James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, it was my pleasure to attend the celebration of the 10th anniversary in parliament of my very good friend, state colleague and fellow member in the north-eastern suburbs Vincent Tarzia. He was elected at the 2014 state election. I first met him, in fact, in the 2010 state election where he was on the campaign for the seat of Norwood, supporting Steven Marshall's election to the parliament, which I was the campaign manager for. Vincent was preselected and then, of course, successfully elected in the 2014 election, winning the seat of Hartley off of the Labor party. It was a very significant accomplishment of his, but it was just the beginning of many significant accomplishments for Vincent.

First of all, he celebrates 10 years in parliament while he's still in his 30s, which is quite a significant accomplishment. Ten years alone is significant. I don't know if I will be lucky enough to make it to 10 years in this place. But to be in your 30s and be celebrating your 10th year in parliament is very significant. To have won a seat off your opposition party and held it for three elections, to have served as the Speaker of the parliament and to have served as a cabinet minister are all very significant accomplishments. As I say, Vincent has achieved all of these things in just his first 10 years in parliament and he's still in his 30s.

I congratulate Vincent because, first and foremost, despite what he's achieved in higher offices, he is a phenomenal community representative. He is someone that takes up any issue that his constituents raise with him and follows it through to the very end. As the fellow member for the area that he represents, I'm overwhelmed by the number of personal stories that people have about their interactions with Vincent and what he's done to help and support them with the problems they've brought to him and the solutions that he's developed for them. He's achieved so much for local investment in the community across sporting clubs, community groups, intersection upgrades and school upgrades. Anything that's important to the people of Hartley is important to Vincent Tarzia, and he represents them to the very highest standards.

My best wishes to him on his first 10 years in parliament, and I suspect he'll have at least another 10 years ahead of him because he's got such deep connections to the community and such loyalty from his constituents because of his loyalty to them. They know that he stands up for them, fights for them and represents them at every moment that he has. If anything, at times he works too hard. He has a young family, and my best wishes go to his wife and his young son, Leo, as well. Congratulations on that milestone, Vincent. It is thoroughly deserved, and it's an honour to represent with you, in parliament, the north-eastern suburbs.