Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Training, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

‘Not possible,’ says Stephen Smith. I certainly am looking forward to a break. It is going to be a time to reflect and to think about the service that I intend to give to this great party of ours and this great country of ours. I think on our side of the parliament we take very much to heart our responsibility for the fight that we think needs to be taken up to protect the dignity of working people. It is in our minds a very deep responsibility and we intend to pursue that with great vigour.

Finally, the thing I would say about Christmas time, just to return to my theme at the start, is that it is a time to think about those people who are doing it very tough. We had a barbecue today for St Vincent de Paul. I thank everybody who made generous donations. It is a time to think, to give and to do what we can for those in difficulty, but it is also a time to think about how we can live more peacefully together, whether it is within our own homes, in our local communities or, more broadly, in the world. For me that is what Christmas is all about.

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