Page 1561 - Week 05 - Thursday, 2 June 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I did find that we have more in common than people know. We do have chickens. We have shared ways to keep them alive. I know that, Bernard, those are your particular passion as well—and old cars as well. Perhaps, Bernard, you will get a chance to properly refurbish that old VW, with Mrs Jones not spending as much time in this place.
I know that your commitment is to your family, first and foremost. I hope that after today and this week passes, we will catch up for a coffee and that we will be able to stand over the kitchen counter together and cook up a feed for our families, and maybe catch up together again.
Thank you for your friendship and for everything in this place. I have learned so much from you about your part of the world. I hope that sharing my life and my part of the world with you will be taken with you wherever you go in the future and whatever you decide to do. Thank you again for your friendship, Giulia. You will be well missed.
MR MILLIGAN (Yerrabi) (11.07), by leave: I want to take this opportunity, obviously, to acknowledge the outstanding work that Mrs Jones has done in this Assembly. I first met Mrs Jones back in 2007, when I first joined the Liberal Party. I think that at that time she was president of the Gungahlin interest branch, and she certainly made that experience and that first opportunity for me really welcoming. She was very compassionate and still is compassionate. She loved that branch, she loved her members, and she made everyone feel really welcome.
As a result of that, I wanted to get behind her to show support, to help her out in her endeavours to become an MLA, and in 2008 she put her hand up to run for the seat of Molonglo. That was the very first time that I was introduced to what I think they call a “media stunt”. We ended up dragging an office desk across the paddock in the middle of Gungahlin. We set it up in the middle of the paddock there—the desk and a computer. Mrs Jones was campaigning on the desk about a desperate need for local employment in the Gungahlin region. This is the extent to which Mrs Jones was going to go to get some media and to bring the issue to attention. And it was quite successful. I think she actually did get some media out of it, and it was good to be a part of.
Eventually, Mrs Jones was elected in 2012. We both ran in the seat of Molonglo, and she was elected in 2012. But before that, in 2010, we both ran in the federal election, in Canberra and Fenner. That was certainly a tough task flying the Liberal flag, but she represented those traditional core Liberal values and brings them to this place. She does not forget that, and she has represented them in the electorate as well. She does not forget about the people who support her and who voted for her, ensuring that those core Liberal values are represented in this place.
There is a lot that Mrs Jones has done in this Assembly, just recently in the shadow health portfolio. During the pandemic she worked tirelessly—of course working with Ms Stephen-Smith—in that area to try and get better outcomes for the community and to highlight the issues that she had with restrictions and everything. I know that she has done tremendous work, so I congratulate her on that. I am sure the community
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video