I also rise to express with this house my condolence upon the passing of Joan Elizabeth Kirner. In many ways Joan was the embodiment of somebody born in the fiery crucible of politics. She wore the tag of an activist with pride, and she demonstrated everything that is valuable to our community in activism. The Premier indicated today that Joan Kirner was not somebody who could determine the time at which she moved into governance, but rather she was remembered for that time and how she dealt with the challenges that confronted her.

Joan Kirner was not somebody who spent her time worrying about how her life or her works would be reported. She invested in living legacies, and those legacies adorn the Andrews government in both our cabinet and our caucus. As a consequence of the opportunities that come from the education that she was such a fundamental part of providing we have talented female representatives and talented representatives from multicultural backgrounds in Parliament. Joan made an investment in a living legacy, and the Labor Party should be proud to recognise the outstanding adornment she was to Labor in leadership.

I had a very similar experience to that of the member for Williamstown. The phone call I received from Joan Kirner started out somewhat differently, but fundamentally the message was the same. She told me I was going to win preselection. I thought, ‘That’s nice. She’s called me to tell me that. Presumably in Labor Party parlance that means that party is going to support me’. But, no, not for Joan; she did not want me to sit back wondering for one second if her values were wavering. She said, ‘You might win, but I’m not supporting you’. I had known Joan Kirner for the better part of 15 years, and we had worked very closely together on many issues over that time. But the thing that I respected was that Joan was prepared to make that call. She did not have to. She did not have to pick up the phone and tell me something I did not want to hear, but she wanted to remain true to her values. She wanted to remain true to the people who showed up every day and were part of the network of systems that she was attempting to establish. She was really proud — and she had every reason to be proud — of the systems she had established.

She never really sought public life, as the Premier said, but her demeanour, her commitment, her tenacity and her values really demanded of her that she take part. It was part of her nature. It was inculcated in her. In fact, whether it was her work in the environment — including the establishment of Landcare groups, of which there are now 4000 right across the nation — or the implementation of the Victorian certificate of education, you could not come across a more substantial change than the one which Joan Kirner drove. She drove the educational change out of a sense that she did not want to see kids left without opportunities — kids left to fend for themselves in circumstances where far too often the values that were ascribed to them in an educational sense were subjective. She wanted it to be the right of every kid to be able to achieve their full potential, confident in the knowledge that when the state ran an education system, it would do it in a way that meant kids could have confidence that they were graded fairly and accurately. That is what she stood for so much. It was about giving people opportunity and making sure that there was that level playing field, no matter where you came from, in terms of how you would get your chance in an educational sense.

In many cases Joan did not allow herself to become a hostage to the time she governed. She filled every unforgiving minute in government with 60 seconds of time well run, and she did it because she never lessened the significance of the struggle that so defined her. As a person she took the view that activism was not a pejorative word; it was something that was fundamentally part of her make-up and something she was proud to wear as a community activist. Indeed that was how she described herself in many ways. When people asked, ‘Are you a former Premier?’, she would say, ‘I’m a community activist’. It was so much about what Joan Kirner actually stood for and believed in: empowering people and empowering opportunity.

Joan Kirner was a community activist. She was a role model. She did not just deal with people as ships in the night; when she had a relationship, she would invest in that relationship and she would make a distinct and deliberate effort to enhance, embolden and in many cases empower the people she dealt with. She was proud of the western suburbs and proud to be a representative of them. She never forgot what it meant to come from a background not so much of disadvantage but of the need to continue to improve your opportunities in life.

Of course Joan believed in and was a robust advocate for gender equality, a social justice. The one thing I found with Joan is that she never lost sight of the fact that she had to hang true to her principles all the way along and, might I say, so did her husband, Ron. There was a story that amused me that I think Joan actually told about when she was the Minister for Education. There was a strike, and the Australian Education Union (AEU), as it was wont to do, was looking for the opportunity to protest against the education minister. As it transpired it decided to picket Joan’s house. Ron, who was an AEU member — a very strong AEU member — went out the front and tried to convince the protesters that they should go picket the electorate office, not the house of the minister. Anyway, they were not for turning, and they decided they were picketing the house, so Ron invited them in to meet with the Minister for Education in her home. The protesters said, ‘Wait a minute, you’re a teacher. Shouldn’t you be on strike?’. He said, ‘I am on strike’. They said, ‘How do you get along with the Minister for Education given that you’re on strike?’. I think Ron’s comment was, ‘She is not the Minister for Education in this home’.

Joan was always somebody the community could be close to and feel relaxed around. People would recognise that she had this capacity to separate herself from the day-to-day responsibilities of office. That made her so much more a substantial member of Parliament. I was recently reading an excerpt around the premiership of Joan Kirner in The Victorian Premiers — 1856–2006. The article that was written about Joan described her in the following terms:

Throughout her career, Kirner was considered to be a tough operator; outspoken, resilient and direct.

I can vouch for the accuracy of that observation. The other thing I thought was really interesting in the broad observation is that, almost by way of epilogue, this is what the article had to say about her:

She demanded that both the party and the Parliament become more accepting and open to women; she was defiant in the face of sexist media and political commentary, and outed many a politician for inappropriate and gendered language. Moreover, Kirner remained resolute and determined during difficult times; she was shrewd, tough and ambitious, and demonstrated that such characteristics were equally fitting for a female Premier.

Joan was unique. She was not just the first female Premier but the first Premier to come from a background in community activism, and that is something she was immensely proud of. It was not just a descriptor she adopted; it was a way of life and a value system that she lived large. She emphasised in her maiden speech to this Parliament that she believed the success of Labor governments was very much dependent upon continuing the development of effective linking mechanisms between all parts of our party, including the parliamentary wing and the public. She did not see the business of politics as being there to sit in judgement. She saw the business of politics as rolling up your sleeves and taking the opportunity to win the battle of ideas. She never saw it as a gift which she could bestow in any way she saw fit; she saw it as part of the continuing activism and struggle that so defined her life.

Of course politics in many ways can be defined as your value system. I will not do justice, I am sure, to the conversation I had with Joan I think more than 10 years ago when we were discussing what it meant to pursue a political career. She said something about politics being about values and about choices and that how robustly you embraced your values would dictate how committed you were to follow through on the choices you made in public life. That really defined Joan — not just that she had a value system she had confidence in but that she had a value system she was robustly prepared to pursue, something that meant a lot to her and provided her with a moral and ideological touchstone during some of the most difficult times governments could endure.

I do not think it was a coincidence that more often than not the women she inspired, including, might I say, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, considered her as much a mentor as a friend. We have heard from so many people who in the development of their careers were gifted in the knowledge and support of Joan Kirner. Her warmth and determination worked to the betterment of all causes that she cared about. She reminded us that the personal is political and that our politics should always be connected to the people they affect. She stated:

There is no such thing as being non-political. Just by making a decision to stay out of politics, you are making the decision to allow others to shape politics and exert power over you. If you are alienated from the current political system, then just by staying out of it you do nothing to change it, you simply entrench it.

I express my condolences at the passing of Joan Kirner, a woman who was the personification of dignity and grace. She endured a debilitating illness but never once gave into it. As with many other things she endured, she persevered with a smile and rock-solid determination. She taught us a lesson about dignity and grace in the face of adversity. I believe she will be remembered as having helped us all find the better part of ourselves. Vale, Joan Kirner.