Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—Karen, to you today: that was an exceptional speech and exactly what we would expect of you. You have had an incredibly accomplished career. You have dedication to the people of McPherson as much as you do to your own family. The beautiful words that you finished on, to your beautiful daughters, I think sum up what's in your heart and the approach that you've taken to people in your parliamentary career. We had quite a good discussion in shadow cabinet last week where we were able to talk through some of Karen's accomplishments, achievements and career highlights. She has gone through some of that today, but I do want to particularly acknowledge that her being Queensland's first female federal cabinet minister and first female home affairs minister is something that the LNP and the Liberal Party are incredibly proud of. We recognise that milestone and congratulate you for the dedication and determination that it's taken over a lifetime of career highlights to achieve.

In particular, might I say, as a former home affairs minister and someone who maintains an active interest in that portfolio to this very day, the way that you led that department is a great credit to you. It's tough in this place to lead an operational portfolio. There are issues day and night here in Australia and around the world you need to contend with to make decisions to keep Australian safe, and you did that with great aplomb. I want to thank you very much for the lives that you saved and the Australians that you protected and the work you did with the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and everything in between. It's a great credit to you.

I wish you every success in the next phase of your career, and I look forward to keeping in touch with you. Thank you so much what you have done for our party, for the people of McPherson, for our great state of Queensland and for Australia. Thank you so much.

See this speech in context