Page 4169 - Week 12 - Thursday, 1 December 2022
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community until October of this year. Construction will commence next year, and I am very excited to see this park developed.
I would also like to thank my staff, and I am sorry, I ran out of time. (Time expired.)
Valedictory
MR PARTON (Brindabella) (4.15): Members, as far as 2022 goes, that is it; we are done for another year. I will be brief. I want to thank my wife, Luisa, and the two kelpies for putting up with my ridiculous hours. I would say the same for our 18-year-old, Anna, but she is never home anyway. So she would not know whether or not I was working. But I still think she puts up with me, along with Jasmine, Angela, Brydie, Harry, and even Jessie.
I am not going to stand here and try to convince you that I have done a good job over the year, because the people who matter to me know that I have. I am here to hold the government to account, and that is what I am going to do over this year and on electorate matters and on portfolio related matters. The ministers who have me as their shadow, wished that they did not—and that will do me.
I want to thank my staff for helping me to do my job to the best of my ability. Thanks to Rob Lovett, who was a foundation staff member back in 2016. He left the Assembly this year to tramp off into the wilderness. His legacy remains in the Parton office, and I continue to consult him on matters of importance. I can report that after a bit of a health scare Rob is back on his feet. He has just returned from a little jaunt to Queensland.
Big thanks also to Max Evans, who was in my office up until September before heading off again to the United States, where he is living up to his ANU reputation as a lovable rogue and a party animal. He will not mind me saying that.
To Elyse: I am so indebted to you, Elyse. You hold my office together in so many ways. Your dedication to helping people is remarkable and your attention to detail is what is required on so many occasions. So thanks for everything.
To Brooke: your arrival has sharpened every knife in my knife block. You have brought to the office a skillset honed over years of working as a senior adviser up on the hill. I am so pleased that you have joined us. I hope that we can continue working together in opposition up until 2024 and in government after that.
Thanks to Elizabeth Lee and the rest of the Liberal team. We know it is going to be an extraordinary year for you, Elizabeth, and Nathan, and Mia next year. We are pleased to be along for the ride.
Thanks to Jeremy, my partner in crime in the interjection stakes. We might take this show on the road at some stage, I think, Mr Hanson. I do not know why the ratings for sittings here do not—anyway. Thanks to Nicole, my Brindabella sister, for sticking up for fellow South-siders. It is a pleasure to sit next to the likeable larrikin, James Milligan, here in the chamber, and to share the opposition benches with someone as warm and energetic as Elizabeth Kikkert.
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