Page 83 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
and handing out on election day and during pre-poll—we could not have done it without you. I cannot name you all today. The list is far too long but that does not diminish the depth of my appreciation.
To the ACT Labor executive staff and wider membership, they deserve the thanks of all Labor MLAs and candidates. Led by Matt Byrne, the office ran an incredible campaign and provided moral as well as practical support to 25 Assembly candidates, campaign managers and their teams and somewhere in there they also supported a long federal campaign. Thank you to Matt, Megan, Sage, Sandra and Laura. And thank you to the ministers in the previous government and their staff who patiently answered my questions and responded to issues raised by electors.
Finally, on the campaign front, thank you to the unions who supported my campaign and that of the Labor Party. I would particularly like to acknowledge Lyndal Ryan of United Voice, Dean Hall from the CFMEU and Klaus Pinkas at the TWU as well as their officials, staff and delegates.
Moving away from the campaign I also have some personal and professional thankyous. Some of my family and friends are here today and I will be thanking them later for their support over the past year.
But I want to take a moment now to thank the strong women who have come before me, who have motivated me, who have inspired me, who have reassured me and who have been there for me when I needed it. To senator and former Chief Minister Katy Gallagher who gets the credit/blame for my putting up my hand in the first place and has since become an important mentor; senators Claire Moore, Penny Wong and former senator Anne McEwen; to the other women in federal parliament and my fellow Labor staffers who supported and encouraged me—thank you all. I am so pleased that Senator Claire Moore is here today. I have learned a lot from her and am proud to count her as a friend. I would also like to thank Emily’s List, particularly Carol Kee and Eleanor Bates; my EL mentor, Kirsten Livermore, who stepped in just when I needed it; and also Chloe Shorten for her support.
Madam Assistant Speaker, that brings me to my former employer, Senator Kim Carr, and his office. It is such an honour for me that Kim is here in the gallery. When I first told Kim I was thinking about running for pre-selection, I could see he was worried, not worried that he would lose me—as he always says, the graveyard is full of indispensable people—but worried that I might not win and that I would be hurt in the process. One of Kim’s finest attributes is that he genuinely cares about his staff, and he backed me all the way, as did my friends in his office. To Emily, Chris, Thomas, Ellie, Ray and John, and also Fiona and Gia, thank you for your support and your faith in me.
I am glad Kim is here, not just to thank him for his personal support but also to acknowledge how much I have learned from him. As I am going about the business of setting up my own office, I recall a lot of lessons from our transition to government in 2007 when I was his chief of staff. I find myself experiencing many of the same frustrations as you did, Kim—through you, Madam Assistant Speaker—and I remember with some chagrin how unsympathetic I was at the time.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video