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

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I congratulate the Prime Minister on his valedictory speech. When I say thank you first of all to you, Mr Speaker, I mean it. After all, being Speaker of the House and a Carlton supporter is enough to test the patience of a saint! So, it's a great credit to you that you've kept order in the chamber and held on to your sense of humour as well.

I'm pretty sure that last week the Prime Minister effectively announced that the date of the election could be 11 May—or 18 May. But it may be of greater interest to some in the House to learn that the Prime Minister's birthday is 13 May, and mine is 12 May. So, it's fair to say that both of us are hoping that the other one doesn't necessarily have the world's happiest birthday next year! I think it makes it all the more important to wish the Prime Minister a merry Christmas. Chloe and I wish you and Jenny and your very precious daughters a safe and happy time together over the summer. And despite everything that they say about me, I give my best wishes to the government members. They did me the compliment this year of mentioning me personally 1,260 times in question time; that's about every 3½ minutes, and that includes our questions. It makes me wonder what on earth the government would do without me!

I should also briefly acknowledge former Prime Minister Turnbull and Lucy Turnbull. The Prime Minister served and led this country up to August of this year. I also should acknowledge the member for Curtin, who has served with distinction as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and foreign minister not only for much of this year but indeed for her time in government. I also should say merry Christmas to the fastest-growing group in the chamber, the crossbench: merry Christmas.

Having acknowledged the people who serve in the parliament, I think it's appropriate this Christmas to think of the men and women of our Defence Force who are serving overseas and in Australia—and their families, who serve also. We pay tribute to the Australian Federal Police and our security agencies, who calmly and professionally keep us safe. We acknowledge the men and women who have already begun another long, hot summer of fighting fires and saving lives and communities. At Christmas we think of our police and our ambos, our nurses and our emergency services—the people who come face to face with the tragic human consequences and stresses and strains of this time of year.

Let us also spare a thought for those who are going without, people battling everything from poverty to addiction to homelessness to just simple loneliness. We give thanks to their allies in this fight, those remarkable souls of the charity organisations, who do everything they can to bring some Christmas cheer to those who really do deserve it the most. I also want to salute all the Australians who will be working through Christmas, giving up their time with the people they love, to make sure that there is food on the table, the bills are paid and the rest of us can enjoy our Christmas.

In 2018, around the nation, Australia was tested by fire and floodwater, by drought and hardship, by terror and tragedy, but, in the face of disaster, our people stand strong. In the shadow of evil, our communities come together. When times are tough, neighbours and strangers could always count on each other. As ever, the greatness of our country revealed itself not just in the high places of power and privilege but in the hearts of our citizens. As always, we find remarkable inspiration in the character and courage of everyday Australians, especially our resilient farmers battling drought, who put the food on the table for the nation.

Only twice in the history of football has a side kicked the first five goals of a grand final and lost, and on both occasions it was Collingwood, so congratulations to Western Australians and Eagles supporters, and, in league, the Roosters. It was on the Gold Coast this year that our athletes starred—none, I would suggest, more inspirational or impressive than the amazing, legendary Kurt Fearnley. At beautiful Moonee Valley in my electorate the 'mighty mare' won her fourth Cox Plate. Speaking of winning with a leg in the air, congratulations to Premier Daniel Andrews. In the Caribbean the Southern Stars clinched another world cup, and as women's sporting codes around the nation continue to grow, thrive and inspire, let us do more to see these athletes be paid like the elite professionals they are.

None of us would be here without the sacrifices, patience and support of our families. I thank Chloe for her love, advice and policy passion and for basically raising our kids largely on her own, as so many of our partners do. Last night I missed my youngest daughter's concert, but we all miss a lot in these jobs—big moments and little everyday treasures. To my son, Rupert, congratulations on finishing year 12; to Georgette, I'm sorry that I mentioned your boyfriend on radio before you were Facebook-official; and to Clementine, I'm pleased to say that I kept my promise and made it through the year without dabbing in public—please lift the fatwa.

Speaking of families who've put up with a lot, I'd like to thank my caucus colleagues, beginning of course with the member for Sydney. Tanya, the greatest gift, not that there are many gifts for being the Leader of the Opposition for five years, is to have developed the friendship that I have with you. In the other place we're fortunate to be led by senators Penny Wong and Don Farrell: perhaps the most unlikely, iconic and beloved partnership to come out of South Australia since the pie floater. To the member for McMahon, thank you for your belief in Labor as the party of ideas and initiative and for everything you to do advance our cause as an alternative government, not just a strong opposition. To our Manager of Opposition Business, the member for Watson, we need only look at next year's sitting calendar to show how effective you are at your job. To the newest member of our leadership group, Brendan O'Connor, your resiliency, humour, love of a good fight and love of Una—you cheer us all; you make us respect you.

To all of my senior colleagues, I won't namecheck you all, but you know who you are. To all of my members of the executive, to all of those who serve in the parliamentary Labor Party, thank you very much for your support, for your vision and for your unity. I say thank you to our chief whip, Chris Hayes, and the deputy whips who do everything you can to keep us in line. Indeed, I wish I had the opportunity to acknowledge each of my caucus colleagues. You are outstanding. You give up a lot. You put your case with fierceness and determination and with idealism and optimism. On this side of the parliament we carry the Labor banner, but we know that an army marches at our back. To our branch members and true believers, thank you for giving our movement such life and purpose. To our national secretary, Noah Carroll, and his team, in the next 162 days and 12 hours, you have a national conference—I thank the government for that—before Christmas and a federal election campaign to run next year. Please squeeze in a merry Christmas in between.

I do want to thank and acknowledge the trade union movement of Australia. Earlier this year I travelled up to Sale to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the explosion at the Longford gas plant. I will never forget being at the site that afternoon, as a younger official, when they showed us the security footage of the explosions which took two lives and badly burned two others. There were nine explosions, nine fireballs. It looked like film of an air force bombing raid as the gas explosions occurred. In the foreground, sensibly, you could see a lot of people running from the area of the explosions to safety. But every single person in the orange overalls, the operators and the in-house maintenance, were running towards the danger going to their mates. Twenty years ago these were the people that this large multinational company tried to blame for the disaster, the people who ran towards the peril. Their union stood up for them then, defended them and protected them, and in the end these workers got bravery medals.

But even now at Esso, the union movement is still fighting for maintenance workers who were unceremoniously sacked over 500 days ago, only to be told that if they wanted their jobs back, that in some cases they had had for some decades, they had to accept a 30 per cent pay cut from one of the richest companies in the world.

The fight for fairness is a job that never stops but it is where some of the most rewarding work can be. It is why I am proud every day to be a member of an Australian trade union.

Speaking of powerful and important collectives, I acknowledge the press gallery. I say to those of you who located our free drinks on Tuesday night, which was a healthy majority—and I think they all attended the Prime Minister's beforehand too!—you genuinely perform a public service. Our democracy is better for it.

Talking of what makes our system better, that brings me to the people who do the listening in this place, the Hansard reporters, the clerks, the chamber attendants, the tabling and drafting officers and all the other quietly turning cogs that keep the machinery of our parliament and our democracy turning over. To everyone who plays a part, the caterers, 2020, broadcasting, landscapers, librarians, gym staff and security guards, thank you for what you do in the service of our democracy. In particular, we must always acknowledge one of the more remarkable monopolies in this place, so I acknowledge Dom and the team at Aussies. They've probably got the soccer on right now but they can read about this later. I do, too, want to thank our cleaners, especially in my office the aptly named and ever-cheerful Joy.

We all spend our lives in a tearing hurry. I would say that, in Melbourne, without my Comcar drivers, Peter Taylor, Steve Smith and Dave 'Smoky' Keeley, I would miss a lot of flights and be even later to some of my press conferences.

As usual, this section of my speech is both highlighted and in bold. I would like to thank my staff, both at my electorate office in Moonee Ponds and my personal staff. Many staff come here dreaming of The West Wing. These days, my staff console themselves with watching Veep. It has been a long road, not just the 1,602 kilometres that I've run so far this year—I've recorded this—and I've been glad to have you with me on the journey.

There are issues and questions which divide this place, from the momentous to the trivial, but a big truth unites us all: we are drawn here because we believe that politics is more than a career. It is a vocation. It is a call to service. Service not just in the name of the people who voted for us but for the next generation, for the future of all Australians.

The best day this parliament has had this year, in 2018, was the apology to the survivors and victims of institutional child sexual abuse. It was a day full of hard truths, raw emotions and reawakened pain for those who came to hear the apology. There was grief for those who did not live long enough to hear it being given. And amidst the remarkable privilege we all had of meeting with survivors, advocates and warriors who fought for that day, two things shone through to me. One is the unselfishness that drove them. They sought the apology not because of what it would mean for them but because they believed it was the best and surest way to prevent this happening again to another generation—to protect the next generation so that what happened to the survivors would not happen again.

But the second thing which shone through to me is this. There are many Australians who have reasons to distrust this place. There are many Australians who are cynical about politics. These Australians in particular had every reason to distrust this place and despise politicians, but they still found it in themselves to include the parliament in the nation's healing.

So, remarkably, after all of the betrayals that they had endured, they gave us a gift. They reminded us of the privilege that we have in this place and the power we have to speak for our nation and to serve it. So, in the new year, let us all work harder to make redress real. Let us all do more to remember the gift that they gave us, to honour their example and to live up to it in 2019.

Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Diwali. I thank the House.

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