Page 2718 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 10 August 2016
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During the time that I was responsible for roads and parking I learned a large amount from and enjoyed working with those from Roads ACT, and I want to mention Gary Byles—who recently retired and whose dedication and loyalty is very sorely missed by all of us here—and Tony Gill, Ben McHugh and Rifaat Shoukrallah in particular.
Working as minister responsible for the eradication of Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos has been one of the most important roles that I have undertaken and I would like to thank the entire asbestos response task force team for their commitment to the homeowners that they are working with and who generally strive to achieve the best outcomes possible in what has been an incredibly tough situation. I want to make particular mention of Andrew Kefford and Emily Springett and their teams for their tireless support of ministers, and I congratulate Emily on her new role at TCCS. Emily remains one of the most outstanding communications and stakeholder managers within the ACT public service. She has been with the task force since the beginning and I certainly wish her all the best in delivering an even better transport system for the whole city.
I have enjoyed working as the Minister for Racing and Gaming. I believe we have moved in the right direction with red tape reduction and implementation of the PAC report recommendations. I want to thank Kathy Goth, David Snowden, Mark Kalleske, David Dawes and everyone else from that directorate.
Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations is an area which I have been passionate about for my entire working life, so it will come as no surprise to any of you that I am a proud union member and, despite what comes from the opposition side of the room, being union through and through is a badge of honour that I wear proudly. As such, I have immensely enjoyed my work in the IR portfolio and want to thank the teams of the following people: Michael Young, Chris O’Rourke, Goran Yosipovich and Tracey Savage as well.
I would also acknowledge Mark McCabe who gained respect from government and stakeholders alike in his role as Work Safety Commissioner. I wish him well into the future and I am sure the new commissioner, Greg Jones, will do just as well in his role. I welcome him and look forward to working with him as well.
I will say that planning is one of the most challenging portfolios but absolutely the most rewarding portfolio I have had. Most certainly it is one of the areas of government decision-making that does provoke quite a lot of interest from so many residents across Canberra, as every MLA in this place will attest to. The work in planning involves explaining decisions and actions to the community and doing so with professionalism and expertise in every forum. The development of city-shaping policies which touch nearly every area of our daily lives is an ongoing privilege and I hope it has been reflected well in the statement of planning intent developed during my tenure. It is an intent that is focused on people and outcomes and, I hope, will guide the development of our beautifully planned city for many years to come.
I was especially pleased earlier this year to take on responsibility for land management as well and I want to thank several people who have been instrumental
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