Thursday, 28 November 2024

Announcements

Felicitations

The PRESIDENT (09:33): Members, it is the last sitting day of the year. Can I say that, Lee? Can I confirm that?

Lee Tarlamis interjected.

The PRESIDENT: He said yes. I put it in Hansard that he said yes. The great thing about the last sitting day of the year is I get to make a contribution in this chamber. Can I start by personally thanking the acting presidents, in the order I look at them, John, Michael, Jeff and Bev, and of course Wendy for the great job she does as Deputy President. It can be a tough –

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: And Jacinta Ermacora; sorry. I have been on no sleep. It can be a tough, unforgiving role upholding our standing orders.

Can I thank members for your cooperation with me and patience with me. My ego can take it. I do not always get it right, but I really enjoy that people are prepared to challenge me. I think it is a really good thing for us to go forward.

I really appreciate that MPs accept that the standing orders and the rules are not mine. They are our standing orders and rules – all our standing orders and rules. We had the opportunity at the start of this session of Parliament to put sessional orders in if anyone was not happy with the way it worked in the previous term. There is also the opportunity, which has been proven this term, for notices of motion to be put up to change the standing orders – for example, short-form documents motions and things like that, which we have done during the term. So the processes are there.

I thank everyone for their cooperation around that, and as I said to Ms Ermacora – I apologised when I missed her out – I have been on no sleep, so I have been thinking about this. Imagine if we did not have any standing orders or rules in this place. Imagine how we would go about the core business the good people of Victoria expect us to do. Our core business is passing legislation and moving amendments, our core business is obviously motions on matters of importance to Victorians and also our core business is keeping the executive to account. That is what I think the good people of Victoria expect us to do, and I pictured that if there were no rules, I reckon we would last a couple of weeks until our bosses, the good people of Victoria, would sack us, because I reckon we would get nothing – nothing – done. This place could be turned into a restaurant, like shock jocks on a rotation of every couple of years suggest. If you ever want to check your ego for being an MP, listen to talkback radio when MPs get a pay rise. If you ever want to check your ego, there are already people that do not think we should get paid every second week. There are already people that would prefer that we hit ourselves with sticks down Bourke Street every second week than get paid, and there would still be people ringing up Raf and saying, ‘These MPs should be using bigger sticks.’ Thank you for that.

Now, something on behalf of all of us. I want to thank our magnificent clerks.

Members: Hear, hear!

The PRESIDENT: They are magnificent – Robert, Anne, Richard, Kier, Sally – they are just great help. The attendants – Michael and his squad – thank you very much. The papers office – Annemarie Burt, Vivienne, the whole team – they are just fantastic. We are so lucky to have that resource, and we really appreciate it. Of course, Hansard, broadcasting, all of DPS. Can I give a special shout-out to the security and PSOs this year. It has been a pretty challenging year. We really respect that they have got a tough job, and we really appreciate the ends they go to to keep us safe. I think nearly all of us have probably had a chat to Adam Boyd about something that we have had to deal with, and we are so lucky that he is hanging around the back of our chamber, but all of the security too. The tradies, who I love. I love the tradies. IT – Chris Prasad is a living legend in Parliament, and he and his team –

Melina Bath interjected.

The PRESIDENT: He is not that old, but he is a living legend as far as our staff are concerned. I want to shout out to the Speaker Maree Edwards and the clerk Bridget Noonan and all her team on the other side of the world, who are great partners of ours.

And something that I should do more, and the last thing I want to say, is I want to give a shout-out to the magnificent Nat Tyler, who nothing happens without, seriously.

Melina Bath: A good Essendon supporter.

The PRESIDENT: Good, well, maybe not. And then all of her assistance to me. There is a saying that some things are hard to polish, and she is magnificent.

I am doing this now so when the adjournment comes we are all out of here in a big hurry. I just want to wish all members of this chamber a great break, and when we come back in February we will get back into some democracy.

Members: Hear, hear!