Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Thursday, 26 August 2004) . . Page.. 4455 ..

I will miss you, but I am sure we will continue to pursue those very important issues, along with many others.

Mr Cornwell on one occasion threw me out of this chamber, which is something I recommend to every member in this place. It is a growing experience. Mr Cornwell, I wish you all the best. You and your wife have always been very generous to me when I have met you and spoken with you at social occasions. I wish you all the best.

Finally, to Ms Tucker. After my inaugural speech in this place, Ms Tucker came up to me. It was the first time I had spoken to Ms Tucker. She said, “Are you sure you are in the right party?” I do not know whether she still thinks that. Nevertheless, I have greatly enjoyed working and debating with Ms Tucker. Kerrie, we perhaps share more goals than we acknowledge in debates in this place; we just have different arguments about how we get there.

To those members who are leaving, I wish you all the best. I place on the record my acknowledgement of your work and your contribution to the ACT, and I am sure that we will speak further in the future.

Valedictory

MRS DUNNE (12.27 am): Mr Speaker, perhaps we should start off by thanking our mums and dads, and that sort of thing, because this always has a last day of term mood about it, and people sometimes get a bit out of hand. As we were walking down the stairs this morning, I said, “Do you think everyone will behave?” You said, “No,” but you seemed to be looking forward to the challenge of us not behaving today. It was a pretty ragged start. Maybe everyone would have liked to have been punching out a few more zeds before they came in here this morning.

I thank you, Mr Speaker, for keeping order today and keeping order all the time. While we are talking about throwing people out, I might have come close a couple of times, but it was Pratty who got the—

MR SPEAKER: You never know. I can always serve it up cold.

MRS DUNNE: Like, Ms Dundas, I want to thank the people of Ginninderra. It is a privilege. A lot of us attempt to sign up for this, and some of us do not succeed. It is a very fraught existence because we get to this end of the political cycle and wonder where we will be and whether we will be as fortunate as our colleagues who are choosing, as Bill Stefaniak said, the time of their own departure.

In the meantime, we have to keep on doing the work, which is a great pleasure. About two years ago a friend of mine became a staffer up on the hill. He had always been interested in politics, and he sent me a text message one day that said, “Hey, this is a really great job. This is a fantastic job.” I sent him a message back and said, “There’s one better.” Having been a staffer for nearly six years, I can attest to the fact that being a staffer is a great job but being a member is a far better job, and it is a great privilege.

You know how on Saturday night you think, “I’d really like to kick back and watch the footy,” and you realise that you have committed yourself to going somewhere and you

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .