Page 6022 - Week 14 - Thursday, 8 December 2011
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between our two countries. Dr Lin is well respected by all sides of politics and at all levels.
Dr Lin was well supported by his wife, Sophia, who both started their working lives as teachers in Taiwan. However, their call to serve Taiwan through diplomatic service came, and this service included postings as the ambassador to South Africa and other countries before coming to Australia as a representative. Soon Dr Lin will return to Taipei and take a very similar role within the Taiwanese public service.
On a personal note, I and Mr Seselja in particular had the honour of getting to know Dr Lin very well, and he will be missed. His positive outlook and generous hospitality have made the times we have met a real privilege. I have fond memories of Gary and Sophia; I wish them both well for their future endeavours and I look forward to seeing him again in Canberra or in Taiwan.
Now onto the traditional adjournment speech for this time of the year. It really is quite something to be criticised for dress sense by a Green. I mean, there is no greater insult! I may not wear a hessian bag as a skirt, but that is really something else. To be likened to a hot dog—which is something the Greens wanted to ban the sale of, I might add—really is something else. But I thank and pay credit to Caroline for delivering some of the best adjournment speeches I think we have heard in this place. If that marginal seat is not held by the Greens, if nothing else we will certainly miss her adjournment speeches at this time of year.
There are lots of people to thank. I think I am up to “T” in the White Pages, so I have to ram through quite a few in the final two minutes and 30 seconds. I will do my best.
To the party organisation, Tio Faulkner, in particular, and to the other senior members of the management committee—John, Jimmy, Peter and Matthew—and to my branch chairman, Robert, I thank them for their service to the party and for the benefits that I reap as a result of their hard work.
I thank departed members of staff this year, in particular, Adam Duke, who did a superb job running the media side of things, and also Duncan McDonald and Candice Burch. I thank those in the leader’s office who give us so much support, in particular, Steve Doyle, the chief of staff, and also Ian Hagan, Keith Old, Merlin Kong, Juliet Toohey and Hannah Passfield. I would like to thank Emily Emma Davis for the wonderful support that she gives my office and also Ruth Biggs for the work she does as a paid member of my staff but also for being one of the party’s most committed volunteers. She is only paid for a fraction of the hours she does but she is, in effect, full time in my office and gets paid far, far less than that, so I am very grateful.
Finally, I go to Kate Davis, who I cannot thank enough for all she has done over the past year and a half in my office. Her judgement, her nous, her sense of occasion, her experience and her knowledge are immeasurable, and I am very grateful. People in my office have to put up with some very particular systems, some particular styles, particular fonts, particular formatting and all sorts of things that I tend to like to be done absolutely the same way every time, so I apologise for that fanaticism when it
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