Page 3559 - Week 08 - Friday, 24 August 2012
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was a firework ban. I have very vivid memories, Johnno, of the meticulous work you put into lobbying each one of us to change our position. It was like 12 Angry Men, the movie. We all started at one point, and gradually over the years he ground us into the numbers needed, including a very personal presentation to my daughter, I believe, to ensure that I got lobbying at home as well as at work about the impact of fireworks—and including, I think, very detailed photos, just in case she could not get the colour of what you were saying in your words. Anyway, it was successfully delivered.
Another area I would mention is corrections and your passion for prisoners, for prisoners’ rights and for prisoner rehabilitation. Again, there are not too many people in this community that stand up for the most vulnerable. I would put prisoners in that category, and your passion for that area is noted and should be recorded.
The other area, I would say, is multiculturalism, and the way that you managed that portfolio. Your connections with all the multicultural community and the respect you gave all of them I have no doubt contributed to the wonderful multicultural community that we all live in today. I still will find that $25,000—a private joke, but it goes back many budgets.
John has been the type of local member that all MLAs should aspire to be—not just a representative of the local community, but deeply embedded in it, in a way integrated into it. His passion for Tuggeranong and the electorate of Tuggeranong—I should say the republic of Tuggeranong—at times has been fierce. It is that same one-eyed view that he takes to anything and any person he wants to support, and it was the same with his electorate.
It is the same approach, I think, that he has taken with probably his most significant love, which is that of his family. All of us who have worked with Johnno know just how important family is to Johnno, and his deep love for Jenny and his children in particular—he has bragging rights on all of those—and the soft side of John Hargreaves. I think many people who do not know Johnno see the public side, the gruff side and the humorous side, but we all know the very deep and soft side. Politics is tough at times, and one of the things I respect most about Johnno is, when politics has been tough for him, the way he has approached those times with honesty and with incredible dignity in the face of a very public process. That is incredibly difficult. Your words today about the black dog, and some of that side of politics, are lessons that we could all learn from.
Johnno has been a member who focused on the little issues, but he never took his eyes off the big ones. That makes him a wonderful member of this Assembly.
I have been asked by Jim Mallett to say a few words, because even though he cannot be here he is really here. He wanted me to pass on today, Johnno, his most special thoughts at this time. He is up north somewhere, I hear, but he might be tuning in on webstreaming or something. But he did ask me to pass on his most special thoughts to you today. We do lose a very valued friend and colleague today in the Assembly, though you are not off till the election, Johnno.
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