Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's been a little over two years since I first came to this place, and in that time my electorate has faced severe drought, then bushfires, then floods, then the pandemic, which we're still dealing with, in addition to, most recently, further floods. On each occasion, the residents of my electorate have turned to my office for help. Today I would like to recognise the hard work, professionalism and true heart of all my staff and thank them for it. For weeks and months on end they have been at the coalface, solving problems and speaking to constituents, some of whom are frustrated or angry or emotionally distressed and quite often simply want to take it out on the person at the end of the line or behind the screen. Any electorate officer's job is a difficult one, one that requires the patience of a saint, the skills of a surgeon and, sometimes, the brawn of a front rower. They are people we quite often in this place take for granted. So thank you to all my colleagues—Liz Newberry, Matt Field, Jodi Blackmore, Peter Daniels, Jennifer Johnstone and Sam Woodward—for your hard work, for going above and beyond, for being there to support me and for being there to support all of our residents. Thank you.

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