Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This year, 2021, has been a massive year, the second year of this pandemic, and I want to put a big shout-out to all the Territorians out there who've done an awesome job fighting COVID and keeping their families and our whole community safe. We had a couple of short lockdowns. We had a lockout. But they were just short ones, and everyone did the right thing. Thank you, everyone, for doing that. It's why we're still one of the safest places in Australia, so thank you.

I want to thank my family in particular. It's been a long year, with some big absences when I got stuck down here in a lockdown and then had two weeks at Howard Springs quarantine facility on the way home. I want to thank my staff as well for putting up with me. Howard Springs is a great facility, but this time I'm looking forward to just seven days quarantining at home when I get back to Darwin.

I want to thank the member for Lingiari, my friend and colleague, for his 30 years of service to the Territory and to this parliament, and my other Labor colleague Malarndirri McCarthy for her sterling work fighting for Territorians in this place, because that's what we are here to do—and listening to valedictory speeches is a good reminder of that.

I'll keep fighting for the north, for Darwin and Palmerston in the Territory, every minute that I'm here. I can't wait to get home. I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas.