Page 3994 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 December 2021
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I would also like to thank Elizabeth Lee and all of my colleagues in the Canberra Liberals, and the volunteers. We are a great team. I appreciate the patience, support and advice; it has been overwhelming this year—so helpful, and I am really grateful to everybody.
Obviously, I want to shout out to everybody in Yerrabi. COVID has meant that we could not be out and about as I would have hoped. We did not see much of each other, but I am hoping that 2022 will be very different. I look forward to getting out and chatting with as many people as I can.
Finally, I thank Felicity, Liam, Shannon and my mum. Without you guys cheering me on, organising me, advising me and looking after the office, I honestly do not know where I would be. To finish on an extremely cheesy note—Mr Assistant Speaker, I am sure you will appreciate this one—these guys are the wind beneath my wings. Honestly, I am so thrilled. I think Team Castley have had a great year. I wish everybody in this place, on all sides of the chamber, a very merry Christmas. I hope you get the chance to spend time with your families and enjoy the break.
Valedictory
MR PARTON (Brindabella) (4.39): I will be brief. I want to start by mentioning Madam Speaker. I know Madam Speaker is not here, but I also know that she hears about everything that I say at some stage, so it will get back to her. I was assuming that she would be sitting in the chair, and I wanted to start by saying to Madam Speaker: thanks for putting up with me as Deputy Speaker. I know that Madam Speaker and I have had some interesting times in the last 12 months, and I genuinely thank her for her patience.
From the perspective of my office, most of our victories were on a micro level. Certainly, for those constituents involved, those wins were massive for them. They were massive for those individuals. We are so pleased that we can have an impact on the outcome of things that genuinely affect people every day.
On a broader front, we were most pleased finally to inspire the government to inject some much-needed cash into the maintenance program for public housing dwellings. There is always so much going on in housing. It was an absolute delight of mine to take on the transport portfolio this year—perhaps not so much of a delight for Mr Steel, but I am really pleased to be playing in that space. It pleases me greatly that he wishes that I was not.
The committees are a blast. Mr Assistant Speaker, can you think of anything more appealing than sitting for an hour and a half with Ms Clay and Ms Orr every week to discuss planning issues? Quite frankly, I cannot. The planning committee is just a blast.
Many thanks to my amazing staff—the legendary Rob Lovett, the amazing Elyse Heslehurst and the young gun, Max Evans. You guys go to enormous lengths to make me look good, and I still end up looking pretty shabby, but it would be much worse if
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