Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Not through any lack of confidence on the part of honourable members in the way in which he would discharge his functions in the chair, because we know he is a very decent bloke. I also extend my thanks to the Parliamentary Liaison Office for their first-class work. Parliament House, when it is in session, is something like a small town with 3,000 or so people looking after the smooth running of everything. Mind you, in the place I grew up in in Queensland that would count as being a very large town. On the surface it always looks calm and organised but underneath that calm exterior we know that people are toiling night and day to make this place function. Indeed, they are literally toiling away in the corridors underneath the building where much of the real work essential for the parliament takes place.

I pass on my thanks to the Clerk and the Deputy Clerk of the House of Representatives, who represent our best parliamentary traditions of integrity, independence and excellence. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the exceptional service of Ian Harris, who has served as the Clerk of this House since 1997 and is finishing up at the end of this session. We wish him all the very best in his retirement. In fact, Ian has been Clerk of this House ever since I was elected in 1998. I remember Ian attending our first briefing session, as rookie members of parliament, as we gathered here in the House of Representatives, when I asked several questions about how the standing orders actually operated and which, 11 years later, still remain, for me, a deep mystery.

I also pass on my thanks to the Serjeant-at-Arms and to all the attendants who are here, whose job it is to make the work in the chamber possible for us all. Also, to our security staff who, from time to time, are faced with some challenges in making sure that this House is able to conduct itself in a peaceful and orderly fashion, my thanks. The Parliamentary Library provides possibly the best research function of any place in Australia—always prompt, always reliable and a much-valued resource for all members and senators. To the Hansard staff, who create elegance from inelegance and who create poetry from prose—

See this speech in context