Page 2268 - Week 07 - Thursday, 27 August 2020
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In 2012 I had the privilege of becoming the Speaker of this Assembly. It was not a position I had ever looked for, but it was a singular honour. I thank the Assembly for the great honour it bestowed upon me. To be a member of the opposition as well as the Speaker was a novelty that caused many to scratch their heads. I consider the fact that I served a full term as Speaker a testament to my endeavours to be scrupulously fair, if demanding. I do not apologise that my appointment caused considerable discomfort to many, especially Mr Corbell and Mr Barr, but I am sure they got over it.
The speakership put me in the way of many things parliamentary. The fellowship of presiding officers was a great opportunity for sharing and learning in equal measure. The speakership also put me on the path to six years of service with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, as a director and then as its treasurer. While the CPA role caused some dismay and even a little envy, it afforded me a huge opportunity to define my views on governance and put many of my theories into practice. Again, the opportunities I received were as unlooked for as they were rewarding and frustrating.
The opportunities offered by the CPA and the wider commonwealth family could improve governance and democratic institutions in so many places for the betterment of so many people, but there is so much work that can be done. The CPA offered me many opportunities, but it was not all about tropical paradises. Having meetings where you are locked in a compound for your own safety or escorted to Sunday mass by an armed policeman does make you appreciate the freedoms we enjoy in Australia.
Without the CPA I would never have met a youngish member of the Lok Sabha for the BJP, Varun Feroze Gandhi, who, after a very fiery CPA meeting, took me aside and said—I will not do the Indian accent—“Madam, you remind me of my grandmother.” Coming from a Gandhi, I took that as very high praise indeed.
I made so many friendships, even unlikely ones. I particularly want to take this opportunity to thank Dr Shirin Chaudhury, Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods, the Hon Niki Rattle, the Rt Hon David Carter, Paul Foster-Bell, Alexandra Mendes and Akbar Khan for their fellowship, friendship and support.
Through the CPA and other fora, I have had the privilege of meeting and getting to know some very inspiring political leaders—some just a bit and some very well. Entry into the Vicki Dunne hall of fame for political leadership is quite difficult. The people there—like John Anderson, our former Deputy Prime Minister; Jason Kenney, the former Canadian defence minister and now Premier of Alberta; David, Lord Alton of Liverpool, one of Britain’s foremost human rights campaigners; former PM of New Zealand Bill English; and senator and activist Ronan Mullen—are all in my hall of fame because I have learned from them that erudition, faith and conviction are the best tools that you will ever have in politics. Even though they are all, in their very different ways, very competitive, they know, in the words of the great Australian poet James McAuley:
It is not said we shall succeed,
Save as His Cross prevails:
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