministerial statements: Women's budget statement 2021-22 and Regional ministerial budget statement 2021-22—Supporting regional recovery and growth.