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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 1 Hansard (28 April) . . Page.. 31 ..

MR RUGENDYKE (continuing):

Another consideration is the role that Canberra has to play with adjoining areas. The ACT and the 17 shires which make up the south-east region have enormous prospects if we work together. The region must be considered as a whole. By pooling our resources and cooperating I see vibrant potential benefits in tourism, industry and employment.

In conclusion, I wish to thank my family for being so supportive of my new role. May I also mention the fact that we have relatives from overseas in the gallery. I welcome Raymond, Jacqueline, Lauren and John, who have come all the way from Scotland to share this moment with us.

MR QUINLAN (11.17): Mr Speaker, as with others before me today, it is an honour to rise. It is a particular honour to rise as a member of the Australian Labor Party, a party which has well over 100 years of rich history, tradition and contribution to this nation. No-one makes it to this place without the solid backing of many others, and I would like to put on public record my great appreciation for the efforts and assistance of the many people who gave me their particular support. I wish to thank my family who, at times, showed much greater confidence than I did; my direct campaign supporters, particularly Jeff House; all the party members who distributed material, stuffed envelopes, set up public events and manned the stalls at shopping centres so that we could meet the electors. I would like to thank the people who identified issues and proffered advice, good and bad, and those who made very sensible suggestions.

I wish to record my thanks to Australia's next Prime Minister, Mr Kim Beazley, who gave me encouragement and his personal endorsement. Of course, my sincere gratitude goes to the people of Molonglo for their support at the ballot box. To them I pledge my diligence, commitment and direct assistance when and if they need it. I would like to place on record also my thanks to my Caucus colleagues here for their expression of trust and faith in giving me the honour of appointment as Deputy Leader of the Opposition. I will return that faith and trust by working very hard to achieve the title of Deputy Chief Minister.

It is traditional, Mr Speaker, for new members to offer some information about themselves; so, who am I to break with that tradition. I have a distinctly working-class background, having spent most of my early days in Melbourne. I left school at the age of 15, and I was, therefore, a high school drop-out, although that was not considered particularly abnormal way back then. My father was a staunch unionist, and you had only to mention Bob Menzies or Bob Santamaria around our dinner table to have a very lively discussion. However, during my early working life my interests lay more in playing football and other standard teenage pursuits than it did in a career in politics. It was actually through football that I came to Canberra some 35 years ago. I had a contract for three years; but I obviously stayed, settled into Canberra life, and, in fact, I very quickly came to love the place. There used to be an unwritten rule that if you arrived in Canberra before the lake was filled you could call yourself a genuine local, and by that rule I am a genuine local. Some here may be surprised to discover that my family roots are firmly based in Victoria's Kelly country. In fact, I understand that old Ned is a distant relation. However, I now have children and grandchildren who were born in Canberra, and this is now the home of a thriving branch of the quite prolific Quinlan clan.

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