Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a day where it has been fantastic to be a senator here in Australia, I just want to end the year on a happy note. It has been a happy note all day. I want to put out a special 'merry Christmas' to all of the people who work behind the scenes, which most Australians don't see. To our retail and hospitality workers: merry, merry Christmas, and have a safe one. Merry Christmas to our first responders, the ambos, the police, the nurses, the emergency departments and the firies. Let's not forget them and the volunteer firefighters as we head into what will probably be one of the worst years that we'll face—hopefully, I'm wrong—based on record. We should never forget their work while we're all celebrating Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of our public transport workers. Let's not forget the train drivers, the buses, the ferries, the rideshare, the food delivery and our taxi drivers, who do a magnificent job. We truly do owe them.

Of course, a huge, huge thank you—and you would expect this coming from me—goes out to the road transport industry as well. Thank you to our trucking families and our transport families, from the managers to the admin staff, the sales staff, the drivers, the forkies, the receiving staff, the loaders, the fridge workers and also our mechanics, tyre fitters, spray painters and auto-electricians. All these men and women work tirelessly behind the scenes to deliver at every opportunity so that we can have a very happy, merry, merry Christmas. On saying that, your efforts, although you were loved more by some during the pandemic, have never been far from my family and my family's heart, so we wish you a very safe and merry Christmas. To all the staff in this building: I extend to you wishes for a very happy and safe Christmas. Thank you for all the things you do for us. Let's drive so others survive.