Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Chris Hayes, a great bloke, a great Australian and a great true believer. I'm very proud to call the member for Fowler my friend. He has done quite an extraordinary job. He will leave this place with something that I don't think many of us would say, certainly not myself or the Prime Minister, in that he has no enemies either in front of him or behind him. He is someone who is well loved across this parliament. When he had the health issue last year, ably assisted by Dr Freelander and Dr Gillespie, around this place people were just really, really worried about their mate, because he's held in such high respect. I want to pay tribute to Bernadette as well. He really can be difficult, Bernadette. Going on a motorbike ride this weekend is an interesting decision. I say to the member for Lingiari: you have important duties, because we're not sure that the member for Fowler has always kept himself as safe as he should. As we know, he had a major accident when coming to Canberra just a short while ago as well.

He's someone who's absolutely committed to the people of south-western Sydney. He had that commitment through his work with the police as well as with the Australian Workers' Union, helping people in need. He took on the job of being the candidate for Werriwa in a by-election after the former member for Werriwa somewhat spectacularly left the parliament in January 2005. That was a tough by-election. Labor had lost the election in 2004 and the then Leader of the Labor Party, Mark Latham, went through a difficult time. The circumstances of that by-election certainly didn't make it a lay-down misere. Chris Hayes worked very hard and he showed himself to be a great candidate and a great advocate for those people. He then, after a redistribution, moved to Fowler and continued to represent that multicultural, vibrant community in south-western Sydney. He has been absolutely committed, for example, to making sure that, at Badgerys Creek airport, there is maximum job creation for people in his community. He's fought and campaigned very strongly to make sure there's rail access to that community and that it's more than just tarmac—that it's a job generator and an economic growth engine for south-western Sydney.

The member for Fowler leaves with goodwill. He leaves at a time of his own choosing. We all wish him well. Down the track, the Labor Party will have an appropriate celebration of his contribution. As chief whip, both in government and opposition, his loyalty to Julia Gillard, to Bill Shorten and to me was unquestioned. He always got the job done. The job of a whip in this place is not perhaps well understood by everyone outside. You have be a confidant, someone people go to with issues and a problem-solver, and you have to do so in a way which requires absolute trust.

Chris Hayes has the absolute trust of everyone in this parliament, not just those on this side. I wish him and Bernadette all the best, including during the time they'll spend on the coast in Gilmore, and I look forward to his contribution up until six o'clock on the very day of the next election, because he'll continue to serve that community in south-western Sydney with all the diligence, commitment and principle that he's shown every single day as a member of the House of Representatives.

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