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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5293 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

In particular I pay my thanks to those officers in ACT Health and the Planning and Land Authority and the Land Development Agency who did so much right from the beginning of this year in addressing the terrible events of January 18. They were on deck from the very moment the crisis hit us and they consistently delivered outstanding service to the community that has been affected, either on the day of the fire itself or in the months following. My thanks to all of them right across my portfolios.

I thank the staff of my office for their undinting support and activity in what has been an extremely busy year for me. I thank them for their efforts and I hope that they will have both a safe and peaceful holiday season as well. Finally I wish you, Mr Speaker, and all members, a safe and peaceful holiday.

Valedictory

MR STEFANIAK (5.28): Firstly, my colleague Mr Smyth asks me to thank on the opposition's behalf our personal staff for the excellent work they do, and this I do.

This year being a rugby world cup year, I thought I would try to compare the Assembly to a football team. Firstly, the captain of the team is Jon Stanhope, a very hard-running, aggressive inside centre who would play as a back-row forward at a pinch. He is known to give long, haranguing talks to the team at halftime. He likes to lead from the front, doesn't have much of a sidestep and believes the club should be governed by some funny thing called the bill of rights.

His deputy, Ted, a consummate fullback with a laid-back style, has probably seen better days and is not as quick as he was before his knee operation. But he still takes the ball well under pressure and can still make ground with his kicks. He would probably prefer to be playing bowls.

Bill Wood is an original team member, a solid, methodical old front-rower, either a prop or a hooker. He keeps plugging away-a team player who prefers not to run much with the ball. He leaves that sort of thing to those prancing, prima donna backs. So he is not seen much in open play. He would probably prefer to be at the theatre watching a good play than being on the paddock at times.

Katy Gallagher is an ex-rugby league convert from an industrial area and is adjusting very quickly to the new code. She is very concerned about the ground staff's working conditions and safety issues around the club's home ground. She likes playing in front of lots of school kids but preferably not that Grammar crowd.

Simon Corbell, a flashy young winger with a lot of pace and promise, is a little bit suspect under the high ball and sometimes finds himself being abused by even his own non-playing club committee members, especially one former ex-Scottish, ex-Daramalan second rower. Simon has got radical plans in mind for the grandstand.

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