Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—'The Jones Boy':

The whole town's saying he was a good boy

A nice boy

A swell boy

My apologies to the 1953 hit. I came into the parliament with the member for Whitlam in 2010. He was then the member for Throsby, and his seat had a name change. He's always been a friend of mine and a colleague of mine. I used to love the way every time—and I was a bit disappointed that in his valedictory he didn't use it—he would use that hand-shaking movement, rubbishing the Nationals and those Liberals, but he might have an opportunity tomorrow to rectify that.

I've always admired anyone who worked prior to parliament in the disability sector, and the member for Whitlam did that. I will never forget that speech he gave on behalf of his nephew. It was a deeply personal speech in February 2022, I think, and the whole parliament stopped to listen. That speech had great ramifications, and it was quite moving.

He came to Wagga Wagga in June last year for a scams conference. I well remember not just was it a well-attended scams conference—it was very bipartisan on this extremely significant issue—but he was so kind and gentle to a lady in her 90s Barbara Parnell, who's a lifelong member of the National Party. He was just so nice to her, as you would expect any member of parliament to be, and he brought that genuine warmth and sincerity. The fact that he praised me not only to Barb but also at the scams conference—I will remain indebted to him for that.

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