Page 1858 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 5 May 2009
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dedication, not only in dealing with the MLAs wanting to change the world, but working through the intricacies of law and producing legislation that has stood the test of time. John lists the work done on the legislation register as one of his major achievements. This involved the conversion of the one reliable print set of territory laws into digital form and then the establishment of a legislation register. John has said that this is now the most comprehensive legislation site in the country and, given his experience across the commonwealth and the territory, he would know.
Not only has John worked tirelessly on this, but he continued to upgrade and improve the site. John was Deputy Parliamentary Counsel and then Parliamentary Counsel for his last three years with the office. He developed a strong client focus and he will be pleased to know that my staff remarked following the meeting with the PCO’s office last week how helpful the staff were in briefing them on how the office and legislation work. John will be sorely missed not only by his dedicated staff at the PCO, but by MLAs and their staff for his wise counsel. He can, however, take great comfort in knowing that he has been a major contributor to the ACT Legislative Assembly’s history. On behalf of the Greens, I wish him all the best in his retirement and hope that, as we mark off 20 years of the Assembly next week, he takes great pride in the part he has played in the life of the Assembly.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Minister for the Arts and Heritage): Mr Speaker, I wish very much to join with the Attorney-General, the Leader of the Opposition and the Parliamentary Convenor of the Greens in acknowledging John Clifford’s sterling and wonderful service to the ACT, to the Assembly and, indeed, through the Assembly, his role in the drafting of the laws of the territory, most particularly since self-government.
I also wish to acknowledge 35 years of friendship with John Clifford. In fact, John Clifford was, I think, my second boss in my career as a commonwealth public servant. He was my supervisor in the department of health in a position that I gained in 1974, my first promotion as a public servant from the then department of education and science. I was successful in an interview. I still recall the interview panel. It was composed of Geoff Fisher, now sadly deceased, Dennis Sweeney and John Clifford. John became my supervisor in the legislation branch of the department of health from 1974 to about 1977.
John was my supervisor and someone I actually lived close to. We were fellow residents of Evatt. Indeed, we carpooled from Evatt to Phillip for the three years that we worked together, along with another member of the legislation branch at the time. It was a very successful and enjoyable period of joint travel and fellowship. Of course, it provided that extra bit of time to commune on the work that we were doing.
I was engaged as a legislation officer. My primary responsibility then was to draft the instructions for the preparation of legislation for the commonwealth in relation to health and quarantine. Even then, I recall John’s deep interest in drafting. At that stage we were responsible for drafting instructions for the production of legislation and then to review that legislation to determine whether it met the government’s or our policy imperatives.
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