02:29

The “father of the house”, Philip Ruddock, delivered a marathon one-hour valedictory speech after question time today, to cap off his 42 years, seven months, 11 days in parliament.

In a gracious speech that dealt more with others’ contribution to the work of Australian democracy and multiculturalism than his own, Ruddock spoke of his debt to his father, who served 14 years in parliament before he died.

Ruddock also paid tribute to his former chief of staff, Andrew Metcalfe, for his career of public service and said he “regretted very much” the way in which it came to an end. Metcalfe was secretary of the agriculture, fisheries and forestry department but was sacked by the incoming Abbott government in September 2013.

Speaking on the values of multiculturalism, Ruddock said he had found Australians with exemplary values of all different faiths. He spoke of his links to the Vietnamese, Chinese and Armenian communities.

“I do have an intense interests in human rights questions.”

He recounted work on opposing the death penalty, and foreshadowed a further announcement on the death penalty before parliament rises.

Speaking on immigration matters, Ruddock said: “If we do not manage our borders, we cannot manage an immigration program in the national interest.” He was proud the immigration program was supported by the Australian community.

Ruddock recounted crossing the floor in 1988 on a controversial motion to vote with Labor in favour of not discriminating on the basis of race in immigration, and how he thought it had ended his career.

Earlier on Tuesday in the joint Coalition party room, Malcolm Turnbull praised Ruddock by saying: “The fact that Australia has the most successful multicultural society in the world is the work of millions, but of all those millions no one has done more than Ruddock.”