Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The 24th of November 2007 marks an important milestone both for Australia and for me personally. It is a source of mixed celebration and grief, for it was the coincidence of my election to parliament and the anniversary of my mother’s death from cancer when I was a 10-year-old boy. My mother was a teacher with a deep connection with special needs kids. She believed in caring for others and instilled the same values in my sister Lydia and me. Each day we attended her lessons after school that she held especially for us. It felt like an unfair hardship when the other kids were outside playing cricket, but I now realise that there is no way I would be standing here today without the gifts of love, support and knowledge my mother freely gave us. I want to thank my father, Richard, who is here today in the gallery, for taking up the mantle of the responsibility as a single parent with diligence and care. Dad sacrificed a great deal for Lydia and me and we never went without, even though our new lives were more modest than they might have been.

My family is part of that great Australian story of post World War II migration. I pay tribute to my grandparents who worked so hard on their arrival from Greece in a new land. They succeeded in building a strong and extended family through difficult times. Today our family consists of small business proprietors, property owners and loving families. As a believer in the importance of the individual and as a person who has spent the odd occasion counting votes, I note that my grandma, Yaya, who is also here today in the gallery, has voted Labor at every election since her arrival in Australia in 1953. However, after my selection as a candidate, Yaya voted Liberal for the first time at the 2007 federal election.

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