John Sandeman: As an incoming senator do you look to Harradine as a model?
Bob Day: He certainly made his mark and showed how effective a Senator independent of the major parties can be. He did two things that stood out for me:
Number one—he represented his state. That is what senators are for. Parliament has lost sight of the fact that the Senate is the states’ house. There are equal numbers of senators for each state, each one has 12 and they are all equal.
Brian Harradine did a great job representing Tasmania. In fact there is an old joke that if the Federal Government had poured any more money into Tasmania it would have sunk.
Number two—a senator is elected to represent the policies of his party and the values he stood for. There is no doubt what Brian Harradine stood for: that was for families and for life—the important issues for families in society. He certainly will be remembered for that.
JS: Bob, one word I would attach to Harradine is “fearless”. What would you say? Will you be a fearless Senator, inspired by him?
BD: I would certainly hope so. I am not going in there for the good of my health or to further my career prospects or anything like that. I am going in there to represent the great state of South Australia and to pursue the policies of Family First which are a home of your own, jobs for your kids, secure neighbourhood, taxes under control: the things that families need.
Senator Harradine was fearless. But he is not remembered for that fearlessness. I think he is remembered for his hard work, his courage, and his courtesy. He was very honest—scrupulously honest—he would always tell you the truth. He had a lot of respect.
I think the reason he stood out was that he was a great contrast to the backstabbing arrogance and cronyism, and contempt for hardworking taxpayers, wastefulness—all those sorts of things which were going on at the time.
Former Tasmanian senator, Brian Harradine passed away yesterday, Monday 14 April after a long illness.
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