Page 4220 - Week 13 - Thursday, 14 December 2006
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
has been paired with the Chief Minister because of the opening of the Canberra Centre, so I am making this speech on his behalf.
On behalf of the opposition I extend thanks to you, Mr Speaker, to the Clerk, to the serjeant-at-arms and to all the staff in the Clerk’s office for your support throughout the year, for the wisdom you dispense and for the little cheat sheets you provide that make the movement of the day so easy. To Max in particular I offer sympathy on St Kilda’s efforts this year. To all the attendants who support the Saints I say: there is always next year; we are getting closer, boys; just do not give up hope.
Mr Seselja: One every 40 or so years.
MR SMYTH: I saw the last one and I hope to be alive for the next one. I thank Mr Speaker and the Clerk very much for all that they do. I thank the attendants who work so efficiently and tirelessly to keep us supplied with everything from fresh water to obscure copies of old reports. The job that they do might not be evident to most of us but we cannot do our job without their support. I thank Corporate Services and the education section for the support that we get. We look forward to their support next year.
I say to committee staff in particular that we all understand the sheer volume of work that is done by such a small number of people with such a small resource base. We are appreciative of the way in which they make that job so much easier, particularly in busy times of the year such as estimates reports and annual report hearings. I thank Hansard staff in their little black box for taking down our words and for making legible speeches out of some of the gobbledegook that is spoken in this place. I marvel at how they interpret what we say each day and I thank them for the professional way in which they put it together.
Finally, I thank library staff members who are often forgotten but who are always available to us during our lengthy sittings. Every sitting week I look forward to receiving an email from library staff that states, “We will be open for extended hours to look after your needs”—and look after our needs they do.
No-one would deny that this has been an interesting year. I hope all members and staff in this place enjoy their break and travel safely. I hope Santa gives them whatever they have asked for, as long as they have been good little boys and girls. If not, there is always next year.
I would now like to thank my office staff. I thank Tim and Amy for all the support they have given me; in particular, for the quips and sweet things they find that I can use in the chamber. It is great to be backed up by two professional people. James, Donna, Keith and Alexis worked with me throughout the year but are no longer with me. I thank them all for their support over the years. It was great working with them. I can always look forward to working with them in the future.
I would now like to thank my now slightly larger family. I thank my wife Robyn, a young mother with an eight-month-old baby, for all her support. I am sure Zed would attest to the fact that as MLAs we are always out and about doing a number of things on days when our wives would love to have their husbands at home to take care of the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .