Page 3555 - Week 08 - Friday, 24 August 2012
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fresh-faced young bloke and have seen his rise to prominence. Joy and Chris are still in a sense newbies but learning at a great rate. Joy has repaid all my faith in her tenfold.
But the one who has a special place is the father of the house. Simon has been there all of my parliamentary life and we have been a great support for each other. I have been a bit rough at times, just occasionally, but Simon has always been the unflappable, firm but gentle and considered leader that we know he is and a great counterpoint to my own style.
But Mary Porter holds a special place in my heart. During all of my low times, she has been a strength. She has been my mate. I do also need to say thanks for their company and contributions to Ted Quinlan, Karin MacDonald and Mick Gentleman. It is great to see Mick in the chamber. I have had some good friends over the years from those opposite and the crossbench.
The late Trevor Kaine was a great friend and I learnt a great deal from him. We enjoyed each other’s company. Greg Cornwell, Bill Stefaniak and Harold Hird were, and are, good friends. They were not self-obsessed zealots but were professional and warm human beings. I got to respect and admire very much Kerrie Tucker, whose quiet and firm resolve was good to see. I see a bit of her in Meredith.
I have always seen part of my job here to relieve the tension by cracking jokes and lowering the temperature at times. It was sad to see the Liberals’ attack on me see an end to this service to the house. The house is the poorer for the lack of a circuit breaker. My friends on the crossbench have always given me sources for amusement—and I thank you—but I do need to say how much they have, by their presence here, tried to enhance the image of the parliament, to reduce the reputation for schoolyard brawling to a small measure of success and I wish them well in the future.
When I got here I found the rigid protocols of decorum a bit hard to take. I hated the “Mr Hargreaves” tag and had difficulty convincing Mark McRae to call me John. It did not ever happen. I have achieved a fair bit in this regard, though. To be addressed as “Johnno” by all and sundry has given me such pleasure over the years.
Mr Speaker, this place would not work without the support staff—which for the most part is invisible. It is a smart member who listens to the advice of support staff and learns lessons for later. I was taught by experts. Tom Duncan, Max Kiermaier, Janice Rafferty, Celeste Italiano, Anne Shannon, Ian Duckworth, Sandra Viney and Laurel Coyles are some of the faces that come instantly to mind. There are heaps of others over the years and I thank you very, very much.
The guys in corporate and executive support services and in the library—a special g’day to my favourite in the library, Karen Franklin, my niece, who has a very good taste in uncles—have been fantastic, as have those in the education section, Hansard and IT support. But with respect to you all, the group that has saved my sanity on many an occasion has been the attendants. What a relationship I have had with this eclectic bunch.
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