TIM Fischer will be honoured with a government-funded scholarship that will also bear the name of General John Monash.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement on Monday during a parliamentary condolence motion for the former deputy prime minister who died in Albury last month.
"It is fitting that Tim Fischer's name will now join with that of Monash in a perpetual scholarship to be supported by the government," Mr Morrison told the Lower House.
"The Tim Fischer John Monash scholarship will be awarded each year by the John Monash Foundation to a worthy scholar from a rural or regional background, to follow in his very big footsteps.
"It is a lasting legacy that pays tribute to his belief in education, service, leadership, but most of all his passion for the future of regional Australia."
Mr Morrison led various tributes that were made as Mr Fischer's wife Judy Brewer, son Dominic Fischer and brother Tony Fischer watched on from the public gallery.
The family were later in the Senate's gallery as condolences were delivered in the Upper House.
The motions in both houses were followed by a moment's silence.
Member for Farrer Sussan Ley followed Opposition leader Anthony Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack in feting Mr Fischer.
She recalled her predecessor's time as ambassador to the Holy See.
"Constituents would call into my office and say, 'I'm going to Italy, I'd like to pop into the Vatican, so that Tim can show me around' and I would think, 'he can't stop everything for you'," Ms Ley said.
"But he did and they would come back, full of what they had seen and what they had heard."
Wodonga-based senator and deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie said Mr Fischer was a one-of-a-kind.
"In parliament he endeavoured to stand up for the have-nots, be they farmers from Balranald or Berrigan or the young unemployed from Lavingtons or Liverpools," Senator McKenzie said.
She noted his support for primary industries.
"Whether chomping on a Stanley-grown apple or checking his cattle at Mudgegonga or developing strategies to secure food for humanity, agriculture was never, ever far from Tim's mind," Senator McKenzie said.
Others to voice tributes in the Senate included the government leader in the chamber Mathias Cormann, his opposition counterpart Penny Wong, Greens leader Richard di Natale and Deniliquin region Nationals senator Perin Davey.