Page 453 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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Valedictory
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (10.53), by leave: I think everything has been said. A lot of the things I wanted to say have been said, so, for the sake of brevity, I will not repeat all the thanks that we make to our own staff. I would like to express my thanks to the Assembly staff. I echo Ms Le Couteur’s words and Ms Bresnan’s words: they have been excellent, and I thank you all for the support that you have given us. I have got to know a lot of you, especially on the Labor and Liberal side, over the last seven years. So even though I am totally new, I feel that I do know some of you. It is different sitting here and sharing the trials and tribulations of being elected members. Having been somewhat critical some years ago, I can now appreciate the work that you all do, and I hope I can fill the shoes that I have replaced in our party to add some contribution to our Assembly and to our city.
Thank you, all of you, for being so accepting. It is a privilege to be here. I think I covered all the points in my inaugural speech. We all come with aspirations as to what we can do here. Politics does kick in, but I do hope that we can concentrate on and give some value to our constituents. I wish all of you and your families a happy and a safe Christmas.
Valedictory
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella—Minister for Disability and Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Corrections) (10.55), by leave: I will not take very long. I want to wish everybody, all 16 of you, a wonderful time over Christmas. For the old blokes, take the opportunity to refresh. It has been a really tough year. We have all worked particularly hard in this place and in the election campaign, and doing both tasks at the same time is a pretty tough ask, I have to say. But we are back here, and I welcome the new faces. I would like to suggest that you don’t lose your sense of humour. Don’t give that to someone else for Christmas; keep it for yourself. It will be a dark day in the cells if you lose that one.
I have had a really great time in this place. I have spent a quarter of my working life here. I want to express my appreciation specifically to the chamber staff and to Uncle Tom Duncan over here. I hope that the Clerk gets his Christmas present—a Collingwood grand final. I hope that the Deputy Clerk and Serjeant-at-Arms gets nothing in his Christmas bag for St Kilda. I hope that you have done your bit, Mr Barr. Go Pies!
I would like to single out, if I may be bold enough, the attendants, who have been absolutely magnificent over the time, and also Ray “Save the Fridge” Blundell, who is in the box up there.
Mr Seselja: What time does Ray have in the sweep?
MR HARGREAVES: Ray’s got the fishing rod out and the picture of the fish. You know how big it was? It was about that big, if I remember correctly, and it was a big carp, actually.
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