Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to second the Prime Minister's motion and, on behalf of the opposition, to thank Bernard Wright for more than four decades of dedicated service in this place. What must be a day of mixed emotion for Bernard and for his family is a sad day for all of us who have worked closely with him. Anyone here, be it the Father of the House or the newer members, who has dealt with him in his various roles would have been impressed with his deep knowledge of the intricacies of parliamentary procedure. He worked for the department of immigration before moving to the bills and papers office the next year, and he has not left parliament since. He served as private secretary to the Speaker and secretary to the Privileges Committee. But it is in his work as Clerk that he found his calling. The role of Clerk, like all of the roles in parliament, nearly always goes unheralded. However, I can assure you that, by those of us from this side—formerly from that side—that work does not go unnoticed and it is certainly appreciated.

While we engage across the dispatch boxes in the debate or the political argument of the day of parliament, Bernard and his team go about their business in a quiet, a careful and a thoroughly professional manner. On a personal note, I should add that Bernard has always gone out of his way to assist those who are less experienced than he. Bernard Wright, I suspect, is like all truly modest people—I suspect he does not realise how appreciated he is by all the rest of us. Dedicated parliamentary professionals like Bernard make our jobs easier. They are here before parliament commences and they are here after it rises.

I thank Bernard for his years of dedicated service to this place. I wish him well for the years ahead. I thank his family for lending him to this institution, the parliament of Australia. Of course, if he misses the to and fro of federal parliament, I am sure that, from all of us on both sides, he has a standing invitation to attend any question time he feels like. Bernard, thank you very much from the opposition.

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