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

I move:

That leave of absence be given to every Member of the House of Representatives from the determination of this sitting of the House to the date of its next sitting.

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

Mr Speaker, by way of valedictory can I start by wishing you a very good festive season. I do want to refer to you for the purposes of this address as Mr Speaker, Henry Alfred Jenkins, the member for Scullin. I think it is important that your full name is recorded in Hansard on this occasion. Thank you very much for the patience you demonstrate each and every sitting day and the patience you are demonstrating even as I speak now. I wish you well for the Christmas season. I congratulate you on the year you have had as the Speaker. Your father would have been very proud, and we certainly are.

Can I say to the Prime Minister, though he is not here in the chamber with us, today actually marks the second anniversary of when he was elected Labor leader and I was elected Deputy Leader. It has been a big two years. It is one year and one day on from our swearing in as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. It has been a big year and a day. Obviously during that period the Prime Minister has shown tremendous leadership of the country and before that tremendous leadership of the Labor Party. It has been my great pleasure and privilege to work alongside him during that process. He is an amazing person. Whatever the gene is for leadership, he well and truly has it. Certainly this year he has demonstrated that each and every day. I trust that he gets a well-deserved break over the Christmas period and I look forward to working together in 2009.

Can I also say to my caucus colleagues, those who are here and more generally: thank you very much for your help and support during the year. Can I thank my cabinet and my ministerial colleagues for their help and support. I particularly acknowledge the Chief Government Whip, known to me as ‘Rogie’—something I am trying to popularise, and any assistance that can be given by caucus members, or indeed members of the opposition, would be gratefully received.

I also thank the government whips, Jill Hall and Chris Hayes, for that work. To the Deputy Speaker, Anna Burke, and all on the Speaker’s panel: I thank you very much for the same kind of patience that the Speaker has shown in the last few minutes. I would sincerely like to thank the personnel that we have supporting us at the ALP national secretariat—Tim Gartrell, who led the team for our election campaign last year, and Karl Bitar, who has succeeded him. My thanks go to them for all of their work, and I know that they will be looking forward to a Christmas break.

Can I wish members of the opposition, the Liberal Party, the Independents in this place and all our friends in the Senate of various persuasions a merry Christmas. Can I particularly wish the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm, and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julie Bishop, a very happy Christmas and festive season. I wish my counterparts on the other side the best of the season as well. For some reason, I seem to keep a stable of shadow ministers who are opposed to me, so my best wishes go to Christopher Pyne, Michael Keenan, Sophie Mirabella and Andrew Southcott. It may not seem fair—

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

I’ve got six!

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

You have six? It may not seem fair that there are four onto one, but there we have it, and apparently others are worse off than me.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It should be more than that. It should be eight!

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

Don’t give them that idea! They will double the personnel. Can I convey my thanks to my personal staff, particularly to Ben Hubbard, my Chief of Staff, who has been absolutely indispensable as we have made the transition from opposition to government. He worked with me in opposition; he works with me now in government. He had formerly worked for the Bracks government and, as a result, brought his formidable skills to bear not only in our election campaign but in the transition to government. I think we have made a successful transition—I guess that is for others to judge—but we could not have made the transition as well as we have done without his very hard work and formidable skills.

My thanks also go to Amanda Lampe, my Deputy Chief of Staff, for all of the work that she has done during the course of the year, as schooled as she is in the New South Wales school of politics, having worked for Bob Carr in the past. I thank Kimberley Gardiner, who possibly has the worst job in federal politics—being my media adviser across so many portfolios—for her many early morning starts, which are considerable, and her many hours of hard work. I would also like to thank Alexandra Williamson, Natalie Cooper and Leanne Budd, who work assisting her and assisting my office more generally. My thanks also go to Natalie for her considerable policy expertise in the area of education.

Can I say to my policy advisers generally—to Rondah Rietveld, Tom Bentley, Andrea Lester, Craig Carmody, John Spierings, Gerry Kitchener, Jim Round and Barbara Wise—thank you very much for everything you have done. It has been a big year for those in the workplace relations team, delivering the Fair Work Bill. Thank you very much particularly, Andrea Lester, for those endeavours. It has been a huge year in the education team as well, particularly as we have delivered our election commitments and prosecuted our agenda at COAG, which I believe will transform education in this country as we know it. I would like to thank all of my advisers for their very strong work in getting that done.

To the staff from the department, the departmental liaison officers who work so well with us—to Sarah, Sue and Lauren—thank you very much for everything that you have done. Can I say particularly to Lauren, your cakes have been a highlight of 2008. One skill I most certainly do not possess, and it has been remarked upon on the public record, is the ability to cook anything. Occasionally I try toast—it does sometimes lead to calling the fire brigade! But Lauren keeps us very well supplied with cakes at morning tea time for special occasions, and my thanks go to her.

My thanks also go to my electorate office staff. Some of them have been with me for the whole journey. They do a remarkable job. I am there in the electorate as often as I can be—I spend as much time there as possible—but given my other responsibilities I cannot be there every day and they represent me when I am not there. To Vicki Fitzgerald, Carlos Baldovino, John Ballestrino, Amy Tobin and Helen Landolina: thank you very much for everything you have done. To the support staff in the office, who do so much work supporting me and supporting the team generally, my thanks go to you—to Michelle Fitzgerald, Rachael Purcell, Erin Dale and Janine Robb. If Robb is sounding like a familiar surname, it should. Thank you very much for your tireless work and all of your monkey business. They do a tremendous job.

I thank the Comcar drivers, who, as the Prime Minister remarked earlier today, move us around and make every endeavour to keep us on time—not something that is necessarily easily done. Can I particularly thank Dianne, who works with me in Melbourne. She is a woman who helps keep me sane. She also keeps me supplied with an endless supply of novels. I thank her very much for that. I also thank the many hardworking AFP officers who from time to time join us as we go about our work. My thanks go to them and, in particular, to Officer Andrew Stark.

My gratitude and appreciation goes to all of the staff in my department. There are, as you would anticipate, a considerable number given the breadth of my portfolios, but I would like to particularly thank Lisa Paul, the secretary of our department. It has been a long year and a hard year for her. She has not only had to work delivering the government’s agenda; she has had to work in circumstances where we were amalgamating parts of three apartments, with all of the dislocation and set-up time that that takes. She is a fantastic manager of people, and because she is such a fantastic manager of people that process has worked smoothly and well. It is a credit to her work and her effort and I would like to thank her for that.

I would also like to thank departmental staff who have worked so strongly with us. I have mentioned the workplace relations team who delivered the Fair Work Bill. It has been a big year for them. Regarding everybody who has worked with us through the Productivity Agenda Working Group of COAG, we would not have not delivered either the Fair Work Bill or the next major strides in the education revolution through COAG without all of their help.

My thanks go to the people who support us in this parliament. I possibly trouble the clerks less than I used to in my days as Manager of Opposition Business. I can see Ian laughing at that because he knows that I used to trouble them a great deal to come up with new procedural tricks. Now I suspect it falls to the Manager of Opposition Business, Joe Hockey, to do that job, and he is probably troubling the clerks. To Ian and all of his staff, thank you very much. To the Serjeant-at-Arms office; the House attendants, especially Lupco, who is such an institution; Hansard; the Table Office; the Chamber Research Office; the Parliamentary Relations Office; the Liaison and Projects office; the finance and people strategy area; as well as Tony Levy and the Parliamentary Liaison Office—I thank you for you endless commitment and your seeming never-ending ability to be polite, no matter the circumstances. It is a remarkable skill.

To all the rest who keep Parliament House running—the Parliamentary Library; those who assist us with travel; security; the protective services officers; the cleaners, who I enjoy having a chat with as they are often the sanest and most level-headed people I meet during the course of a parliamentary day; contractors; and catering staff—I thank them for what they do. I continue to be a disproportionate contributor to Aussies’ profits in my coffee consumption. I thank them for their help and support. I think Dom at Aussies literally keeps this parliament running. I do not think I am alone in relying on Aussies on hard days and easy days. Sometimes they are hard days and you need quite a few cups of coffee to get you through them.

I take this opportunity to honour Andrea Griffiths. Andrea Griffiths is finishing with the Senate today after 26 years of service. Twenty-six years in the House of Representatives would be a long time; in the Senate it would be an eternity. I am sure they have all felt far wearier than they would have here with us in the more civilised chamber! But 26 years in the Senate must seem like a very long time. That is a tremendous track record of service. I just trust that her last sitting day does not turn into an epic. I hope she gets home at a civilised time tonight. It is her last sitting day as Usher of the Black Rod in the Senate and I wish her all the best with her retirement.

Obviously over this Christmas period our thoughts are with those who will be thinking about someone who is absent. In my own community, I would like to acknowledge the family of Frank Purcell. Frank Purcell died this year. He was actually a local Liberal. Because he was a local Liberal, I always referred to him as Comrade Frank, even when I struck him on election day handing out how-to-votes against me, which I did at every election. He was a remarkable figure in our local community. He is actually a hero of the early days of the land rights movement, having been the lawyer on a case that made the space for Mabo and Wik, which followed it. He is a Liberal in the true tradition of the Victorian Liberal Party—a Liberal in the small ‘l’ tradition. He was very important to our local community. He died recently and of course this will be the first Christmas his family has without him. My thoughts go to them.

My thoughts go to those in the Labor family who will this Christmas be mourning the loss of Kim Beazley Sr, Clyde Cameron, John Button and of course Frank Crean. They are Labor giants that we lost this year. They are going to be missed by the Labor family generally but they are going to be missed particularly by their own families at this time. That of course is also true of the family of the member for Calare, who we lost in such difficult circumstances. I also echo the words of the Malcolm Turnbull: whatever persuasion you have in politics, Sir Charles Court was a giant of a figure in Australian politics and will obviously be missed by those who were near and dear to him.

I conclude by thanking my own family and friends for their support. I very much thank my partner, Tim, who has had a big year too. To my father, John, my mother, Moira, my sister, Alison, and my niece and nephew, Jenna and Tom, I am looking forward to joining you for Christmas. Finally, to my good friends Maccas, Jules, Jac and Jeff, thank you very much. I look forward to seeing everybody in the new year.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join others in extending greetings of the season to colleagues, those sitting opposite and those people in the parliament who make sure that the day-to-day activities of this place run smoothly. I begin by complimenting you, Mr Speaker, on your role in the House. I know the standing orders suggest that one should not reflect on the chair but I hope that the standing orders would not be offended if I reflect favourably on the way in which you have taken on this role. You obviously came in as Speaker with considerable experience and that has been evident. You have addressed the difficult moments in the chamber generally with good humour. Sometimes even your good humour has been stretched to breaking point. I know that from time to time we on both sides offend in that regard, but we very much appreciate the way in which you have sought to provide effective and smooth running of the House. You have dealt with various issues constructively, helpfully and fairly. May I also acknowledge the members of your panel who help to make sure that your work is done smoothly. It would be a pretty tough job if the Speaker had to spend all day of every day in the chair. I am sure that you appreciate the relief of your deputies and the whole Speaker’s panel. Their role is important to ensure that the House runs smoothly.

This of course is the end of the first year of the new government in parliament. I think it has been a learning experience for us all—for those in government for the first time and also for those of us in opposition, many of whom have not had that experience before. It was not an experience we were looking forward to, but it generally happens in one’s political career. Sadly, I have endured it once previously and I am therefore especially committed to making sure that our sojourn on this side of the House is as short as possible. There is the reality of learning to undertake new tasks. It is especially an exciting time for those who have come into the parliament for the first time. Everything is new and I am sure that they have learned a great deal during this year. From our side as well, one or two have joined us during the time as a result of by-elections and, for them especially, I am sure this has been a great challenge and a great experience.

In acknowledging the people who help us from day to day in the parliament, I recognise Ian Harris and all of the clerks for the work that they do. They are always sought out for advice and it is always given cheerily and in the best possible spirit. We appreciate everyone who works to support the committees and the other activities of the parliament and to make sure that those things go smoothly. Like others, I want to acknowledge the Serjeant-at-Arms and the services that his office provides to all members of parliament. I acknowledge those in the parliament who are here every day: the attendants, the security people, the Comcar drivers, the dining room staff, the nurses, the cleaners and everyone else who ensures that this place is presented immaculately and in a way such that the people of Australia can be proud. Can I also acknowledge the Hansard staff and the library staff. Being now in opposition I appreciate much more how important the library is. Government ministers and their departments have access to an enormous range of information, so the library is especially valuable to those who sit in opposition. Their advice is invariably helpful and constructive.

I would also like to acknowledge the regional officers of the department who look after our electorate offices and make sure that things are done. It is just something over 12 months since the election and my sign has not been altered yet. I am still the Minister for Trade to everybody who drives past my office, but one day I am sure that they will find a painter who is able to make the adjustments—I hope for only a short period of time and then we can go back to the old sign! Nonetheless, regional officers are there to provide the support and assistance that we need and I acknowledge their work as well.

I also extend my greetings and Christmas wishes to the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull. It has been a pleasure to work with him in that task. I acknowledge also Brendan Nelson, who led the opposition during the particularly difficult times following the election. He helped us to get through the period when we needed to reposition ourselves and to get in place the processes of opposition. He did a creditable job in that regard. As the junior partner in the coalition, the National Party have no say as to who is going to be the Leader of the Opposition but the Liberal Party have chosen two very able men to fill that task in the first year and I have found them both very good to work with. I also acknowledge Julie Bishop as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. We have a particularly close working relationship and I have appreciated the opportunity to work with her.

From my own party, I acknowledge Senator Scullion, my deputy, who has been loyal and faithful and has worked very hard to secure the future of our own party and to look after issues in the Senate. During the year, he was replaced as the National’s leader in the Senate by Senator Joyce, but he still plays a key role as the deputy leader of our party. I acknowledge also the work of Senator Barnaby Joyce. He is a colourful character, as we all know, and no-one is left in doubt as to what his views are on any issues.

Our whips have a thankless job. We always demand a great deal of them. I acknowledge Alex Somlyay, who is my neighbour as the member for Fairfax. Indeed, every election we tend to trade territory one to the other as the boundaries are altered, and I expect it will happen again before the next federal election. We have become particularly close colleagues, having between us represented most of the constituents once or twice because the boundaries have been changed so often. I want to particularly acknowledge Kay Hull, our pocket dynamo, the National’s whip. Kay does an enormous job. She is such a powerful advocate and a determined person. She stands up for so many causes and has all of these chickens under her wing. She is probably in stature the smallest person in the parliament but the biggest in heart. We admire you greatly, Kay, for all that you do. I know you are supported well by Paul Neville, my neighbour on the other side. I have a whip on either side of me in the geography of the country. Their work is particularly appreciated.

To my other National Party colleagues in the House and in the Senate, many of whom are in the chamber today, thank you for the way in which you have helped and supported me as an infant leader. I have needed your advice, it has been forthcoming and I have appreciated that very much. From a party perspective, I acknowledge Brad Henderson, our federal director, who has taken to the task with enthusiasm. It has been a big year for him with the birth of Billy, their first child, but he was only days after that event back in the political scene at conferences and helping to ensure that our party ran smoothly. I acknowledge the cooperative relationship we have had with Brian Loughnane and the people of the Liberal Party secretariat as well.

My own staff I appreciate very much also. When governments lose office, members suffer relevance deprivation syndrome. We suffer all of the indignity of moving out of ministerial offices and into other places. We have phones cut off and all sorts of things happening very quickly and we have to adjust to that. We sometimes forget that the same things happen to our ministerial staff. Almost without exception, they have to take pay cuts if they stay, and frankly there is only one in seven or eight positions available so most of them have to move to other places. I do very much appreciate those who have stuck with us and been prepared to accept the change of role. Many of them have embraced that with enthusiasm. I am very grateful for the personal support that I receive from my staff and the terrific effort that they put in. I acknowledge the sacrifices that they have made to also make this transition to opposition.

I extend season’s greetings to the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, my opposite numbers, all of their staff and, of course, the departments who service the whole of the government and the parliament in providing advice and support. I am always grateful for the support and cooperation that I receive from my wife and family. They have to endure the interrupted meal breaks, the promised meal breaks that do not happen at all and the interruptions to what is planned. Fortunately, my wife had worked for my predecessor, so she knew more about this job than I did when I came into it. She is very understanding, and I am very grateful for that and for all that she does for the party and to help keep us on a level playing field.

I join the Deputy Prime Minister in acknowledging the families of those colleagues who have lost loved ones during the year. I would like to take a moment to specifically acknowledge Simon Crean and the Crean family. This will be a Christmas where there will be a gap at their table. The longstanding patriarch of the family, Frank Crean, made a remarkable contribution to our nation and his family can be very proud of his achievements. I am sure that one of Frank Crean’s great prides will be the way his sons have followed him into public life and also have made very significant contributions.

Christmas is a special time of the year. It is a time when families can gather together and enjoy one another’s company. From a parliamentary perspective, it is a time when we are able to have a break and perhaps live slightly more normal lives. But Christmas is more than just decorations, gifts and parties—although a special part of my Christmas is always decorating the family home with Christmas lights so that I can demonstrate what a special time Christmas is for me in my neighbourhood. The celebrations and symbols of Christmas highlight the joyous reason for our festivities—namely, the birth of Jesus Christ, who brought salvation and the message of peace and goodwill to all. Those who seek to take Christmas out of the holidays or Christ out of the Christmas certainly lose the central reason for our celebrations and their meaning and purpose.

We celebrate with families, friends and loved ones, but it is important to remember, in the true spirit of Christmas, those who are less fortunate—the homeless, the jobless, the sick and those spending Christmas alone this year. We should consider what we are able to do to help them. I remember especially the hardship faced by tens of thousands of farming families and their communities because of the ongoing trials of the weather. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry referred briefly to this in question time today. It is hard to believe that there are some parts of Australia that are now going into their ninth or 10th year of drought. The stoic way these families have endured all of this pain and suffering is to be admired. Their forbearance is incredible and an inspiration to us all. In other places, there has been a lot of rain, and crops have been ruined because of excess rain.

I ask everybody, as did the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government during question time today, to pay special attention on the roads. Not all of the roads are perfect and there are lots of temptations at Christmas time which may impair one’s skills as a driver. Everyone must be conscious of the fact that, even if they are a good driver, there may be others around who are not. So please be patient, and do what you can in the difficult circumstances of crowded roads over this time.

Others have acknowledged the people that we will be relying on to keep the fires burning over Christmas—or, in some cases, probably to put them out. Summer is the time of year when disasters often strike our continent. It is frequently a time of flooding and often a time of bushfires. We particularly recognise the people in the emergency services who will be on hand in the event of there being some kind of disaster of this nature occurring during the Christmas period—our armed forces and others who keep us safe, the police, ambulance and hospital staff, all of whom are required to be there even if other people are on holidays. Those who serve in aged-care homes, childcare facilities and the like are all really special and deserve particular recognition over our Christmas period.

I extend my best wishes to all for a happy Christmas season and a successful year ahead. I hope everyone will enjoy this time of giving and sharing with their loved ones, families and friends and return again refreshed for another busy year.

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

I am pleased to be able to address the House as the Leader of the House in the Rudd Labor government. It was a very long 12-year wait, I must say. The transition to government is never an easy one, and I want to thank those people who contribute to the successful running and smooth operation of the parliament. I must say that the difference between being in opposition and being in government as a minister was roughly what I expected; the difference between being Manager of Opposition Business and Leader of the House is substantial. I underestimated the amount of time and work that it takes to do not the party political activity but the activity on behalf of the parliament in making sure the schedules are correct or setting a sitting pattern, which are not as simple as they might seem in the abstract. But it is a job that I certainly wanted, it is a job that I enjoy and it is an opportunity that I am proud to have. I grew up as a working-class kid of a single mum in a Housing Commission house in inner Sydney. Given those origins, this is a great country where you can become the Leader of the House of Representatives.

I would like to thank you, Mr Speaker, for your adjudication of the House this year. I want to put on the record a couple of things that have been said about you this year. My predecessor, the member for Warringah, only last week said:

Mr Speaker, you have shown exemplary impartiality in your term as Speaker …

I think that is correct. I think you have attained the respect of everyone in this House. That does not mean that I have agreed with all of your decisions from the chair, and perhaps there is a relationship between those two facts. Indeed, some of the most difficult people in this chamber agree. The member for Canning on 18 June said:

Harry Jenkins is probably the best Speaker we have had. I’ve got a lot of time and respect for the way he is conducting himself as Speaker.

Mr Speaker, I think you have brought to your position good humour and good nature. You are an extraordinarily decent Australian bloke. That is the way you are seen, and that matters in terms of your ability to preside over the House in a way that brings credit to the House of Representatives. Notwithstanding the fact that there have been a few dissent motions this year, I think when you reflect on the way you have conducted the House you can be very proud of your achievements.

I want to thank my colleagues. Firstly, I want to thank the Prime Minister not just for the political changes he has brought to implement the Labor platform but also for being a good friend. I spend more time with the Prime Minister than I spend with my family. I have come to admire with some astonishment the Prime Minister’s capacity for work and coherent thought in spite of circumstances which are quite extraordinary. Recently, when the Prime Minister returned from the United States he went via Brisbane because of the natural disaster that had occurred there and then came to the Australian Council of Local Government meeting. I am sure he personally met over 400 mayors there. He did not have lunch during the break because that would have interfered with meeting more people who wanted to discuss local issues with him. He was genuinely interested in hearing a little bit about the communities that those people represent. By and large our mayors and shire presidents around the country, regardless of their political affiliation, are people who do it for very little financial compensation. They do it out of commitment to their local community. Kevin, as the Prime Minister, took that opportunity to give them that respect and he received respect in return.

In the afternoon the Prime Minister told me that I was looking tired and suggested that I have a break that night. I told him I was speaking at the Ethnic Business Awards in Sydney that night. He asked me about the details. I told him that Joseph Assaf was the founder of these awards. Joseph Assaf would be known to many people in this House, including the member for North Sydney—certainly, he is a good friend of mine—and the member for Warringah. It was to be an exceptional night that got together success stories from different ethnic backgrounds. As we were talking about it I realised that he was not only interested; he was thinking of coming, and he did. He flew to Sydney and gave a marvellous off-the-cuff speech, having not rested for some time, and then flew back here early the next morning. I think this Prime Minister will be a great Prime Minister of this nation, and I am proud to call him my friend.

I have known the Deputy Prime Minister since our student days. We have been friends for a very long time. We have both noted that there is something a little disconcerting from time to time when people who sat at conferences together a long time ago, over 25 years ago, are today during question time the Acting Prime Minister and the Leader of the House. She launched my last campaign. She has exceptional capacity to work across the enormous brief that she has in her portfolio. I think she has been an outstanding Deputy Prime Minister.

I met the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, when we were both party officials. He is, as people would know, one of my best mates in this place. We can confide in each other. He has had an extraordinarily difficult task placed on him by the global financial crisis. He is determined and measured. He has a very clear idea of where he wants to take the country. It is particularly pleasing from my perspective that the Treasurer of the country is someone who is concerned with social justice and with outcomes. His background in that area serves him extremely well.

The Deputy Leader of the House, Stephen Smith, when he was not representing the nation as foreign affairs minister, has been a tremendous help and support to me as Leader of the House. On the tactics committee his strategic input is invariably correct. It is concise and to the point. He is a great support on the tactics committee.

I think it has been written who is on the tactics committee so I do not think I have just given up the list. The last person, but certainly not the least person, on our tactics committee from this House is the Chief Government Whip, Roger Price, the member for Chifley. I went to a Chifley FEC function for Roger on a Saturday night last month. The esteem in which Roger is held as a proud Western Sydney representative is mirrored by the esteem in which he is held by the Labor caucus in this House. It is a difficult job being the Chief Government Whip. It is sometimes made more difficult by the person who holds the position of Leader of the House. I accept that that is the case. Often Roger says that he does not agree with decisions or calls that have been made but he implements them anyway. I want to single out Anna George for the work that she does in his office. I say to the backbench that Roger is a tireless advocate on behalf of the backbench towards everyone, from the Prime Minister down. He and his assistants, the member for Shortland, Jill Hall, and the member for Werriwa, Chris Hayes, are an outstanding team, and I thank them for their assistance.

I turn to my staff and single one out. Due to a decision to restrict staff numbers for both the government and the opposition, as Leader of the House I have the great addition of one staff member—that is Jo Haylen. Fortunately, Jo Haylen is able to do the work of five or six people. She is the contact point. She is often the liaison point between my office and the office of the Manager of Opposition Business. Those people who know Jo like her—full stop—without exception. Jo Haylen has a brilliant political career ahead of her, in my opinion. She is an outstanding strategist and she will, I think, have a great future in the Labor movement.

To the rest of my staff, I say that I am very proud of both offices. The ministerial team led by Michael Choueifate, my Chief of Staff, is outstanding. Every single person who worked for me in opposition is still with me today. It is a good place to work, and I try to put into practice the principles in the bill that we just passed—the Fair Work Bill—in terms of the relationships in the office. To Tanya Jackson-Vaughan, who leads the electorate office team, I say that I am not around in the electorate as much as I used to be. That is the truth. On the weekend I leave here. I am on a very early morning flight to Victoria. I get home Sunday night and fly back here Monday morning. People who were ministers in recent times would be conscious of that sort of time factor. The time factor is difficult, and it is difficult to look after your electorate. With the team I have the electorate is looked after. That occurs. They have really picked up the work that they have to do, and I thank them for it.

I am also a member of the ALP National Executive Committee, as people would know, so I have a lot of contact with them and their team. To Karl Bitar, Nick Martin, Elias Hallaj and all the people of the secretariat, I say thank you. And I send a special thankyou to Tim Gartrell. Tim Gartrell was my campaign director in 1996. I like to think we train them well in Grayndler! He won then, against an opposition which was from the Left, as they would see it—the No Aircraft Noise Party and the Greens. He won against the Right in 2007 in playing a critical role in the defeat of the Howard government and the election of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. Tim is back in Leichhardt, living in my electorate where he began. He remains a very dear friend and comrade.

I thank the PLO—Tony Levy and the team in the Parliamentary Liaison Office. They keep the House running. They always know when and how to bring things to my attention, and they do a fantastic job—so much so that Tony is actually trying to retire and we are encouraging him not to. He has experience. He served the former government well and he serves this government well. He is a great example of the best of the Australian Public Service. I thank the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk and staff. Ian Harris serves this House extremely well, as does Bernard Wright and the whole team there. They give advice with authority, candour and that great experience that goes beyond the time in which we are here. I certainly thank them.

People in the House would know that from time to time I quote various statistics of how many points of order have been raised or what the activity is. I get that advice, obviously, from the Parliamentary Library and the Chamber Research Office. Governments can rely on them and I thank them for the advice.

To the rest of the House staff including the Sergeant-at-Arms, catering, housekeeping, HRG, IT support, security, the attendants, the staff at Aussies and other DPS staff without whom this House simply would not function, I say thank you. I want to single out three people: firstly, an attendant, Lupco Jonceski. We would be struggling on the front bench here were it not for Lupco. He brings us water, notes and whatever we need. He is a lovely human being and he serves everyone in this House extremely well. By singling him out, I am saying he is representative of the service that we have from the attendants in this House, and I place on record and note that there is such broad support for my comments from other members of the House who are here this evening. I want to single out two other people who are cleaning staff—they clean our offices. They are Anna Jancevska and Luzia Borges. I arrive pretty early in the morning and see them working and they always politely say, ‘Hello, how are things going?’ We should not forget that, when we come back the next day, the fact our offices look a bit different does not just happen, and I thank them for that.

I now get to the opposition. I want to pay tribute, as others have, to Brendan Nelson, the former Leader of the Opposition. Brendan is someone whom I have genuine regard for. As Sydney members who were elected at the same time, we worked together on airport noise issues and a range of other issues. I think that he served his party well. I wish him all the best. I think that it was a great moment when Gillian, at the press conference after Brendan moved on from being Leader of the Opposition, said that she was going to get to spend more time with him. The humanity there was evident to all, and I wish him well.

To the new Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, his wife, Lucy, and his family—I recently attended an off-the-record function, so I will not go into it, but Lucy Turnbull was there; I have known Lucy for as long as or longer than I have known Malcolm—I have respect for both of them and I wish them and their family well over Christmas. To Julie Bishop, I wish you well. I think it is tremendous that there are women who have risen to senior positions on both sides of politics. I think that is important if we are going to be truly representative as a nation. I wish you and your family well over Christmas. To Warren Truss, who is one of my shadow ministers and Leader of the National Party, I wish him well, as well as Ian Macdonald, Don Randall, John Forrest, Andrew Robb, Bruce Billson and Scott Morrison, who are my shadows in the parliament.

The last bloke I will mention from the opposition is the member for North Sydney, the Manager of Opposition Business. I told Joe the other day that I was doing talkback radio last Tuesday and that someone rang in and said that they listened to Steve Price’s program, which Joe and I do every fortnight, and said, ‘Do you really dislike each other? It sounds like it.’ The truth is that I am going to damage Joe’s career by saying that Joe and I get on extremely well outside of the chamber. We get on okay most of the time in the chamber as well. In terms of my electorate and aircraft noise, when Joe chaired SACF he came to my electorate, sat down and cared about the people who lived in Tempe and the people who were living in weatherboard houses and were basically being done over by politicians of both sides. He has my respect and I thank him. Most of the time, he is cooperative in making arrangements and in making sure that the House functions effectively. I do think he should not try to break his record of the 150 points of order he has moved this year in next year’s parliament, but I think that he plays a very important role in the parliament.

As someone who moved from opposition to government, I am astounded by the difference. It is very different in terms of the resources that you have. I think it must be very difficult to go the other way and I perfectly understand the people who have decided to leave the parliament, having been long-serving ministers, and I respect their decision. It must be extremely difficult and, from time to time, it does result in frustration. For most of the time the parliament has functioned well. Can we do better? Yes, on both sides. There is no doubt that both government and opposition can do better to improve parliamentary standards.

I am proud, though, that this year we have had a number of reforms: we have had more average questions per question time than before, we have had more ministerial statements and we have had more prime ministerial statements than have ever occurred before. In terms of a number of the indicators, we have made a number of reforms. We have had at least 10 questions asked of every minister on the Rudd government frontbench in the House of Representatives. Last year there were frontbench members who did not get to the dispatch box. I have made a conscious decision, as has the Labor Party, to underline the strength of our team, and I think the team has responded extremely well to that.

The highlight for me in parliament was being the Leader of the House on the day of the apology to the stolen generations. The fact that the then Leader of the Opposition was able to play the role that he did I know would have been difficult. The member for Bradfield deserves a great deal of credit for that. A lot of the things that we do will be forgotten pretty quickly, but that will be spoken about for generations to come. It is important and it could not have occurred in that way were it a partisan act. For that, I think the member for Bradfield deserves a great deal of credit.

I conclude by thanking my family. Carmel Tebbutt, my wife and life partner, has from time to time received some criticism due to her choice in partner. She happens to be the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, and I find it interesting in particular when journalists think it is unusual, given the nature of journalists’ relationships. The fact is that it is unusual for politicians to have relationships with each other. It is because women have not been politicians in large numbers until recent times. That is a fact. It will become more common. She is her own person and her own representative and I am very proud to be her husband, but we are very separate political entities. We engage in politics in different ways. She is an outstanding politician.

To my son, Nathan Albanese, I say: sorry I won’t be at the cricket on Saturday, mate, because I’m opening a road. I have a seven-year-old, and he has known a dad who travels to Canberra all of the time. It is one of the difficulties that we politicians have. I try to make every cricket game. He started this year on Saturday mornings, but this Saturday that is not going to be possible. I thank him for his patience and I hope that we can spend more time as a family over the festive season. To each and every one of you here I say: have a very safe, prosperous and happy Christmas and New Year.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To be elected to this House is an honour bestowed on relatively few Australians, and it is a matter of great pride for all of us to take our seats in this House and to represent our electorates from far and wide across Australia. Some of us had careers in other professions and industries before we became elected representatives. I think it is fair to say that the transition from private citizen to public figure is not for the faint-hearted. Many of us are driven by the same desire—to see a better life for all Australians—and most members of parliament are passionate about their beliefs and what they want to achieve for Australia. We have different views on either side of the House as to how we should get there; nevertheless, we are driven by a desire to improve the lives of fellow Australians. We work hard on the laws, policies and programs that will make a difference to people.

Much of the work that we do as members of parliament is not readily apparent—the committee work, the delegations, the debates, the parliamentary work generally and also the constituent work back in our electorates, as we attend to constituent inquiries and attend functions. The days are as varied as they are long. It is a fact that most people view members of parliament and their activities through the prism of the Australian media. It is a fact that the press gallery here is charged with the responsibility of reporting fairly and objectively on the goings-on inside this parliament. Probably most people’s impressions of what parliamentarians do are formed by their views on what they see on the nightly news—the vision of question time. Perhaps their first and lasting impression of members of parliament is formed from that nightly news vision. I think that is a matter for us all to ponder over the weeks ahead.

Of course, question time is a very necessary part of our democratic process. It is the moment when government ministers are required to answer questions put to them by the opposition and by their own side. On occasions, it can be a matter of pure theatre. In fact, it would be fair to say that the member for Higgins provided the most superb performances that I think I will have the pleasure of watching in parliament. His sense of comic timing and his wit regularly brought the House down—metaphorically speaking—and we certainly miss his daily performances. The level of humour that he brought to question time is sadly missing, although I must say that the exchange this afternoon between the Deputy Prime Minister and the shadow minister for education might rate as one of those moments.

It has been said before that, given the manner in which government ministers answer—or do not answer—questions, we should rename question time and call it ‘answer time’. This has been a suggestion put to me by Luke Hartsuyker on more than one occasion. Perhaps, if we called it ‘answer time’, it might evoke a different response. I do acknowledge, though, the Treasurer amongst the frontbench of the government. I might not like the answers he provides; I might not think he is giving an answer. Nevertheless, he does usually show a considered interest in addressing the issue about which I am trying to elicit information, and he usually gives considered respect to the questions that I ask. I do wish the Treasurer and the government all the best over the coming months, because Australia does face an economic slowdown and we do need steady and considered leadership on economic issues. So I wish the Treasurer, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the government ministers all the very best as they tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

Among my own colleagues, I particularly thank the Leader of the Opposition for his support. The Leader of the Opposition has proven himself to be a truly worthy and capable leader of our great party. He impresses immediately with his confidence, his ability and his intelligence, and I believe he will make a great Prime Minister of this country. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his friendship. We have known each other for many, many years, and we are very good friends. I thank him for his friendship, and I also wish Malcolm, his wife, Lucy, and their family, Alex and Daisy, the very best for the Christmas season.

I pay tribute to the member for Bradfield. I was honoured to serve as his deputy. He showed enormous determination in seeking to provide leadership to our party at a time when it was shattered, after the last election. After 11½ years in government, for us to lose—and to lose, essentially, our leadership team in the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Foreign Affairs—was a very difficult time for us, and the member for Bradfield, Brendan Nelson, took on what must be the most difficult task in Australian politics. He performed admirably, and he has the admiration and respect of both sides of the House.

I pay tribute to my shadow ministers and to the Manager of Opposition Business in the House. Joe has quite a task every day to keep the business of opposition flowing. With regard to our interchange throughout the day, all I can say is: Joe, I am glad they cannot lip-read as you and I work out some tactics that we hope our leader will agree with. I pay tribute to my Senate colleagues—in particular the leadership team, Senators Minchin, Abetz and Coonan. Together, the shadow ministry has performed extremely well over the last 12 months. In fact, as evidenced by the robust debates that we have in our party room meetings, our whole team has been dedicated, enthusiastic and eager to hold the government to account, to act as a credible opposition, to develop alternative policies and to make us an attractive proposition for consideration by the Australian public at the election that we assume will take place sometime in 2010.

I also pay tribute to the National Party—in particular their leader, Warren Truss, the member for Wide Bay. I have been in this parliament and observed a number of National Party leaders: Tim Fischer, John Anderson, Mark Vaile and now Warren Truss. All are thoroughly decent people, totally committed to their cause and the people they represent. In the case of Warren Truss, he is a man whose integrity is without question. I attended the National Party’s Christmas event last night, and I must say that they look better out of costume. I think the 1970s look said it all, but I will not go there. It is a fact that the Liberal and National parties have been the most successful political partnership in Australia’s history, and together we are a formidable team. I also acknowledge the whips—the member for Fairfax, the member for Ryan, the member for Forrest and, from the National Party, the member for Riverina and the member for Hinkler—who all do a sterling job in herding the members into the right place at the right time.

There is an old saying—I do not know who first said it—that goes along these lines: if you want a friend in politics, buy a dog. I beg to differ. I have met many fine people in my 10 years in politics, and I count many of the opposition members as my friends. Some of my closest friends today are former members of this place. I think it is a rather unfortunate impression that we give of our political and parliamentary colleagues, for we do find true friendship amongst our colleagues here.

I particularly want to single out some of my Western Australian colleagues. We are quite a team here in the House of Representatives. We hold 11 out of 15 seats—I hope the member for Brand is feeling somewhat vulnerable—and, together with our Senate colleagues from the West, we make the long trip back and forth across the Nullarbor more times than I care to remember. I thank them for their incredible loyalty and support. We certainly pulled together as a team at the recent state election that saw a Liberal government elected and effectively took the first brick out of the wall-to-wall state, territory and federal Labor government scene.

I take this opportunity to place on record my admiration for Senator Chris Ellison, who will be leaving the parliament this year. Chris has had a fine career as a senator—some 15 years representing Western Australia in the finest tradition of Western Australian senators. His dedication to his task, his calm demeanour, his intelligence and his experience will be sadly missed not only by the party but also by the Senate and members in this House.

I also comment and thank the staff in the House of Representatives. Mr Speaker, thank you for your courtesy this year. I have to say that, having been in this place for 10 years, it came as a shock to me to be thrown out earlier in the year. But I certainly deserved it and, although I am scarred by the experience, I will try very hard not to repeat the event. I thank the Speaker for his dedication to his task, to the clerks, to the attendants and to all those who ensure that this place runs as smoothly as the Speaker is able to achieve.

There are thousands and thousands of people who ensure that this parliament runs smoothly, not only the public servants—a whole army of people in the Public Service—but also the thousands of people that work inside this place when parliament is sitting. Some of them have been here for such a long time. This morning one of my staff was talking to the man who waters the plants, Carl. Carl has been in that job for 22 years. I think that gives us some indication of the dedicated service of so many people who in their own way make a contribution to the smooth running of the federal parliament.

I thank my staff, particularly my chief of staff, Murray; my press secretary, Kate; my senior adviser, Dave; and my adviser, Rochelle. We are a small but talented team. They are fiercely loyal to me and dedicated to my wellbeing. I also thank my electorate office staff—Kirsten, Sue, Judy, Rachael and Georgina. They have to mind the shop while I am on my frequent trips to Canberra and the eastern states, and I am so often absent. They do a wonderful job ensuring that the constituents in my electorate get to see me when they need to and get answers to questions and support and advice when they need it.

Finally, I thank the people of my electorate of Curtin. They have now re-elected me on four occasions. I recommit that in 2009 I will work very hard in representing their interests in this place and that I will dedicate all my efforts, energies and abilities to ensure that their interests are appropriately represented here. I take this opportunity to wish all members a safe, happy and prosperous Christmas and New Year.

Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Unusually, I would like to dwell on a remark by the Leader of the House in commencing the valedictories. He talked about the Indigenous welcome and apology that started this parliament and in particular he commended the honourable member for Bradfield, the then Leader of the Opposition. The member for Bradfield gave the apology bipartisan support and, indeed, supported the Indigenous opening. It was not easy, but the apology would not have had the great meaning in Australia that it has, and that I think it will mark in history, without his bipartisan support. So, like the Leader of the House, I put on the Hansard record something that I have publicly said on a number of occasions and thank him and his party for that bipartisan support. On a less generous note, I observe how jealous I was of the class of 2007 for having in their very first parliament an Indigenous welcome and an apology—something many of us had waited many years for.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the role you play. Reflecting on my behaviour, I suspect—in fact I know—that I have not always lived up to the standards that you expect of honourable members. But I am grateful that you have not used the full force of the standing orders and precedent to exercise your authority, and in that regard I thank you for your generosity.

Chief whips do not get to choose whom they work with as Leader of the House. That is true in my case, but even if I did have a choice I would not want to work with anyone other than Mr Albanese, the Leader of the House. As Deputy Manager of Opposition Business, then Manager of Opposition Business and now Leader of the House, he has commanded my respect—and loyalty too. I think that we have developed a close friendship and good teamwork. Mr Albanese commented on the role of Jo Haylen. She is one of those many young women who work in this organisation for us. She is an outstanding talent, and her ability to do her job in the exemplary fashion that she does simply astounds me. The Leader of the House of course does not have a modest portfolio or responsibilities but rather large ones. In a joking manner, I have often called Jo the ‘acting leader of the House’. We do have a very good relationship and I am very thankful for the way she does her work and all the cooperation she extends.

Perhaps it is unusual for me to mention the Chief Opposition Whip, Alex Somlyay, but when I was Chief Opposition Whip I had an excellent relationship with Kerry Bartlett, the then Chief Government Whip. I did not think that I was a slouch in opposition, but now that I have a better understanding of the role of Chief Government Whip I have even greater respect for Kerry. I think Alex carries on the tradition. Whips are required to make many verbal agreements during the day and the week. Alex is a man of honour and he has never broken his word to me, and I trust I have never broken my word to him. Whips do not always agree with leaders of the House or even with managers of opposition business, but I am fond of saying that if I have an agreement with Alex, it is bankable. I thank him and his staff because we both need to cooperate well.

The whips, of course, control the Main Committee, something that is sometimes lost on the leaders of the House or the managers of opposition business. Nothing can be done without the agreement of the two whips. We also organise the selection committee, where there are a fine set of papers and extensive minutes, to determine private members’ business. This is all done at an informal meeting between the whips, including the Nationals’ whip, Kay Hull. It is done very quickly and efficiently and the decisions are recorded by James Rees from the Table Office. So lots of things that make this place work are really done by agreement between whips. I again thank Alex and wish him and his wife, Jenny, all the best for Christmas for New Year—and the same to Kay.

Of course, there are two other government whips: Jill Hall, who has been with me since I first became a whip and put my L-plates on, and, more recently, Chris Hayes. We operate as a team. I think people do not understand the influence that Jill and Chris have, but I am certainly very much dependent on them and their judgement, which I very highly regard. Jill and Chris run the Main Committee, and I would like to thank and acknowledge the role played by not only them but also their staff, who do an outstanding job.

The Leader of the House thanked Anna George. I would like to say that Anna George works for me, but I may be unintentionally misleading the House! Lots of people feel that I work for Anna George, and certainly I do. Anna is a very calm, efficient person who quietly goes about her business, is never fazed, always has a bright smile and treats everyone as she finds them. I could not do my job without Anna George. I would like to acknowledge the role that Joy Brogan and Matthew Tredwell play as well. In addition, I acknowledge my electorate staff Rose Maccarone, Nicole Seniloli, Barbara Williams and Ron De La Cuadra.

I acknowledge the role the clerks play and the advice that they have provided me with over the last 12 months. In fact, I extend my sympathy to Mr Harris, because there has been a section of the standing orders that he has had to provide remedial courses for so that I can fully appreciate their import. We are all dependent on their sage advice. Both Ian and Bernard are no exception.

The Leader of the House mentioned Tony Levy and the staff who work with him, the parliamentary liaison officers. I think that for the outstanding job that they do it is somewhat of a disgrace that they work out of a dogbox. I thank you, Tony, for all the work you do.

My office is particularly close to the Table Office. Surprisingly, I felt that Peter Mason had a mid-life crisis. He assures me that that was not the case and took five months of long service leave. We were all a little worried about how his shoes would be filled, but I think James Rees has stepped up to the plate in a magnificent fashion. I sincerely thank him for all his good work.

We have a lot to do with the Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, Claressa Surtees, and the staff who work for her. Unfortunately one of Claressa’s jobs is to control the media, if that is not putting too fine a point on it. She does an excellent job. She does not always endear herself to people because she carries out the requirements of her job, but I certainly value the contribution she makes and I wish I had always let her know of some of the arrangements that we had made with the media. I also sincerely thank Rod and the other staff in her office.

We have a caucus training unit that is headed up by Koula Alexiadis. Although that unit reports to and works for the Special Minister of State under the changed arrangements, I do have an informal arrangement with that group and I would certainly like to thank Koula and her team for the outstanding job that they do.

I certainly wish my backbench a very happy Christmas. I hope they have time to spend with their families, have a break and recharge the batteries. I also thank the staff who work tirelessly for them and do a great job. Whips require a lot of assistance, cooperation and goodwill from ministers, the backbench and their staff to be effective. We have certainly received that in full measure. We sincerely thank them for it and we could not do our jobs without it.

Last, but not least, we have the honourable member for Banks as the chairman of caucus. There are a number of decisions that I need to take or implement in consultation with the honourable member for Banks. People on our side think he is doing an outstanding job and I would like to thank him for all his assistance and the easy way it is to work with him.

I think it has been a difficult year for all opposition members—a long year for you. I certainly hope that you are able to spend time with your families and are able to recharge yourselves. The political contest is a keen one and a hard one, and we all run down our batteries, I regret to say. We recuperate with our families and, with our communities, they charge us up and give us new energy and insight. I hope all members recharge their batteries, and I certainly hope opposition members do so.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is good to see you smiling, Mr Speaker, as we near the end of the year. I cannot recall having ever spoken at this valedictory opportunity, even though I have been a member here since 1996. Some people are cynical about the valedictories. I want to place on record that what I like most about them is that people speak from the heart. The notes are a gentle reminder of the vast number of people that we all have an obligation to thank and a responsibility to thank. The best part of it is you can take a moment to reflect on, regain and display the human qualities that make us all, hopefully, good representatives of the Australian people.

First and foremost, I want to start within this chamber. When I first came into parliament in 1996 I drew a very deep breath when I walked through the doors just over there for the first time into what is an effective coliseum. I sat in the chair next to where the member for Werriwa now sits. I was put up there at that time because the then government whip was not a great fan of mine, it is fair to say, and he deemed it appropriate for me to be furthest away from the chair and the action. I do not know whether I should disclose this to you, Mr Speaker, but I was the first Liberal MP thrown out by a Liberal Speaker. You would not believe why that occurred. I was so far up the back that when I interjected the member for Bradfield had to repeat my interjection so it would be heard. Of course, it was Speaker Halverson at the time and he was deaf in his right ear, which was rather convenient for the government sitting to the right-hand side of the Speaker. One day he knew there were numerous interjections coming from the right-hand side of the chamber, but he could not pin it on anyone because his hearing was a little limited. He saw my lips moving and he threw me out. The worst part of it was that I was chewing gum—I had not said a word! I have never chewed gum in this chamber since because I feared being thrown out by the Speaker.

What I love about this chamber is the humanity in it. Not everyone who might watch the six o’clock news and see just a few seconds of activity in the chamber would be able to identify that there is great humanity in this chamber. There is a great deal of respect across the chamber for each other and I think that overwhelmingly there is a great deal of respect for the chamber itself and what it stands for. Each time in the 18 sitting weeks and numerous others when I drive to Canberra, I look at the building and take a little breath because I know it is an immense privilege to represent others in the parliament of the people, and particularly in the chamber of the people.

As the Leader of the House very genuinely said, it has been a tough year going from government to opposition. I was very privileged to be a minister for eight years, and in those eight years there were not many days that passed by when I did not have the opportunity to engage in banter in the chamber. It is quite a transition from government to opposition, but I do want to place on record that, even though you can understand the government using the full force of its numbers in this place, the Leader of the House has gone out of his way to communicate with me on numerous occasions—outside sitting weeks and during sitting weeks—and to keep me informed of what the government was seeking to achieve in the chamber. Whilst we have disagreed at various times, and on many occasions the government presented to us a range of things as a fait accompli, he would at least let me know it was coming before it hit me. I do appreciate the fact that he has endeavoured to do that.

The interesting thing is that I have known Albo, the Leader of the House, for many years. We both came into this place in 1996 with our whips not being very fond of us as new members. In the case of the Leader of the House, Leo McLeay was the Chief Opposition Whip and he and the member for Grayndler had a rich and vibrant history. The member for Grayndler walked into the office of the Chief Opposition Whip and said, ‘I haven’t got an office’—I am sure he will not mind me telling this story—and Leo McLeay, without even looking up, got out a map of Parliament House and said, ‘On my reckoning, this office over here is the furthest away from mine, and that will be yours.’

I can beat that. Alan Cadman was Chief Government Whip at the time. I came down to Parliament House and looked around and he had not given me an office at all. I went to his office to complain that I had not been given an office. He said, ‘Oh, what an oversight that is.’ He put me in an office to share with Ian Causley! I thought, ‘Hang on, I thought I got my own office in Parliament House—I’m a new member.’ I went to complain again and he said, ‘Oh, we’ll fix that up.’ Little did I know that he had allocated me a storage room in Parliament House. I am not joking. I walked into the room and it was full of furniture, boxes and everything else. They said, ‘Don’t worry, Mr Hockey, it will take a few days but you will get an office.’ I said, ‘Can I have a TV, as well? Is that okay?’ They said, ‘Yes, that’s okay.’ So we both had colourful starts to our careers in this place.

Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Price interjecting

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Some tips for the government whip? From that day on we have both learnt to respect our whips. That is very wise. It is even more important when you are the Leader of the House or the Manager of Opposition Business. I really do want to place on record my enormous gratitude to Alex Somlyay, the Chief Opposition Whip. He is a man of great integrity. He is someone who has been able to manage all the emotions associated with going from government to opposition, of which there are many. Very few people in our ranks have been elated at going into opposition. Alex Somlyay, being such an impressive man with great values, has been able to manage in very difficult circumstances. I wish Alex and Jenny all the very best for Christmas. I recognise that he is both a former minister and a long-serving member of parliament. We could not be served by a better person as Chief Opposition Whip.

I also place on record my deep appreciation for the member for Ryan, who is also a whip, and the member for Forrest, Nola Marino, who replaced Geoff Prosser. As a new member it must be quite a challenge becoming a whip. I also thank Kay Hull, the member for Riverina, who is a stoic person with great fortitude, and the member for Hinkler, Paul Neville, who is a wonderful guy. He represents Bundaberg and the Bundy Bear. He has held the seat of Hinkler during some very challenging times.

I also take this opportunity to thank the Chief Government Whip and his two assistants, the member for Shortland and the member for Werriwa, for their very agreeable attitude towards the place and for their cooperation. A lot is done that keeps the place functioning but also keeps the humanity in the building. The whips do that, and it is a wonderful thing that they do and I really appreciate it. I appreciate the great touch footy skills of the member for Werriwa and I hope he recovers from his injury soon and takes a good rest.

Even though I have dealt with the whips first I really want to place on record my appreciation to you, Mr Speaker. I do not know how effusive I should be lest it create some level of controversy. I do not always agree with Alan Ramsey but I think on this occasion I just might. Even though it can be enormously frustrating to you, as it is for us, to deal with the different challenges in the chair, I really appreciate the fact that you are engaging and consultative and that you also know, through your vast experience, when it is the right moment to take a tough stand and also when it is the right moment to just let things flow a bit. An umpire can always make the situation worse and you are able to read people and I really admire you for that. I admire you more for the fact that you did the hard yards of opposition. You were very respected as a Deputy Speaker in opposition and you have not changed as Speaker. That is what impresses me the most, Mr Speaker.

I also take this opportunity to thank the deputy speakers—Anna Burke and Bruce Scott—and all the members of the Speaker’s panel. I particularly thank the clerks, Ian Harris and Bernard Wright. They are wonderful men who are very focused on the interests of the parliament and the people of Australia. I thank the clerks at the table, Robyn McClelland and Robyn Webber, and the Sergeant-at-Arms, David Elder, and the Deputy and Assistant Sergeant.

In particular I also thank my deputy, the member for Cowper. He is a really decent guy. He is so unlike his predecessor—not because his predecessor was not a decent guy but his predecessor was, as a deputy speaker, ruthless. You were never left in any doubt about his views, but I really liked him as well. I am very pleased with the fact that the people of Cowper are very well served by decent representatives and decent men. There is no doubt that Luke Hartsuyker is a very decent man.

I also take this opportunity to thank the many people working within the framework of the House—all the House attendants and the Chamber Research Office. I totally agree with the Leader of the House about Lupco—what a great man! You know what, Lupco? I really hope you have a great Christmas with your beautiful family. There is his happy smile and his engagement every morning. I have finally got my word right with ‘dobro’. We are all learning a little bit. I grew up knowing Arabic swear words rather than ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’ greetings in another language. That was part of growing up.

I would like to thank the Department of Parliamentary Services: the Secretary, Alan Thompson; the Deputy Secretary, David Kenny; the Parliamentary Librarian, Roxanne Missingham—the Parliamentary Library is an invaluable resource in opposition, as so many have said; all the Hansard staff, who do a great job and work incredible hours; very importantly, the Comcar drivers; the security staff, who are always very happy, particularly first thing in the morning; and all the attendants and cleaners, who are genuinely wonderful people and who work incredibly hard during the night, many of them working numerous jobs. We are blessed to have good people around us in this building just to remind us of why we are here.

Within the framework of the department I also thank my own staff: in particular, James Newbury, who is here, and who is the man who manages to hold us all together for question time and various other parts of the day; and my chief of staff, Andrew Kirk, who has a brain the size of Texas—and a history too; he knows where every skeleton is buried—and is a very good man whom I really appreciate. I say to all my staff and my team: I really appreciate your work.

It has been a hell of a year, and it has been a challenging year. I want to save my greatest tribute of the year to my mate, my flatmate and probably the most decent person I have sat in this chamber with, and that is Brendan Nelson. He is a man of great personal integrity. He took us through a very difficult time. The member for Bradfield is one of those people who, quite properly, carries his emotions with him—and thank God he does, because that makes him the human being that he is. It was a torturous year for some of us in many ways. I cannot think of anything that is more torturous than going through leadership battles. As my colleagues in the Labor Party know—and I have spoken to many of them about it—it is a terrible thing to have to do. There are a whole lot of reasons why I think that Brendan is a very decent and good man. I say on this public recording in this chamber as well as everywhere I go that I feel very blessed to call him a mate. I wish Brendan and all of his family, friends and staff all the very best for Christmas and for the days ahead.

I was very proud to serve as Brendan’s Manager of Opposition Business. There was the celebrated moment when you displayed great patience, Mr Speaker, and that was the moment of Cardboard Kev. I can now disclose publicly for the very first time that the idea for Cardboard Kev came from the member for Bradfield. He said to me, ‘How about this to close down the Friday sittings?’ I said, ‘That is beautiful.’ I do not think that when he suggested it he thought that I would continue with it. I had to firstly get a smiling photo of the Prime Minister and then it went through the whole process. It saved us from Friday sittings for a whole lot of reasons. When I showed Cardboard Kev to the member for Bradfield, he said, ‘Oh, mate’—as he does—‘that’s fantastic; if it works it’s my idea and if it doesn’t it’s yours.’ Sometimes visuals are far more powerful than words, and that is what we underestimate in a chamber that has a great history. That followed with: ‘How am I going to get the message on alcopops?’ Well, I will put some grog on the dispatch box, and that will focus people’s minds. Mr Speaker, I appreciate your tolerance during those moments when we were trying to get across a very important message, which we managed to do.

I also take the opportunity to thank my very good mate and longstanding friend Malcolm Turnbull, who has taken over as the Leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition. He is a hugely impressive person, but he also has a longstanding belief in the quality of human beings, which I admire, and which I have always admired, and that is why I have supported his work throughout his entire political career. I really enjoy working with him. He challenges you and he prods you—but do you know what? He is a really decent guy. Do you know what I admire most, Mr Speaker? I love the thought that people are prepared to make personal sacrifices to come to this place. It does not matter whether you are a person of limited means or a person of great means; anyone who comes into this place prepared to make a sacrifice to get here is someone who deserves to be here. Ted Mack once said to me: ‘When you look around the chamber you might think to yourself, “How on earth did they get there?” but never underestimate anyone who stands in this place.’ It was good advice because I do not underestimate anyone who comes into this place and makes great sacrifices to get here. I really appreciate that.

I very much appreciate the contribution and hard work of the member for Curtin, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, who is someone who is incredibly determined to make a difference. I thoroughly enjoy working with her. I am glad that no-one is lip-reading over there about a whole range of different things during question time. Finally, I turn to the Leader of the National Party. Few people would recall that my first job in politics was working for a National Party member of parliament, George Souros, in the New South Wales parliament, who was minister for sport. He was also Minister Assisting the Premier, and that is where I first got involved in the sale of banks. It is ironic that today we were talking about the government owning a new bank, and I was once selling them. In fact, governments around the world are buying banks, so there is always a post-politics career in selling them again. The worm turns, doesn’t it? You start your legal career selling banks and then you end up coming into government and you might end up buying them again, and then you can retire selling them. It is unbelievable.

It has been an extraordinary year. The global financial crisis is going to change our lives forever. Whilst there was no joy on my part earlier in the year predicting that we could be heading into recession, and I was maligned by the government for it—I have to speak from the heart—I could see it. There was a whole lot of reasons why. The pain really hurts today. A number of friends of mine in Sydney rang me today and said they had been made redundant. They have young families. They are in their late 30s, early 40s and they are thinking to themselves, ‘How am I going to pay my bills? How can I pay the mortgage?’ It is that human side of it. In this place we can debate the logical issues, we can debate the macro issues, we can even debate some of the micro issues; but it is the impact of our words and the impact of our decisions on the lives of others that comes home to roost when you see individuals in pain and you have this immense desire to do something about it.

I believe that everyone in this place genuinely wants to make a positive difference for others. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Everyone in this place, everyone in this chamber, and everyone in the Senate wants to make a positive difference for others. We have different routes that we believe should be taken, but what impresses me most is that we resolve these issues in this chamber and then we move on. I am immensely proud to be a member of parliament. I feel honoured to be given a role as Manager of Opposition Business and I feel privileged to serve with everyone else in this chamber. To all of you, I wish you a very merry Christmas, a wonderful Christmas, and a happy New Year. It gives us an opportunity to rest and, as the member for Batman said quite rightly today, to recharge not only our physical batteries but also our mental batteries. People do not take enough care of their mental health.

Christmas is also a spiritual time. It is a time for family and friends and it is a time for all of us to remind ourselves of what is important in life. I am looking forward to spending time this Christmas with my three-year-old son, who for the first time only yesterday said, ‘Santa is coming,’ and with my two-year-old daughter—time I never had as a minister. I barely had time to have them as a minister. I am a very late dad, but it is a great moment. Mr Speaker, thank so very much for your tolerance, your efforts and your contribution.

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I firstly thank you and the House for the opportunity to make some remarks during these valedictory speeches. The first thing is that we are about to celebrate Christmas, which is when Christians recognise and celebrate the birth of Christ. It is in many ways a time when we reflect on what has happened in the year that has gone and look forward to the year ahead with renewed confidence and hope, which is arguably the most fragile yet powerful of human emotions.

It has been an extraordinary year for our country. It has also been an extraordinary year for me personally and also for our party. I would like to start by thanking my wife, Gillian. A number of people on both sides of the House and around the country have said to me that perhaps I might have been more successful if they had seen and heard more of my wife, which I took as a compliment to her. There is no doubt that none of us achieves anything in our lives without people who love us and believe in us—families who make involuntary sacrifices to allow us to serve our nation, in this case through the parliament. Having said that, though, when I was asked by a young person a year or so ago when addressing a leadership conference how you stop politicians from becoming arrogant, I said, ‘When you find out can you let me know?’ However, I did explain that when you are my age and you have a wife you are pretty right. In explaining that, I relate that I was education minister in 2002 and I had been invited to deliver the Chapman Oration of the Institution of Engineers Australia at the Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne to a dinner audience of 500 or so engineers and their families. If you are one or you have them in your family, you know engineers are a pretty serious lot. So when I sat down, having done this, the very earnest chief executive leaned over and said, ‘Dr Nelson, I do apologise for continuing to eat when you began your speech, but your wife said I should enjoy something while you were talking.’

That is the nature of the relationship I have with Gillian. The Leader of the House earlier today said he had observed that in the press conference I was able to do after I had lost the leadership of our party my wife had said that she was looking forward to seeing more of me, and I can report after 2½ months that just before I came down here for this sitting week she said to me, ‘I think I am actually going to miss you.’ That was reflecting on the fact that she had seen so little of me that I had been home enough for her to miss me coming down.

I would like to make some remarks, in thinking about the year that has gone, about a person of whom little, if anything, has been said over the last year. A giant of a man, not physically but politically, who cast a very long shadow over this parliament and across our country, and that is John Howard. John Howard, as we know, served the people of this country in the parliament representing Bennelong for close to 34 years. He suffered the ignominy of losing his seat of Bennelong, as we know, in the election of last year, and it is to the enormous credit of the new member for Bennelong and her party that they were able to achieve that. But John Howard has left a great lesson, I think, for all of us, and that is the importance of conviction and belief.

For our party and for me as a person who began life as a person born and bred in Labor politics and had my own personal involvement with the Crean family, whom I greatly admire, John Howard has arguably been the greatest exponent of our beliefs since Sir Robert Menzies. I made the observation when leader at one of the dinners held in tribute of John Howard that Robert Menzies in his period of having lost the prime ministership of the country and then thinking about his own political future gave a series of speeches entitled ‘The forgotten people’. He spoke about the salary earners, the shopkeepers, the skilled artisans, the professional men and women and the farmers. Politically and economically he described them as the middle class—unorganised and unselfconscious, not rich enough to wield power in its own right and too individualistic to be organised for what he described as pressure politics. And yet Menzies observed that they were the backbone of the nation. Almost as an afterthought, he further said, ‘It is in their children they see their greatest contribution to the country.’ It was for that set of beliefs and for those people that John and his wife, Janette, committed their entire lives to the service of this country. Whether you agree or disagree with John Howard and his views—and I know those on the other side certainly do not agree in almost all cases—we certainly have an enormous amount of respect for what he has given to us.

I did not participate in the so-called The Howard Years but there is something I would like to say which is just one small window into John Howard that I would have said in that first episode. After the Port Arthur massacre, there was enormous pressure in our country to deal with guns and gun control. Equally, there were significant sections of Australian society who felt legitimately very strongly that what was being proposed should not happen, including within my own party. I will never forget attending the first party room meeting of us in government after the Port Arthur massacre. There were many of my own colleagues who were quite opposed to the idea of us embarking on national gun control. John Howard stood before us and said, ‘What I am about to say to you is contrary to everything I have ever believed.’ He said: ‘We are going to have to pass rules to control the lives of people who have never done anything wrong and never will. We are going to have to tell the states what to do.’ That is ironic when you think of what subsequently happened in the development of the government. He said, ‘Never in my 23 years in public life have I been more convinced that this is the right thing to do.’

Throughout his period in government as Prime Minister of the country, he showed that kind of leadership on a number of occasions. I think it is important as we finish this year that we reflect on his contribution and that made by his family to our country and in making us who we are and giving us what we have. From our side, naturally, we do argue that, amongst many things, he put this country in the strongest economic position that it could possibly be in to face the global financial crisis to which the member for North Sydney just referred.

I would also like to say that leading our party and being John Howard’s immediate successor was an enormous privilege bestowed upon me by my colleagues. It was not something that I had anticipated. I had, of course, like many here—not all—quietly harboured the possibility that at some point in my political life I might take on the leadership of the party, but I did not expect that. It was genuinely a shock for me, as it was for all of us, when the member for Higgins, for whom I have the highest regard, decided for reasons I now fully understand that he would not take on the leadership of our party. And I appreciate and respect the efforts made by our now leader, Malcolm Turnbull, in contesting the leadership of the party at that time. It was extraordinarily difficult for us and obviously a new experience for me to go from government to opposition and at the same time be the leader of the party when our putative next leader had quite reasonably decided that he would prefer not to take it on. It was a major life event for many of us. We lost our leader, John Howard, we lost our putative leader, we lost our foreign minister and we effectively also lost our Deputy Prime Minister.

Whilst we were extraordinarily proud of what we had achieved, there were some things that we had to change. We had to support the ratification of the Kyoto agreement, and we made a mistake not having done that in government. I felt morally and practically that we must support the apology to the forcibly removed generations of Aboriginal children. I was ridiculed and criticised for the way in which I went about trying to make sure that the very conservative members of our party understood that I knew and respected their views. I was also criticised for the way I spoke to the apology. On those apology matters, I have yet to receive an apology from one particular person for the behaviour of some people who worked for him. I have been asked whether I regret what I said. I do not regret a single word of what I said that day—not a single word—because an atypical, more than usual number of Australians were actually tuned in to Aboriginal issues that day and if it were just about us saying sorry and being deeply sorry we would have achieved nothing. Everyday Australians who work hard and live relatively comfortable lives needed to be confronted with the state of Aboriginal Australia as it is today. Our progress as a nation, in my view, will be judged not only by the economic indices with which we are so understandably concerned but by the extent to which we lift Indigenous Australia from what is largely existential despair and appalling conditions, which still exist notwithstanding the enormous effort and goodwill of governments of all persuasions.

I would like to thank the member for Curtin for the support which she gave me through my period as the then leader of the opposition. I would also like to thank the member for North Sydney, who has been a wonderful friend and always reminds me—he doesn’t say it—that you have got to have a sense of humour as you go through this job. Yes, the cardboard cut-out was something that came to me. We were not happy about the idea of sitting on Fridays without a question time and we had decided that we would take a very strong, principled stand on this. I said: ‘Joe, we’ve got to have something that cuts through’—no pun intended—‘We need to make sure that the average bloke looking for footy results in the Herald Sun knows that, basically, the Prime Minister is wagging school.’ As you, Mr Speaker, had very helpfully agreed to props only the day before, I thought, ‘We need one of those things you see at the movies, like a cardboard cut-out of Russell Crowe.’ Needless to say, when Joe and our federal director presented it to me—I had specifically asked for a very nice image of the Prime Minister, and that is indeed what it was—I was so excited. I thought, ‘This is going to work.’ In fact I did suggest to the member for North Sydney that you could contemplate bringing in the cardboard cut-out with a Father Christmas hat on, but his judgement is obviously sounder than mine and we decided not to do that.

I would also like to thank all of my colleagues, frontbench and backbench, for all of the support they gave me through what was a difficult period. The leader of any opposition in the period that we have just been through always has someone else and there are always others who would prefer to be higher up the tree and their obvious skills have not been recognised and all of those sorts of things. But I am very proud of what we have achieved as a team in opposition this year. It has been very difficult, with an ascendant government and an extraordinarily popular Prime Minister. I also am very proud of the fact—and I hope it is the case—that I have not ever hit below the belt when it comes to dishing it out to the government.

I would also like to record my thanks and gratitude to the Prime Minister for the personal courtesies extended to me during my period as opposition leader. I had several meetings with him on a personal basis. He was particularly generous to me when I lost the leadership of the party. I would also like to express my admiration for his wife, Therese Rein. You see people in public life and sometimes you are disappointed when you meet them; you find that some people exceed your expectations and some never meet them. I must say that the Prime Minister’s wife is particularly impressive. There was that incident where she had the Aboriginal children come to the Lodge for the literacy awards and a young girl was struggling with her poem. The Prime Minister’s wife said, ‘I’ll give you a hand,’ and started reading the poem, about the child’s mother, and only halfway through it realised that her mother had died; to then become quite emotional about that says an enormous amount about her. Nonetheless, in two years time I look forward to Malcolm and Lucy moving into the Lodge! So please do not read anything into that, if you know what I mean. Gary, please write that down.

I would also like to thank party members, members of the Liberal Party throughout the country. My observation is that the morale of our party was actually lower after we lost in 1993 than it has been over this past year. That is not to suggest that we were not disappointed about losing government last year, but this is a democracy and we respect the decisions that people have made. The belief of everyday members of the party who do not seek political office, who just want to see the nation shaped in Liberal values, is something which sustains all of us on our side.

I would particularly like to thank and recognise Alan Stockdale, in taking on the presidency of our party, and Brian Loughnane and our directors throughout the country for the enormous amount of work they have done. I would also like to thank not only my current staff but also the staff that I had when I was Leader of the Opposition, led by Peter Hendy. The sacrifices these people made is something that will be understood only by people that are here in the chamber. I would particularly like to record my gratitude to them.

In concluding I would like to say two things. The first is that I do believe that Malcolm Turnbull and his wife, Lucy, are a formidable couple. I agree with Joe’s sentiments about the member for Wentworth’s enormous intellect and strength of personality, certainly an engaging personality. I do believe that as time goes by we will see that the public will come to better understand and certainly respect and support him. I wish him and his family a wonderful Christmas.

Before I finish I want to say that amongst the life-changing events for me was to spend two years as the nation’s defence minister. You come out of that job a different person from the one that you were when you went in. Today the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and many others have been to the funeral of Lieutenant Michael Fussell. In relation to Sean McCarthy, Jason Marks, David Pearce, Matthew Locke, Luke Worsley and Andrew Russell, those men who have given their lives in our name in Afghanistan, wearing our uniform and under our flag, and in relation to what has happened in Mumbai over the last week, we should not forget that our generation is engaged in a struggle against fundamentalism. We will celebrate Christmas in this country. Christians and non-Christians will observe it in different ways, but we will celebrate it and do so in peace and do our very best to love one another in the year ahead. That is not the case in many parts of the world and it is not going to happen by accident if we live in a world where, ostensibly, that is what happens everywhere.

I think that we should remember—and we have said generous things about one another here today—that we are living in many ways in a world that is characterised by fundamentalist intolerance. We live in vast ignorance of the long-term consequence of the decisions that are made by us and made on our behalf. We are certainly living in a world of close to unprecedented economic uncertainty. The thing that we should never forget is that what we are going to need most is one another. The member for North Sydney said that people make derogatory remarks about these valedictories and so on. I have thought a bit about that over the years. As you know, Mr Speaker, some people call them ‘hypocriticals’. Sometimes I must say that I have felt that some of the things that are said are a little bit hypocritical, but the truth of it is that beneath the difference of philosophy and political opinion on different issues there is genuine belief and respect for people across this chamber, and that is something that is very precious in our country and something we need to work very hard to not only understand but also defend and support.

Finally, Mr Speaker, I meant what I said when you were appointed to that position. You are a man of extraordinary—I am not trying to get favours from you, by the way!—generosity and humility. I am a very strong believer that what goes around comes around. What went around when you sat on this side was that you were always there for all of us. It did not matter where we were—where we sat in the chamber—or whether we were gifted or not so gifted, or whether we knew standing orders or not, you were always there to lend all kinds of support and help. None of us on this side forgets it.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In making some remarks in this valedictory I intend, of course, to concentrate on parliamentary matters but I will just make some remarks associated with the important things that the member for Bradfield spoke about in the latter part of his remarks when he talked about the political situation around the globe in terms of stability and security, and the economic circumstances. I want to associate myself with the remarks that have been made by him and by other people in terms of people’s sincerity. These are the issues that we are trying to tackle. Often, of course, we are tackling the issues from different directions, and this makes it difficult for us, but there is a decency in those who find themselves as members of this place when they understand, for instance, the sacrifice of those who have died in the service of Australia this year, or when they recognise that there will be some who will be doing it tough just because they happen to be in the sector of the economy that will be the first and hardest hit.

In a parliamentary sense I want to simply, from the outset, congratulate everybody who works in this building for the way in which they have ensured that this first year of the 42nd Parliament has been successful, especially considering that it had happened at the tumultuous time of a change of government. There have been a number of things that happened in this parliamentary year that have been quite fascinating and of great moment—the opening of the parliament with the Indigenous welcome, which has been mentioned; the second day of our sitting, with the apology; and the fact that during the year we celebrated the 20th anniversary of this building. All along there has been the continuing development of this great parliament of ours—the great processes of the House, whether in debates in the chamber and the Main Committee or in the work of the committees.

Mention has been made of the parliamentary leaders. For the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, there is the optimism and excitement of being now in office and the enthusiasm that they show for that task. For the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julie Bishop, and the Leader of the Nationals, Warren Truss, there is a realisation of what being in opposition is really like—again, something that has been remarked upon throughout the debate.

I was going to say to the member for Bradfield—or, as I call him, Doc—that he was a terribly decent bloke, but the outing of him by the Manager of Opposition Business in his role with the cardboard cut-outs has meant that I have reassessed this, only slightly; I have still come to the conclusion that he is a thoroughly decent person. Often when we reflect on the things that we have been through and the things that we have seen we realise that sometimes good guys do run last, and that is unfortunate.

To the two great fixtures of this parliament, the Leader of the House and the Manager of Opposition—Albo and Joe—I sincerely say that I do understand that whilst I have been the inanimate object that has been the scene of the collision between you two, I understand that you are only doing your role on behalf of your side. I only wish there was a modicum less of white-line fever about what happens in the chamber, and that those same endearing qualities that you both show outside of the chamber—when you are not actually leaving the chamber to storm into my office—were shown all of the time. But to you both I say that one of the great things you share is families that are about the same age. I sincerely hope that you do get time over the Christmas and New Year period to enjoy your families at the age they are both at, because I think that that is really important.

I turn now to the Chief Government Whip, Roger Price, and the Chief Opposition Whip, Alex Somlyay. I do not know what the collective noun for ‘whips’ is but there are whips everywhere—there are government whips, opposition whips, opposition assistant whips, the National Party whip, Kay Hull, and another National Party whip. You really play an important role in keeping this place going and I think that the role that you play as very important pastoral care workers within your associated political parties is becoming much better known. I do not think we have actually realised and paid due credit to that role, because it is a very important aspect of the role of the whips.

My two deputies, the Deputy Speaker Anna Burke and the second Deputy Speaker Bruce Scott, are both in roles that I have carried out. In Anna I could not have wished for a better Deputy Speaker. The jobs that she does in ensuring that members of the Speaker’s panel are here to make sure that the chamber is going and the Main Committee is going, and the way in which she has encouraged a great collegiate spirit amongst that Speaker’s panel is a great credit to her, and I really thank her for that. As most people know, Bruce Scott is a very obliging character and has been a great stalwart and support for me in my role as Speaker. Those who have been on the Speaker’s panel who predominantly had not had experience in the chair have brought a consistency in the way in which the proceedings are chaired, both here and in the Main Committee, that is assisting other members in the way that they go about their duties.

To all members, whether they be ministers, shadow ministers, backbenchers or Independent members, I thank them for their generosity of spirit towards me and their cooperation. I do not really think that people actually believe me when I say that I thank them, but in the majority of cases it has made my job easier that people do have that cooperative and generous spirit.

The two Senate Presidents I have worked with this year, Alan Ferguson and John Hogg, have both given great support to me in my role as the Presiding Officer here in the House. Alan, I am sure I do not have to tell members of the coalition, is a thorough gentleman and was a great mentor for me in assisting me in those early months, and John is such an easy person to work with. I am finding it very easy to cooperate with him on those matters for which we are jointly responsible.

To the staff of all those people I have mentioned I say that I absolutely realise that, without the support that we get from our personal staff, it would not be possible for us all to perform our individual roles. I think that this is what this great community, the Australian parliament, is really enriched by—it is not only the front-line people who get all the kudos or are seen in the public light; it is the way in which we are supported that is very important.

I now turn to those who assist us in our role as officers of the parliament. Mention has been made of the professionalism of Ian Harris and Bernard Wright and all those who work in the Department of the House of Representatives. One of the pleasing things is that, no matter which side of the chamber they are on, people say the same thing. They know that these people are here to give fearless independent advice to assist us all in carrying out our roles in this place. That is one of the really great strengths of our parliamentary democracy.

Something like 3,000 people work in this parliament, and it would of course be difficult to mention them all, so I hope that by listing them in groupings I make sure that I cover everybody. But, as I stressed at the outset, if there are any omissions they are not deliberate; they are accidental. I thank the table office, the clerk’s office, the committee offices, chamber research, liaison and projects, the messenger service, finance, people strategies, information systems and publishing, parliamentary relations, the Serjeant’s office and the people who work in the Parliamentary Education Office—they all play important roles in assisting us to go about our business.

I thank Alan Thompson, who has come on board as the Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services. All the staff of the Department of Parliamentary Services do a great job. This is another department that is highly professional. Given the various expectations that we have of this building and its occupants, who are working in an environment of considerable financial pressure, theirs is not an easy task. Some of them we just do not see because they work in the bowels of the basement. They appear in daylight to come to our offices to fix electrical problems or plumbing or other matters. I just wish that from time to time we could perhaps all go down there and do the tour of the basement, as I have been lucky to do, to give them credit for the great job that they do. They include the gardeners, the maintenance staff of all skills and trades, building management services, security and facilities, client support, broadcasting, Hansard, information technology and communications services, corporate services, the parliamentary shop, the health and recreation centre, the nurses centre, art services and visitor services. Visitor services assisted over 850,000 visitors to Parliament House in the financial year 2007-08. The Parliamentary Library has also been mentioned as such a valuable service.

To the contractors who work around the place, including the two new catering contractors, IHG and W Catering, I especially thank them for their assistance to the Speaker’s office but also for the excellent job they have done thus far in establishing new food services for members and staff. To Comcar, Aussies, the post office, the florist, Westpac, Limro Cleaning and HRG, I wish all of the staff of those contractors all the best for the festive season.

Uncharacteristically from me, I thank the press gallery for their professional coverage of parliament. I want to ensure that the media have the opportunity and the ability to cover the workings of the parliament in an environment where there is a more positive working relationship between the House and the media. I just make the observation that that is a two-way street. Mention has been made, quite rightly, of the deputy serjeant, Claressa Surtees, who is the front line in any battle between the competing interests of the parliament and the media. If we are to go forward we have to understand sometimes that there is an opportunity to get that middle ground.

I thank all of my colleagues because, as I said, their commitment as parliamentarians is very important. I thank my personal staff, my staff in the Speaker’s office—Chris Paterson and Yvonne Bailey, who continued on from Mr Speaker Hawker’s office and have given the strength of that continuity, and Debra Biggs and Cora Trevarthen, who came into the office. They all have the difficult task of making sure that I am headed in the right direction at relatively the right time. They have given great support.

Much has been made of Lupco, who is also the Speaker’s attendant. He is very important in getting me to things on time. He is about the only one who can do that, because he hovers around and looks at me and I think, ‘If I don’t go, he’s just going to drag me in.’ I have to say that I have never seen him move as fast as during an incident in the House earlier this week. I saw a green flash, and I now know that Lupco will tackle me if I do not cooperate with him and move in the right direction.

Many people have mentioned that when you take on other duties you are so reliant on the staff in your electorate office. One of the aspects of being Speaker that I had not thought through was the continuing role that I had as a member and the difficulties that I would have in juggling and balancing the two roles, but I have been assisted by people who have kept the citadel which is ‘fortress Scullin’ safe for democracy. To Sam Alessi, Berna Doksatli, Jim Tilkeridis, Enver Erdogan and Sally Delaney: thank you very much for the support you have given me and the services you have provided the people of my electorate. I thank the electorate of Scullin for their support of me over these many years.

I thank my family. My wife, Michele, over the 22 years that I have been a member—and, even more extraordinarily, over the last few months as Speaker—has had to do a number of roles that I do not think that she particularly understood would be expected of her when she married me. She has basically brought up the kids. To Ben and his wife, Kerry, to Emlyn—I wish Em a happy birthday for tomorrow—and to my daughter Amanda: thank you. The centre of the universe of both my family and my wife’s family is now Zara, who is the first granddaughter, the first great-granddaughter, the first niece and the first grand-niece. You can imagine that she will be the centre of all festive activities over Christmas and New Year.

Finally, I wish you all—not only the members but also the staff who work in this great institution—all the best for the Christmas period. May it bring you whatever you might expect of it, and that includes a great range of experiences. Whether they be spiritual or family based, it is an important time of the year. I conclude by wishing everybody a safe and prosperous New Year. I look forward to seeing most of your smiling faces in the new year. Peace and goodwill to all.

Question agreed to.