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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 10 Hansard (30 August) . . Page.. 3890 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Finally, I thank the very many people who make the Legislative Assembly function so effectively, particularly the attendants, the staff of the secretariat and the library, and the many other people who make our jobs just that little bit easier through their very dedicated and ongoing efforts.

Valedictory

MR HARGREAVES (11.27): Mr Speaker, basically I want do two things. One is to acknowledge a few people and the other is to thank a few people as well. When I came in here I too thought what on earth has happened? I thought all my Christmases had come at once. I had no idea that I would be fortunate enough to serve in this place, and I have had the time of my life while I have been here. It has been a great job. It has been the best job I have ever had in my life. It would have to be the hardest, but I have relished it. I want to express my appreciation to the people of Brindabella who had the faith to give me a shot at it.

I also want to express my appreciation to the staff of the various ministers offices I have dealt with because about 1,200 people or thereabouts have come through the office with problems and we have been able to sort a lot of them out for them. About 75 per cent or thereabouts were people from Brindabella and if it was not for the relationship between various ministers offices and my staff then nobody would have got anywhere. I want to acknowledge those people for what they have done for us, and also acknowledge that network. Whichever side of the fence we are sitting on in the next Assembly, I hope that those things are maintained.

I, too, want to express my appreciation to my caucus colleagues. We are fortunate in having a very broad cross-section of views from the various spectrums within the Labor Party. It is a very colourful array of light. When I first came in here, knowing that the legendary Wayne Berry was here, I thought I had better get some armour on, and I have to say, from my heart, that there has not been a cross word in our caucus. It has been an absolute delight to be part of that process. The legendary Wayne Berry has lived up to every bit of his reputation and I feel quite privileged to have worked in this place with him.

I want to acknowledge also the support staff of my colleagues, particularly people like Sue Robinson who helped me and Narelle and others like us over a very steep learning curve. All of our staff work together particularly well and they share a lot. I want to acknowledge that and to put it on the record.

Mr Speaker, we need to acknowledge, as we all have today, the role of the Assembly staff. You just get blown away by the people who are providing support services here. Someone said-it might have been Mr Kaine, but I forget who it was-that you get a really nice smile when you first arrive in the morning, and there's a "Glad to see you gone" at the end of the day, but always with a smile, and it's really fantastic.

I want specifically to acknowledge the work of Corporate Services. They have been great. A lot has been said about the committee office, and we could not function without the people there. I mentioned specific people in the committee office earlier today. I also want to mention the Hansard staff. How they translate what comes out of our heads and

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