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

on indulgence—I know that member for New England is going to speak on behalf of government members. Firstly, I want to congratulate my friend Joel Fitzgibbon on an outstanding farewell speech. I was here for his first speech, and we are one half each of all that's left of the class of '96. The class of '96 has always had dinners each year. So I have spent more of my birthdays with Joel Fitzgibbon than, possibly, just about anyone who is still alive on the planet, because we were both elected on my birthday, 2 March.

Joel Fitzgibbon and I haven't always been completely in sync. What we have been, always, is mates. Joel Fitzgibbon is Labor to his core. He is a loyalist. He is someone who says what he thinks, and when he tells you something he means it and he sticks to it. I won't talk about the conversation that took place at my house after the 2019 electoral defeat, but Joel Fitzgibbon has also always been a very strong personal supporter of mine, and I thank him for it.

Joel showed his loyalty as well when he discussed with me, very early on—we kept it to ourselves—the fact that he had made the decision to leave this place. A lot of people leave and don't worry about who will replace them. Joel came to me and he had this fellow called Dan Repacholi who he wanted to replace him. It says a lot about Joel's character that—with a bit of opposition, it must be said—and with my support he ensured that Dan, an outstanding candidate, would replace him as the member for Hunter. It said a lot about Joel's views.

I want to tell one little anecdote. When I became the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport after the election of the Labor government in 2007, I hadn't been the shadow minister for transport. Joel came to see me and said, 'I did mention the Hunter Expressway during the election campaign.' Joel Fitzgibbon gave a commitment with zero authorisation for a $1.7 billion road in his electorate—the Hunter Expressway. I said to him: 'Mate, I've looked at the words you said at that press conference. It looks to me like a pretty strong commitment. Did anyone else at all know that you had done that?' He said, 'Oh, well, it was just something that's really important.' I said to him: 'Here's what we'll do. We're setting up Infrastructure Australia, and it's going to look at things objectively.' And it did look at the Hunter Expressway objectively. With the benefit-cost ratio, it was about $3 benefit for every dollar invested in it. Why hadn't it happened? Often one of the things that happens in this place is that safe Labor seats, safe Liberal seats and safe Nationals seats miss out on investment. That's a bad thing. It is a bad thing that that occurs across the board. So I say to Joel that, every time he drives home on the Hunter Expressway, it would not have happened without him. That has made a difference to development, it has made a difference to productivity, but, most importantly, it has saved lives. It has saved lives, on that road that goes up to the member for New England's electorate. It has saved many, many lives, and will into the future as well. It's quite extraordinary infrastructure. It's an elevated roadway for a long distance of it.

That's just one of the things that this bloke has done. He has made a difference in this place. He has made a difference each and every day that he's here. He spoke about when we met, way back in 1985. What he didn't say is that at state conferences he and I used to slip out and pair ourselves to go for a beer, because it was often pretty boring at the Sydney Town Hall each year. We would have a regular gathering across the spectrum that is the Labor Party—you knew where to find us on a Saturday afternoon every June long weekend. I've been to the footie with him to watch Souths beat the Knights—regularly!—over the years. It's true; every time we've gone it hasn't worked out well for the Knights. He is very much a loyalist to Newcastle and a great son of the Hunter.

One of the things about this place is that you have lots of contact with people, and the people who are friends that will last are the people that I have in my mind that I'll have a beer with when I leave here, who I'll go out of my way to have a beer with. Joel Fitzgibbon I will always have a beer with. He leaves as my parliamentary comrade, but we will be mates forever, and I thank him for that.

See this speech in context