Page 3553 - Week 08 - Friday, 24 August 2012
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without being connected to them necessarily. Further, a parliamentarian is a servant of the parliament, and a courageous parliamentarian will put the parliament above the party or group which helped elect him or her. I do not know of all that many people who fit this bill. It is this trait of being a politician before being a parliamentarian which brings the reputation of those in public life down to such a low level.
Most people in our community do not know what it is we actually do with our time here. They think we only work for 42 days a year and swan around enjoying perks for the rest. When I was a member of the opposition I found out in a hurry what demands there were. In trying to come to grips with being a representative for my electorate, and knowing that technically I had to provide services for about 12,000 electors, being one of five members for Brindabella, no-one told me which 12,000 they were, so I had to provide support for the whole electorate.
By the time 2001 came around I had over 3,000 individual constituents on my books, many of whom were repeat visitors. Given that most people do not have hassles most of the time, 3,000 was an extraordinary number. But this gave me the most satisfaction and joy. Of course not every contact ended in success, and my office took failure really to heart.
During the years 1998 to 2001 I had some incredible people working with me. Narelle Luchetti came on board with Lindy Frampton and we took on the tasks of a shadow minister for five portfolios and the deputy chair of a standing committee, as well as getting around the electorate. We were joined by Maria Vincent, who stayed with me for half my time here. I owe those three an awful lot.
Life in the chamber was a hoot—long nights, passionate debates and good humour exchanged across the floor, and only Simon Corbell and Brendan Smyth were around then to see it. As a member of the opposition, I found then that the best day in opposition is indeed nowhere near as good as the worst day in government. It was hard work: frustrating and rewarding at the same time and a massive learning curve.
Above all though there was an air of professionalism about—something which is sadly missing today. Strength of commitment, passionate debate, a sense of honour and integrity are not synonyms for fanatical zeal and personal destruction. Machiavelli did not really get it right when he said that the end justifies the means.
Later in the piece, we formed the Labor minority government and Jon Stanhope started his career as the longest serving Chief Minister in Assembly history. I, on the other hand, had to content myself with a support role as a member of multiple standing committees and the jobs of whip and what was then known as a Temporary Deputy Speaker. Again, though, my role as a representative for Brindabella kept me very busy and I loved it.
I have got to share with you one of the most amazing stories of that time. There was some discontent around about the building of the GDE, in particular the work affecting O’Connor Ridge. There was a group of agitators called Save the Ridge. On one occasion they burst into the chamber, chanting, “Save the ridge, save the ridge.” I was in the Hansard box up there with Ray Blundell that day and saw the attendants
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