Honouring Kevin Andrews and his ‘legacy of proud service’

Former minister Kevin Andrews is in the company of ‘the mighty saints of old’ after being farewelled at a state funeral in Melbourne.

Margaret Andrews farewells her husband following his state funeral at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne. Picture: Ian Currie/NewsWire

Former Liberal minister Kevin Andrews is now in the company of “the mighty saints of old” after being farewelled by political leaders at a state funeral in Melbourne on Monday.

Andrews died aged 69 on Saturday, December 14, after a battle with cancer. His funeral at St Patrick’s Cathedral was ­attended by former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, and Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten.

Australian flags were lowered to half mast on government buildings in Victoria and the ACT to honour his passing.

Former prime minister John Howard at the service. Picture: Ian Currie/NewsWire

Mr Abbott said in his eulogy that it was “fitting” Andrews represented the seat of Menzies ­because “few contemporary Liberals have so closely reflected our founder’s values”.

“Kevin was a man of state in the mould of Thomas More and Edmund Burke, a man of faith in the tradition of John Henry Newman, and a lay activist in the tradition of B.A. Santamaria, mighty saints of old whose honoured company he now keeps,” he said.

Andrews entered parliament in 1991 in the Melbourne seat of Menzies and served in various portfolios under the Howard and Abbott governments, including defence, social services, and ­immigration and citizenship.

Peter Dutton and Bill Shorten chat after the service. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

Mr Abbott highlighted some of Andrews’s achievements.

“As aged care minister, his focus was getting allocated beds into operation and reducing the burden of paperwork on nursing home staff,” he said. “As workplace relations minister, his focus was on creating a tough cop on the beat to police the wild west of the commercial construction industry.

“As immigration minister, his focus was to ensure that our ­migrants really did join Team Australia rather than simply live in Hotel Australia via introducing the citizenship test.

“As minister for social services, he successfully tackled the ­exploding numbers on the disability pension by requiring ­applicants to convince a government doctor, rather than just their own, that they really were ­incapable of working more than 15 hours a week.

Kevin Andrews. Picture: Gary Ramage

“And as defence minister, Kevin’s mission was peace through strength, by deploying our armed forces anywhere in the world where they could be useful. The replacement of our naval fleet that Kevin authorised, as yet undelivered almost a decade later, is one of the most miserable ­consequences of our ministerial churn. But it’s not Kevin’s fault that we still have over-regulated nursing homes, thuggish unions, poorly integrated migrant communities, an entrenched something-for-nothing welfare mindset and a Defence Department that’s better at hounding our own than preparing to defeat the King’s enemies. It just means that government is the labour of Sisyphus. You are always striving to push the same boulders up the same hills.”

In a statement, the Andrews family said: “Kevin leaves five wonderful children, their spouses and seven grandchildren.

“His legacy is one of proud service to his family, but also to his country and Catholic faith, which sustained him in life.

“Indeed, it was his faith that urged him to make a positive difference in public life, driven by the belief that every human being ­deserves dignity and respect as being made in the image and likeness of God.”