Page 271 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Thursday, 11 December 2008
MR SPEAKER (Mr Rattenbury) took the chair at 10 am and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.
Legislative Assembly—official tie
MR SPEAKER: Members, before moving to inaugural speeches, in what is becoming a slightly unusual tradition, I would like to speak about my tie again today.
Today I am wearing the centenary of Canberra 2013 tie, kindly provided to me by the Chief Minister’s office. All MLAs will be receiving a tie—female MLAs will receive an equivalent scarf—prior to Christmas. The word from the Chief Minister’s office is that they hope you will wear them with pride between now and the city’s centenary in 2013. All members should have them in time for their Christmas functions.
Inaugural speeches
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella), by leave: I would first like to acknowledge that we are on the land of the Ngunnawal people and pay my respects to their elders, recognising the continuing custodianship of this land.
It is a great honour to be here today as a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, and there are many people I wish to acknowledge and thank. Firstly, I want to thank all the people involved with the ACT Greens election campaign, including our hardworking volunteers who were instrumental in helping us achieve this historic election result for the Greens. I would like to specifically thank my fellow ACT Greens candidate in Brindabella, Sue Ellerman, for her work during the campaign.
I would also like to acknowledge that we now have seven female representatives in the Legislative Assembly, which is a great achievement in terms of moving towards equality in the representation of women in politics. I would also hope that in the not too distant future we would see greater representation of other groups, including Aboriginal people and culturally and linguistically diverse groups that reflect the diversity in our community.
I would especially like to acknowledge my parents, Ann and John Bresnan, who are here today and who have come down from Queensland. My parents have always been supportive of me no matter where my life was heading or what career direction I had decided to take. It is that encouragement and support that has enabled me to get to where I am today.
My mother, grandmother and I were all members of the Australian Greens when they held their inaugural conference as a national party on the Gold Coast many years ago. Three generations of women from my family were represented at that meeting and I am extremely proud to be representing my family as a member of the Greens in the ACT Legislative Assembly. My grandmother passed away a number of years ago but I know that she would be very proud of me today.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .