Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

In making some remarks in this valedictory I intend, of course, to concentrate on parliamentary matters but I will just make some remarks associated with the important things that the member for Bradfield spoke about in the latter part of his remarks when he talked about the political situation around the globe in terms of stability and security, and the economic circumstances. I want to associate myself with the remarks that have been made by him and by other people in terms of people’s sincerity. These are the issues that we are trying to tackle. Often, of course, we are tackling the issues from different directions, and this makes it difficult for us, but there is a decency in those who find themselves as members of this place when they understand, for instance, the sacrifice of those who have died in the service of Australia this year, or when they recognise that there will be some who will be doing it tough just because they happen to be in the sector of the economy that will be the first and hardest hit.

In a parliamentary sense I want to simply, from the outset, congratulate everybody who works in this building for the way in which they have ensured that this first year of the 42nd Parliament has been successful, especially considering that it had happened at the tumultuous time of a change of government. There have been a number of things that happened in this parliamentary year that have been quite fascinating and of great moment—the opening of the parliament with the Indigenous welcome, which has been mentioned; the second day of our sitting, with the apology; and the fact that during the year we celebrated the 20th anniversary of this building. All along there has been the continuing development of this great parliament of ours—the great processes of the House, whether in debates in the chamber and the Main Committee or in the work of the committees.

Mention has been made of the parliamentary leaders. For the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, there is the optimism and excitement of being now in office and the enthusiasm that they show for that task. For the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julie Bishop, and the Leader of the Nationals, Warren Truss, there is a realisation of what being in opposition is really like—again, something that has been remarked upon throughout the debate.

I was going to say to the member for Bradfield—or, as I call him, Doc—that he was a terribly decent bloke, but the outing of him by the Manager of Opposition Business in his role with the cardboard cut-outs has meant that I have reassessed this, only slightly; I have still come to the conclusion that he is a thoroughly decent person. Often when we reflect on the things that we have been through and the things that we have seen we realise that sometimes good guys do run last, and that is unfortunate.

To the two great fixtures of this parliament, the Leader of the House and the Manager of Opposition—Albo and Joe—I sincerely say that I do understand that whilst I have been the inanimate object that has been the scene of the collision between you two, I understand that you are only doing your role on behalf of your side. I only wish there was a modicum less of white-line fever about what happens in the chamber, and that those same endearing qualities that you both show outside of the chamber—when you are not actually leaving the chamber to storm into my office—were shown all of the time. But to you both I say that one of the great things you share is families that are about the same age. I sincerely hope that you do get time over the Christmas and New Year period to enjoy your families at the age they are both at, because I think that that is really important.

I turn now to the Chief Government Whip, Roger Price, and the Chief Opposition Whip, Alex Somlyay. I do not know what the collective noun for ‘whips’ is but there are whips everywhere—there are government whips, opposition whips, opposition assistant whips, the National Party whip, Kay Hull, and another National Party whip. You really play an important role in keeping this place going and I think that the role that you play as very important pastoral care workers within your associated political parties is becoming much better known. I do not think we have actually realised and paid due credit to that role, because it is a very important aspect of the role of the whips.

My two deputies, the Deputy Speaker Anna Burke and the second Deputy Speaker Bruce Scott, are both in roles that I have carried out. In Anna I could not have wished for a better Deputy Speaker. The jobs that she does in ensuring that members of the Speaker’s panel are here to make sure that the chamber is going and the Main Committee is going, and the way in which she has encouraged a great collegiate spirit amongst that Speaker’s panel is a great credit to her, and I really thank her for that. As most people know, Bruce Scott is a very obliging character and has been a great stalwart and support for me in my role as Speaker. Those who have been on the Speaker’s panel who predominantly had not had experience in the chair have brought a consistency in the way in which the proceedings are chaired, both here and in the Main Committee, that is assisting other members in the way that they go about their duties.

To all members, whether they be ministers, shadow ministers, backbenchers or Independent members, I thank them for their generosity of spirit towards me and their cooperation. I do not really think that people actually believe me when I say that I thank them, but in the majority of cases it has made my job easier that people do have that cooperative and generous spirit.

The two Senate Presidents I have worked with this year, Alan Ferguson and John Hogg, have both given great support to me in my role as the Presiding Officer here in the House. Alan, I am sure I do not have to tell members of the coalition, is a thorough gentleman and was a great mentor for me in assisting me in those early months, and John is such an easy person to work with. I am finding it very easy to cooperate with him on those matters for which we are jointly responsible.

To the staff of all those people I have mentioned I say that I absolutely realise that, without the support that we get from our personal staff, it would not be possible for us all to perform our individual roles. I think that this is what this great community, the Australian parliament, is really enriched by—it is not only the front-line people who get all the kudos or are seen in the public light; it is the way in which we are supported that is very important.

I now turn to those who assist us in our role as officers of the parliament. Mention has been made of the professionalism of Ian Harris and Bernard Wright and all those who work in the Department of the House of Representatives. One of the pleasing things is that, no matter which side of the chamber they are on, people say the same thing. They know that these people are here to give fearless independent advice to assist us all in carrying out our roles in this place. That is one of the really great strengths of our parliamentary democracy.

Something like 3,000 people work in this parliament, and it would of course be difficult to mention them all, so I hope that by listing them in groupings I make sure that I cover everybody. But, as I stressed at the outset, if there are any omissions they are not deliberate; they are accidental. I thank the table office, the clerk’s office, the committee offices, chamber research, liaison and projects, the messenger service, finance, people strategies, information systems and publishing, parliamentary relations, the Serjeant’s office and the people who work in the Parliamentary Education Office—they all play important roles in assisting us to go about our business.

I thank Alan Thompson, who has come on board as the Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services. All the staff of the Department of Parliamentary Services do a great job. This is another department that is highly professional. Given the various expectations that we have of this building and its occupants, who are working in an environment of considerable financial pressure, theirs is not an easy task. Some of them we just do not see because they work in the bowels of the basement. They appear in daylight to come to our offices to fix electrical problems or plumbing or other matters. I just wish that from time to time we could perhaps all go down there and do the tour of the basement, as I have been lucky to do, to give them credit for the great job that they do. They include the gardeners, the maintenance staff of all skills and trades, building management services, security and facilities, client support, broadcasting, Hansard, information technology and communications services, corporate services, the parliamentary shop, the health and recreation centre, the nurses centre, art services and visitor services. Visitor services assisted over 850,000 visitors to Parliament House in the financial year 2007-08. The Parliamentary Library has also been mentioned as such a valuable service.

To the contractors who work around the place, including the two new catering contractors, IHG and W Catering, I especially thank them for their assistance to the Speaker’s office but also for the excellent job they have done thus far in establishing new food services for members and staff. To Comcar, Aussies, the post office, the florist, Westpac, Limro Cleaning and HRG, I wish all of the staff of those contractors all the best for the festive season.

Uncharacteristically from me, I thank the press gallery for their professional coverage of parliament. I want to ensure that the media have the opportunity and the ability to cover the workings of the parliament in an environment where there is a more positive working relationship between the House and the media. I just make the observation that that is a two-way street. Mention has been made, quite rightly, of the deputy serjeant, Claressa Surtees, who is the front line in any battle between the competing interests of the parliament and the media. If we are to go forward we have to understand sometimes that there is an opportunity to get that middle ground.

I thank all of my colleagues because, as I said, their commitment as parliamentarians is very important. I thank my personal staff, my staff in the Speaker’s office—Chris Paterson and Yvonne Bailey, who continued on from Mr Speaker Hawker’s office and have given the strength of that continuity, and Debra Biggs and Cora Trevarthen, who came into the office. They all have the difficult task of making sure that I am headed in the right direction at relatively the right time. They have given great support.

Much has been made of Lupco, who is also the Speaker’s attendant. He is very important in getting me to things on time. He is about the only one who can do that, because he hovers around and looks at me and I think, ‘If I don’t go, he’s just going to drag me in.’ I have to say that I have never seen him move as fast as during an incident in the House earlier this week. I saw a green flash, and I now know that Lupco will tackle me if I do not cooperate with him and move in the right direction.

Many people have mentioned that when you take on other duties you are so reliant on the staff in your electorate office. One of the aspects of being Speaker that I had not thought through was the continuing role that I had as a member and the difficulties that I would have in juggling and balancing the two roles, but I have been assisted by people who have kept the citadel which is ‘fortress Scullin’ safe for democracy. To Sam Alessi, Berna Doksatli, Jim Tilkeridis, Enver Erdogan and Sally Delaney: thank you very much for the support you have given me and the services you have provided the people of my electorate. I thank the electorate of Scullin for their support of me over these many years.

I thank my family. My wife, Michele, over the 22 years that I have been a member—and, even more extraordinarily, over the last few months as Speaker—has had to do a number of roles that I do not think that she particularly understood would be expected of her when she married me. She has basically brought up the kids. To Ben and his wife, Kerry, to Emlyn—I wish Em a happy birthday for tomorrow—and to my daughter Amanda: thank you. The centre of the universe of both my family and my wife’s family is now Zara, who is the first granddaughter, the first great-granddaughter, the first niece and the first grand-niece. You can imagine that she will be the centre of all festive activities over Christmas and New Year.

Finally, I wish you all—not only the members but also the staff who work in this great institution—all the best for the Christmas period. May it bring you whatever you might expect of it, and that includes a great range of experiences. Whether they be spiritual or family based, it is an important time of the year. I conclude by wishing everybody a safe and prosperous New Year. I look forward to seeing most of your smiling faces in the new year. Peace and goodwill to all.

Question agreed to.

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