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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1931 ..

Dental Health Program-Waiting Times

MR MOORE (Minister for Health and Community Care) (12.41 am): Mr Speaker, I table a response to a question I took on notice from Ms Tucker during question time on 29 February. I apologise that it has taken me so long to answer. I had the answer and then misplaced it for some time. I table the answer, and I will provide a copy to Ms Tucker.

Mr Stephen Forshaw

MR HUMPHRIES (Treasurer, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Community Safety) (12.42 am), in reply: Mr Speaker, I want to close the debate tonight by giving a valedictory, not for a person who is dead but for a person who is merely departing the halls of this Assembly and Canberra. That person is my senior adviser, Stephen Forshaw, who is in the gallery tonight. Members who have been in this place for a time will know that Stephen has been my senior minder for many years now. He came to me in opposition and has been with me throughout the time we have spent in government.

Mr Quinlan: Retraining and rehabilitation required.

MR HUMPHRIES: For me, that could well be required.

Mr Moore: He did not write this speech, did he?

MR HUMPHRIES: He did not write this speech, I can assure you. Stephen Forshaw came to me from another member of this place, Mr Kaine. When Mr Kaine was removed from the position of Leader of the Opposition in 1993, Stephen was on his staff. I decided that I would take a gamble with one of Mr Kaine's hand-me-downs and decided to take on Stephen Forshaw. As I look back on the seven years since he joined my staff, I have no regrets about the time he has spent with me, assisting me, the Liberal Party and the government in this place.

There are some people who have spent so long in this place, not just in years but in hours each day, that they seem to have become a part of the fabric of the place. You cannot imagine the place without them being here. Stephen Forshaw is one such person.

Mr Smyth: And he was once thought to be homeless.

MR HUMPHRIES: That is right. Strangely, he does not have the same reluctance, the same regret, about leaving the ACT Legislative Assembly as perhaps I would have after a sitting that finishes at a quarter to one on a Friday morning. This is his last sitting of the Assembly. It is his last few days working in this place. He goes on to bigger and better things in Sydney. He has been a tower of strength for the Liberal Party and for the government in this place.

He has given tremendous service, and he typifies the best of the people who serve members in this place. We expect an enormous amount from such people. We expect them to do outrageously laborious, time-consuming and sometimes ridiculous things, but

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