Cleaning out one's office after 28 years as a senator gives time for reflection and appreciation for all the people helped along the way, the championed projects which succeeded, and those that failed to gain traction.
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The old files slipping into the bright coloured security shredding bins each tell a story. Be they individual constituent, organisation, or issues files, the time invested and the advocacy afforded them allowed the memory banks to freely vent.
Like the gentlemen who wrote because he suffered hearing loss. A simple referral to Australian Hearing Services gave him a wonderful new lease on life for which the thanks was profuse - as though a modern-day miracle had occurred.
Or helping to establish the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme with the election of the Howard government in 1996 - a boost to Tasmanian tourism taking it to yet another level.
Championing the West Coast Wilderness Railway as Tasmania's centenary project was another file which found its new home in the bright coloured receptacles.
Having walked the track and seen the proposal on an early one (1994) of many visits to the West Coast it impressed - the potential clear. The cost phenomenal. It was politely discouraged as unlikely to be funded but would be "kept in mind". Fast forward a few years and the Howard government initiated the celebration of Australia's centenary with a special project for each state.
Being aware of Tasmania's renowned parochialism the brain was put into overdrive. A project in either Launceston or Hobart would be potentially divisive. So, the West Coast which all Tasmanians enjoy would benefit from a heritage tourism venture. North-South parochialism is well-established, but parochialism exists even in small communities like the West Coast.
Thankfully, assurances were obtained that the rebuild of the West Coast Wilderness Railway would commence from both ends in Queenstown and Strahan. The avalanche of phone calls from concerned West Coasters, not excited by the project coming their way but wanting to know from which end the rebuild would start was assuaged when told it was from both ends.
Assisting people and small business in their fight with bureaucracy be it Centrelink, visas, or Tax Office was also exceptionally rewarding. For many the bureaucracy is intimidating, soulless, and impenetrable.
Saving small businesses and the jobs they provide especially for regional Tasmania from the Tax Office's excess zealotry and lack of commercial understanding was just part of the task.
The stimulus of working on matters impacting individual lives, projects of state-wide significance, and leading the national debate on issues such as engagement with the Communist dictatorship in China, or having the foresight ten years ago to help form the Australia India Strategic Alliance to provide a balance to our exposure in the region was rewarding and exhilarating.
In opposition, Liberal senators elect their own Senate leader. In government, the Prime Minister appoints.
Whilst an honour to have been appointed by Mr Abbott as Leader of the government in the Senate, the vote of colleagues to lead them through the dark years of opposition is a vote of confidence which will forever be cherished. Those six years were difficult, relentless, and bruising. The year of 2013, however, was the culmination of all that effort with a landslide victory which saw Tasmania pick up the seat of Lyons for the Liberals which even Mr Howard in all his glory years didn't achieve, nor has it been achieved since. Superficial popularity did not achieve that result - hard work and the right policy mix did. A lesson too often overlooked. The privilege of serving and making a difference at all levels would not have occurred but for the generous support provided by the Liberal Party members and the people of Tasmania.
Even more so, having a darling wife who travelled most of the journey, who was willing to put up with an absentee husband, and a pay cut to the family budget to boot was the greatest blessing of all.
As this is my last column as a Tasmanian Liberal senator, I say a big thank you for allowing the immigrant kid who came here with his family on an assisted passage for dad to work on the Hydro from the small state of Tasmania to become the Leader of the Government in the Senate. A journey impossible in most other countries.
We are a fortunate country built on our forebears' values which make us the envy of the world today. Our task is to protect their heritage and celebrate their contribution while building an even brighter future on the foundations they laid.
May God bless Australia.
- Eric Abetz, outgoing Tasmanian Liberal senator.
