Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to draw to the attention of the House that I've officially declared today the festival of Julia Gillard. In this place today, we have unveiled a portrait of the former member for Lalor. It is an incredibly proud day for everyone in my electorate. I'd like to draw the House's attention to three of our locals sitting in the gallery today who are here to help celebrate their Julia getting her portrait unveiled for eternity in this place.

We celebrate our Julia having become the 27th Prime Minister of Australia. She did so in June 2010. She served for three years and three days. And there are other things that we celebrate about our Julia. One of those was the work she did before she came to parliament, where, in Victorian Labor, she got a 33 per cent commitment for women in winnable seats. It was a game-changer, long before she changed the game in this place as a member and as a Prime Minister.

The portrait is magnificent. It is beautiful. The distinguished artist today summed up the person that we know and love locally by saying that she put him at ease. He summed her up, because that's exactly what she spent all of those years in Lalor doing: putting constituents at ease and representing them. (Time expired)

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