Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I only have two minutes in which to take the opportunity to make some remarks at this, the end of yet another productive, interesting year in the Senate—and, indeed, it is my first time in the privileged position of Leader of the Government in the Senate. I particularly want to thank you, Mr President, for your stewardship of that high office and for the way in which you have conducted yourself throughout this year. I thank you for your wise guidance of this chamber’s affairs.

I want to thank in particular the Senate Clerk and all the Senate staff. They work extraordinarily hard to make this place function as well and as smoothly as it does. The Clerk is a fascinating character in this parliament and one with whom, it must be said, the government occasionally comes into conflict. But I guess that is inevitable, because Harry is one of the great defenders of the institution of the Senate, and for that I respect him. It inevitably means that, on occasion, as a defender of the legislature, it brings him into conflict with the executive. They are robust exchanges, but on all occasions we respect him for the integrity of his position and his robust defence of and belief in the great institution which is the Senate. So we thank him, Rosemary and the others on the Senate staff, who work so hard to make this place function as well as it does.

In the short time remaining, in a spirit of conviviality and generosity, I want to thank all senators for their robust participation in the debates throughout the year. We have had some difficult issues to deal with—not only government legislation but also private members’ bills, which are always a fascinating and intriguing exercise. From the government’s point of view it has been productive, and we thank the other parties for their lively contributions to the debate. My time is up, so I want to wish everybody a very happy Christmas. 2007 is another election year, so we are all going to be working very hard next year. I hope you all have a very safe, peaceful and happy Christmas.

Honourable Senators:

Hear, hear!

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join with Senator Minchin in making a contribution and wishing people a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, particularly all the Senate staff et cetera who will, no doubt, like senators and members, enjoy the break. I think all the staff of the Senate are much happier when we are not here, and I understand that entirely. I have to be frank: I am much happier when I am not here as well, because I am at home with my family. We wish everyone the best over the Christmas period.

I would like to thank a few people. Firstly, of course I thank the Senate staff, the parliamentary staff, the Comcar people, Senate transport and all the people who make this place work. I express on behalf of Labor senators how much we appreciate what you do. I am the first to acknowledge that it is not what you say at Christmas but how you treat people during the year. I think they know who amongst us appreciates them, but it is important to remind them of that and thank them for their efforts. I also want to thank Labor senators for their support during the year. These have been difficult times for us, with a change in the balance of power in the Senate, and I have received great support from my deputy; from Senator Ludwig, the Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate; from Senator Campbell and from the other senators. I really appreciate that.

I want to also make special mention of Kim Beazley in these difficult times—I hope that he has a good Christmas period—and the staff. A lot of our staff from the leader’s and the deputy’s offices have lost their jobs in the last few days, and I know they are going through a difficult period. I hope that things improve and that they have a happy Christmas.

I also want to say that our thoughts are with people who will be doing it tough over Christmas—those in poor circumstances: fire fighters, the ADF personnel overseas and those who will not enjoy the break that we do. I indicate our best wishes for them and acknowledge that they are serving their country and missing out on the sort of Christmas that we all want to have.

Finally, I want to thank my staff for their efforts and note that Trish Crossin’s daughter Kate has been in the building the last few days. She has been a great reminder of why we ought to get out of here and go and enjoy our families. She is a character of the first order and she has certainly lit up the opposition corridors. As I say, it is a good reminder to keep some balance between work and family. I wish everyone the best for Christmas.

Honourable Senators:

Hear, hear!

Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to join the others in thanking the many people who assist us so well in doing our jobs in this place. Thank you, Mr President, for your very good management of the chamber and chamber business.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You will get the first question next year, I can tell you!

Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you! I thank the Clerk and the assistant clerks for their unfailing good advice. I thank the Table Office; the procedure office; Senate services; our committee secretariats, who work to impossible deadlines and have huge demands on them; the attendants around this place who are largely invisible but who are very patient with us and polite; and the broadcasters, who are often not noticed up at the back of the chamber—thank you for being here. I thank our security guards: we are pleased that it is not an exciting time for you to be handling security, but you are always very helpful and polite. Thank you to the staff who dish out the food in this place—staff at Aussies, staff in the staff cafeteria and the catering crew upstairs. I thank them for their work this year, as I do the people who keep this place beautifully clean. I thank the people in the back of the House—printers, photographers, people who dish out stationary and people from 2020 who help us with computers. Thank you to all the Comcar drivers who do their jobs so well. I thank the gardeners, who make this the most glorious work environment imaginable—I look out onto those courtyards and the beautiful work they do in keeping our gardens looking wonderful.

To the library—that research institute for whom nothing is too much trouble—I thank you for your work. I acknowledge the very long hours and the enormous pressure that we put our own staff under, and I thank you for your support and for being away from home, like us, but with perhaps not the same rewards. To my colleagues, I say that it has been a good year. Despite the fact that the government has the numbers in this place—not quite what we have been used to in the past—we have had some good runs on the board. I appreciate my colleagues’ teamwork and their support.

Finally, to other senators in this place, I say that it has been a good collegiate year, I think. We have got on well, despite our very big differences politically and in legislative terms. I have enjoyed the camaraderie and the professional way in which people in this place conduct their affairs.

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Family First would like to join with the other party leaders in expressing appreciation to all the Senate staff, library staff, and Comcar drivers for looking after us this year. I have found the staff all over this place to be absolutely friendly. It is nice to strike the friendly faces of those who are very supportive of all the work that happens around here.

I really appreciate the friendly faces at the staff cafe, in particular Linda and Sue, and those at Aussies. I appreciate the clerks. Harry Evans does a tremendous job. He is always interested to listen and will always give his thoughts on a matter. In particular I want to thank Cleaver Elliott—the amount of times I have phoned Cleaver, and the staff around there have just been amazing!

Ours is a small party at the federal level and I must admit I appreciate all the staff; we lean on them very heavily. I am sure that sometimes they get sick of our regular phone calls but I really appreciate them and the good humour that they show from time to time. Family First wishes all senators and all staff a very merry Christmas and a very safe 2007.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Australian Greens I would like to add a word of cheer to everybody in this place and thank the people who work in this chamber, including those behind the glass up the back there who ensure the broadcasts go out to the people of Australia and beyond; the people who work up in the galleries, who help bring the Australian public into this place which is theirs and help them to understand what is going on; those who record all that we say, including things we should not say, and to the media and the journalists who translate what we say, opine on what we say and get it out to Australia. The fourth estate is so important to democracy.

I want to give a special word of thanks, of course, to our clerks, who guide what we do in here and who give good advice, and to the librarians, who are so assiduous in keeping us well informed and giving us the information that we need. I want to thank those who look after the whole building and those who drive us to and from it—the Comcar people, in this city and elsewhere around Australia.

In particular, I want to say season’s greetings and a happy new year to all Australians. I know, from working in this city many years ago that at Christmas time cheer does not come easily for people who have a mental illness and people who are lonely or by themselves. I have a special thought for them from the Greens at this time and, indeed, for people right around the world who have drawn the short straw on this planet. Our job is to keep them in the foremost of our minds while we enjoy this lucky, happy life that we live here in Australia and in this place.

So happy New Year and season’s greetings. I join Senator Fielding in also wishing everybody safety and security. There is nothing more important than that for us, our loved ones, the people we work with and everybody. Let us hope that this is a record safe year for this great and beautiful country of ours.

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity at the end of the 2006 sittings to thank all honourable senators for their contribution to the smooth running, most of the time, of the chamber this year. I single out the Deputy President and Chairman of Committees, Senator John Hogg. John has been an absolutely loyal and steadfast deputy. He has stepped in whenever needed. He has also been a great Chairman of Committees. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the temporary chairmen of committees, who on a daily basis run this chamber. It is always a pleasure to acknowledge the temporary chairmen of committees who take the chair and do such a great job.

I would like to thank the Clerk of the Senate, Harry Evans; the Deputy Clerk and the other clerks at the table for their support to us all during the year. Their advice is always professional and timely, and I think it is a hallmark of the Australian Senate. I particularly thank the Usher of the Black Rod, for the support to my office during the year. I thank the chamber support staff, and in particular the attendants for their assistance during the year.

Everything in the Senate relies on the efficient distribution of paperwork and we would grind to a halt if that did not happen. The different sections of the Senate—the Black Rod’s area, the Committee Office, the Table Office, the Procedure Office—all merit great praise for their quiet and diligent support through 2006. The Senate in operation is a little bit like a duck paddling across the water. It often looks tranquil on the top but everything is going on underneath. When you move around this place you see that it is those people underneath who make this place work.

I thank the Department of Parliamentary Services, led by Hilary Penfold, for their work during the year to maintain this building, particularly the landscape staff, who had a particularly difficult year given the circumstances we have had to deal with with the drought and trying to preserve water and keeping this place looking like it was meant to.

The Parliamentary Library has continued to do excellent work under the new Parliamentary Librarian, Roxanne Missingham, and the new governance arrangements that have come into place with a strengthened Joint Library Committee and service agreement that I think have bedded down quite well. Thanks go to all the library staff for their continued and dedicated work.

I would like to also thank the staff of the two joint offices, the Parliamentary Relations Office and the Parliamentary Education Office, for their work during a very busy year—both for official overseas visitors to our parliament, whom we had many of this year, and for the volume of members of the general public, particularly those schoolchildren who flock here to learn about Australian democracy. The Parliamentary Education Office does a wonderful job.

I would like to also thank the guide service, who bring people through this place. They are a very vital part of Parliament House. I would like to record my particular thanks to Maggie Nightingale, who is retiring next week as Assistant Director, Visitor Services. I can say she will be sorely missed because she has been a great director in that area. She has been the leader of a great team. They do a wonderful job in showing the people of Australia how wonderful this parliament is.

I thank my colleague the Speaker in the other place for his cooperation during the year. Much of the work the Presiding Officers do in both chambers is done together. I appreciate the relationship I have with the Speaker. We have to make some decisions that you probably do not like, and some you do like, but we work well together.

I would like to thank the staff of my private office including those in Hobart, who support me in such a cheerful way, particularly when I am up here.

My wife, Jill and all senators and other people who work in Parliament House and in electorate offices right around Australia would like to wish you all our very best wishes for a very happy Christmas and a great 2007. We strongly urge those who are travelling over Christmas, as Senator Brown said earlier, to take particular care on our roads; as we all know, this is a very dangerous time of the year. I thank the Senate.

Honourable Senators:

Hear, hear!