Peta Murphy was a cherished member of our Labor family.
A proud trade unionist, a wonderful staffer, a magnificent candidate, an outstanding local member, a brilliant Parliamentarian and the very best kind of colleague and friend.
Above and beyond all this, she was the darling daughter of Bob and Jan, the beloved sister of Penni and Jodi and the perfect partner to Rod.
All of you have been in our thoughts in the terribly sad days that have followed Peta’s passing.
On Wednesday last week, we recalled the Parliament to pay tribute to Peta’s memory.
83 Members of the House of Representatives took the opportunity to speak.
To share their memories of the brilliant, funny, courageous and caring person we mourn today.
There are some members of parliament whose contribution earns the grudging respect of the chamber.
There are others – rarer still – who win genuine admiration and real affection across the political spectrum.
Peta Murphy was one of those.
And it is so hard, so cruel, so unfair, to think we’ll never see her bright and shining smile again.
Never hear that raucous laugh.
Never again feel your spirits lift when Peta enters a room.
Never again listen as Peta the happy warrior wades into a debate or steers a committee hearing with that extraordinary combination of intellect, integrity and empathy.
And we’ll never again get told off for making fun of squash.
Every tribute paid to Peta has – rightly – spoken of how hard she worked, how much she achieved, how much better her community and our nation were, for her contribution.
And yet a profound part of the grief we feel today is not just that we have been deprived of someone we deeply loved, it is that Australia has been denied more of what Peta had to give.
It is so true to Peta’s character that she channelled her personal battle with breast cancer into public policy.
Never thinking of herself – always tenaciously advocating for others.
Championing better services and more work on early detection and a national register for metastatic cancer.
Seeing herself as privileged, because she could set an example, she could be visible, she could give heart to those in the same fight.
In all this, I want to make the point that while everyone admired the grace and courage Peta showed in her struggle, every one of us knew she was so much more than what she endured.
Her brilliant legal career, so often in the service of those with nowhere else to turn, had grounded in her an extraordinary capacity to absorb an issue and to advocate with great force and deep understanding.
We saw that when she argued against the idea of women fleeing family violence being made to draw on their super to support themselves.
We saw it this year, when she led the charge on reducing the harm caused by online gambling.
It says so much that everyone involved in that long multi-party committee process has always referred to the final product as “The Murphy Report”.
And alongside all those gifts in policy and advocacy, Peta excelled in the first responsibility of every MP, she was a wonderful local member.
She had an eagle eye on every local project, an encouraging word for every community organisation and sporting club.
She was so proud to be the first woman to represent an electorate named after a trailblazing woman.
And she took the strong view that schoolchildren in her community were never too young to learn about Louisa Dunkley’s campaign for equal pay for equal work.
What all of us loved about Peta, is what her constituents loved too.
They admired her determination, they could sense her pride in the community, her passion to deliver and they responded - above all – to her absolute authenticity.
Her husband Rod talks about the way people would humbly, shyly come up to Peta in shopping centres and at footy grounds and simply say ‘thank you’.
I saw it for myself, at aged care homes and child care centres, art galleries and community festivals.
The genuine connection she created with people – because they could tell she cared about them.
In her first speech in the Parliament, the best first speech I have ever heard, Peta quoted Pippi Longstocking:
“The strongest girl in the world.”
And the attitude she brought to public life, indeed to her whole working life, was very true to another piece of Pippi Longstocking wisdom:
“I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.”
That was Peta – fearless in the face of new challenges, bold in the service of important causes.
Knowing that the very nature of progress means trying things that have not been done before.
Peta believed in the battle of ideas and ideals.
She valued the contest at the heart of democracy.
But she didn’t treat it as winner-take-all.
Part of the reason Peta was so widely admired across the political spectrum was because she engaged with people who disagreed with her.
She found a way to work with them, to take an issue forward, to get things done in the national interest.
Perhaps some of that purpose and urgency came from the fact that Peta knew her time was shorter than it should be.
But I think most of it was driven by her essential character and her fundamental values.
She treated every minute in public life as a gift, an opportunity to advance social justice, a chance to represent and serve the people.
And because of this - because of what Peta did and what she meant.
Because of who she was and how she lived, she will never be truly lost to us.
We will keep the glow of Peta Murphy in our hearts.
We will hold her inspiration and example in our minds.
She will be a cherished member of our family, forever.
May Peta rest in eternal peace.