Thursday, 30 November 2023

Felicitations

Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (18:08): Speaker, I just want to add the Greens’ thanks to you, the Deputy Speaker and all the Acting Speakers for your work this year, and also to the clerks. I know that our presence in this place does not always make your life easy, but hopefully it makes it somewhat more interesting perhaps.

I would like to thank Hansard, the catering staff, the cleaning staff and all the tour guides and attendants, many of whom have been in this place since I started. Your presence and your assistance are greatly appreciated. I hope you get a nice break over the next couple of months from the government and opposition benches. Feliz Navidad.

The SPEAKER (18:08): I need to also take this opportunity, as we close out Parliament for the year, to say a big thankyou to the many people who make what we do in here possible. To the clerks – Bridget, Vaughn, Matt, Joel and Paul – and the team who work in the Legislative Assembly, thank you for your support and commitment. I have been Speaker for just over a year now, and it has been a privilege to work alongside such hardworking and dedicated staff.

Of course a big thankyou to our library staff and also to our friends in the Council – Robert McDonald and his staff. We were sad to see Robert leave the Assembly as Deputy Clerk last year, but it has certainly been a win for the Parliament overall – although I think Robert is still trying to figure out how that place actually works.

To Trish Burrows and the team in the Department of Parliamentary Services, thank you. The work of the staff in the DPS is often unrecognised, but they all play a vital role in ensuring that this place functions and that we are able to be the best possible representatives of our communities. There are too many units in DPS to mention, but I just want to pay tribute to a few in particular.

To our wonderful Hansard team, thank you for your incredible patience in sifting through hours of debate and through all the interjections and errors in speeches we make to produce a record of what takes place – and I note how fabulous they all look today in their bow ties, which is of course a tradition on the last sitting day.

To the Parliament security staff, thank you for the amazing job you all do in helping keep this precinct and our electorate offices a safe place for us to carry out the important work of representing our communities.

Thank you to the buildings and grounds staff who work so diligently to keep this place functioning and the gardens looking beautiful, to our catering staff for the long hours worked in keeping us caffeinated – although probably serving me too many coffees – and to our cleaners for keeping our workplace clean and hygienic.

Thank you also to O’Connor & Sons, the stonemasons, who, as members may have noticed, are wrapping up nearly 18 years worth of stoneworks here at Parliament. A particular mention to Kane Jenkins and John D’Angelo, who have looked after the crane operations on this project for all of those 18 years and will be serving their last day here tomorrow. It is great to see this heritage building being restored as an asset for Victorians into the future.

I also want to thank our Deputy Speaker, the member for Ashwood, for all his support and assistance this year. Being a regional MP presents challenges in carrying out my Melbourne-based duties as Speaker, and I want to acknowledge the Deputy Speaker for always being willing and available to assist me with the various duties of this job. And a big thankyou to our Acting Speakers as well, who are an immense help in ensuring the smooth running of the chamber.

To the President of the Legislative Council Shaun Leane, thank you for your friendship and support.

And a big thankyou to all of our electorate office staff, who work tirelessly and often for long hours so that people in our communities have access to us. It has been said that our electorate offices are shopfronts for democracy, and it is our dedicated electorate officers who make democracy real and accessible for our communities.

Finally, members, I wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and holiday season. I will see you back here in February.