Alex White (Labour)

Senator Fitzgerald raised the retirement of the Reverend Ian Paisley, about much has been written and spoken in the past 12 hours or so. It is appropriate that the House should congratulate Dr. Paisley on his retirement and note the incredible achievements in the North for which he and others have been responsible in recent years. On a personal level, the House should wish him well in his retirement. However, as we reflect on the past 30 years, it is ironic that those who now rule the roost in the North fought the longest and hardest, were at many junctures least open to compromise and, in some cases on both sides, were responsible for visiting the worst miseries on the people of the North and the rest of the country. I am not complaining — history sometimes flows in this way — but we must understand the lesson of what has taken place here when we examine other conflicts around the world where the option of negotiating with those involved in different struggles is so quickly rejected. This lesson from the past 30 years could be brought to bear when we analyse developments in other parts of the world.

I support the call made by Senator Doherty yesterday for a debate on the North as we have not had such a debate since he and I were elected. A debate is important because the issue has moved on and the fault lines in the North and politics generally have changed. They are no longer about the old struggles but about social and economic issues, the development of the economy, North and South, the eradication of poverty, tackling disadvantage and taking action on taxation and public services. I and many other Senators would like an opportunity to have a cross-party debate on our vision for the future of the country, North and South. It would be the first such debate since the momentous changes in the North over the past year.