Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate the Deputy Speaker, the member for Newcastle, on her election and the Second Deputy Speaker, the member for Moore, on his election to such high office.

The member for Newcastle has been a mate of mine for a very long period of time. The member for Newcastle is an outstanding local member, who has presided over a local community that has gone through a really difficult transition. When the community saw the BHP steelworks close, there was a view from some that somehow this would be a region in decline. The opposite has, of course, occurred. It is a cosmopolitan, vibrant community with a really diverse economy that's continuing to grow, and there are enormous opportunities for it.

The port of Newcastle, which I visited with the member just last year, is the heartland of the economy in the Hunter Valley. It is a very large port with extraordinary opportunity to grow in the future, as we see new industries growing there as well. There's also incredible opportunity for that region to take advantage of the government's commitment to build things here, to advance manufacturing. I've seen coal trains, for example, that had to be redone with the member for Newcastle because they weren't fit for purpose. We should be making those things there in Newcastle, and that's something that I'm sure the member for Newcastle will be working on.

She's someone who has had an extensive period of commitment to committee processes, but, in particular, I want to single out the work that the member for Newcastle has done both within the Labor party and, importantly, within the parliament about gender equity and making the parliament a safer place. In the last parliament, issues were raised that needed to be dealt with. The member for Newcastle was diligent, committed and principled. She was someone who engaged right across the parliament to make sure that out of those processes we had unanimous recommendations in this parliament that were then adopted and that need to be implemented. It's an example of the sort of work that Sharon Claydon is noted for in her local community but also respected for in this place. I congratulate the member for Newcastle, who is a very worthy Deputy Speaker indeed.

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