Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of government senators, I would like to acknowledge Senator Birmingham's contribution tonight on Senator Mary Jo Fisher. Mary Jo and I go back a long, long way and I too will miss her very much from this place. While of course we had numerous arguments about policy and politics, she was a fine senator and a fine representative of her state of South Australia.

I think Senator Birmingham has covered pretty much everything we know and came to admire and love about Mary Jo. He neglected to mention the Sunday night flights up from Adelaide where Mary Jo never failed to entertain the whole plane. We will miss her from that as well.

On behalf of government senators, we wish her well and a speedy recovery from her illness. We acknowledge the contribution that John makes to her life. He is also a good friend of some of us, and it is always nice to see them out and about in Adelaide as a couple at functions and events. I hope we see them again soon.

Senate adjourned at 02:52 (Friday) until Tuesday, 14 August 2012 at 12:30.