Page 4493 - Week 14 - Thursday, 28 November 2013
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I am sure that it will not surprise anyone here that in the coming years I will be helping my community to organise further improvements to the Belconnen dog park. Whilst the park, with its size-appropriate sections, is now lovely and sunny into the evening, through the winter Cassie and many of the dogs in Belconnen miss out on the after-work trip to the dog park due to insufficient lighting. As I said 12 months ago, dogs have a lot of benefits to the health of our community but they also add to our families. Dogs provide good company, lots of affection and unconditional love. But balancing the needs of our family and our jobs is difficult, and I believe that our dogs should not miss out on a little quality time at the dog park on the nights when we are all stuck at work.
When we care for Canberra’s dogs we care for our community, and I look forward to working with my neighbours over the coming year to make Canberra an even better city for our dogs.
I would also like to put some thankyous on the record. Thank you to all of the people in Ginninderra and across Canberra that I have had the privilege to meet this year. It has been wonderful to meet each and every one of you. Even though sometimes we might not have agreed, it has still been a great privilege to have those conversations.
A big thank you to all of my colleagues here in the Labor Party and all of your staff. Thank you for your help and assistance throughout the year. Mr Rattenbury, to your office and all of your staff, and to all of those MLAs opposite, it has been lovely meeting you all. Whilst we do not agree on many things, I think we have been able to find a few things in common.
I thank all of my comrades in the union movement for their continued support, and all of my awesome friends, my basketball team and my family. My children would challenge even the greatest debaters in this place, I reckon, in the conversations that we have at home. To Lisa and Matt in my office, thank you both for being so amazing. I am grateful that you are both on my team. Thank you as well for your understanding—probably more tolerance than anything—of my working in your office space rather than in my own.
I would like to thank everybody in this place, particularly the staff, starting with the cleaners who move through our offices early in the morning when we are all still sleeping, and to everybody else that provides back-up and support to each of us—the attendants who move quietly through, refilling our water glasses, all the committee and education staff; everyone. We put you all on that basketball court and thank you all very much. I wish you all a very happy and safe festive season and a happy new year, when we get to that time. I look forward to the coming three years.
ACT Burley Griffin Canoe Club
Valedictory
MR DOSZPOT (Molonglo) (6.35): Before I get to the thankyous, I have one final community event recognition for the year. I would like to draw the attention of the Assembly to an event that was held last weekend, the ACT Burley Griffin Canoe Club’s 20th annual 24-hour relay challenge.
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