Page 4230 - Week 13 - Thursday, 14 December 2006
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I particularly thank Dave Peebles, who stepped in as my new chief of staff. Dave has been a tower of strength throughout this year and he has made such a significant contribution to my office and to this building. Matthew Lawrence and Ryan Hamilton have also both worked so hard, particularly in getting me to a point where I could be elected on a count back way back in 2004 and also through this period. I thank them very much.
I thank Catherine Cooney, my office manager, who has been such a tower of support for me, and Tracey Puli, who has stepped in to take over from Aleera Wren at the front of house in our office and does such a terrific job. I would also like to thank all of the DLOs in my office, particularly Marianne McCormack and Chris O’Rourke, who have been with me all the way through, and also Jenni Campbell, who has stepped in on a number of occasions to assist.
To all of the staff of my departments—Michelle Bruniges and the team at the Department of Education and Training; Mike Zissler and the team at the Department of Territory and Municipal Services; Cathy Hudson; and Liesl Centenara and the team at the Office of Industrial Relations—thank you very much. To my partner Anthony, who has experienced exactly how much life can change in the last six months, I thank him, and also my parents and my brother, Ian, for their very strong support.
I did not have much time to prepare a wonderful list of odes to fellow Assembly members, so I have only focused on my colleagues opposite. I think the biggest Christmas gift this year is going to be iPods again. So for those who are into the 21st century in terms of music I have put together an iMix. Those who are a bit older would know it as a compilation tape of music that I think those opposite should consider over the summer. I think perhaps the words of that great eighties band, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who sang about Two Tribes seem to typify those opposite, although perhaps the words of Cliff Richard in We Don’t Talk Anymore or maybe even Split Enz’s Six Months in a Leaky Boat might well describe those opposite.
Mr Stefaniak, I take it that you will use the words of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive and perhaps take some heed from Chris Rea’s Fool (If You Think It’s Over). For Mrs Burke ABBA’s song Take A Chance On Me seems to be appropriate. For Mr Mulcahy it is Eric Carmen’s All By Myself or perhaps Thelma Houston’s Don’t Leave Me This Way. For Mrs Dunne I think the Spin Doctors hit from the nineties Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong seems to come to the fore, or perhaps Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi, given her interest in transport matters.
I think Mr Smyth is hoping to take some heed from Maxine Nightingale’s hit Right Back Where We Started From. For Mr Pratt, I think Elvis Costello’s Watching The Detectives might suit, or maybe Cheap Trick’s Dream Police. And my big tip for 2007 is that Mr Seselja will be singing from that great Bros hit When Will I Be Famous?
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