John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the time permitting, this could be the final in my series on the by-election of Bennelong. I have previously spoken about the tenor of the debate and some of the volunteers who stood out. However, there are many more people to thank, and I would like to try to name some more of them today.

As with all campaigns, we would never have been successful without volunteers. Over 700 people came out to help us in this by-election—from making phone calls, handing out leaflets at train stations and standing in the baking heat of the West Ryde pre-poll or the combustible footpath of the Epping pre-poll and, of course, on polling day itself. Our hundreds of volunteers made the difference.

Some of these people have been with us for every election. Some have just joined the Bennelong family, but every one of them raised the bar of this campaign, giving their all and making the difference at the end of the day. I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to every one of you.

It's always dangerous to identify individuals as I will most certainly forget some people who deserve special praise. I have already called out Helen Russell, Bob Lawrence and Daryl Maguire MP, for they turned up every single day at the pre-poll and every night to make phone calls rain, hail or shine. Elizabeth Frias was a constant smiling presence at prepoll too, while local stalwart Kevin Pagadinimath was at every station and bus stop every morning. As with every year, the local Young Liberals were the difference. One silver lining of the national spotlight on this campaign was that Young Liberals came from all over the country and I was able to see that our young volunteers—

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