Kay Hull (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to Ian and his wife Erika—because, Ian, behind every good man there is a very tolerant and very good woman. So we thank Erika for allowing you to give such amazing service to this parliament and we parliamentarians. Obviously we have been a trial to you over the years but always you have given us the most devout courtesy and respect, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart. As a member of a minor party, it is not always easy for us to have our presence known here and it is not always easy for us to have the information that we require to enable us to correctly carry out our duties. Ian, you have always been there for us. As the Nationals, we salute you. You are the most amazing man, a wonderful friend, a wonderful Australian patriot, and we are proud and privileged to have been a part of your life. I have been here only 11 years but in those 11 years you have been here for me. For that I thank you very much, Ian, from the bottom of my heart.

I have had some difficulties at times in this place and I have valued my ability to come and confide in you and ask you for some guidance and a direction as to how I should be professionally carrying out my task in whichever way I choose at the time. You have seen me through some enormous struggles in my time here. I hope you enjoy your future life. For every door that shuts, one more opens. I really wish upon you and Erika the most wonderful companionship years of your life. Again, I thank you.

We welcome Bernard Wright. Bernard, they looked all over the world and they found the best right here. I think that is testament to the quality of Bernard and the fact that you, together with Ian, have been the most formidable team. You have been able to support each other in order that Bernard could be the selected person out of the world’s best people. I am sure that Bernard would also attribute some significant role to Ian. To Bernard, it is going to be wonderful to be able to work with a wonderful person as well.

To Alex, my good friend and the Chief Opposition Whip, I wish him well as to his health. Alex has been absolutely marvellous to work with, and I say that as the Nationals’ chief whip. I wish him all of the best and say to him that we did respect his privacy as he wished when he sent out his notification to ask us to respect his privacy, but each and every one of us rang his staff each day to make sure that he was all right. To Alex, you have some trials ahead but our thoughts and prayers and good wishes will be with you.

To his staff, Nathan, Robert and the team: thank you very much. To Nathan, you have been an absolute giant of a backstop for all of us. Thanks, Nathan, and to Robert as well and to Denise and all of the team. To Michael, thank you for being my counterpart here and to Nola and Vicki, for all the work that you have done in the Main Committee to keep this Main Committee operational. You have done a mighty job and we certainly do appreciate it.

To Roger and Anna and the team in your office, Roger, you are a tough master but you have equipped us all very well to cope with the last two years. We certainly thank you and thank Anna for the wonderful way in which she deals with my office. To Chris and Jill, it is wonderful to be part of a very good team that I am sure have equal respect for one another on the floor of this House during the counts. It is not always an easy task and it has been tremendous to see that we can fulfil this role in a dignified manner and one that I think befits this parliament.

To my staff, Joe Dennis is not a paid whip’s clerk but is so fantastic and has absolutely dedicated himself to ensuring that our Nationals members are meeting their commitments to the House. Joe is an absolutely inspirational young man and I am sure we will hear more of Joe Dennis in the future. I am very blessed to have Joe as my whip’s clerk but he is actually my electorate staff member. He takes a lot from many of the members who just assume that he is paid by the House to do the whip’s clerk position, but he is most certainly not. He is an electorate staff member and he carries out his duties in the most amazing way, and I thank him. To my staff who fill in occasionally over here, to Lucy and Joan, it is wonderful to have the support of each of you to come here and feel confident that you are going to fulfil your duties not just as my electorate staff but also to ensure that we contribute to the House and meet our commitments. As I said, it is not easy to be the minor party, to negotiate your presence in this place, but certainly we have been ably assisted by the wonderful and well-meaning presence of many people.

To the Speaker: thank you, Mr Speaker. You have done a sensational job and we really do appreciate the effort that you go to to include us in the very important Speaker’s dinners that you hold. I for one sincerely appreciate that consideration by you and the team in your office. I really do genuinely thank you, Mr Speaker. You are a very fine Speaker and we certainly appreciate that. To the Deputy Speaker, Anna: we really appreciate the effort that you have put into ensuring that you are aware of the way in which the House should run. And to the Speaker’s panel, I think each of them have equipped themselves very well over the past 12 months and so, again, you have contributed to keeping this House orderly.

To our attendants and the House staff, including security, to the Comcar drivers and operators, to all of the people who provide us the support we need, we really do appreciate it. Whilst you may not get the significant praise and public praise, we most certainly appreciate each and every one of you and the contribution that you make to all of us, not only as attendants and House staff but as friends. I would go as far as to say that I have more friends in the staff and the attendants in this House than I have among anyone else in this place. I genuinely cherish that friendship and that support that I receive.

I wish each and every person—Hansard and all—a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year. I am awaiting the birth of a grandchild at this very moment. I am keen to get home and, should he be arriving just that little bit late, I suspect that may jeopardise my travel to Canberra next week if he is deciding to make his entry into this world then.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the indulgence of providing my tribute to a great man in Ian Harris, welcoming another great man in Bernard Wright and also paying tribute to the people who have supported me so ably over this past 12 months.

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