Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Hansard source

A drum roll from the member for Lowe. I also thank the Sergeant-at-Arms and the attendants at the Parliamentary Library. The Parliament Library staff—for those of us who do not sit on the treasury bench, and for those of you opposite who recall your time on the opposition benches—occasionally come in handy! We thank them for their professionalism and the work they do under extraordinary pressures and, I fear, under some challenge to their resources. I hope that their ability to perform the excellent service they have in the past can continue into the future.

To all the Hansard staff, whose unique challenge it is to make sense of what we in this place say from time to time, I extend, through the Hansard reporter at the table at the moment, our Christmas greetings. To the Table Office, the Parliamentary Relations Office, who assist us with our travel abroad and provide other assistance to members, our travel agents, the broadcasting staff, the IT support, the security guards, the cleaning staff, the maintenance staff, the gardeners, the switchboard staff, the catering staff and the Comcar drivers—who make it possible for us to be vaguely on time for some of our appointments—we thank them one and all for the assistance which they have given us.

I turn to Labor’s leadership team and would like to place particularly on record my thanks, appreciation and support for the new Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julia Gillard, who in recent times has also been the Manager of Opposition Business. I would like to thank Julia for her excellent work as Manager of Opposition Business, given the depths of the provocation by the Leader of the House, which she has always responded to with good humour and, I think, acute rebuttal. Behind the scenes, I am sure that Julia and Tony in fact have a very good personal working relationship.

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