Peter Andren, a federal independent MP, died this morning after a short battle with cancer. He was 61."He gave politics a good name," Senator Bob Brown said in a statement.
"He brought it fresh air.
"In the conservative electorate of Calare, his vote grew at each election, though he tackled the Howard government on the Iraq war, the Tampa crisis, climate change and its approval of logging Tasmania's forests."
"He worked hard for Calare and the electorate loved him," Senator Brown said.
"His was political representation at its honest best".
Bob Debus Labor candidate for the seat of Macquarie, said Mr Andren will be deeply missed.
"Peter Andren was highly regarded and his loss at such a young age will be deeply felt by the people of the central west," Mr Debus said in a statement.
Since his election in 1996 Mr Andren slowly turned Calare into one of the safest seats in the nation.
"Peter was known and admired in his own community and around Australia because he articulated such admirable values - honesty and integrity in the political system and social justice in the community," Mr Debus said.
Respect for Peter Andren crossed political boundaries, Labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett said.
"Knowing Peter and the contribution that he made and the real struggle that he had with his illness, makes his passing, I think, a very tragic event," Mr Garrett told reporters in his Sydney electorate of Kingsford Smith.
"Peter Andren really did make a distinctive contribution to political life and was well loved and well respected across political boundaries."
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