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

I thank all members who are present in the chamber and everyone who is listening to today’s debate. As the parliamentary year draws to a close, it is a time for us all to reflect on the year that has passed, the year that lies ahead and the season of rest and restoration which lies ahead for us over this coming summer. Also, in discussion and in reflections like this it is a time to rise above the hand-to-hand combat of the chamber and perhaps in recent days, in the case of the opposition, the hand-to-hand combat within the party room. It is a time also to reflect upon the period of rest and restoration ahead. It is a time to extend good wishes to all those in this chamber and beyond who contribute to the great institutions of our democracy and to wish them well for Christmas and the holiday season.

This has in many senses been a very long year—a historic year. Remember, at the beginning of this year we saw the inauguration of President Obama. That now seems such a long time ago, but what an extraordinary change in American political history did the election of President Obama bring about. The 44th President of the United States, the election of the first president of African-American origin was an event of significance not just to Americans but to America’s friends right around the world.

It was only a few short weeks later, on 7 February, that we experienced the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria—the worst bushfires of any time in our nation’s settled history. A total of 173 lives were lost in the firestorm that swept through towns like Callignee, Flowerdale, Humevale, Kinglake, Koornalla, Marysville, Narbethong, Strathewen, St Andrews, Steels Creek, Taggerty and Wandong. I know the Leader of the Opposition, other opposition members, including the honourable member for McMillan, who has just entered the chamber, and members on this side of the House have spent time with some of those communities during the course of 2009 seeking to do what practically can be done to support a very long process of recovery for them.

The nation came together in remarkable fashion in the days that followed Black Saturday with support services, welfare agencies, public servants, volunteers and donations pouring in from right across Australia, and right across the world. On behalf of the government, I would simply say to all those who rose to the occasion of responding to those in need in the Victorian bushfires how grateful I am for Australia having shown itself to be at its absolute best—at its absolute best. It made you proud to be an Australian, seeing the level of physical, practical and emotional support being delivered to people whose lives had literally been destroyed. I would also commend those honourable members who have been working hard to support fire affected communities within their constituencies. I know that has been a very long and arduous process, and a continuing process into the new year.

As Christmas approaches we reach out to all of those who have suffered the loss of family and friends at homes in those fires. We know that this will be a difficult, lonely and sorrowful time for many people. Our thoughts are with you at this time. It is worthy always of a moment’s reflection as we sit down around Christmas trees on Christmas Day on those for whom Christmas is a very sad occasion as they reflect on the recent absence of loved ones and particularly loved ones who have been taken from us in the most tragic and violent of circumstances.

I want to acknowledge the approximately 3,000 troops who are currently serving our nation abroad in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Sudan, the Middle East, the Solomons, Timor Leste and elsewhere. They do Australia proud. They are doing a remarkable job in our collective name. Just last weekend we formally welcomed back those 18,000 troops who have served during the six-year long Operation Catalyst in Iraq. We thank them and honour them for their service to the nation in response to the decision of the democratically elected government of Australia. There is no higher service to our country than that of our men and women of our armed forces. Many of those in our armed forces will be serving during the Christmas and holiday season and will not be spending Christmas and the new year with their families. They are making great sacrifices on behalf of us all and we remember them especially today. We also remember at this Christmas time those families who have lost loved ones serving in our armed forces during the past year. This again is a difficult season for them.

Christmas is a time of celebration and a time when we all reflect on the absolute importance of families. I would encourage all members of this place and members of the wider Australian family to take this opportunity to spend as much time as they can with their families and their loved ones. As we often reflect in this place during times of great difficulty, at the end of all things in this life our families remain the most important. Often it is only when we are confronted with the physicality of separation from families that we see in full stark reality their absolute importance to our everyday lives. I am sure that I speak on behalf of all members here as we affirm to our families, who endure our presence in this place, how much we love them and how much we value their continued support for our service in this parliament.

To the members and senators on the government and opposition benches and also on the cross-benches who engage in the great democratic debates and other parliamentary work that occurs in the House and the Senate, my best wishes for the time that you have for your families and loved ones this Christmas. The media may not always be sympathetic to politicians, but the truth is that political office comes at a great cost to personal and family lives, and of course our friends in the media also have to endure some of those pressures as well and the impact on their families. Being associated with national and political life is a tough and arduous business with very considerable personal impacts, and that extends to families. We bear all our families in mind as this season of Christmas reflection approaches.

I say to the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Turnbull, and his wife, Lucy, and their family, that I wish them a very restful Christmas and a proper restoration for the holiday season. I also say to those other office bearers of the opposition—the deputy leader who is not here, the Leader of the National Party, and to other members of the frontbench of both the Liberal and the National parties and to all Liberal and National party members and Independent members, that they should receive from me and Therese the genuine compliments of the season and a hope and expectation that they find rest and restoration with their families and loved ones as well.

I want to acknowledge especially Harry Jenkins, who serves in the role of Speaker—and my notes here say—with ‘composure, good humour and even-handedness’. I am sure that all members would reflect here on a day such as this that being the Speaker of the House of Representatives, effectively since the days of the ‘long parliament’, has not been an entirely, shall we say, satisfactory career experience. But since the days of the long parliament and the short parliament, the business of being Speaker has been arduous—in days past it was more than arduous; it was physically challenging. Speaker Jenkins, we thank you for the work that you have done, occupying the position of Speaker in this parliament and seeking to bring order to what otherwise would be the chaos of our parliamentary deliberations.

Our thanks also to the Deputy Speaker, Anna Burke—where is Anna? I would invite Anna to come into the chamber. She also assists in keeping this House in order when the television cameras from time to time have lost interest and the parliament is going through the grinding hard work of its legislative program. I thank all other members of the Speaker’s panel including the member for Braddon, who was here just a minute ago and who was unceremoniously turfed from the chair.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Dumped!

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

Not through any lack of confidence on the part of honourable members in the way in which he would discharge his functions in the chair, because we know he is a very decent bloke. I also extend my thanks to the Parliamentary Liaison Office for their first-class work. Parliament House, when it is in session, is something like a small town with 3,000 or so people looking after the smooth running of everything. Mind you, in the place I grew up in in Queensland that would count as being a very large town. On the surface it always looks calm and organised but underneath that calm exterior we know that people are toiling night and day to make this place function. Indeed, they are literally toiling away in the corridors underneath the building where much of the real work essential for the parliament takes place.

I pass on my thanks to the Clerk and the Deputy Clerk of the House of Representatives, who represent our best parliamentary traditions of integrity, independence and excellence. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the exceptional service of Ian Harris, who has served as the Clerk of this House since 1997 and is finishing up at the end of this session. We wish him all the very best in his retirement. In fact, Ian has been Clerk of this House ever since I was elected in 1998. I remember Ian attending our first briefing session, as rookie members of parliament, as we gathered here in the House of Representatives, when I asked several questions about how the standing orders actually operated and which, 11 years later, still remain, for me, a deep mystery.

I also pass on my thanks to the Serjeant-at-Arms and to all the attendants who are here, whose job it is to make the work in the chamber possible for us all. Also, to our security staff who, from time to time, are faced with some challenges in making sure that this House is able to conduct itself in a peaceful and orderly fashion, my thanks. The Parliamentary Library provides possibly the best research function of any place in Australia—always prompt, always reliable and a much-valued resource for all members and senators. To the Hansard staff, who create elegance from inelegance and who create poetry from prose—

Honourable Member:

Honourable member interjecting—Who wrote that?

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

I thought that was quite nice, actually. It wasn’t me—it was far too prosaic for me. We all appreciate your work, recording for the media and for posterity all the goings-on in this House. We do not altogether understand how you manage to do it, but we thank you for your excellent work in rendering sensible that which, occasionally, is less than that.

To the Table Office, we thank them for their excellent work and for, again, facilitating the practical work of this great institution. To the Parliamentary Relations Office, I make mention of their work which is important in terms of the relationship between this parliament and other parliaments around the world. That work is often, again, unseen in terms of the formal procedures of this place but very important in building a fabric of friendship between members of parliament here, members of parliament in other democracies and in other national political institutions around the world. I commend their work and thank them for it.

To everyone else who keeps this building in running order—those who care for the lawns, the gardens, cook the meals, operate the switchboard, service computers, manage security, work in the myriad other jobs in this place, we also thank you for your excellent work in making this building function.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The childcare centre.

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

I am coming to that! Can I say to the staff who work in the childcare centre that it is a very important part of the institutional and family life of this building. And to those honourable members who have little ones, whether they are members or senators, or are members of the media or other members of staff in this place, I believe the fact that we have now been able to provide for some time child care within the building makes this a much more family-friendly environment. Frankly, the pitter-patter of little feet around this place is a wonderful thing. There should be more of it. It actually humanises a lot of us.

Our travel agents, HRG, have done a great job as well. Also, the Broadcasting staff for making sure the broadcaster works effectively and to those Australians who choose to tune in each day, by either radio or television, to observe the deliberations of this place, my commiserations to you. Despite objections on the part of one of my predecessors to having this place televised, it is actually a good exercise in transparency of our parliamentary and political life. For those Australians who cheerfully endure the proceedings of this chamber each day on radio and television, we thank you for your virtual participation in our democratic processes.

To the IT support; to our security guards, whom I have mentioned before; to the maintenance staff; the gardeners; the switchboard; the catering staff; and the Comcare drivers, my thanks. Where would we be without our Comcare drivers? They perform a very important function. For those of us who are less familiar with Canberra than others, negotiating our way around this city in the absence of a Comcare driver would cause us all to be more than half an hour late for any occasion. We thank them.

To our friend in the press gallery at the moment—and to other members of the press gallery—thank you for keeping those on both sides of the House on our toes this year. The pace of a journalist’s life has accelerated dramatically in recent years, as media organisations embrace a range of new technologies. At the same time, many of the bureaus are coping with fewer staff and tighter financial constraints than in previous years and all have to now compete against Joe Hockey’s role in twittering against them. Therefore, as they confront the challenges of new technology and the vast changes that are occurring in the media around the world at present, this is creating stresses and strains within that profession which we should also acknowledge. We recognise that our journalistic colleagues are now working longer hours and are under greater pressure. It is not an easy career now and never has been, but their work is an integral part of our Australian democracy. I believe that it is important that the parliament recognises that fact, however vexatious we may find it from time to time. With an election year next year I am sure that everyone is looking forward to 2010, but may we all be properly repaired through a proper break over this Christmas.

I turn now to members of the government. Where is Julia? Is she here?

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She’s at a photo shoot!

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

I think it is a great photo—a fantastic photo. The one of Joe and his new bub is good, too. The Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has done an extraordinary job for the government. This is not the time to engage in any partisan observations of her achievements—but let me just engage in a few! I speak on behalf of government members here when I say that I believe that her extraordinary work and great achievements in relation to Work Choices, the Fair Work Act and so many aspects of Building the Education Revolution have earned her not only the respect of all members on the government side but also wider respect in the general community.

As Deputy Prime Minister and as the Minister for Education, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Minister for Social Inclusion can I just say that her contribution to the work of this government is simply outstanding. Also behind the scenes, in cabinet and through the various streams of government work, Julia makes an extraordinary contribution to the work of the government. I thank her for that.

To the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, my friend and colleague from the great state of Queensland: it has been an extraordinarily tough year for those charged with the tasks of economic management. I think if you were to get the treasurers or the finance ministers of the world into a room it would rapidly become a global therapy session as they all exchanged stories about how many near-run things there were during the last 12 months since the global financial crisis hit.

To the Treasurer, who now enters the chamber, I thank him for his stewardship over the Australian economy during the year which has been exceptionally difficult. Measured against all previous challenges of previous treasurers of the Commonwealth, dealing with our national economic circumstances in the last 12 months has been right out there in terms of what his predecessors have had to deal with, whether it was under previous Liberal governments or previous Labor governments. Well done, Treasurer.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—Hear, hear.

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

I also want to thank the cabinet, the ministry and the parliamentary secretaries. I am proud to lead a united and disciplined and diligent team that has worked with a singular focus to implement a challenging and wide-ranging reform program. I am fortunate to work with such a strong team with such extraordinary depth of talent—talent that is evident when you work with the team every day. I am very proud of their contribution to the cabinet, as a ministry, as an executive. The Leader of the House, Albo—where is Albo?—for me is absolutely indispensable, not least because of his sense of humour when things are going right and things are going wrong. He brings also a sense of order to the House and manages to do so notwithstanding the fact that he has a daily collaboration with the member for Sturt. I thank him for his work. He brings a great sense of parliamentary humour to this place, I believe in the great traditions of former parliamentarians such as Fred Daly and Jim Killen. This is good for the overall operation of this place.

The government’s Senate team leadership, Chris Evans and Steve Conroy, have the enormous challenge of getting every piece of legislation through a sometimes unruly and sometimes unpredictable Senate chamber and we appreciate their terrific work. I turn to the Chief Government Whip, Roger Price. Where is Roger? He is absent as well. He is obviously out whipping somebody! He is very much pastor-in-chief when it comes to individual members of parliament who may for one reason or other be going through a difficult time, or who are dealing with challenging circumstances, and his role is also to make sure that the part relates to the whole in the operations of a governing party. Roger, I just place on record my great appreciation for your great work as Chief Government Whip. It is hard to accurately reflect on Roger’s precise role in this place but I suppose he would be a combination of sage, a sensitive source of wisdom, advice and support for so many, and a very, very good cook at a barbecue.

To each of the government’s members of parliament and each senator serving in the government go my thanks. To all those who are members of parliament and who work as backbenchers, can I say how much I appreciate what you do in your constituencies and what you do in the day-to-day work of this place. The member for Lilley and I were elected 10 years or so ago and we know full well the challenges from our own experience of working hard as a constituency member of parliament. We honour the work that each of you do in your communities. This is really important ground-level pastoral work in dealing with community life and the challenges that are faced by our local communities—often by people in acute individual need. For the day-to-day work that you have done—each of you in ways which will never ever be known on the national stage or covered in any reporting in the newspaper—in trying to make individual lives better, I really do thank you and salute the work that you have done. Your work in parliamentary committees, I also acknowledge, is very important in keeping this great institution of the parliament working.

I also acknowledge the work of opposition members as they seek to service the needs of their constituents as well. Most of this occurs invisibly but it is a very important function that we perform. So many people in the community have no idea about how to work their way through the myriad confusion that represents the system of government for them and they need help in negotiating their way through it. I salute the valuable role that all members of parliament play in helping meet the very practical needs of individual members of the community who would otherwise be friendless in getting the help that they need.

I also thank the Australian Labor Party national organisation. To the whole team at the ALP national secretariat—and the secretariat faces a very busy year ahead with the federal election—we wish them a very good break over Christmas; may they enjoy their three days off. To the staff of each of the members and senators in the Labor Party, whether they are our electorate staff, staff who act as ministerial advisers or others, I thank them for their extraordinary work. Our staff in this place, and I am sure I also reflect the view of other members from other parties, become very much part of our official family. They become more than that; they become part of our wider family and without their work and support, frankly it would not be possible for us to act effectively in this place.

Can I especially thank our electorate officers on all sides of politics for the very difficult job that they do in dealing with people in distress. This is really important. I know full well from my own electoral staff in Brisbane the range of tasks that they are asked to perform. I also say to the public service, which services diligently and faithfully the democratically elected government of the day, how much I appreciate their work in the year that has just passed. My own department, Prime Minister and Cabinet, in particular to the secretary of the department, Terry Moran, and the entire Australian Public Service, you have handled an enormous workload during the course of the last year. Public servants in departments and agencies have done an exceptional job managing challenges such as bushfires, the global recession, the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan, the response to the challenges of the G20, the substantial reform programs that the government is implementing in education, infrastructure, financial services, health and hospitals, and partnership with the Council of Australian Governments.

The government has been implementing a formidable legislative and reform program. The Australian Public Service from time to time has been straining under the weight of it but I would use this opportunity to reflect again how much we appreciate the work that they have done diligently, independently, in working for the government of the day.

To my own staff: I thank them for the extraordinary work that they put in working for an exceptionally demanding boss—that is, yours truly. Without fail, my own staff rise to the occasion. I thank them for it. My Chief of Staff, Alister Jordan, who has now been with me for a long, long time—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Appropriately, he is not in the advisers box! He is off doing something much more important. I thank him and all members of my personal staff in the Prime Minister’s office. This is a very tight-knit unit. There are a lot of challenges and a lot of pressures, and there is a lot of hard work. Can I say how much I appreciate what they have done to support the government’s program this year and to support me personally as Prime Minister. I really do appreciate it. That goes to you, Alister, as well, for having put up with me for so many years. A special thanks also to the close personal protection team, the AFP officers, who have put their own security on the line in their work protecting officeholders and dignitaries. Could I also thank personally my own electorate staff, the dedicated team in Brisbane, who deal with an extraordinarily large range of challenges. These come not just from within the electorate but, as you would expect when an individual member of parliament becomes a national political leader, from well beyond those areas a local electorate office would normally have to deal with. Also, I thank party members and volunteers in my own area in Brisbane’s Southside who dedicate many hours each week, week after week and month after month, to assist in the services of my electorate office.

To my own family: to my life partner, Therese, and our kids, Jessica, Nicholas and Marcus, I would place again on the record my appreciation for all that they do for me. I look forward very much to spending Christmas with them, along with Therese’s mum.

We look forward to the year 2010. It will be a big year. It is an election year. The great thing about elections in Australia is that we, unlike most countries in the world, conduct our national political life in a fair and proper manner, supervised by an independent institution otherwise called the Australian Electoral Commission and anchored in the laws of this great institution of the Parliament of Australia. With those remarks, I wish all members the very best for the Christmas season. May we all return to this place refreshed and rejuvenated from having spent time with our families and our loved ones.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members—Hear, hear!

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

Firstly, may I thank the Prime Minister for his very warm remarks. I certainly listened carefully and took detailed notes, and I could not find anything that I disagreed with—other than perhaps a few of the confessedly partisan comments. The rest of it was very generous. It has indeed been a remarkable year. The Prime Minister mentioned the inauguration of President Barack Obama at the beginning of the year, and that was certainly a watershed in history.

He went on to refer to the Black Saturday bushfires. That was a tragedy of what many would say were biblical proportions; it was almost beyond imagination. The horror that nature unleashed on the people of Victoria was truly horrendous. I will never forget, as long as I live, inspecting the aftermath with my colleagues Fran Bailey and Darren Chester in particular. We looked at burnt-out vehicles where everything except the steel had melted, where the heat had been so intense that the glass and the windscreen had flowed like liquid and coated the dashboard and the floor and then frozen, where the alloys, the wheels and the engines had melted and just flowed along the ground like water. Those were inconceivable temperatures. Fires moved at previously unheard of speeds. It was truly in the nature of an apocalypse. The Australian people did, as the Prime Minister said, come together in a way that brought out the best of us. Nature showed us her worst side and we responded by showing our best side—the comradeship, the generosity, the extraordinary heroism and the determination to set things right. That was an admirable and beautiful thing to behold.

In particular, our colleagues here—and I mentioned Fran and Darren Chester, but I also mention the member for McMillan, my very good friend Russell Broadbent; all of them suffered with their communities—represented their communities and spoke in this House, as they should have, with moving and powerful eloquence. I will never forget the heartfelt words in this House of those members about those fires. They summed up many of the things that we love so much about Australia. Indeed, as the poet Dorothea Mackellar wrote, ‘We love her beauty and her terror.’ It was a very terrible side of Australia that we saw then. In respect of the families who lost their loved ones and are still suffering with the consequences of those fires, we know this will be a difficult and often very sad Christmas, because there will be places at the Christmas dinner table that will not be filled. There will be loved ones not there. We wish all of them the very best, and our prayers are with them as they recover and rebuild with our support after these terrible experiences.

The Prime Minister reminded us, correctly, of the important work our troops are doing overseas—3,000 Australian troops serving our nation abroad, putting themselves in harm’s way to defend freedom. They do that wearing our uniform. They serve under our flag. We are enormously, unconditionally, proud of their skill, their professionalism and their great courage. I want to particularly note the House’s appreciation and admiration for Trooper Mark Donaldson, who this year was awarded the Victoria Cross. In the great tradition of Victoria Cross winners, he put his own life at enormous risk to save the life of another. It was a remarkable moment of bravery when he ran out, under fire, to collect a wounded Afghan interpreter and carry him back to safety and then, having done that, continued fighting. It is truly the stuff of legend. Trooper Donaldson personified the courage, the spirit, the commitment of the Australian defence forces.

This year we have seen, as the Prime Minister noted, the official end of Australia’s proud, valuable and constructive military engagement in Iraq. I would just note with appreciation that the Minister for Defence, Senator Faulkner, who had been a critic of our involvement in that war, himself acknowledged that our engagement had been a success. That has been noted.

There is, of course, no greater sacrifice than to lay down your life in defence of your country and to protect your comrades in arms. We have lost 11 soldiers in Afghanistan, and one can only imagine how hard it is at this time of year for the families of those brave Australians. We lost four this year and I just record them, brave men who died serving our nation in that very dangerous mission: Private Benjamin Ranaudo, Sergeant Brett Till, Corporal Mathew Hopkins and Private Gregory Sher. At this time of year, which is a special time of year for all the families, whether it is Christmas or Hanukkah, it is important to reflect on and remember the sacrifice that those young men made.

We have also seen a lot of combat here. The Prime Minister called it hand-to-hand combat. Thank heavens it does not ever quite come to that—although there was a moment when the Leader of the House suggested to the member for Sturt that they should step outside. But it was purely just for a chat, I am sure. We would all have followed if we had thought it was going to be more engaging! Nonetheless, there have been occasions of great bipartisanship this year. We have talked about the bushfires. That was one occasion where the House spoke as one in compassion and admiration for the courage of the people who were so cruelly affected by those fires. And we saw just last week the apology, on behalf of the government and supported by me as Leader of the Opposition, to the forgotten Australians and the lost innocents, the child migrants. That was a very moving moment, and I am sure the Prime Minister has received the same responses and correspondence that I have. It delivered a degree of healing and comfort, in some cases a sense of closure, for thousands of Australians who had been so cruelly neglected and ignored.

This is a time for families. I agree with the Prime Minister: when all is said and done, your family is what you have; that is what you are. Of course, this is one of the tragedies of the life experience of so many of those forgotten Australians: they were taken away from their families, and in some cases lied to about their families and their background. Happily, that is not the case for most of us here and we will spend this Christmas period with our families.

The Prime Minister spoke a little bit about love. I would like to say a bit more about that. One of the most remarkable things about the events of 9-11 was that when the passengers on those doomed planes realised their fate, so many of them got onto their mobile phones and called their families. And the one thing they all said, just three words, was: I love you. Facing death, that is what they said. The most important thing they could say was: ‘I love you.’ It is a reminder that love and family is all we have. It defines our humanity. Love is what makes us human. So often we do not love enough. So often we deny or suppress or set to one side our love for each other. Surely this is the time of year when we should be loving and generous to all people, but particularly to our families.

As everybody in this House knows, politics is a tough business. The Prime Minister talked about the press gallery giving us cruel and unusual punishment from time to time—occasionally deserved; probably sometimes not so deserved. But, nonetheless, the thing that we all know, that each and every one of us knows, is that it is our families—our spouses, our husbands and wives—who take it hardest. When the Prime Minister and I are attacked, we can stand up and defend ourselves, we can denounce our accusers and ridicule them and speak for ourselves, but Therese and Lucy just have to take it, and that goes for every spouse in this parliament. It is a tough life, politics, but it is so much tougher for our partners, for our spouses. Today is a day when we should, above all, thank them for the support they give us, because without that we could not do this important national service here.

I thank the Prime Minister for his kind conveyance of thanks and Christmas good wishes to Lucy and me. I reciprocate and wish him and Therese, and all their family, a very happy Christmas. In the Turnbull household it is a particularly happy time of year because our second child, Daisy, has announced her engagement to a young man who seems perfectly suitable. James, her fiance, is a prospective member of our family and we look forward to welcoming him.

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

Mr Rudd interjecting

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

He is actually a member of the Army so he shouldn’t be in any political party, Prime Minister—but if he was I am not sure that he would be in yours! Having said that, as you know, the ADF are completely above politics. James is a good young man, he and Daisy make a fine couple, and Lucy and I are very, very pleased.

The Prime Minister spoke about the House, and of course our first thanks should always be to the Speaker. We are told that with the Speaker, flattery gets you everywhere. We are very grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for your hard work and we are also grateful for the work of the Deputy Speaker and, from our side, the Second Deputy Speaker, Bruce Scott, and the coalition members on the Speaker’s Panel. All of you, on both sides of the House—the Speaker and all of his deputies and representatives—do an outstanding job.

The Clerk, Ian Harris, after your many years of service, we thank you. You and Bernard Wright make this place run. You give us the wisest advice one could possibly imagine and we congratulate you and thank you for your many years of service. And, Bernard, we congratulate you again on your elevation.

The Serjeant-at-Arms has not been obliged to throw anybody out this year, at least as far as I have noticed—but I am sure there is still the potential for some provocation.

The Parliamentary Library is more important to the opposition than to the government, as a rule, because governments have the massed ranks of the public service to give them advice. So I particularly thank Roxanne Missingham and the team at the Parliamentary Library. My colleagues have heard this before: I remember when I was inducted as a new member of parliament not so long ago, in 2004, Roxanne’s predecessor—a very distinguished woman—looked at us coldly and austerely and said, ‘Our job is to make you look intelligent.’ She said it in a tone of voice that implied that that was going to be very difficult. Tony Burke was there with me and can vouch for that.

I thank all the people who work in this great House. This parliament is an enormous engine. It is an extraordinary monument in every respect but nonetheless works as a very effective parliament. There are hundreds of people who enable it to work, from the attendants here in the House to the cleaners to the security guards. Every possible line of work here is done with good spirit, especially taking into account the very heavy demands we put on these people.

The Prime Minister mentioned the child-care centre and the pitter-patter of little feet. A number of members here are members of the legal profession who would have been admitted to practice in New South Wales when Sir Laurence Street was the Chief Justice. At every single admissions ceremony, a baby in the public gallery would start to cry. Sir Laurence would always say, as the mother got up to take the baby out, ‘No, no—let the little one stay.’ The Prime Minister’s remark reminded me of that, and I agree with him and I agreed with Sir Laurence that the more children we see in this place, the better. I say to every school group that I address—and I think many of you say the same thing—that this House belongs to them. There are some kids up there in the gallery now. Everything we do here, right or wrong and whether we agree or not, is done with their best interests at heart. That is what we are seeking to achieve.

The task of Leader of the Opposition is often said to be a tough job—I think all the jobs in this place are tough—and I could not do my job without the support of my team. I acknowledge, in particular, the support of my deputy, Julie Bishop, the member for Curtin, who has done an outstanding job both as Deputy Leader of the Opposition and in her two shadow ministerial roles—she has been shadow Treasurer and is now shadow minister for foreign affairs. Our leadership group, of course, includes the Senate, and I acknowledge the hard work of our Senate leader, Nick Minchin, and his deputy, Eric Abetz. We have a strong but frank coalition with the Nationals, and I acknowledge the support and friendship I have had from the Leader of the Nationals, Warren Truss.

The Prime Minister referred to Albo’s good humour. The good humour of Christopher Pyne, the Manager of Opposition Business, has been remarkable. When you do not have the numbers it is harder to remain good humoured, as Albo would recall from the days when he was on this side of the chamber. Christopher has really taken the fight up to the government in a way that combines an encyclopaedic knowledge of the standing orders and good humour.

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

104!

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

If it is a good one, keep using it. When he uses 104 as often as the Prime Minister and the Treasurer say ‘swift and decisive action’, then I will listen to him! The whole frontbench has performed very effectively and loyally throughout this year. I cannot acknowledge all of them here—it would take us all morning—but I want to acknowledge the hard work that Joe Hockey has done as shadow Treasurer. Of course, prior to that he was the Manager of Opposition Business and he did an outstanding job in that regard.

I also acknowledge the extraordinary work that Ian Macfarlane, the member for Groom, has done in those very arduous negotiations with Senator Wong that had the outcome of the agreement to amendments to the government’s emissions trading scheme. It was a remarkable negotiation and had many good results—the amendments were one, and there was also a particularly entertaining cartoon in the Age, which we have all found amusing.

I thank for their hard work our Chief Whip, Alex Somlyay, and whips Nola Marino and Michael Johnson. They have done a remarkable job. Again, whichever parliamentary job you speak of, it is harder in opposition than it is in government, and the members opposite understand that. The whips have done an outstanding job. I also thank every member and senator on our team—the Liberal and National members and senators. I acknowledge the hard work that they do in their own constituencies. Sometimes you read in the press that, when parliament rises, the parliamentarians go on holiday or take leave. The reality, as we all know, is that the work in one’s own electorate is often far more demanding, in terms of hours and the range of challenges that you face, than the work that we do here—although that is very challenging as well. The role of members and senator gets more challenging each day as the complexity of government increases and the number of people seeking assistance from their MPs becomes greater than ever. The internet has obviously made that work, that interaction, more intense, and MPs are routinely dealing with hundreds and hundreds of emails and other correspondence every week.

I thank all of our staff on the coalition side. I said that the Library’s job is to make us look good—to make us look intelligent, I should say!—and our staff have to do much the same thing. I thank all of our coalition staff—in particular, the staff who work in our electorates away from the limelight of Canberra. In terms of my own office, I recognise in particular the hard work of my Chief of Staff, Chris Kenny, and my Deputy Chief of Staff, Peta Credlin. I also thank Tony Parkinson, Sally Cray and our other advisers—including Stephen Ellis, who has worked so closely, so hard and for so long with Ian Macfarlane in the negotiations. Presenting the opposition’s case to the press gallery is often a challenge, and our media team has taken that on very well. Mark Westfield, Andrew Hirst and our whole press office have done a remarkable job. The Prime Minister said that, as a national leader, the range of inquiries you get in your electorate office goes well beyond local matters. With respect, I think that applies to just about every member of parliament—and obviously more so to the party leaders. I acknowledge the tireless work of the team in my electorate office—in particular, Nick Berry, Pat McGrath, Bruce Notley-Smith, Jacqui Kempler and Melissa Chan.

Can I conclude where I began and speak about our families. This is a very special time of year. Next year will be an election year. It will be a tough year for all of us. I thank once again the families of every member and senator in this place. Without their support and love, none of us could do our job. I especially thank my family. They often take it very tough when their husband and father is under attack—and that is the occupation of a member of parliament. They have stood by me during this tough year, as I know the families of every other member have done. As we go into this Christmas break, let us resolve to love our families more than ever. Let us to rest and reflect and return refreshed for a year of debate—no doubt there will be some strong disagreement, but all of it will be conducted passionately in the national interest.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members—Hear, hear!

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a year it has been! It has been a year in our national economic life the likes of which we have not seen for something like 75 years—and I will talk a bit about that in a moment. But this parliamentary year has been particularly important and, I believe, particularly effective. From time to time this place gets an undeserved reputation, I think, for the willingness of some of our debates. But the one thing that we can say as we move forward to Christmas is that this year the parliament has been a very important clearing house in the battle of ideas. And whatever may occur in this House from time to time—the willing clashes at question time or in other debates—I think that this year all members have demonstrated what an important institution the parliament is for our public life and for all people, irrespective of their particular view, to contribute to important national debates. At this time of year we celebrate and remember all of those ideals that bring us here—because everybody comes here to serve the national interest. From time to time we will vehemently disagree about the ideas that we take forward. But what is so important, and what should be treasured, is that this House is the clearing house for those ideas, and I believe in the past year it has served that function very, very well.

This is a year which not just my Treasury colleagues but, I believe, everybody in this House will tell our kids and our grandkids about. We will talk about it and we will debate what occurred and what policy solutions were put in place. It will be talked about for many years to come.

I could go through all the facts and figures of what has happened in the economy and what lies ahead. But I think what is worth reflecting on, particularly at this time of year, is the success that we as a nation have had in cushioning the impact of this global recession on our communities, on our families, on our breadwinners, and I think all of us, irrespective of our different perspectives in this debate, would say how important it is to have had policies in place which have protected, to the maximum extent possible, our families from the scourge of higher and prolonged unemployment. That is something that is worth celebrating. And it is not something that is owned by a particular government policy; it is something that has come out of the community itself—Australians working together to make sure that we can do our best in the face of these external events that have threatened our community.

The consequence of that, as we go forward to Christmas, is that we do not have the high levels of unemployment that we had forecast at the beginning of the year as the unfortunate consequences of this global recession. That means that fewer families have been dramatically affected. Fewer families have lost breadwinners. More small businesses have managed to keep their doors open. That all means that unemployment has not torn up the fabric of our society in the way in which it could have, and that is something worth reflecting on as we move forward. Fewer people have been thrown on the scrap heap. Less damage has been done to communities and less damage has been done to individuals.

That is very much worth reflecting on, because, going back to where I started, all of us come to this House with the view that we must do our best to protect people. We may disagree about the means of doing that, but we all come here with the objective and public policy purpose of ensuring that we do the best that we can by our communities. I think in the past year we have demonstrated as a community and as a nation that by pulling together in the face of these external global events we can make a difference.

The year ahead is one that is going to bring great challenges. Despite the success of the last year, we do know that there are big challenges ahead. Meeting those challenges is going to take every ounce of commitment and courage and unity if we are going to keep Australia ahead of the pack—and not just in the year ahead but in the decades ahead, and none of that is going to be easy. To paraphrase JFK, we are here to meet these challenges because they are the hard challenges, not the easy challenges—because if we are going to protect the national interest we have to take the hard decisions for the future.

I thank all of my colleagues in the cabinet and in the ministry, and of course in the caucus. Sitting around our cabinet table there are some very, very dedicated ministers. It is a real privilege to work with such big-hearted and smart people as those who sit around our cabinet table, with the exceptional leadership of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, with all of my colleagues, including the Leader of the House, who is in the chamber, working together in a way which is quite extraordinary. I suppose, given the amount of time that we spend together, it is even more extraordinary that we all remain on such good terms! There is a camaraderie in this cabinet and in this ministry which has been very, very important in government decision-making. The capacity to work together, to do the long hours, and the good spirit that comes forward even when colleagues may, from time to time, have a difference of opinion: that degree of unity in our cabinet says something very special about each and every one of my colleagues. To my Treasury colleagues, Chris and Craig and Nick—it is a great team—I say thanks very much for all of your effort and I can promise you a harder year ahead!

There is also so much talent not just in the cabinet and the ministry but also on our backbench. Many speakers this morning have reflected on the important role of a backbench member of parliament. All of us who have the privilege of serving in the executive know that you cannot serve there effectively unless you have worked effectively in an electorate, unless you have actually connected with a community and understand how national policies translate to local communities, to individuals and to families. That is just an important part of political life.

This is an opportunity to say something nice about our political opponents! I am pleased the member for North Sydney is here, because I have not had the opportunity to publicly congratulate him on the birth of his baby boy. I wish the family all the best for the future. I had planned to say this publicly to the member for North Sydney earlier, but I have been waiting a long time for a question, Joe! So I have had to say it this morning, because I thought I might miss out if I waited until this afternoon. But seriously, as I said earlier, this parliament, particularly this year, has been a very important institution. Whilst we have had our disagreements over economic policy with the opposition—some fundamental disagreements—I do accept that these disagreements are part and parcel of the role of this parliament, and there has been vigorous debate about economic policy in this parliament, which is as it should be, and the opposition have played their role in that debate, and that is very important. I would like to mention a few of my sparring partners from the other side, although there do not seem to be many of them in the House. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has also been a very important part of that debate. I wish all of my colleagues in the opposition a festive season. I hope you do not come back too refreshed! Nevertheless, take the opportunity to spend some time with your families.

I also thank all of the Parliament House staff, from the security guards, whom I generally see when I come in very early in the morning, and all those who clean the offices and look after us in the corridors, to the Serjeant-at-Arms, Hansard, Anna in the whip’s office, all of the attendants who help us on a daily basis, Ian and Bernie, the press gallery and of course our party office. I thank all of them for the very important role that they play.

I would like to say something about family, and both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have highlighted the importance of family. Those of us who have the privilege of serving in this House can only do so with the permission of family, and we can only continue to serve, particularly for any extended period of time, with family. Of course, they sacrifice so much for us in terms of the time that we spend away from home and, if you like, coming to the fore of the media debate. They are in this as much as we are, but they do not necessarily get all of the benefits that we receive. So they do pay a very big price. I would particularly like to acknowledge my wife, Kim. This year we celebrated 25 years of marriage. She thought that was a bit of a miracle!

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She is very tolerant!

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have done well.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I think I have done extremely well; I am not so sure about the other side of the ledger! But she is very patient and we even managed to find time to have a party, which was even better.

My children, Erinn, Libbi and Matt, always bring me back down to earth when I go home. If there is an issue around that has escaped my attention, they will make sure that it does not escape my attention. They are very good at bringing me back down to earth and at bringing me up to date with what is happening in their communities. I want to thank all of the families who support members of the parliament. We all have our battles but, when it comes to family, I think we would all agree on the important and critical role they play in supporting us in our national political life.

I also thank in particular the Treasury, because it has been a very big year for them. Each and every one of our Treasury officers has made a very substantial sacrifice for our country in what has been an extraordinarily busy year in our national economic life. Of course, they have frequently been in the firing line as well. This country would be a lot poorer without their quality advice, dedication and long hours of work. They have put in a magnificent effort this year. They are highly regarded not just domestically but internationally, as they should be. I thank every Treasury officer for the very hard work that they have put in, particularly in the last year.

I thank all of my staff here in the ministerial office. Each and every one of them has put in an extraordinary effort over the past 12 months. They are a dedicated group of staff and they show no respect for sleep. They have the capacity to work around the clock—and they frequently have been working around the clock. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their dedication and service over the last 12 months, and I also thank their families. For their hard work over the past year I also thank the staff in my electorate office in Brisbane—Lisa, Carla, Finn, David, Jess, Angela and now George—and the staff in all of my branches.

Could I just give a special thanks to Treasury head Ken Henry. It is true to say that he has been a dedicated and extraordinary public servant, and he has put in an extraordinary effort over the last couple of years. I am certainly proud to be a Treasury minister, and I am proud to have worked with Ken and his team at the Treasury because they have certainly delivered so much for our country in the last 12 months.

Finally, could I wish everyone here all the best for Christmas. Have a break. We will see you in the New Year.

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

May I join with the others in extending to all of those who work in this place, those who support us and the people of Australia, my very best wishes for the Christmas season. It has been another eventful year—the year of Black Saturday; the year when the drought has continued for many, although in some instances it has eased and in other cases it has got worse; the year when our involvement in Iraq formally ended, although the war in Afghanistan became more intense. It has been a year when we have apologised to forgotten people and when the government has been able to advance quite a deal of its agenda. It has been a year when people have lived through a lot of uncertainty with the recession we did not have. All of these things have made this an eventful year. The parliament has had, as it always does, a particular responsibility to take a leadership role, to respond to the issues and to do what we can to help build a better nation.

I thank all of those who have been a part of ensuring that the parliament has worked so smoothly this year. Firstly, I thank you, Mr Speaker, and the members of your panel. Thank you for the good natured way in which you undertake your responsibilities. From time to time, I know people on all sides of the House test your patience, but you have undertaken your work with great dignity and goodwill, and certainly you have earned the respect of every member of the parliament. We thank you very much for the work that you do and the support that you get from the other members of your panel.

I want to also make some comments about the Clerk. I guess this will be the last time we have an opportunity to say thank you to Ian as he retires very shortly, after 12½ years as the Clerk of the House and after 37 years of service to this House. Ian has made an extraordinary contribution, and that is beyond question. He came from a coalmining family in the Newcastle area, and he went to school and university there. He worked as a teacher and then as a public servant, but most of his working life has been in this place.

Ian has served as the Clerk for 12½ years. There have only been 14 clerks in 108 years of our federal parliament, so clerks manage to survive much better than prime ministers, opposition leaders and most of the people who have the privilege to serve as members. Perhaps it is because of the important administrative role that the clerks play as well as the great diplomatic skills that they bring to their task. Fairly early in my parliamentary career I had the opportunity to travel with Ian overseas. I got to know him well. I admired and appreciated him, and I saw a side of him that you never get to see with the formality of this place.

The Clerk, more than anyone, is entrusted with a fair degree of the traditions and forms of this place, and with the administration, to make sure that we are able to undertake our work seamlessly and effectively. It does not mean that things do not change. Indeed, there has been a lot of change in the parliament over the last 20 years with the establishment of the second chamber and a whole lot of other things that have made a real difference. Some of the formality has gone; there is no doubt about that. As one who has been around for a while, I regret some of that. But on the other hand we do need to be relevant to the times and to make sure that the things we preserve and protect are those things that actually matter to our democratic institutions.

So, Ian, thank you for all you have done. As I mentioned, you have come from humble beginnings. You served for three years as president of the Association of Secretary-Generals of Parliament, the first person in the southern hemisphere to have that honour. That demonstrates the respect with which you are held around the nation and beyond. I read somewhere in a newspaper report that you actually had to learn French do that job. That is a clear demonstration of dedication, that one would go to that length. But the fact that you have held those offices is a further commendation of your career. Ian Harris, AO, we wish you good health and every happiness in your retirement. I know that Erika will be very pleased to be able to spend more time with you as well. You leave with enduring friends in this place and much respect for everything you have done.

In that context I welcome Ian’s replacement Bernard Wright, also a man steeped in the traditions of the parliament. Bernard, I am sure that it will not be long before we will be saying equally favourable things about your contribution to this place and your support for the parliament and the way in which it operates.

I will mention the staff, about 250 staff, I understand, that serve the parliament. That is just those directly associated with the office of the Clerk. They have certainly, as always, served us well. They help us in undertaking our responsibilities on a day-to-day basis. We do not very often get the chance to say thank you to them. Sometimes we walk past in a flurry with our minds on other things. But let me say that there is a deep and abiding affection for the work that you do and appreciation for your service to the parliament and to us as members. I mention the Serjeant-at-Arms and his staff, the attendants, the security people, the Comcar drivers, the dining-room staff, the nurses, the cleaners, the Library staff, the Hansard people, who translate what we say into English, and those who look after our travel arrangements and everything else that we do. We thank you very much and wish you the compliments of the season.

I also acknowledge the press gallery, who give us a tough time. I acknowledge what has happened in their lives over the last year or two as their numbers have been reduced. They work long hours. We all often do interviews at 10 or 11 o’clock at night, and we know they are presenting programs at five or six in the morning—incredible hours. I will mention one other development in the last 12 months that I think is a very significant advance, and that is the opening of the APAC television channel. That has opened up the workings of the parliament so that people at home can actually see more of what the parliament does and in particular the way it works. So much television time of the parliament, what there is of it, surrounds question time, which is a very small part of what occupies our day. It is the theatrics, I guess, it is where the one-liners come from. But when people can actually see their local member, who may not be in the headlines of the capital city newspapers every day, when they can see them on APAC actually at work, I think that is a very substantial advance. I commend those who have taken the initiative to establish that channel. It is a pity it is not available free to all. Nonetheless, it is available to those who keenly follow the public events of our nation.

I would like to thank the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, and Julie Bishop and all of my colleagues in the coalition front bench for the privilege of working with them. I acknowledge Nigel Scullion, my deputy, and Senators Joyce and Nash, the leaders of my party in the Senate. They have been good colleagues to work with and I very much appreciated that privilege. I want to join in thanking the whips, and I mention in particular Alex Somlyay, my electorate neighbour and good friend. I extend particular wishes to Alex in the period ahead. He has got some medical issues to address. We hope that those issues will go well for him, and we look forward to seeing him back next year bright and well and happy. Kay Hull is a tower of strength for us. She is little but big. She is a little person but, my word, she does a tower of work and is an enormous strength. She is there when we have got problems. Sometimes when I think of Kay I remember her past as a tow truck operator taking on the big guys with the big trucks battling over a wreck. Frankly, I think she would be more than a match for any of them. Kay, you do a wonderful job and I very much appreciate the contribution you make to our party organisation.

Our party secretariat, Brad and his team, work with a very thin budget to be able to ensure that our party operates as effectively as we can. Can I join also in thanking our staff, my Canberra office staff and my electorate staff. David Whitrow has been with me for many years and, indeed, most of my staff have been with me since our days in government. I appreciate their loyalty and their support and the hack work that we expect them all to do. Some of my electorate staff have been with me for as long as I have been in the parliament. In fact, some of them worked for my predecessor. The loyalty and support of all of them is very much appreciated.

Sometimes people think the parliament is out of touch, that we are not doing the things that they want us to do. But we can capture the mood of the people, and that has been evident on many occasions this year. As others have said, we have disagreements across the table and some of those disagreements are intense, strong and deeply held. But I think we all need to acknowledge that everyone comes into this place with a determination to make our country a better place in which to live. Our disagreement is about how we should achieve those objectives. It is appropriate in a democracy that there be robust and well-considered debate about those issues so that we can deal with policy issues with the depth that is needed to ensure that we have a much stronger future for our nation and to ensure that those we love and those we respect can grow up in a country that has the sort of environment in which we want them to live.

Christmas is a very special time of the year. Families can get together and enjoy one another’s company. The people we love are the people we want around us during that time. But Christmas is more than just decorations and gifts and parties; the celebrations and the symbols of Christmas highlight the joyous reason for our festivities, the birth of Jesus Christ. Those who seek to take the Christmas out of the holidays or Christ out of Christmas certainly lose the central reason for our celebrations and their meaning and their purpose. The true spirit of Christmas means we should think of those less fortunate—the homeless, the jobless, those who are sick, those who are spending Christmas alone this year.

The Leader of the Opposition mentioned especially the families of the 11 Australian soldiers lost in Afghanistan. We think of those people, we think of those enduring drought for the 10th year and we think of those who have been through pain and suffering or whose families are not with them because they are spread around the world or in other parts of the country.

At an electorate level, I particularly acknowledge the celebrations there will be in the Mary Valley this Christmas. For 3½ years the residents have been living in uncertainty since the Queensland government announced the decision that their homes were to be taken from them to build the Traveston Crossing dam. I acknowledge with gratitude the decision of Peter Garrett, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, to put an end to this woeful project. It was really a tragedy that these people have had to live through these 3½ years of uncertainty. Now they can get on with building their lives. For them this is going to be a particularly happy Christmas. While lungfish, Mary River turtles and Mary River cod probably do not celebrate Christmas, it will be a good New Year for them as well.

Finally I particularly appeal to Australians travelling this Christmas to be safe on the road. We committed ourselves as a nation a few years ago to reducing the road toll by 40 per cent. We have been making good progress but, for some reason or other, the road toll has kicked up a bit this year, even though the roads are safer than they have been, the cars are safer, and there have been more regulations, more rules and more policing. For some reason or other the road toll has risen. We do not want that toll to grow over Christmas. Please, everyone, drive carefully. I know there are a lot of temptations at Christmas time. Lots of us think we are good drivers, but sometimes there are other people on the road who are not. Be patient and do what you can in these festive times to make sure that we all drive safely on our crowded roads.

There will also be, over the Christmas period, those who will have to confront the disasters that often come to our continent such as flooding and bushfires. We think of those people during the Christmas time. When others are enjoying their celebrations, our emergency services and so many others are often called on for special duty. We think of the armed forces, the police and ambulance and hospital staff and others who keep us safe as well as those who are looking after the aged-care homes and the child-care facilities. These sorts of people deserve particular recognition over the Christmas period because we expect them to maintain the services that are so essential in our community, so that we can enjoy these very special times.

Thank you to all of those who have contributed to the past year of the parliament. I join in extending best wishes to them and to their families. We look forward to the year ahead with hope and the expectation that we come back refreshed following the holiday season to again confront the issues that are important to our nation and to make sure that we continue the work entrusted to us as representatives of the people to build a country which they can all enjoy.

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

I am very proud to rise in this chamber as Leader of the House to give a valedictory speech in the closing period of this parliamentary year. I wish to take the opportunity to acknowledge the support that is received from all staff who work in this chamber but want to single some people out, beginning with you, Mr Speaker. You have managed, in a difficult period—some times more difficult than others—to rise to a position whereby you have the respect of all members of this chamber. You undertake your duties with a sense of good humour, with impartiality, with fairness and with objectivity, and that is often remarked upon to me outside of this chamber. To you and your family, I wish you all the best for this season. I look forward to coming back here next year, in 2010, when I am sure that the difficulties that are raised from time to time by individual members of the House will become far less as time goes on.

I want to thank the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has given me an extraordinary privilege of being Leader of the House and holding a major economic portfolio in government. I grew up in a single-parent household, in public housing in inner Sydney, and the fact that I was able to rise to be the Leader of the House of Representatives shows this is a pretty good country, where people do get a fair go and where people do have opportunity. The Prime Minister has shown enormous faith in me, requiring me to provide the day-to-day strategic advice that comes with being the Leader of the House and the chair of the parliamentary tactics committee.

I think that the Prime Minister has done and will continue to do an extraordinary job in providing leadership to the nation, not only leadership in economic terms in dealing with the impacts of the global economic crisis but also leadership in ways which are above partisan politics such as we saw at the beginning of last week with the apology to the forgotten Australians, which followed on from the apology to the stolen generations.

The Prime Minister has an enormous capacity for work, for intellectual rigour and for being ahead of the game when it comes to the policy frameworks that are necessary. He is passionate about this country’s future and its place in the world. I believe Australia is all the better for Kevin being elected Prime Minister.

To the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard: she is an ongoing source of advice as well. Julia was the Manager of Opposition Business while I was the Deputy Manager of Opposition Business. She is a very welcome source of strategic advice on the parliament while holding an enormous portfolio in which the achievements of replacing Work Choices with the Fair Work Act and the changes that are taking place in education—including Building the Education Revolution and the changes in relation to a national curriculum and to lifting standards in education—show that her enormous capacity is having an outcome for the nation.

To the Treasurer, Wayne Swan: there was a moment earlier this year, in April, when the Treasurer and I found ourselves having a drink at Buckingham Palace with the Queen. That was something that we probably would not have envisaged would occur when I first met him more than 20 years ago. I had the honour of attending the G20 summit in London with the Treasurer and the Prime Minister. I do not think the regard in which the Australian economic performance is held globally is quite understood. Minister after minister from other countries come and talk to us about our economic stimulus package and how the decisive action which we took ensured that we were ahead of the game. To finish the year as the only economy in the advanced world which did not enter into a recession and which has surpassed its economic growth and which has the lowest debt, the lowest deficit and the second lowest unemployment is a tribute to his economic leadership. The Treasurer also has a passion about what economic growth is for, which is to not leave people behind. He was as comfortable at the G20 as he was in my electorate at the Exodus Foundation, which deals with some of the most underprivileged people in Australia. The Treasurer shows a commitment to equity as well as a commitment to a strong economy.

To the Deputy Leader of the House, Stephen Smith: the position of Minister for Foreign Affairs is a difficult one. He is overseas representing the nation, as he does in an outstanding way. Stephen provides extraordinary strategic capacity in his contribution to the tactics committee and in his assistance to me as Leader of the House.

I thank the other ministers for their support. We have had a huge program in my portfolio: establishing Infrastructure Australia and the Building Australia Fund, doubling funding to roads and quadrupling funding to rail, forming Regional Development Australia and strengthening the partnership with the local government sector through the Australian Council of Local Government. All of that can be achieved only if you have the support of your colleagues. I thank all of them but single out Senator Stephen Conroy, who represents me in the other chamber and when I am away, as I do him. Stephen has been a very supportive minister, in particular, as well as advancing the NBN as a great reform of this government.

To Roger Price, the Chief Government Whip, and his assistants Jill Hall and Chris Hayes: they are an outstanding team. The whips carry out an excellent job implementing the tactics of the government. From time to time they may not agree with them, particularly the Chief Government Whip. He is usually in good humour. I wish him all the best as well.

We rely very much upon the bureaucracy that is provided to assist us. To the Parliamentary Liaison Office—Henry Thomson and the team in the PLO: they keep the House running and make sure that the government’s agenda is turned into the appropriate legislative process, from the Monday morning meetings of the PBC that then result in the activity that we see from Monday to Thursday in this chamber. To the Chamber Research Office and the Parliamentary Library, in particular Anna, Penny, Naomi and Chris: they work tirelessly in keeping up-to-date information and statistics on the working of the House. They provide us with a great deal of support.

To the retiring Clerk of the House, Mr Ian Harris: he retires with the respect of all those in the House. We acknowledge his 37 years of service to this parliament. Ian became the Deputy Clerk of the House way back in 1991 and has been the Clerk of the House since 1997. I worked with Ian when I was an opposition office holder and now when in government. I must say that his advice has always been impartial. His advice when we were in opposition did not secure us any majorities on the floor of the House and his impartial advice now has without fail resulted in a majority of the House agreeing with the actions that we have taken. That is the nature of the workings of the House of Representatives. He is a lover of this parliament and its processes. He is passionate about it and there is of course no more important building in the country. I think that he can be very proud and look forward to his retirement. To Bernard Wright, who is replacing Ian as Clerk of the House from 5 December, can I say that I hope we are not still sitting then. I very much look forward to working with you, Bernard.

To the rest of the House staff, including the Serjeant-at-Arms, catering, housekeeping, HRG, IT Support, security, the attendants, the staff at Aussie’s and other DPS staff, without whom this House simply would not function, I say thank you. I want particularly to thank Lupco Jonceski and the cleaners who look after my office, Anna Jancevska and Luzia Borges, who come in with great humour whenever you see them around the building.

I acknowledge the work of the opposition, of Malcolm Turnbull, the Leader of the Opposition; Julie Bishop, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition; Warren Truss, the Leader of the Nationals and one of my shadow ministers; and Christopher Pyne, the Manager of Opposition Business, who declares himself the best of the bunch—we are having leadership challenges declared here in the chamber as we speak! Christopher and I have a good working relationship. I do not want to cause him too much damage with his party colleagues by being too effusive about that. We do have the odd difference, such as the attempted verbal of last week in the chamber, but by and large we have a constructive working relationship. When I was Manager of Opposition Business for the entire time I had two conversations with the then Leader of the House. I believe this House functions better when there is communication between the government and the opposition and a constructive framework worked out in the interests of the people that we are all here to represent. If we can minimise those disagreements over procedural issues and get on with the real debate about the future of the country, that is a good thing. I think that Chris enjoys the parliamentary process and I look forward to ongoing debate with Chris next year in an election year.

To the media, particularly those in the press gallery, I enjoy the briefings that I give after every caucus meeting and I look forward to boring you next year, every Tuesday after the caucus, with the great details of South Sydney victories the previous weekend. You do have a difficult job. The pressures that are on the media to deliver up-to-date information need far greater debate about the nature of how changing technology is producing an impact in terms of media debate in this country. You have a difficult job, and I look forward to working with you on most occasions in the coming year.

To my department, Mike Mrdak, the new secretary of the department, is an outstanding choice as secretary. He is reforming the way the department functions. He is a career public servant who represents the best of the Public Service. To my office, Michael Choueifate, and my chief of staff Karen Bissaker, and my personal assistant, Jo Haylen, who looks after the tasks for the Leader of the House, and Tanya Jackson-Vaughan, the chief of staff in my electorate office and to my branches and supporters, I thank all of you.

In terms of the ability that I have been given, I want to make some comments as Leader of the House and as minister. As Leader of the House we have had 1,171 questions answered in question time so far this year. We have passed 191 bills through this chamber. The last time that the House passed more legislation than this was back in 1999, so it is the largest number for a decade. We have had some 102 ministerial statements so far in this parliament, the 42nd—41 ministerial statements this year and nine Prime Ministerial statements to the 42nd Parliament. This compares with a total of 11 ministerial statements in the last parliament.

We have had a seven per cent increase in the amount of time spent answering opposition questions this year compared with 2007, and we have had on 21 occasions in the 42nd Parliament a number of question times that exceeded 20 questions—where there were more than 20 questions. In the previous parliament there were none. In terms of your patience, Mr Speaker, it has been tested with some 1,331 points of order. The Manager of Opposition Business has moved 219 points of order this year, or 13 for every week of question time.

Indeed, that is an absolute record, beating the previous record set by Joe Hockey last year. Indeed, in the parliament, in total, the Manager of Opposition Business has moved 254; Joe Hockey has moved 213; and Malcolm Turnbull, the Leader of the Opposition, has moved 116 himself, something that in previous parliaments leaders of the opposition certainly did not do.

It is important, as we leave this place at the end of these sittings, to acknowledge that, as a minister, it is certainly the case that one of the great privileges is undertaking the work we do outside this chamber. A great privilege of being the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government is that I get out and about. In recent months I have been to Geraldton, Port Hedland, Karratha, Kununurra, Daly River, Mount Gambier and Alexandra. I have been to the region affected by the Victorian bushfires on a number of occasions. I agree with the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition that those local communities showed extraordinary courage.

I also went to Bendigo, Wodonga, Geelong, Parkes, Bourke, Wagga Wagga, Lismore, Dubbo, Bathurst, Orange, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Tweed Heads, Cairns, Ingham, Townsville, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Gladstone, Maroochydore, Ipswich, Launceston and to the electorate of Maranoa. When I was there I spent a day with the member for Maranoa. I want to acknowledge that last night the member for Maranoa won the Politzer Prize. It is an annual photographic competition between federal MPs and senators who submit a picture which best captures the essence of their electorate. The photograph of a region not far from where I was with the member for Maranoa in far-western Queensland is indeed just that. It is a pelican rookery on the flood plains of the Georgina River in far-western Queensland. I congratulate the member for Maranoa on this fine achievement. Being a minister, it is a great privilege being able to attend communities, large and small, city and rural. As a minister, one of the things that I will remember is a visit to Birdsville, with the member for Maranoa; a visit to Bourke, with the member for Calare; and other visits right around the country. One of the cultural aspects that often people do not see is the extent to which, by and large, we as parliamentarians do treat each other with respect and do agree with each other a lot of the time. Certainly, going out there and meeting with communities is indeed one of the great privileges of being a minister.

I conclude with thanks to my family—my wife, Carmel, and my son, Nathan. It is hard for all of us as parliamentarians and it is particularly hard for our children. Indeed, a community cabinet has been set for my son’s birthday on 8 December, in Townsville. This makes life very difficult to juggle, and our families are very tolerant of it. But I put on the record that I certainly appreciate the support I am given and I look forward to spending time with them over the Christmas and festive period. I wish all members and their families a happy and safe festive season and, in conclusion, as transport minister, can I say: please drive safely.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is the first valedictory I have spoken to in 17 years in this place. That probably speaks volumes for my failure in being promoted in the previous government to a position which would require me to give a valedictory in this place. Happily, it has been less so the case and I find myself, after 17 years, as the Manager of Opposition Business in the House and the shadow minister for education, apprenticeships and training, and I am very grateful to Malcolm Turnbull for giving me the opportunity. I am also very grateful to members of the Liberal Party in my own state for giving me the opportunity to be the member for Sturt for 17 years and to have won six elections.

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A fine member, too!

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much. I appreciate the support from the deputy leader of opposition business, who is required to be here in order to be supportive of the Manager of Opposition Business. I note that most of my colleagues have found my speech less than erudite and less than compelling but, as they say, that is the nature of these things at this end of the game, at the end of the year.

A valedictory is an opportunity to thank a number of people who make this House work and to acknowledge quite a few people. The first person I would like to acknowledge is the Speaker. Mr Speaker, we on the opposition side give you many opportunities to make good decisions, particularly in question time. We do not always find that you take up the offer that we give you with the enthusiasm that I know you would bring to that if only we were all in the same political party. Nevertheless, Mr Speaker, you do a fantastic job and we will continue to give you many opportunities to make good decisions that will allow the opposition to get answers to questions from the government. I am sure that sometimes even the Speaker’s feigned patience and wisdom is tested by ministers at the dispatch box when they refuse to make their answers relevant to fine opposition questions.

Yesterday, I think we tested the Speaker’s patience even further and maybe confused him somewhat by using the term that Joe Hockey brought to the dispatch box of ‘con brio’.

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

I thought he was a branch member!

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought for a moment the Speaker thought it might have been Con Brio from the Comedy Company in the 1990s and wondered whether we were going to ask a question about his well-known wife, Maria Brio, from that program. When we turn our minds back to it, there is of course another character from the Comedy CompanyKylie Mole, who bears a close resemblance to one of the members of the government on the other side. In fact, she has just turned up. The Deputy Prime Minister came in on cue—old Kylie Mole from the Comedy Companyand no doubt she will have some things to say herself on the valedictory.

I would also like to acknowledge the Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, who obviously has to work with me relatively closely on a daily basis to make this place work. While most people outside this House think that we are constantly at loggerheads, of course it would not work if there were not the capacity—often behind the Speaker’s chair or even across the chamber—to make arrangements so that this great democracy of ours and this representation of our democracy, the House of Representatives, can actually function.

Anthony fancies himself as a snooker player. The tragedy of this year’s parliamentary snooker competition is that he beat me in the semi-finals. It was very close—it was decided on the black ball. The Leader of the House fluked the pink ball—he would admit, I am sure, that it was a fluke—and that kept me out of the game. It was a twist of fate that the Leader of the House and the Manager of Opposition Business were facing each other in the snooker competition, and it was good fun. He, of course, is a willing adversary. Anthony and I have many things in common, and we have many things that separate us. One of the things we have in common is that we have never run from a fight. I have been fighting a lot of people over my political career both within the Liberal Party and outside it, and in the Labor Party. I will not name them because most of them are not around any longer. I lasted a bit longer than most of them. I share with Mr Albanese a love of debate, a love of the parliament, and a willingness to have a good row about policy, about politics and about trying to represent our two great parties—the two great parties of Australian history since our Federation—the Labor Party and the Liberal Party.

I would also particularly like to thank Ian Harris and Bernard Wright. Ian Harris is leaving us on 4 December. He came here in 1972 and has been the Clerk of the House since 1997, which virtually mirrors my time in this place—I got here in 1993. As everyone has said and as everyone will say, he is a person who with his team keeps us all looking as reasonably good—if you could claim it that way—as we sometimes do in this place. We very rarely make procedural mistakes and that is only because whenever we are not sure—which is most of the time—we have a quiet word to Ian or Bernard, or whoever is at the clerks’ table, and they make sure that we stay on track. We wish Ian all the best in the future, having retired from this place. He will be missed but his ample shoes will be well filled by Bernard Wright, who I have also known for 17 years. Bernard will do a sensational job as the new Clerk of the House. It is, of course, the most important role in administering this place. It has a very successful history, a very quiet history where they are not pushed to the front like we are. They just simply do their job and they do it extremely well.

I also mention the leader of the party Malcolm Turnbull, deputy leader Julie Bishop, our leadership team in Eric Abetz and Nick Minchin in the Senate—of course that is around the other way; I do not think anything has happened in the last 12 hours that I am not aware of—and Luke Hartsuyker, the Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House. Malcolm Turnbull is a terrific future Prime Minister of Australia; a terrific Leader of the Opposition. He is clever, he is experienced, he is articulate, he is intelligent, he is incredibly hard working, he is inclusive, he is humble, and he is also tough. I do not think anybody in the Labor Party would want to underestimate him. I am sure that people who come up against Malcolm over the years would not underestimate just how tough Malcolm Turnbull is. He has taken over the leadership of the opposition at a very difficult time. Everyone knows that in this period, straight after an election defeat, that term is always extremely hard. He has taken on the job; he is doing the job—there will always be bumps in the road. It requires enormous resilience and Malcolm Turnbull has resilience by the bucket load.

Julie Bishop, his deputy: nobody could ask for a more loyal and better deputy than Malcolm has in Julie Bishop. Julie is a veteran of the House in terms of years and also in capacity as a cabinet minister in the Howard government. She rose quickly because of her immense talent. She is also terrific company. She sits very close to me in the chamber. As most people would admit, opposition can be a dismal affair. Julie and I keep ourselves having a good laugh, usually at the expense of the government—sometimes not—throughout question time and she is a terrific person to have around in the team. As the deputy, she has done a marvellous job for both Brendan Nelson and now Malcolm Turnbull.

Warren Truss is a kind of figure who you would not necessarily think was great fun, but actually he is great fun. He is very wise, he is very calm and he is very considered. He is a safe pair of hands and whenever I am not absolutely sure what the tactics should be in the question time or in the parliament Warren is one of the very first people I talk to because he always gives extremely sage advice. I would also like to thank the Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House, Luke Hartsuyker, who has served under both Joe and me. He is a very steady hand. We can easily leave matters in Luke’s hands and he always does a very good job. He is very supportive of whatever decisions we make and gives advice on a constant basis about the sorts of questions we should be asking and the themes of the day and the MPIs. He really is making a great contribution here in parliament.

There are other people that I should thank, too—a few people who are not in this place. Nick Minchin and Eric Abetz, our Senate leader and deputy leader, who I see every morning at our leadership team meeting, are doing a great job in the Senate, a fantastic job under difficult circumstances. It is not always easy, of course, in opposition—the two houses often have different views about how we should manage things and the politics of things. Nick and Eric run an extraordinarily good show in the Senate, and will continue to do so in the future.

Lastly, for people from my own side of the House, I would like to acknowledge Joe Hockey, the shadow Treasurer. He plays an extremely important role, and is the person I took over from as Manager of Opposition Business. He is always ready with advice, always welcome advice, and he is also terrific company. He keeps us all in a good frame of mind and a good temper. He is also holding the government to account over their reckless spending, their debt and their deficit. With an election year next year, I have a feeling that we might hear a lot more about debt and deficit, interest rates and inflation, unemployment and the government’s economic management, and I am sure Joe Hockey will shine the closer we get to the election and the more those kinds of issues come to the fore.

There are other people I should thank. The people who keep the House operating have all been thanked before, and that is because they are usually behind the scenes quietly doing their job. I thank Cheryl Lane, who heads up the House attendants. They are a marvellously patient group of people. I could name them all, but I do not want to embarrass them. They have been looking after me since I came here at the age of 25. They are a sensational group of people who often go unthanked—and I thank Luch, who is in the chamber.

I thank the Chamber Research Office. They keep things bubbling away in this place and they provide invaluable service to members of parliament. I thank the Department of Parliamentary Services, headed by Alan Thompson, and his team of people. They keep the legislation and the amendments flowing and they provide us advice about the schedule et cetera.

I thank the Hansard staff. Trevor Fowler and Rachel Croome head up the Hansard staff. Things have changed a little bit over the years. The Hansard staff do not have to write everything down in shorthand as they used to. They do a marvellous job. I do not think I have ever corrected a Hansard record of a speech. The only time I have ever made any alterations was when they did not know the spelling of a school or a suburb that I was referring to. I have never corrected a Hansard speech because they have never made a mistake with a speech of mine. That is because they are probably the best Hansard reporting service in the world—and they train most of the others, so that suggests that they are the best.

I thank all the Comcar drivers, security staff and cleaning staff who go about their business unheralded in this place. The Comcar drivers get us all home. Without the Comcar drivers I am not sure any of us would go home all the time. Our drivers are always there to get us back to our places of accommodation at night and back to work again the next morning. They are always pleasant and happy. They always know where they are going. They are a terrific part of this organisation.

I thank the Chief Opposition Whip, Alex Somlyay, and his team of whips—Michael Johnson, Nola Marino, Kay Hull and Paul Neville. The whips are a vitally important part of operations on both sides of the House. Alex Somlyay leads a great team of staff and other members who help members of parliament to do their job well and to know what they are supposed to be doing. The whips make sure that members’ leave arrangements are being looked after. The whips play a very important role as a safety valve in this place—and they might sometimes regard themselves as a counselling service. The Chief Opposition Whip is the person you tell almost everything to because he needs to know in order to manage 150 people in this place and another 70-odd people in the Senate.

I thank the Chief Government Whip, Roger Price. I have known Roger for a very long time. I have sat on committees with him. I know that he has very firm views about procedures and other parts of the way this place operates. He is a very important part of the Labor Party’s armoury in this place.

I thank my own staff, led by my Chief of Staff, Adam Howard. We had a lot more staff when we were in government—as I am sure the government would know because many of them were in opposition. In government we had about 18 or 19 staff, but we now have about seven staff, and they have to do a tremendous amount of work. My staff do a great job, as do the staff of all members of parliament, members of the frontbench and members of the government. They do not get much credit, but the credit is usually due to the staff’s great work. I wish all my staff a great Christmas and New Year. It is going to be a tougher year next year, but every year in politics is interesting and exciting; otherwise we would not be in it.

I thank my wife, Carolyn, and my four children. My wife and I have nine-year-old twins, Barnaby and Eleanor; a seven-year-old son, Felix; and a 20-month-old daughter, Aurelia. Aurelia is not as successful at Skype as the other three—she likes to get nice and close to it and pushes it off the top! My children are a wonderful light in my life, as is my wife. They, of course, have to put up with all the misery of having a father who spends so much time away from home. We all know the story: it is a wrench for those of us with wives and children to be here, but it is twice as bad for those we leave behind. Often it is our families who bear the brunt of the criticisms made of their partners. That is very tough. My family did not choose to be born into a family whose father spends a lot of his time away in Canberra, yet they have to live with it. Politics is a very tough and selfish lifestyle—there is no doubt about that—and the families are the ones who bear the burden.

I wish everybody a happy Christmas, and I wish for a very successful New Year for the opposition. We return in February and we intend to hold the government to account. We look forward to the government picking up our proposals for reform in the areas of relevance in answers to questions and, of course, time limits on answers to questions. I am sure I speak for everyone in the House—except perhaps some of the ministers—in saying I am sure that shorter answers would make everyone in this place a lot happier. Finally, let us all try and get along as well as we can next year. I keep telling Mr Albanese that he should just try and get along as well with me as I do with the Deputy Prime Minister and everything would be terrific.

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

It is not my intention to do any impersonations of Kylie Mole, or anybody else, at the dispatch box. I have already done enough of that during the valedictory speech by the shadow minister for education, apprenticeships and training—and I wish him and his family a very happy Christmas. From time to time we see commentary in the media about the number of portfolios I hold and the size of the job I perform for the government. We see that commentary come and go, but what we do not see in that commentary is recognition that I do not do this work alone. I do this work with the support of a terrific ministerial team, and I would like to start by acknowledging them and wishing them the compliments of the season.

Before the reshuffle, it was my pleasure and privilege to work very closely with Brendan O’Connor, who is an old friend and doing a terrific job for the government. He was a tremendous support for me in his capacity as Minister for Employment Participation. He has now gone on to the customs and justice portfolio. I also had the pleasure of working with a great Labor light, Maxine McKew, who assisted me with early childhood development. She has now moved to infrastructure, but I would like to record my thanks to her.

I work with a great ministerial team—with Senator Arbib, with parliamentary secretaries Jason Clare and Ursula Stephens, and with Kate Ellis performing in the jobs of youth and sport and also early childhood development and care. They are tremendous ministers. It gives me a great feeling about the long-term future of Labor to see such talented young people in ministerial jobs. To them, I would like to say a very sincere thanks for everything that they have done in working with me this year.

I would like to thank my ministerial and caucus colleagues generally—first and foremost, the Prime Minister. It continues to be a great pleasure and privilege to work alongside him day by day. We work hard, he works harder, and he inspires the team to keep working and to keep delivering, to make this a stronger and fairer country. He is a man of enormous vision and capacity. I continue to learn from him each and every day and I thank him very much for the work he has done over the past 12 months for the team and for the nation. I certainly wish him, Therese and their family—Jessica, Nick and Marcus—the best and happiest Christmas. They certainly deserve some time together and a break together.

I would also like to pay a very sincere tribute to my close colleague the Treasurer, Wayne Swan. He has obviously had an amazing 12 months, having the economic stewardship of the nation during a global financial crisis and global recession. It is a huge weight for anyone to bear. Wayne has not only borne that weight well but worked hard to see this nation through a very difficult period. Whilst, as Wayne would say, we are not out of the woods yet, the work he continues to do is greatly valued by the government. I believe it is greatly valued by the Australian people.

I would also like to pay tribute to a few other of my ministerial colleagues. Lindsay Tanner, too, has borne a great deal of the weight during this period and continues to do a remarkable job. I certainly wish him a happy Christmas and hope he gets a break with his family.

I would like to make particular mention of Anthony Albanese, leading the parliamentary team in here. The shadow minister for education and Manager of Opposition Business has gone through some of the rituals of opposition about meetings of tactics, committees and the like. We too obviously have our own rituals in government, and I have worked with Anthony Albanese—Albo—now through all of that when we were in opposition and we continue to work on it together in government. I have known Anthony Albanese since I was 19 or 20. It is a considerable length of time and he continues to be a great friend. It is a great pleasure to be able to work with him.

I would also like to make special mention of Jenny Macklin. Some aspects of our portfolios are very centrally locked together. We work together very solidly on the government’s social policy agenda and social inclusion agenda. She is a great thinker—one of the greatest thinkers in this country on social policy questions—and a great leader of a national reform agenda.

To each of my ministerial and caucus colleagues, I would say it is time for a break. They have all worked very hard in their constituencies as part of a united government team. We only get to do the things that we do because each and every day they are doing all of that work, and I thank them very sincerely for that.

I would like to thank some of the staff who work alongside me delivering the government’s agenda. I particularly would like to make mention of some staff who have left my office this year. First and foremost is my former Chief of Staff, Ben Hubbard. I have known Ben Hubbard for a very long time. We worked together way back when when I was Chief of Staff of John Brumby’s team in opposition in Victoria and Ben was on that staff. He came to work with me as Chief of Staff when I became Deputy Leader of the Opposition. He worked with me through the campaign into the set-up in government and into this year. He was absolutely pivotal to our success during that period. He has gone on to do what I think all Australians would acknowledge as probably one of the best but toughest jobs this nation has to offer in the modern age and that is as the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority. It is a huge job and a great opportunity for Ben and a great opportunity to work alongside those devastated communities and to make a difference for them. My best wishes are with him in that new job and as he proceeds to Christmas.

I would also like to acknowledge Erin Dale. Erin worked with me for a considerable period of time, starting in my electorate office and then moving on to my portfolio staff. She has gone onto bigger and better things. She has moved from being an adviser in my office to being Maxine McKew’s Chief of Staff, so she is not lost to federal Labor. It is a great opportunity for her and a big promotion. I wish her well for Christmas. I would like to make mention too of Barbara Wise, who worked with me as our early childhood adviser. Barbara is from New South Wales and she has returned to the New South Wales Public Service. She did a great job but wanted a more Sydney based existence. Some in Canberra would be able to understand that, although some in Canberra possibly would not understand why someone would select Sydney over Canberra—I will leave that where it is. She did a great job and my best wishes are with her.

As for the staff that work with me now, I would like to acknowledge their very hard work and long hours of efforts for the government and for me personally. I would particularly like to acknowledge my Chief of Staff, Amanda Lampe. She was my Deputy Chief of Staff and moved into the job when Ben left. She has done a tremendous job during this year. When Ben left I obviously thought he was irreplaceable. Amanda is a different sort of chief of staff than Ben, but she is doing an absolutely tremendous job. She is very ably assisted by Tom Bentley. Tom Bentley, of course, is a UK migrant to this country. He fell in love with an Australian girl and came to live here. He had worked with the Blair governments and with social policy think tanks in the United Kingdom. He continues to be a pivotal part of the driving of this government’s reform agenda.

To my policy advising staff, I would like to say a big thankyou to Jim Round and John Spierings, who developed and delivered the biggest round of reforms for universities since the Dawkins reforms of the 1980s and are continuing to deliver a profound reform agenda in vocational education and training, which will make a real future as to both the economic prosperity and the equity of this country.

As for the team working on schools—to Gerry Kitchener, Rondah Rietveld, Natalie Cooper—when you are delivering an education revolution, transparency, new measures for teacher quality, new measures for disadvantaged schools, the Building the Education Revolution, trade training centres, the digital education revolution, national curriculum—and the list goes on—it is a big policy advising task for a very limited group of people. They do a tremendous job.

For Andrea Lester and Craig Carmody, this was, of course, the year of the Fair Work Act, the year we got rid of Work Choices. That would not have happened without the work of Andrea Lester. That reform is very much her reform. She did so much work on it. My congratulations go to her. My congratulations go to Craig Carmody for working not only alongside Andrea but separately—we are almost delivering; I am hoping that we are going to get there—on the uniform system for occupational health and safety. Craig has played a tremendous role in cracking what has been a policy chestnut for this country for decades and decades and decades.

As for the media advisory staff who work with me—Kimberley Gardiner, Russell Mahony, Leanne Budd—dealing with the press gallery all day, every day isn’t everybody’s idea of fun, and with a range of work that we do we obviously deal with a wide range of people both in Canberra and beyond. They do what is hard work, starting early in the morning and finishing late at night, with remarkable good cheer each and every day. My thanks go to them.

My thanks also go to the administrative staff: to Rachael Purcell, also known as ‘Monkey’—it would be better if you did not ask, Mr Speaker—and to Janine Robb. I thank them for all of the work that they do. To the staff who work with us travelling with me, doing research, doing speech writing, my thanks go to them—to Alex Williamson; Emma Smith; Andrew Stark; and to Silvana Anthony, who worked with me in opposition and went on a period of maternity leave and is now back. They are great friends, great company and tremendous contributors in the office. I thank them for the work that they do and wish them well for the Christmas break.

I come to our DLOs, Sue, Sarah and Deb. We work hard, we work fast and we churn a lot of paper and the paper would never get back to where it is supposed to go—get to me or get back the other way—without their work. They are our interface with the department. They work tremendously hard and my thanks go to them. I would also like to acknowledge a couple of new starters in our office—very recent recruits: Claudia Perkins and Jack Whelan. I am looking forward to working with them over the course of next year.

I would also like to thank my electorate office staff. They are the public face for me in my very precious electorate of Lalor, a very special place in Melbourne’s west. You have a special sort of mayhem in your office when you employ sisters. That is what I did. I will ask people to think about that as a management conundrum. To Vicki and Michelle Fitzgerald, thank you very much for your work over a long period of time. Michelle has been with me since I was first elected. I want to thank them for everything that they do in the electorate office. I would also like to thank Carlos Baldovino, once again a very long-serving staff member. Carlos has been with me since the day I was first elected as well and continues to do a great job for me in the electorate office. To Helen, to the two Johns—just to cause some confusion in the office, John and John—and to Amy, I would thank them for everything that they do. They are a tremendous team.

Of course here in Parliament House and beyond there are a set of people that we could not lead our lives or do our work without. I would like to acknowledge them at this very special time of the year. As for the clerks, Ian and Bernard, I have had cause to trouble them in all sorts of occupations whilst I have been in this parliament. I think I used to give them the most trouble when I was Manager of Opposition Business. Hopefully they now think I give them less trouble. But from the days that I used to give them lot of trouble, I am well aware of the quality of work that they do and their unflappable demeanours. That is very prized by all of us who really do put a lot of stress and strain on the system. To Ian: the very best to you in retirement. You are, I know, moving to a different stage of your life. Whether you will miss us I think is an open question. We will miss you. We will obviously continue to work with Bernard in the years to come.

To the attendants, to the Serjeant-at-Arms, to Hansard, to all of the people who make this chamber function, thank you very much for the special care and concern you show to each of us each and every day. To the people who make this building work—to the cleaners, security staff, the people who work in dining, the people who organise the travel—thank you very much for all the things you do and do so cheerfully and so well.

I would like to make a special mention of Aussies. I am probably the single biggest contributor to its ongoing profitability. I am almost a co-owner in the business, given the number of coffees I have bought over the years. It is a special place. Parliament House is a grand building, sometimes criticised for being a building where there are not enough meeting places for people, but Aussies is probably the best of the meeting places that we do have, so it plays a special role in all of our lives.

I acknowledge the work of Comcar drivers, particularly the driver who works most with me in Melbourne, Dianne Stanford, known now as ‘Disie’—she has been renamed! Disie also travels frequently with the member for Corio, who is at the table. She lives in our part of the world and she does a tremendous job.

I would also like to thank the Australian Federal Police officers who work with me from time to time, most particularly Chris Robey, who very frequently leads the team. They obviously are very special people to do the work that they do. The fact that they do it so well, so diligently and with so little intrusion is really a tribute to their professionalism.

I would like to acknowledge the work of my department. It is a sizeable enterprise. We took a majority of the former Department of Education, Science and Training and considerable portions of the former FaCSIA department, as early childhood moved across, and all of the old DEWR has been amalgamated into the new Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. It has been a big department to integrate and manage, and that work has been done amazingly well by Lisa Paul, my departmental secretary. I would like to pay a very special tribute to her, to her skills and to her fortitude. The team that she leads is a tremendous team, and the delivery of the government’s reform agendas would not have been possible without the professionalism, independence and capacity of our departmental secretary and the team that she leads. I thank them very much for that.

I would also like to thank some people external to this building. I would like to thank our national secretary, Karl Bitar. Political parties are funny things. Alby and I were just sharing a joke about what odd beasts political parties can be. That means that being the national secretary of one is not an easy job, and Karl Bitar does that with a great deal of pride in his work and support to the government and the team.

I would also personally like to thank our Chief Government Whip, Roger Price, who works alongside Karl and with our caucus members in this place. Roger is one of those people who integrate the work that we need to do here in parliament with the work that we need to do as a political party and as a team. I certainly thank Roger for all of his efforts. Of course, I refer to him as ‘Rogie’, but he is not going to thank me for getting that on Hansard!

I would like to particularly thank my partner, Tim, and my family: my mother and father, Moira and John; my sister, Alison; and my niece and nephew, Jenna and Tom. They do bear some of the pressures of this life. They bear them in a derivative sense. The shadow minister for education was right to say, ‘We chose it; they didn’t.’ This is the right time of year to acknowledge that they bear those special pressures because of the choices we made.

I would also particularly like to acknowledge my two mad girlfriend mates Robyn McLeod and Julie Ligeti and thank them for all their fun and friendship during the year. You need people like that in your life, and Robyn and Julie are certainly like that in mine.

In conclusion, Mr Speaker, I would like to wish you and the Jenkins family the compliments of the Christmas season. I have had some insights into the sorts of festivities that the Jenkins family has. I know that they can be big, boisterous and—I might just conclude it with ‘big’ and ‘boisterous’ and not use any other adjectives! I know that you will enjoy the Christmas season with your family.

I conclude by wishing the members of the opposition well. As for Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop, I am sure it has not been the year they might have hoped for in January, but that is politics. It goes up, it goes down, it has its turns and its tumbles. In some way, that is the seduction and the fascination of it. I wish them well for Christmas. I hope each of them gets a much deserved break over the Christmas season and gets some time to spend with family and friends. As for my other counterparts on the opposition benches—I keep a stable of them; I do not like to content myself with one counterpart!—Christopher Pyne, Andrew Southcott, Michael Keenan and Sophie Mirabella, I am glad that we are keeping them all in jobs. We will continue, I hope, to lead a merry dance for them to try and follow as we work on our reforms next year. I certainly do wish each of them well as we move towards the Christmas break.

This is a fantastic life, a life of great privilege, where you get to serve the Australian people, where you get to meet so many of the Australian people and where you have the opportunity to change the nation for the better. Each and every day, in that sense, is a delight. Obviously each and every day brings its pressures, and the amount of work we do under the kind of scrutiny we do it is a special kind of pressure, not necessarily much understood by people outside the political arena. In some senses, despite the party divide, that gives us a better understanding of each other than many people on the outside have of us. At this time of year, as we move from the political combat to a happier and gentler pace, it is important to acknowledge the shared bonds in this place. I would like to end by wishing each member of the House of Representatives and, yes, even each member of the Senate a happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

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

As we approach the Christmas season, we should rejoice in the fact that Australia is one of the world’s most open and free societies. We are a true democracy that reflects freedom—freedom of speech and expression, freedom of political association and freedom of worship as well as freedom from want and freedom from fear. Our citizens are free to choose where they live within our shores and are free to travel throughout the world. Like other open liberal democracies of the world, our society and lifestyle are a beacon of hope to all those who are oppressed or persecuted.

This parliament is at the epicentre of our democracy. It is the battleground of ideas, not of weapons. While we have disagreements on policy, both sides of the House are fundamentally committed to making a difference for the betterment of the lives and communities of all in Australia and in other places around the world. The coalition members believe that the ideas and policies they bring to this place not only are good ideas and good policies but are right and just for Australia. The government members believe that their ideas and policies are right and just, and we can agree to disagree. But we must respect each other’s views. We must not seek to prevent each side from arguing passionately for their ideas and their policies. We should not personally denigrate, ridicule or vilify those whose views differ from our own. This is part of the strength of our great parliament, the strength of our system of representative parliamentary government. The diversity of views, the passion with which ideas are debated must be done with civility and respect, with good humour and with humility.

I had my ideas of robust parliamentary debate rather expanded after a recent visit to our friends in South Korea. I was discussing our democratic traditions, and one of the members of the South Korean National Assembly told me that, as many of the male members of parliament have a background in martial arts through their mandatory national service, when things get a little heated in the assembly they resort to rather robust tactics to make their point, including taking the Speaker hostage by surrounding the Speaker’s chair and then neatly landing a few tae kwon do kicks on the backs of their opponents. In fact, I was sent a YouTube link to their latest fracas last July. I must admit that I was in awe of the female members of the national assembly who joined in the fray. I suggest that the YouTube link is worth looking at. Although, Mr Speaker, I am not suggesting any change to the standing orders in this place, when the Leader of the House asked the Manager of Opposition Business to step outside recently the image was almost too good to resist.

Our democratic process is a source of strength and stability. We respect election outcomes however painful. Australians do not seek to overthrow their governments but reserve their passion for the ballot box where they are free to vote as they please. Sadly, this is not the case internationally where we still see political differences settled by violence and by the intervention of military forces. While I would not be so presumptuous as to assume that our system of government is so perfect or so ideal that it should be adopted by every other government around the world, I do believe that most people have the same aspirations for freedom and for choice. People the world over aspire to personal freedom and to go about their lives free from the threat of violence. They want a peaceful environment in which to raise their families and to build a more prosperous life.

During the past year we have seen the struggle continue between the extremists, who seek to impose their vision and control on others, and those who are defending freedom. At this point I pay tribute to Australia’s armed forces who are serving or who have served particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Special Air Service is in my electorate and this year I was privileged to visit the troops who are serving in Afghanistan to demonstrate our support for their work overseas. The world was uplifted at the start of this year by the election of President Obama, who spoke of his aspirations for ridding the world of nuclear weapons and for promoting greater peace and cooperation. While some nations have continued their pursuit of nuclear weapons and others have continued to jail and oppress political opponents, democracies of the world have continued to work for greater stability and prosperity for all the people around the world.

I take this opportunity to place on record my thanks to the many people who have supported this place throughout the past 12 months. I want to thank my colleagues in the Liberal Party. I am honoured to have been elected their deputy two years ago and I take my role as deputy leader very seriously.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are pleased to have you.

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

It is not always the case that the leader and deputy have a close working relationship, and the relationship between the occupants of the two leadership positions has in the past been a source of tension and instability. I see my role very much as one of providing support to my leader and to my colleagues, to be a conduit and to be a stabilising influence, and I have sought to do that with both leaders of the Liberal Party whom I have served as deputy. I thank my leader, Malcolm Turnbull, a person of immense ability, a person of substance, who has already achieved a great deal in his pre-parliamentary life and who will, with his intellect and drive, achieve much more. Hopefully at the next election he will achieve the ultimate prize, which is to be the Prime Minister of this country.

I pay tribute to the work of the Senate leadership team: Nick Minchin, for whom I have a great deal of respect; and my counterpart deputy, Eric Abetz, whose dry humour makes our leadership meetings a joy to attend. The Manager of Opposition Business, Christopher Pyne, is a wonderful personality and dedicated to whatever task he undertakes, always with great vigour, great wit and ability. The Leader of the National Party, Warren Truss, is a person with whom I have a strong working relationship and for whom I have a great deal of affection. I thank the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, Barnaby Joyce, for the great working relationship that we have. I enjoy his company and he is a passionate advocate for the National Party. My colleagues in the Liberal Party and in the National Party are a great source of support to me. I enjoy their company, I respect their views, I admire the great effort that they put in—

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Even the introverts like me?

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

Particularly the introverts like the member for Hume. I admire the effort that they put in on behalf of their constituents. I know their families support the work that they do and it is not always easy with many days and weeks away from home. But they are dedicated to the cause of the Liberal and National parties. They believe in what they are doing and they believe that they offer an alternative that the Australian people want and need, perhaps more than ever before.

I acknowledge the work of the whips in the House—Alex Somlyay, Nola Marino and Michael Johnson. I also want to put on record my thanks to the federal secretariat, Brian Loughnane and his team, and also the state Liberal Party and the team at Menzies House.

While I am talking about Western Australia, I want to pay particular tribute to my colleagues in Western Australia—the Western Australian members and senators who make that trip each week across the Nullarbor and back. The bond that has formed between us is strong. It is not quite true that we hunt as a pack, but we are great friends and colleagues and there is something about that three-hour time difference that bonds us together. The 4 am phone calls from our friends in the Canberra press gallery can sometimes be a little trying; nevertheless, we are prepared to pay that price for living in the greatest state in Australia.

I thank the Liberal supporters who have stuck with us through some very difficult times. I ask that they keep the faith and continue to support our party. In particular, I thank the people of Curtin, my electorate, who have continued to be a great source of support and inspiration to me. I appreciate the input and I encourage them to continue to send me letters, emails, phone calls, tweets—whatever. I need to hear from them and I want to hear from them.

I acknowledge the work of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Leader of the House for their service to this House and to this country, as well as the government ministers and the members of the government. I acknowledge the work that they do for their constituents and the people who sent them to this place.

Mr Speaker, I congratulate you on your calm and measured demeanour. You have somewhat of a cult following among the afternoon question time devotees, and I have had a number of emails about your considered judgments.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And how unnaturally handsome he is!

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

Order!

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

Would you like me to take that intervention at that point?

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

No, I think we will let that ride.

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

I pay tribute to our clerks. Ian Harris has had an outstanding career in public service to this country—37 years. The Prime Minister, in his own special way, would hardly be able to describe that as non-extraordinary service. It has been an outstanding effort, Ian, and we wish you all the very best. I do not know how this place could have functioned without you, but function it will. And I congratulate Bernard for taking on the extremely significant role of Clerk of this House. We look forward to working with him.

I acknowledge the Hansard reporters, the Parliamentary Library staff, security, the cleaners, the gardeners—everybody who works here makes this place function for the benefit of all Australians. I acknowledge the work of the Comcar drivers, who so cheerfully get us from A to B and everywhere in between. I acknowledge the staff who manage the bookings, the staff at HRG and all of the people at Aussies and in catering—all those who help make this great parliament function.

I thank my staff: my PA, Kirsten Ridge, and the girls in my electorate office, Suzanne Chambers, Rachael Gunderson, Georgina Adcock and Judy McEvoy; in Canberra, my Chief of Staff, Murray Hansen, whose loyalty to our cause is unquestioned, and I thank him and his family for the many hours he puts in working for me and for our party; my advisers, Justin States and Rochelle Hill, and the volunteers and interns who have spent time working in my office, Ursula, Dane, Paul, Rachael, Shiva, Chris, Liliana, David and Grace.

I also want to mention two of our colleagues who retired this year. Brendan Nelson, who was the Leader of the Opposition, was a great servant of the Australian people. He was legendary for his energy, his enthusiasm, his—

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sincerity.

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

His sincerity, and his ability to support colleagues at any time in any place. I remember him flying across the nation to help colleagues in need. I also want to pay tribute to Peter Costello, one of the greatest parliamentary performers of our generation. I still cry with laughter at the thought of some of his parliamentary performances. Do you remember the rooster puppet performance when he mercilessly taunted the now Treasurer but with great theatrics and humour? I wish both Brendan and Peter all the very best in their post-parliamentary careers.

I also wish our two candidates for the Bradfield and Higgins by-elections all the very best—Paul Fletcher and Kelly O’Dwyer. Should the people of Bradfield and Higgins choose them to be their elected representatives in this place, I know they will make a magnificent contribution.

This great Parliament House is all about the people who work in it. I acknowledge each and every one. I acknowledge their dedication, I acknowledge their service, I wish each person here and their families a safe and happy Christmas. Let us hope that our parliament will continue to strive to provide good public policy and outcomes for the benefit of all Australians throughout 2010. I wish all Australians a happy, safe and prosperous New Year.