Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence: one of the great conventions of this parliament is what we refer to as valedictories. For those who are listening to this debate and are not familiar with this convention: it is about the fact that we all in this place, the parliament of the nation, seek in our own way to work for the national good and, as we move towards the Christmas season and a time of rest and reflection with our families, friends and loved ones, it is an occasion when we can legitimately extend good wishes to all people no matter what side of politics they are on and no matter what their role may be in this place and wish them all rest and recuperation for the year ahead. This has been a big year for the government, and I am sure it has been a big year for the opposition. We are all realistic enough to know that 2009 will be even bigger, given the challenges that are faced around the world. The importance of rest and recuperation for all members is underlined by that fact, as it will be for all families across this nation of ours.

I begin this valedictory speech by reflecting first and foremost on our troops in the field, whether they be in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sudan, the Middle East, the Solomons, Timor Leste or elsewhere. Last time I saw the numbers, we had some 3,000 Australians abroad. They come from military bases and service communities across the country. Given that a lot of these service men and women have little kids, not being with their kids at Christmas is a really hard thing. At this particular time we reflect on that aspect of service life which is very personal, very intimate, and therefore very important for all of our men and women in uniform in the field.

I have said before and I say again that there is no higher calling in Australia than to wear the uniform of Australia. We salute the professionalism and the service of our troops in the field. Also at this time, particularly on this day when we say farewell to another one of our servicemen, we recall those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. For those families Christmas has a particular and difficult significance because it is a time when one of their loved ones—their father, in the case of those who have died in Afghanistan—is no longer here. So we should strip away all the trials and tribulations which beset us in the workaday life of politics and think about those seven families whose dad is not here this year. It is a really hard thing for those families.

Christmas in the wider canvas presents similar difficulties for all families who have lost family members during the year. There is almost a double aspect to Christmas: a public celebration of the event for those of faith and those not of faith and at the same time a period of acute pain for those who have suffered family division, breakdown or the loss of loved ones. Let us all be out in our own communities extending in our own way the hand of friendship and solidarity to those for whom this is a very difficult time of year as well.

In terms of our own number here, I begin by extending my best wishes for Christmas to Malcolm Turnbull, his wife, Lucy, and their family. I hope they have a restful time over the summer break. I have been in the position that the Leader of the Opposition currently occupies. I know it has its own trials and tribulations. Therefore, I wish him and his family well for the break that is ahead of us all. As for the Manager of Opposition Business, Joe Hockey—Joe, you don’t deserve a break!

Government Members:

Keep your clothes on, Joe!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there something I don’t know about? Joe, you are loved and revered by many of us on this side of the House, which should cause pain and discomfort to those on your side of the House. We wish you as the Manager of Opposition Business and your very young family all the best for Christmas. It is a really important time when littlies are growing up. It is a real challenge for those in this House, not just the mums but the dads as well, to have their littlies in the most formative years of their lives separated for extended periods of time from their parents. This has a significant impact on the emotional fabric of family life. Therefore, this is a season to be grabbed with both hands to celebrate the enduring value and virtue of family. As I said recently in another context, all of us should remember that in this place we strut and fret our hour upon the stage and are heard no more but what is of enduring significance are our families, our friendships and our relationships. These are of great and eternal value.

To other members and senators on the opposition benches I extend also best greetings from Therese and our family and I hope that you with your families have a restful time over the break ahead. The arduous life which this parliament presents us all requires us all to take a breather and I hope that you are able to do so as well. If I could also turn my attention now to you, Mr Speaker, this has been your first year in the position. We on this side of the House hope that you, Harry, get a decent break as well. We know that this office presents particular challenges in terms of maintaining the sobriety of this House, particularly when you have someone as outrageous as Joe on the other side. Therefore, maintaining the dignity and decorum of the office of the Speaker, despite the outrageous challenges to your authority, which occasionally arise, has been well discharged by you and we thank you for the professionalism with which you have discharged the office of Speaker.

Thanks also to the Deputy Speaker, Anna Burke, for conducting the office with good humour and good temper. My thanks as well to Tony Levy and the Parliamentary Liaison Office for the excellent work that they have done. I would also like to record my thanks to the enormous efforts of the 3,000 or so people who work in this place. It must be one of the larger workplaces in the country with 3,000 or so people in this one place who look after everything that goes on here each day in ways mostly invisible to us all and who make it possible for us to get on with the business of being parliamentarians. So through you, Ian, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, I extend my thanks to your staff, the Serjeant-at-Arms and the attendants.

The Parliamentary Library—an institution I have cruelly exploited in years past, and I am sure those opposite are now cruelly exploiting as well—is a great institution. It has often been the habit of incumbent governments to look askance at the activities of the Parliamentary Library, particularly when they do good work for oppositions. Can I just say the wheel turns for us all. This is a great institution which well serves the parliament because the debate here is much better shaped and had if it is properly informed. They are a fine group of men and women who do a very professional job for politicians on all sides of the political spectrum.

To the Hansard staff, some of whom have the challenge of lending dignity, grammar and cogency to the arguments put forward from this dispatch box and from elsewhere in the parliament, all I can say is: well done. It is a challenge to render elegant that which has sometimes been rendered inelegantly. I would put on record my appreciation for their skill and their professionalism in lending to what we say in this place a higher form of art than would otherwise be the case. Not that I suggest that they ever change anything, but I appreciate the fact that grammar sometimes mysteriously appears and agreement and other things that we were taught in primary school suddenly are made manifest and clear when they may not have been as clear cut in the original delivery. My thanks to the Hansard staff, it is a great job that they do.

My thanks to the Table Office, the Parliamentary Relations Office, the HRG travel agents, the broadcasting staff, the IT support, the security guards, who have had some real challenges to deal with, the cleaning staff, the maintenance staff, the gardeners, the switchboard, the catering staff and our great Comcar drivers, who have to fit in with the fluctuating timetables of political life. Let us always remember that our Comcar drivers have families as well and it is a challenge for them to fit in with what we do here. My thanks to Comcar for the work that they have done for us in this year past because it has made our professional life more able to be done.

On the government side, I place on record my appreciation for my deputy, Julia Gillard. Julia has been a fantastic and loyal deputy during the course of this year and I cannot place more highly on record my appreciation for her work, both as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. Apart from all that, she is a really good person. She is part of the glue of the HMAS Labor government and I really appreciate the work that she has done; it has been first class. I hope you have a decent break, Julia.

I also thank all members of the cabinet led by the Treasurer; Wayne has had a huge job on his hands this year. Whatever our partisan divides may be on the global financial crisis, I think those opposite would appreciate that the workload has simply gone up. It has been a tough old time simply dealing with the volume of that which is going on and dealing with matters which frankly have not been in the in-trays of Treasury for decades and decades and decades. This has been an extraordinary challenge for those of us who engage with those processes and the work on our side has been led by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan. I thank Wayne for his work and the excellent job that he has done in what has been a difficult year for the nation when it comes to the challenges delivered to us by the international economy.

To the other cabinet ministers, one and all, without naming them one by one I said on the public record a week or so ago how proud I am of each one of them, how proud I am of each one of the ministry and how proud I am of the parliamentary secretaries for the work that they have done as an executive. This has been an excellent team performance. For a new government coming in, a government which had been out of office for 12 years, I say sincerely and publicly here in the parliament how much I genuinely appreciate not just the collegiality of what has been done and the professionalism which has been displayed but also the extraordinary sense of team which has characterised the work of this government. I thank you one and all for it. The backbench is supposed to, ‘Hear, hear!’ at that point by the way!

I turn to other members of the Australian parliamentary Labor Party—the hear-hearing now ensues! As I said to them most recently in that most hallowed institution called the caucus, the work that they have done with their constituencies and their members of parliament right across the country is very much appreciated by me.

The work of a member of parliament—and those opposite I am sure would agree with the proposition that I am putting—is an extraordinary range of duties. We range from being legislators as members of parliament, through being expositors of government or opposition messages through the mass media, through being the providers of pastoral care in our local communities, to a whole range of other functions as well. If you were to try and describe the duty statement of a member of parliament it would be a very hard thing to write down. And if it is a duty discharged well, it is also part of the essential glue which binds our local communities together. So to each member of my own parliamentary team and particularly the new members among us who have been learning as they have gone on during this first year, I say to you, one and all, what a great job you have done—and, to the continuing members, what a great job you continue to do—in supporting your local communities, your local schools, your local P&Cs, your local P&Fs, your local churches and charities, your local community organisations and your local employer associations. It has all been excellent work and it is work which must continue. In a strange way, having local community leadership like this is essential to bring together the often disparate elements which make up our local communities into something which is more than that. I appreciate therefore the leadership shown by members of parliament in so doing.

The Leader of the House: Albo. Could I thank Albo for having mastered the black arts of parliamentary process and brought distinction, competence, wit and wisdom to his role. Albo has done a great job as Leader of the House and I certainly want to extend to him publicly my appreciation for the work that he has done. I think both he and Joe alone know—and those who have preceded them in these offices—how complex that position is in terms of ensuring that the business of the House is properly prosecuted. I would thank Albo for that and the fact that he is able to manage a very good working relationship with Joe in making sure that the business of parliament is properly conducted. So, Albo: well done.

Government Members:

Hear, hear!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A bit more vigour, please!

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

You’ll all get a question!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Albo is now working on the question time pack. Could we now turn to that other place called the Senate and the role which is often equally invisible to those of us who understand the workings of this place but for whom the Senate is a foreign country and a distant planet with its own peculiar rules and procedures. I suppose, Bronnie, you would know how the Senate works more than most of us because you were one of its number. But to our own Senate leadership team, Chris Evans and Stephen Conroy: could I place on the record the appreciation which I have for the way in which they have discharged their job this year. With the change in the Senate numbers from 1 July, obviously the challenges for an incumbent government with a complex set of arrangements in the Senate require good and effective leadership, and I would like to place on record my appreciation for the work which both Chris and Stephen have done.

To the Chief Government Whip, Roger Price: well done, Roger.

Government Members:

Hear, hear!

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I’ve never seen him blush before!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Roger, as the years roll by, bears an increasingly uncanny resemblance to Santa Claus, like Mal Washer! On our side of the House, Roger is seen with much genuine affection because all of us in this place as members of parliament from time to time have needed the support of the Whip when things go wrong on the family front or the home front and you have to disappear quickly, in how that is best accommodated administratively, and through the other rigours associated with the parliamentary life. So, Roger, you have been a genuine good shepherd and pastor to us all. Normally, you would associate the Whip’s office with having the whip in the glass case hanging on the wall. In your gentle and genial manner, Roger, we suggest that you should replace it with a shepherd’s crook. That is more to your style. It also gives you an opportunity to whack people with the end of it when it is needed!

Could I also refer to the work of the Australian Public Service. The Australian Public Service is an essential part of the fabric of Australia’s public administration. We come and we go as members of this executive; the Public Service lasts forever. As many reflected at the time of the change in government in December last year—12 months ago yesterday, I think it was, the new government was sworn in—the fact that all that occurs in our system of government quickly and seamlessly is an extraordinary tribute to the way in which the Public Service have managed things since the heady days of 1901. The fact that we have had in that period of time 26 prime ministers and smooth transitions, with the notable exception of one in the mid-1970s, reflects well on our constitutional arrangements—but, within those constitutional arrangements, reflects particularly well on the role played by the Australian Public Service. To my own department, the Prime Minister’s department, and the other principal departments of state I place on record my appreciation for their continued professionalism and for the professionalism which they displayed at the time of the seamless change in government.

I stand in the parliament as a representative of the Australian Labor Party, so it is important on an occasion like this to also extend our Christmas greetings to the Australian Labor Party national secretariat, now led by Karl Bitar, the National Secretary. Tim Gartrell, who recently stepped down from his role, has served the party well. We wish him well and we wish Karl Bitar well in his new position. We hope that they and other members of the secretariat enjoy a reasonable break—as we would encourage members of the Liberal Party secretariat to have an even longer break.

As for the staff of Labor members of parliament, could I say this. Each of us in this place as members of parliament are ably supported by those loyal soldiers to the cause who do all the work which makes our work as local members of parliament and the work of our ministerial staff possible. There are a large number of them. Those of us who have worked intimately in this place with the work done by staff over many years understand how much of the burden is actually shouldered by our staff. We in this place are often the public face of work which has been done by others, whether in the Public Service or by our private staffs, be they electorate staffs or ministerial staffs. Again on this occasion I would wish all those members of staff a very happy Christmas and that they take the opportunity to enjoy some rest and recreation over the summer break.

If I could turn to my own personal staff, I have to place on record my appreciation for the excellent work done by Alister Jordan, my Chief of Staff. I would also wish to acknowledge the work done by my previous Chief of Staff, David Epstein, and the great work and experience that he brought to bear to the task when we were going through the period of transition to government. I wish him well for the future. To the other members of my own personal staff: as is often reported, we work long hours in the PMO, and I am uniquely to blame for that. So to all members of my staff—who should not be listening to this broadcast because they should have better things to do—can I say how much I appreciate their work and their dedication to the cause of what this government is on about. I really appreciate their friendship as well.

My electorate office staff—Gina Tilley, Sam Walker, Fleur Foster, Amy Cooper and Katrina Hicks—who take such a weight off my shoulders and assist in my local responsibilities back home in Brisbane, are the rock upon which my life in politics is built and they are a wonderful team. I pass my personal appreciation to them, as well as to the party members and volunteers who dedicate hours and hours of voluntary time to the work of my electorate office in the seat of Griffith, in Brisbane. I thank them.

Finally, it is at times like this, as I said earlier in my remarks, that we are reminded of the absolute importance of family. This job that I am doing as Prime Minister I could not do were it not for the support of my wife and my partner, Therese. Therese has been through the thick and the thin of it in the last year or two and I love her dearly, as she is a wonderful person. She makes life in this otherwise arduous profession bearable. To my wonderful kids: Jessica and her husband, Albert; Nicholas; and Marcus—I am still not used to being a father-in-law; I am not quite sure if anyone else has had that experience—they are also part and parcel of sustaining some humanity in the business of politics. They have been truly wonderful friends and supporters and integral to my life in this place. Also, to Abby and Jasper the cat: if they could make a New Year’s resolution to stop fighting in the new year, then I am sure we would all be in a much happier place.

As I said at the outset, 2008 has been a big year for everybody. There have been ups and there have been downs, and 2009 looms as a huge challenge for us all in this place and more broadly for the nation. We have had a debate in here from time to time about where the global financial crisis goes. It is going to affect a lot of people who will lose their jobs. That is the truth and it is an awful thing. It is happening right around the world. Whatever our policy debates may be about that, the other thing we need to be reminded of at a time like this is, through our own work in local community, to support people who find themselves in those positions in the period ahead. Agencies of state are important in delivering services to people who have lost their jobs and to the unemployed. Support and solidarity of the community around them is equally important, and I believe we all have a personal responsibility along those lines.

As we approach the Christmas season, there are often debates about Christmas being a Christian festival or a non-Christian festival in various parts of the world. I think the truth is this: whether we are of faith or not of faith, this is an important season for us all. For those of us who are of faith, it celebrates the birth of the Christ child. For those beyond faith it is a celebration for all families, and all therefore enjoy this season which lies ahead. Mr Speaker, all the best for Christmas, and to all members of this parliament and for all those who serve the members of parliament so represented.

Honourable Members:

Hear, hear!

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister for his very warm remarks of thanks, not simply to the members of the opposition or indeed the Manager of Opposition Business, who I think is still getting over the embarrassment of being singled out for such praise, but also to me and Lucy. I thank you, Prime Minister, for your kind remarks and on behalf of Lucy and my family convey to you, Therese and your children and family all the very best for Christmas.

This is, of course, the season of Christmas and we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, the birth of the man—the son of God—who established a faith that is as inspiring as it is mysterious, a faith that is based on love. This is truly, then, the season of love, and that is why families come together. It is why we come together to eat, for Christmas feasts, for lunches and dinners. We remember, too, that there is nothing more human than families coming together to share a meal. Indeed, the Eucharist is at the centre of our own faith, of our own liturgy—that sacred meal.

We should also remember that not all of the members of this House are members of the Christian faith. Indeed, I think it is important today to remember that a number of our colleagues around this time of year—around the Christmas season, if you like—will be celebrating the feast of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival. That is a festival of lights and it celebrates the indomitable nature of the Jewish people. It is important to note that at this time, because in the terrible events at Mumbai—that terrible terrorist attack in which two Australians were killed, one of whom was a leading citizen of my own community in Wentworth—the terrorists targeted a Jewish yeshiva and murdered a number of Jewish people there, including a rabbi. I know that when Jews around the world, including those who are our colleagues here, are celebrating the festival of lights and the indomitability of the Jewish people, they will have that terrible event in Mumbai in their minds and be reminded of their resilience and their resistance to terrorism wherever it may occur. So we wish them all the very best for this time as well.

The Prime Minister thanked all of the people who make life possible here: the Comcar drivers, the clerks—thank you. I thank you, Mr Speaker; your deputies, Anna Burke and Bruce Scott; and of course the members of the Speaker’s panel, who stand in for you—not quite ever achieving your level of sophistication, Mr Speaker, but they strive. You set such a high benchmark for them to aspire to. The Prime Minister did well to thank all of those people. He thanked the Comcar drivers and the staff of the parliament. He thanked the staff of the Library. I will not go through the whole list again—I will adopt the Prime Minister’s thanks—but I recall, for the House, my first interaction with the Parliamentary Library as a member of parliament in 2004. I was summoned in with all of the other new members, and the Librarian, austere and authoritative—Tony Burke is nodding; he remembers it—surveyed us as though we were a room of the dullest 11-year-olds imaginable. She said, ‘Our job is to make you look intelligent.’ She said it in a tone of voice that suggested she just might not be able to achieve it.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She did for Burkie!

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister says, ‘She did with Tony Burke.’ It is the season of Christmas, Deputy Prime Minister, and I am sure you are right.

I thank my colleagues above all. Firstly, I thank my predecessor as Leader of the Opposition, Brendan Nelson. People say the job of Leader of the Opposition is the toughest job in politics. I do not know whether that is true or not—the Prime Minister might be in a position to express a view on that—but there is no doubt that Brendan Nelson took over this job at the toughest possible time, and he fulfilled that office with great distinction. He took our side of politics through a very difficult period and we owe him a great debt, and I am very pleased to record that here today. I also say thank you for the great support, loyalty, commitment and tireless effort that I have enjoyed from my deputy leader, Julie Bishop, and from Warren Truss, the Leader of the Nationals, our partners in the coalition.

Moving up to the other place, the place the Prime Minister described as being on a different planet—I would not have thought it was quite that far away—our leaders in the Senate, Senator Minchin and Senator Abetz, have also provided outstanding leadership. We must recognise that, while we naturally see this place as the centre of political action, nonetheless a lot of very hard work has been done in the Senate. They have been doing a lot of very hard work and a lot of very constructive work and I think we should thank them.

All of my colleagues, the shadow ministers, parliamentary secretaries and members of the backbench, have put in an outstanding year. It is very difficult moving from government to opposition, as honourable members on the government benches know. In fact, they have probably had some difficulties moving from opposition to government. But, nonetheless, this transition has been one that we have taken up. Our team has recognised that this adjustment from government to opposition requires us to remain constructive but, nonetheless, to hold the government to account. We have to recognise that we are working with diminished resources. This means everybody is closer to the coalface of policy development, without the support of the public service, among the other resources that are available to government. Through all of that our team has worked very hard.

The Prime Minister spoke very appropriately about the role of a member of parliament—and this applies whether you are the Prime Minister or the humblest backbencher. You have a relationship with your community which is so intimate, so personal—that grassroots relationship. Speaking of somebody who has a marginal seat—quite a marginal seat, in fact—I am very familiar with the importance of remaining closely in touch with my community. All of us do that and it is one of the great assets, one of the great jewels, in our democracy that we have in this place 150 men and women who are directly connected to the Australians in their electorates. Every Australian can say, ‘There is one person in the House of Representatives who represents me.’ That is why, when school groups come into this place, I always say to the young people at the very outset: ‘Remember this place belongs to you. It belongs to each and every one of you.’ I also say, and it bears repeating today, ‘Every member of this place, be they members of the House of Representatives or the Senate, is here for one purpose only, and that is to make Australia a better place for you to grow up in.’ I then remind them that, from time to time, we do disagree. That is important; otherwise, when they look at question time, they will be in for a shock and might be upset. We do disagree: we disagree because we have a different view of how we should get there, but we are all committed to Australia as a stronger, more prosperous nation.

The Prime Minister spoke about our troops overseas and I concur with everything he said about them. When we send our soldiers overseas, they put their lives in harm’s way for our sake. They wear our uniform, they fight under our flag. They take on enormous risks and it requires great skill, great commitment, but above all great courage.

This year we have said farewell and recorded our condolences in this House on the occasion of the deaths of six of our soldiers: Trooper Pearce, Sergeant Locke, Private Worsely, Lance Corporal Marks, Signaller McCarthy and Lieutenant Fussell, whose funeral it is today. I say on behalf of the opposition, we thank all of the service men and women wherever they may serve and we thank again the commitment, the service and the sacrifice of the six men to whom we have said farewell this year, recognising that the battle against terrorism is one we cannot afford to lose and we must be relentless and stalwart in our fight against it. It is only by brave men and women putting their lives in harm’s way for our sake that we can carry that battle on to success.

We have said farewell to other great Australians. This list cannot be exhaustive, obviously, but we have said farewell in this place to former members of the parliament: John Button, Clyde Cameron, Frank Crean—only yesterday—Peter Andren and of course Kim Beazley senior.

We have also said farewell to Sir Charles Court, who died aged 96. In so many ways, Sir Charles created modern Western Australia and in that sense made an enormous contribution to creating modern Australia and the prosperity we enjoy. I note what Kerry Stokes said of Sir Charles—I think it is very apt. He said:

The state’s current economy is a reflection of Sir Charles’s tireless contribution and firm initiative he developed while premier of WA.

Well said. You could not imagine modern Western Australia, that engine of growth, that dynamic state, without Sir Charles Court.

We also said farewell this year to a most remarkable man, a West Australian: Matt Price. What a loss to public life that was. Just as the librarians endeavour to make us look intelligent, Matt Price made us look funny, and he did it so well. We miss him greatly.

We also said farewell to Jane McGrath, whose struggle against cancer was as heroic as it was inspiring. Her death and the courage that she displayed in battling breast cancer raised awareness and consciousness about that disease to a new level. There are many Australians, I believe, whose lives will be saved because of the example and the awareness that she raised by her brave battle.

We have also said farewell to some members who have left the parliament: Mark Vaile—our former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Development, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, an outstanding Minister for Trade and a great Australian. After 15 years of service, we said farewell to Mark.

We also said farewell to Peter McGauran, who was, for 25 years, a member of this House—former Minister for Science, minister for citizenship and minister for agriculture, where I worked very closely with him on water reform. I enjoyed our association enormously.

We lost Alexander Downer, who has retired. Alexander was a member of this House for 24 years. He was our longest serving foreign minister and was a Leader of the Opposition. Above all, he was one of the most amusing, wickedly witty, charming men that we would ever see in public life. Alexander’s sense of humour is sorely missed, certainly by everybody on this side of the House and I suspect by a few on the other side as well.

The Prime Minister was very generous in his thanks to the Manager of Opposition Business and we thank him for that. I am not sure whether Joe Hockey does, but I agree with him that managing the business of this House is a very complex business and Joe has done an outstanding job. While we are not entirely convinced that Albo is quite up to Joe’s standard, nonetheless, they work together very collaboratively and I am sure that, over time, they will reach a common peak of exceptional achievement.

It is interesting at this time of year that we speak so warmly of each other, and I will end my comments about the House before I say something about the Liberal Party and my staff and the people on our side of politics who make our work possible. I will just make this observation. The Prime Minister and I have both spoken very warmly of each other and warmly of both sides of politics and it is very good that we are doing that. It would be nice if we could do that more often. We are coming up to the new year; it is time for resolutions. I believe we would all do well, as we take some time off over the holiday period, to resolve to be a little more civil and a little less venomous in our discourse. I spend a lot of time, as we all do, travelling around Australia and the most common sentiment that is expressed to me by members of the public is: why are you all so nasty to each other? I say that, in the spirit of Christmas, we should aim to play the ball and less the man or, indeed, the woman.

The Prime Minister talked about his staff and all of us are supported by our staff. Just like the Clerk and the staff of the parliament make us appear orderly, the library makes us appear intelligent, so our staff enable us to appear competent and coherent. We all owe a great debt to our staff. They are the unsung heroes of politics because they do not get the psychic wage of being on television or standing up in House and giving speeches. They work hours just as long, they get subjected to just as much abuse and criticism but they are not up there in lights.

I thank all of our staff on the coalition side and I particularly note the two chiefs of staff I have had this year: Brad Burke, when I was shadow Treasurer, and Peta Credlin now that I am Leader of the Opposition. Brad Burke of course still plays an absolutely key role in our office as communications director and policy adviser.

We have had many other good members of staff whom I note: Paul Lindwall and Alex Robson on economics, Sally Cray and Tom Tudehope, keeping it all together both in terms of our communications and our logistics, and Kerry Pinkstone, who has recently joined us to head the electorate office. All of those people and many others have made an outstanding contribution without which none of our work, however well that may be regarded, would be possible.

Finally, I join the Prime Minister in saying farewell as we approach the end of the year. We should all resolve to be kinder to each other in the new year. That may be a pious hope but, nonetheless, it is worth making. I believe as we go into this spirit of Christmas that we should remember, as I said at the outset, that at the centre of the very mysterious Christian faith is a simple message of love. Let us not forget that. Prime Minister, happy Christmas!

Honourable Members:

Hear, hear!