Page193 - Week 01 - Thursday, 3 December 2020
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human being alive, who distinguished himself by sticking up for Fiona Carrick when someone was verbally abusing her. Good on you, Daniel. The master of so many things, Liam Develin, has been my absolute rock and honest adviser for many years now. I thank him for doing three people’s work. I thank the most able and capable Elli, who is always patient with me and is amazing in taking on new tasks and adventures.
I thank all the part-timers who work out in the community. By the end of the campaign, we were all spent—no more than Alistair himself. Alistair was much maligned by our political adversaries, but a more dedicated, hardworking and kind leader you could not ask for. He is a great advocate, especially for those who many would prefer not to think about—the marginalised, those on lower incomes and those living with disabilities in our great city. As Leanne said yesterday, those people often do not enjoy the benefits of Canberra as much as others do.
Politics is a cruel business and sometimes it really seems so unfair. We will miss our colleagues who did not return. I acknowledge those on the other side, and I will miss those who are no longer here—Candice, James and Andrew especially. I will also miss Bec and, when the chamber gets cold, I will miss chatting to her about the need for knee blankets and so much more. It is good to be opposite Yvette and that she has made it back here. I thank her for her kindness.
Welcome to the new members, especially our new members Leanne and Peter; their energy is refreshing. I thank Elizabeth for her kind, generous, dedicated professional leadership. I wish everyone here a happy Christmas and a blessed festive season. May we all come back in a much better mood next year to serve our communities, our voters and those who rely on us to put the case for them every single day.
Valedictory
MR PETTERSSON (Yerrabi) (4.19): What a year; what a god-darn year! I am very thankful that the year is nearly over. I am not sure that all of you can tell, from your distance to where I am standing, that I have bags under my eyes and I have put on a few kilos. It has been a long year, and I am counting down the days until it is nearly over. We have seen bushfires, we have seen smoke, we have seen hail, we have seen a global pandemic and we have seen a national recession. Thankfully, it is the home stretch. I am not sure that we can fit in too many more surprises now. There are only so many days left, so if the UFOs could hold off for a few more days, I would appreciate it!
I have a few thankyous that I want to make to the many people that make this place work. To the entire OLA, I say thank you—to Hansard, the attendants, the tech support, the chamber support, the committee secretariat, the wider ACT public service and, in particular, the cleaners. It is a bit cliched to say it, but you are all essential. You are essential to our democracy, and how appreciated you are is not said often enough. Thank you.
Hopefully, all of us have some recreation planned for the coming weeks—a bit of a rest after a very tiring year. I know that many of us have plans to spend time with
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