Page 2314 - Week 07 - Thursday, 27 August 2020
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To my incredible staff, Jemma, Emma and Nick, thank you for being my friends, my confidants and just so very capable at getting things done. I am also so grateful for the many volunteers. My special thanks go to Carolyn Kidd for her friendship, her belief in me and her time.
To the Assembly staff, you do so much. I know I am very annoying. This year especially you have had to pivot several times, not just for me but with the pandemic. Thank you for constantly making things happen smoothly and to you all for your cheer and your kindness.
To every single person in the ACT government, thank you sincerely for the work that you do every single day—and a special shout-out to the crew at TCCS, including at the Belconnen depot, who I spent some time with, including working alongside and understanding what you do.
To my friends and family, how lucky I am to have you. Thank you for having my back every single step of the way. To the people of Ginninderra, you are just the most generous bunch around. It has been such a privilege to bring your stories and your voices with me every day to this Assembly.
I do have unfinished business. There is so much more that I want to achieve, together with my Labor colleagues—the most committed, progressive people I have been humbled to spend four years with. But, whatever happens, the last four years have been an absolute honour and I am grateful for every single day.
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (8.06): I must say, it was not a great start to this term. We had just lost an election and I got dumped as leader. Anyway, it can’t get any worse than that, can it? Then poor old Steve got diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was not a great start. But what that did enable me to do was have time to do things like spend time with Steve in those last few months, which was, I must, say very inspiring. It helped me to stop feeling sorry for myself and refocus on what really matters in life. I think that that process culminated in that great trivia night that we had, that many of you from all sides attended, where we raised $45,000 for the Cancer Council.
Certainly the whole process revitalised me. In many ways, it was not just about politics but about life in general, about spending time with family, with friends, what really matters, reconnecting with a whole bunch of things that, as Mr Coe has probably found over the last four years, are difficult to stay in touch with. I am sure it is the case with ministers as well, as you get consumed by this place. Things are looking up. I certainly am revitalised and I am looking forward to working hard over the next six or seven weeks to achieve a Liberal victory. We shall see.
To my colleagues Caroline Le Couteur and Vicki Dunne, farewell. These are two women who are true believers in their cause, at either end of the political spectrum, it is fair to say, but they share this desire to make the world a better place, particularly for the downtrodden. They are both committed to that. Caroline, I will miss busking out on the hustings. We would sing Bob Dylan songs together, when we stole some poor busker’s guitar. We made him $40, though; so he should not complain.
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