VALE GRAHAM RICHARDSON

Many people in public life are described as a force of nature. Richo was a full tectonic plate. Dragging the entire landscape with him when he moved.

His confidence in his own judgement allowed him to crash through telling dissenters they had a right to be wrong, but they were completely wrong.

His policy legacy went beyond the making and unmaking of leaders. As Environment Minister it was Graham who made the decisions to save the Daintree Rainforest and the Wet Tropics.

I worked for him when he was Health Minister. As the most junior of his staff I attended many speeches hearing him explain to members of the AMA how he would defend their right to be completely wrong about Medicare.

I know the title of his book will always lead people to conclude everything was about power. I saw, up close, a fiercely loyal man try to drive a better health system and invest his capital before he left parliament in obtaining what was back then the largest ever investment in Indigenous Health.

I’ll miss his support, humour, his counsel and his occasional insistence on a very long lunch. 

I hold very dear the reference he gave me when he left parliament. It simply read: “Tony is a mate.” 

He smiled and said “It’s all you’ll ever need.”

My deepest condolences to Amanda, his children and especially to his mates like Leo and Peter who shared the whole journey with him.