Page 2663 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 26 September 2007
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I worked with Terry Connolly for about a year as the department liaison officer. I was, of course, a public servant, and prior to that I had worked under a number of ministers. Senator Humphries, whom I acknowledge in the gallery, was the minister for health at one point, as was the Speaker, Mr Berry. I had the normal public service fear of that creature called “the minister”, and I went to work for Terry at his invitation. I was struck by the niceness of Terry Connolly, and the way in which there were no status gaps between his department liaison officers, his political staff and himself. I was told on entry to the office the only time to refer to him as minister was when we were outside and on official duties. He would call me Johnno in the office and I was to call him Terry.
As the Acting Leader of the Opposition said, there have been many words spoken that can describe Terry. I actually just sat there often and looked at him and thought to myself, “How can somebody have these particular attributes that he has in such abundance?” Terry Connolly was probably the most humble man in public life that I ever had the good fortune to meet. He had no idea the affection that people had for him; no idea at all. He had no idea of the sort of man he was. He had also, I think, only a slight idea of the impact that he had in his short life over so many people and will have into the future for so many people.
I believe that I have been very, very fortunate to have known Terry Connolly. He was, for me, the most perfect political role model that you could have, and I try—most of the time unsuccessfully—to live up to the legacy that Terry Connolly gave me in his former role as Minister for Urban Services and when I worked for him when he was a minister. I do not hold a candle to Terry Connolly.
I will just relate one incident. I can recall in the middle of a dispute—a health dispute I think—Terry was dealing with some difficult issues with the doctors and I was the Health DLO at the time. He came to me and he said, “Johnno, we’ve got a real issue on our hands and I need some really high quality advice.” He looked at me with such seriousness that I thought, “Here it comes,” and he said to me, “Port Adelaide have been accepted into the AFL. Now, I’m a Collingwood supporter, but I was born and bred in Port Adelaide. Mate, I’m going to do something that’s never been done before—I’m going to leave Collingwood and go to Port Adelaide.” With that he bowed his head and walked away. I thought, “How can he have so much control, with the pressure and the stress and everything else that he was under, and still be such a warm and ordinary bloke?”
Like the Speaker said, I can recall, too, when Lara and Maddy would come into the office, and it was scary. You have this idea of ministerial office being about high powered decision making, and all of a sudden a little ankle biter runs past, followed by a squealing father, who was the minister, and it was just fantastic. I can remember having to change things around a bit, because Chris Grady, who was Terry’s media adviser, would say to me, “We can’t do that because the kids have got this on or that on. We’re going to have to shift it.” And he said, “But I’ll pick Terry up and then get the kids,” and it was all centred around the family life that Terry valued so much.
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