Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion and wish to add my comments to those of my colleague from the class of 2004, the member for Hindmarsh. I take great pleasure in nominating Harry Jenkins as Speaker. I have personally known Harry for 15 years, since I first came here as a staffer. I have found Harry to be one of those people who encourage and support new people in this place in all the different roles that they fulfil. He has remained a friend to me over those 15 years, so it is a real pleasure to second the motion today.

I also want to indicate that when I was first elected to this place in 2004, sitting over on that side of the House, Harry sat in front of me. I assure the House that he took great pleasure in making sure that I understood the policies and procedures of question time and that I abided by the rules most of the time. He will no doubt deny that he encouraged me to be a little bit unruly on occasion. He assured me that that was only so that I could learn what I should not be doing in the chamber during question time. I took those lessons to heart.

I also had the great pleasure of being a member of the Speaker’s panel in the previous parliament, with Harry as Speaker. To me, he indicated through that role his great commitment to all of us in this place and to ensuring that we fulfil our roles as effectively as possible. I believe that Harry has the respect and regard of this chamber and, just as importantly, of the community more broadly. For these reasons, I believe Harry will help us in this place to meet and raise the standards that our communities expect of us in our endeavours on their behalf. It is a great pleasure to second the motion.

See this speech in context