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

I take the opportunity to speak to the House in this address-in-reply to the Governor-General’s speech, which of course was delivered to the parliament on 28 September 2010, subsequent to the 21 August election. I just want to make the observation that it was a particular pleasure and of quite historical significance that, at the time of the Governor-General’s address, that we had a woman as the Governor-General and a woman as Prime Minister in that process.

I make no assessment, some of my colleagues in the room will be pleased to know, about the relative pros and consequences of either gender—I think they both have so much to offer. But in a representative democracy it was particularly encouraging to see two of the most significant national leadership positions held by women. It was a significant moment in history that I want to recognise.

I also want to take the opportunity to acknowledge some of the women who have not returned to this parliament with me. First of all, I want to acknowledge my colleague Jennie George, the former member for Throsby. Jennie and I had neighbouring electorates within a fairly well defined geographic area that had many issues in common. In fact, we worked pretty much as a two-person team—we were sometimes referred to as the ‘terrible twins of the Illawarra’. The boundary was fairly artificial for us, really, because many of the issues existed in both electorates. A classic example is the University of Wollongong, which sits in my electorate but services both electorates and has a workforce from across both electorates. Many issues were common to us. It is encouraging in those circumstances to have someone who works alongside you and advocates completely as a joint voice for the region. Sadly, sometimes people get a bit possessive and protective of their boundaries. Given that, as we know, electoral boundaries can move quite dramatically, it was a real pleasure for me to have a colleague like Jennie to always work together with. I miss her already and I wish her and Dennis well in their retirement. I am absolutely certain that it will not be a quiet retirement for Jennie George!

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