STATEMENT ON: SENATOR JOHN McCAIN

Thank you Mr Speaker

What Senator John McCain endured as a prisoner-of-war cannot be imagined.

A dark hell-hole, hanging by broken arms and shattered shoulder.

Months in solitary confinement, pain and fear his only companion.

Time and time again, he was offered an early release, an escape from the hell of it all, if he would only denounce his country and betray its cause.

Yet there in the depths of human misery, as far away from home as any person could be, John McCain discovered his deep love for the United States.

Denied the value of freedom that had been his birthright, he learned the true meaning and value of liberty.

On his body, he bore the scars of his confinement his whole life.

But in his heart, he carried that lesson, his love of country.

Mr Speaker

By any measure, John McCain was a hero but he never claimed to be a saint, he never pretended to perfection.

His volcanic temper was DC legend, by all accounts his vocabulary could peel the very paint off the walls.

He once described his time at the naval academy at Annapolis as a “four year course of insubordination” and even in the US Senate, he never really took to party discipline. 

He cultivated his reputation as a straight-talking ‘maverick’, he revelled in it – he put it work.

There was so much more than contrariness to this, more than a fondness for a good fight or the satisfaction derived from going against the grain.

 

In his fond and generous eulogy of his old friend and fierce foe, Vice President Joe Biden called it the ‘McCain Code’.

While you could disagree with your opponent’s judgement, you never attacked their motives.

You approached every argument from an understanding that no matter how deep the policy differences are between you, no matter how fundamental the philosophical divide, both of you were there for the same reason: to serve the country.

This was no badge of convenience for him, it was an article of faith.

In the wake of his death, many recall that famous moment in the 2008 Presidential campaign.

It was a packed town hall in Lakeville, Minnesota, where the racist conspiracy theory concerning Barack Obama was first given voice.

As part of his question and answer session, McCain walked the microphone over to a lady in the crowd.

She started saying that she’d ‘read about Obama’ and that he was an ‘Arab’ who couldn’t be trusted. 

Now McCain was trailing in the Presidential race, there was a partisan crowd baying for blood, the moment hung in the balance.

But John McCain didn’t shirk the issue, he didn’t seek to surf over it, or – as others later would – pander to the baseless prejudice in search of political gain.

Instead, he firmly took back the microphone and he said: 

 

Imagine, in the brightest, hottest political spotlight of them all, the McCain Code held strong.

So Mr Speaker, 

We all remember John McCain as a devoted friend of Australia.

I had the privilege of meeting with him when he was here last year, he addressed our Labor caucus, he spoke of how his admiration and affection for our nation stretched back to his father’s time here as a submarine commander in the Second World War.

And all through public life, he was one of the greatest supporters of the alliance between our nations.

Not because of sentiment, although fondness for us ran deep within him.

Not because of strategy, although he was alive to the geopolitical challenges of our region as much as anyone.

He believed in our alliance because he believed we share a moral responsibility to advance the cause of freedom right around the world.

At his best, the late John McCain typified the very best of American politics and idealism: opposing tyranny, defending liberty and extending justice to all.

As Australians, we honour his life and as parliamentarians, we reflect on his example.

Our condolences to his family.

May he rest in peace.