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- 21 November 2002
Valedictory Speeches
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Mr GLACHAN (Albury) [10.00 a.m.]: May I first of all thank the Leader of the House for his indulgence in allowing me this opportunity to speak today on this the last occasion on which I will address this Chamber. This morning began for me as mornings usually do when I am here in Sydney. I got out of bed, had my usual breakfast of cereal, toast and tea, then walked up from where I stay to Parliament House here in Macquarie Street. But, of course, it is not an ordinary or usual day at all, because this is my last chance to say things that I want to say about the people who have assisted me as I have been here serving the people of my electorate of Albury. In many ways, it is a sad day because this is the last chance that I will have to address the House. I do so with some sadness, of course. But, for me, it is simply one era of my life that comes to a close, and I look forward to the next era that begins at the end of March next year.
My life has been a very fortunate one, and I am very grateful to all of the people who have assisted me along the way. I am particularly thankful for the parents I had. Although I grew up in a home where there was not a lot of money, it was a very happy home. I had a father who was a great role model for me and a mother who was loving and caring. My parents made both my sister and I very much aware of the fact that we were wanted and loved. I think that is all that a child really needs to have a happy childhood.
I left school, on my father's advice, when I was 15 and began an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner on the waterfront in Sydney, in a little street called Lime Street. On one side were the sheds of the Darling Harbour wharves, on the other side, the workshops. I have been back there in recent times. Lime Street has disappeared altogether. There are home units there now. It is quite a different place to the one it was when I served my apprenticeship. There were lots of little workshops and lots of tradesman working in that part of Sydney down at the bottom of Erskine Street, but all of that has gone as this city has grown and developed.
During my apprenticeship, when I was about 16, I went to the Hornsby scout dance one night—the first time I had been to the old Scout Hall in Hornsby. There I saw a striking young woman—14 at the time—Helen Margaret O'Brien. I fell in love with her at first sight. It was the most important night of my life, and she has been with me for the rest of my journey through life.
When I finished my apprenticeship I was called up for national service in the Air Force, at Canberra. I was there for five months. When I was discharged I took a position as a detail engine draughtsman with the Australian Shipbuilding Board. I was a pretty hopeless draughtsman, but they kept me on. When I finished my marine engineering studies at the old Sydney Technical College I went off to sea as a marine engineer, after first of all becoming engaged to Helen. I was away at sea for about five years. We were married during that time.
Just before our first daughter was born I gave up the life of a seafarer, and we bought a farm in the New England. It was not much of a farm, I can tell you, but we struggled along for a while, realised that we would never be successful there, so we left and went to Gilgandra to grow wheat. That was a bit of a struggle as well. Wheat quotas were introduced soon after we arrived. We finally decided that the land would be a struggle for us for as long as we owed money, and we sold the farm and moved to Albury and bought the newsagency in Olive Street, and owned that business for about 18 years.
Then, without ever before in my life having given any thought to a career in politics, one day the former member for Albury, the late Gordon Mackie, happened to meet Helen in a store in Albury and suggested that I might consider a career in politics. This was in 1983. "But," he said, "don't bother about it now. The Liberal Party is looking for candidates for the '84 election. Wait till the election for '88. It's a bit of a rush now." The next day the Hon. Lloyd Lange, who was Leader of the Liberal Party in the upper House, rang me at the shop in Olive Street and said, "Don't wait. Nominate now." So I did.
Interestingly enough, although I had been a member of the Liberal Party for about eight years, I had never ever been to a meeting of the party, and did not know anyone in the Liberal Party in Albury. But I contested preselection, and was successful. I stood against the sitting member, Harold Mair—for me, unsuccessfully; he retained the seat. But I was endorsed by the Liberal Party immediately after that election. I worked in the news agency but I campaigned as well, and in 1988 I was elected to this Parliament. I want to say what a great privilege it was to be elected as part of the Greiner team and to have come into the Parliament at that time.
My election to this Parliament presented me with many opportunities, and I have met some remarkable and outstanding people since my election. I think of Governors of the State, Her Majesty the Queen, people like the Prime Minister, John Howard. I can boast that I actually know him, and from time to time have been able to speak with him. I was very proud to be part of the Greiner team, because I consider that history will show he was one of the greatest Premiers this State has ever had. I must also say what an honour it was to serve under other Liberal leaders who followed him: John Fahey, Peter Collins, Kerry Chikarovski and now John Brogden. I am very proud to have been a part of each of those teams.
During my first two terms in government I was able to achieve some significant things for my electorate. They include the new Albury Base Hospital; the new police station, which is magnificent; a new school at Jindera; a hall for the school at Lavington; and a new bridge over the railway line at Borella Road, replacing an old, single-lane wooden bridge. Those were great achievements, and I am most proud of them.
I am disappointed, though, that one issue is still running, one that has not been resolved. It has gone on for about 40 years now—and it looks like it might go on for another 40 years, the way things are going. That is the road issue. How disappointing that is. Everyone knows that this work needs to be done. They know it is desperately needed; they have been talking about it for 40 years. If it had been done 40 years ago, it would have cost about a sixteenth of what it will finally cost. But the arguments go on, backwards and forwards, decisions are made, decisions are changed, then changed back, and the saga goes on. It is disappointing that it has not been resolved during my time in the Parliament. It has been an issue for every election that I have contested. Like most people in Albury, I am getting a bit sick and tired of it all. But one day it will be resolved and it will be a great advantage to the cities of Albury and Wodonga once a final decision is made.
Let me now go on to thank all of those who have something to do with this place and make it work as effectively as it does. All of the staff here at Parliament are wonderful, helpful and considerate. I want to pay a special tribute to all of them and thank them for the help, the advice and the support they have given me in the almost 15 years that I have been a member here. I thank the Clerks, the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Deputy Sergeant, the attendants in the Chamber, people in the Library, the bookbinders, David and his catering staff, the waiters who serve us in the dining rooms, the people in the office store, the cleaners, the maintenance staff, and the security people. I thank the people in Hansard, who sometimes I am sure have great difficulty understanding what some of us say; they might often be excited by what is said but perhaps would not mind if I said they might sometimes be bored by what is said.
I also thank the staff on the committees of Parliament. I had the great privilege of being the first chairman of the Health Care Complaints Committee. I have been on the Public Accounts Committee for some time and chaired it for while. I thank the staff of those committees for the hard work they do. Only members on those committees know how hard they work. I am sure the general public has no idea of that. We know, because we know how the reports are written. I especially mention from the Public Accounts Committee, Patricia Azarias the director, Yael Larkin and now David Monk, and I thank each of them for their help and support while I served on that committee.
When I was a young person growing up in Sydney, people in politics were respected by the community and held in high regard. It is sad that today that has changed to some extent. There seems to have been an unofficial determination by some people in the media to denigrate people in politics. They paint us as people with our noses in the trough, lazy, self-seeking, self-centred and here just to look after ourselves. Of course, that is not true. I have known people for 15 years from every section of the House—Labor Party, Liberal Party and the National Party, and amongst the Independents. My experience with them is that they are all hard working and determined to do all they can to help the people they represent in their electorates. They are not elected for their own benefit, but to serve the people who vote for them. They do it to the best of their abilities. There would not be a person in this Chamber who works less than a 60-hour week, and many work even longer hours than that. They put their constituents before themselves and their families. I have the highest admiration for all of them.
I have made some wonderful friends here—great friends in the Liberal Party, in the National Party, in the Labor Party and amongst the Independents. There are people who have been very kind and considerate to me and they have given me good advice and help on many occasions. It has been a great pleasure and privilege to count myself as a member of this Chamber. I also want to say what a great experience it has been to be part of the Christian Fellowship Group. [Extension of time agreed to.]
The Christian Fellowship Group has been a tower of strength for me and I have enjoyed the time I have spent with those people as we met regularly and shared our faith. I also want to say something about the constituents who have continued to elect me over a number of years. I am very grateful to all of them. Over the years the electorate has changed. When I was first nominated by the Liberal Party to contest the seat, the shire of Tumbarumba was part of the electorate. That was taken out of the electorate at the subsequent election, put back again and now it is part of the electorate of Wagga Wagga, just as Holbrook, which was always part of the Albury electorate and is now part of the electorate of Wagga Wagga.
The Corowa shire is part of the electorate now, but for the first time. Over the years I have had the great privilege of representing the people of the Tumbarumba shire, the Holbrook shire, the Culcairn shire, the Hume shire, the Corowa shire and the city of Albury. They are wonderful people, hard working, dedicated to their families, their businesses, their farms and to that particular part of New South Wales. It is a wonderful part of the State and of Australia and I have been extremely proud to be the member who has had the opportunity and privilege of representing those wonderful people in this Chamber.
I want to say something now about some special people. The first is Frances Colquhoun, who joined my office in August 1988, and Janette Weber, who joined my office in January 1989. I am delighted they are in the Chamber today. Might I say what wonderful people they are, how supportive they have been of me, how dedicated they have been in working for and on behalf of the constituents of the Albury electorate. They are wonderful with the constituents, very kind and helpful to them. They are very supportive of me and very loyal in the work they do for me in the electorate. I am grateful to them for the service they have given to the electorate and to me. The people of New South Wales should be proud of them as well. There is not a morning when Frances is not in the electorate office well before 9 o'clock—sometimes she is working there at 8.40 or 8.30. Often I have had to order Janette to leave the office at 5.20 or 5.30. Unfortunately, she takes no notice of me and continues working. They represent the dedicated sort of people who work for the people of New South Wales and for the people of the Albury electorate. It has been a great pleasure to have them as my associates in the office. I am very proud of them and what they have done for the electorate.
Finally, let me talk about the most important person in the world as far as I am concerned. That young girl I met at the Hornsby scout hall, way back—many years ago—has been a wonderful help and support for me. She has been a great gift that God has given to me and has enriched my life in a remarkable way. God has been really great to me. I have been blessed in many ways. First, to be given by his grace and through no merit of my own the great gift of faith that I can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and, second, this great gift of my wife, of my three daughters, of our three fine sons-in-law and our six wonderful grandchildren. They are great blessings that God has given to me and I am most grateful for them.
I can still remember quite clearly the night I met Helen and exactly how she looked. She has not changed at all. When we first became engaged, when I was just an apprentice in that workshop, she accepted that I would be going off to sea. When I was 21, off I went. We were married while I was serving at sea. When we bought our first farm and went to that little slab house with no laundry, she washed the baby's nappies in a copper pot with a fire underneath it out in the open. We were 35 miles from the hospital when the first baby was born. Two creeks could flood and cut off the road, and she never complained. When I was bringing stock back to the yards for stock work she would be waiting to open the gates and to assist. When it was time to go out and work on a fence and I needed a hand she would put one of those old-fashioned round playpens in the back of the Land Rover. When we got to the paddock, we set up the playpen under the shade of a tree, put the baby in it, and Helen would be running out the wires and working like a man to help me.
When we went wheat farming I had this old international diesel tractor that was a cow of a thing to start. She would be out early in the morning in the truck with a chain pulling me around the yard so I could get the tractor started and off to plough the paddocks. She has been a great support to me. We went into a newsagency business and lived above the shop in a tiny little flat. One room, that our youngest daughter lived in, was like a cupboard. We were there in our business, working together. I opened the shop at a quarter to four in morning, and she would be there from eight in the morning until late at night, seven days a week. She never complained, she was always there to help when I needed help. When I took the opportunity of a career in politics, she was there beside me. I think that at times she is more popular in the electorate than I am. If I turn up at a function without her, the first question is "Where is Helen?" I have been greatly blessed.
I just want to say what a great privilege and honour it has been to be among all of my colleagues, every one of them, irrespective of the party they belong to. They have all touched my life in some way or another, and I am grateful for that. I will never forget them. Let me say also that it is a great privilege to be elected to serve in the Parliament by the people among whom I live, and I have treasured that privilege. Let me also say what a great privilege it has been to simply be Ian Glachan, MP, Member for Albury.
Mr THOMPSON (Rockdale) [10.20 a.m.]: A few weeks ago I announced that I would not seek re-election to Parliament at the next State election. At first, that was a difficult decision. But, having made it, after discussion with my family, I am now looking forward to new challenges with renewed enthusiasm. I am very fortunate indeed to have had the privilege of representing the people in the Rockdale district in the Parliament for nearly 12 years. I was born and bred in Rockdale and I know the area intimately. My family's links with the district go back to the 1890s. Both my mother's and my father's sides of the family are steeped in Labor politics and trade unionism. I owe my parents a tremendous amount for their positive influence and the opportunities they have given me. In my first speech in this House on 17 September 1991 I said:
... I wish to pay tribute to my long-suffering family, the members of which are largely responsible for my being here in the first place. My wife, Lucy, and my children, Ben and Erica, have had to put up with a lot over the years from a husband and father who has been a member of the Australian Labor Party [ALP] for 31 years and a full-time trade union official for most of the past 17 years. They have been supportive and tolerant in the extreme. Without them I would not be here. It has not been easy for them. They have been behind me absolutely. My parents also share some of the credit or the blame for the path I have chosen. They were battlers, who gave each of their five children every chance in life.
Looking back, I am particularly pleased that I said that. My parents have since died, but my wonderful wife, Lucy, continues to put up with me. She and Ben and Erica have never wavered in their support. As I said in my maiden speech, prior to coming into Parliament I was a bank worker and a union secretary for quite a few years. My job and my family's livelihood depended on my being regularly re-elected by the membership. In my time in the union, I contested six or seven elections and I survived them all. Following that, there were the preselections and general elections of 1991, 1995 and 1999. So, since 1974 to the present, the Thompson household has lived and breathed elections. We are all looking forward to a return to normalcy. I hope to be able to repay them in some way for their sacrifices and for the trials and tribulations I have put them through.
The 31 years of ALP membership that I referred to in my maiden speech have now grown to almost 43 years. My commitment to my party has never waned, and it never will. In preparing this speech I was reminded of some great words penned by the great Willie Nelson. I am a fan of country music, as are a number of members of this House, and Willie is one of the best. Those words are:
Ain't it funny how time slips away.
I clearly remember the night I joined the Labor Party in June 1960—just two weeks after my fifteenth birthday. It is as if it were only yesterday. I have vivid memories of the old ALP Youth Council where I first met John Ducker, Barrie Unsworth, Ted Cunningham, Marcus Einfeld, Jim Spigelman, Paul Keating, Bob Carr, Ron Dyer, Michael Egan, Laurie Brereton, Leo McLeay, Marie Andrews and many others. I think again of Roger Degan and that great character, Bobby Gould. To say the least, the ALP Youth Council in the sixties was a great training ground. No political education in the ALP was complete without some involvement in union affairs. My family background was such that I naturally joined a union as soon as I started work. In time, I became a job delegate and some years later I became the secretary. Like my Labor Party loyalty, my commitment and support for the union movement is absolute. I am proud to be a life member of my union, and I have continued to maintain close contact and interest in the good work it does.
I believe that if more people joined unions, there would be less misery and less exploitation in the workplace. It never fails to amaze me that people will pay thousands to ensure their house and car or their other goods and chattels, but they do not insure their job—their very livelihood. That is what a union subscription is—insurance—and I believe that union membership is the best type of insurance that a wage or salary owner can buy. My time in Parliament has been shared between Opposition and Government—four years in Opposition and eight years in Government. And, Government wins, hands down! But I found those years of Opposition stimulating and instructive. As Leader of the Opposition, Bob Carr was a slavedriver, a tough disciplinarian. He made sure that every one of us was involved in policy work—policy research and development. Given that I had a thorough grounding in industrial relations and in the workings of the State Industrial Commission, I took the opportunity to broaden my horizons in other directions.
I opted to become involved in a number of different caucus committees. Probably the best move I made was joining the Caucus Aboriginal Affairs Committee. Since my involvement, I have visited numerous Aboriginal communities throughout the State in the company of my good friend and colleague, Col Markham, the honourable member for Wollongong. It has given me an insight into and a great appreciation of Aboriginal Australians. It has opened my eyes to the true history of our country and has made me a better person for the experiences I have had. The point I started out to make about the years in Opposition was that they were not wasted time. Every single policy area was analysed, re-examined and updated. New policies were forged. It was not a simple process: each took time, commitment and discipline, but it was the foundation for the years of Government since 1995. That is the difference between us, on the Government side, and the Coalition. For anyone who experienced our period in Opposition, the difference is stark.
As an Opposition, I think we absolutely terrorised the Government on occasions. We had well-developed alternative policies and programs. I think it is tragic to see the Opposition in its current state; it appears to be so policy bereft. Members of the Opposition have not landed a glove on the Government for years. But having said that, I want to say that, during my time here, I have made friends on both sides of the House. I have enjoyed a working relationship that has developed between the Whips. I have never had cause to doubt either the word of the honourable member for Bega or the word of the honourable member for Coffs Harbour, and I know that the honourable member for Londonderry, Jim Anderson, endorses those remarks. In our positions, trust is priceless. It is what makes the system work. We have to be able to trust each other and trust each other's word.
I have never had reason to doubt the word that I have been given by the honourable members I have mentioned. Obviously, things can get pretty rough in this Chamber. We call it robust debate, and I think it helps if you have a sense of humour. Harsh things are often said and when someone is under the hammer it is no place for the faint-hearted. But it has been my experience that those matters are generally left in here and members treat each other with due courtesy outside the Chamber. As I said, I have made a number of friends on both sides in my time here. Indeed, it is a political truism that your enemy is usually behind you, and on the other side there is the Opposition.
One of the best things we have done in the interests of members of Parliament has been to bring the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal under the auspices of the State Industrial Relations Commission. After an initial hiccup the system has settled down and has already proved to be of great benefit. I personally obtained great satisfaction out of my close involvement in preparing the submissions on behalf of the parliamentary Labor Party for our various appearances in the commission, and in doing all the other shop steward type activities that go with the Whip's job. The Industrial Relations Commission is a great vehicle for arguing the case for protecting and advancing the working conditions of people, and I believe it is beyond reproach. The general public can now see our terms and conditions being set by the commission just as it adjudicates for many others. It is a transparent process and we are all accountable. And that is the way it should be.
In my experience most of the hard work of a local member is in the electorate. People come to you from all walks of life with a very broad range of problems. We all rely heavily on our electorate office staff, and that is certainly so in my case. The people of Rockdale have been well served by my electorate assistants over the years. Daphne Daley is here this morning along with Judy Blake, and Jan Clifford from the Whip's office. Daphne joined me soon after I was elected in 1991. She had worked for Allan Walsh for 14 years prior to that when he was the member for Maitland. Daphne was raised in Delungra in north-western New South Wales just up the Warialda road from Gum Flat, where my wife, Lucy, came from. Indeed, my wife and Daphne's sister were in the same class at school for a period. Daphne has been terrific. She is a non-stop worker, exceedingly efficient, and she has a great knowledge of the "system".
We all at some time or other have difficult constituents, just as we have many who are a pleasure to deal with. Regardless of the problem or an individual's idiosyncrasies, Daphne treats them all with respect and dignity. My job would have been so much harder were it not for the help Daphne has given me over the years. Judy Blake has been with me for about two years. She had experience working for Doug Shedden—a very fine gentle man whom I also treasure as a friend—the former member for Bankstown. Judy is a delightful lady who is attentive and courteous to our customers and is fully professional at her job. She complements Daphne perfectly and she is a valued member of our team in the Rockdale office.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the local branch members of the Labor Party for their efforts over the years in supporting me. The ALP has many stalwarts who seek no special recognition. They turn out without fail to support our candidates time and again. In Rockdale we have more than our share of such good, honest and decent people. I salute them and thank them. I thank everyone who works in this place—the people in the Library, the Hansard people, the catering staff, the security people, the cleaners, the attendants and so on. I also thank Jan Clifford in the Whip's office and the Clerks and other professionals behind the scenes. As well as making the place work they also make being here a pleasurable experience. Rockdale is a wonderful community. Almost 50 per cent of the people in it come from non-English-speaking backgrounds. It is a dynamic and diverse community and I love it. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the people of Rockdale in this Parliament.
Mr E. T. PAGE (Coogee) [10.36 a.m.]: By the time this Parliament has finished I will have given 21½ years service here, and I must say that I have enjoyed every minute of it: I have no regrets whatsoever. On 1 December this year I will have completed 40 years of elected democratic service: I was elected to Waverley Council on 1 December 1962 and I have been an elected member ever since. I thank my constituents. They have seen fit to continue to re-elect me in what is becoming virtually a Liberal seat. But I seem to be able to hang on. I hope I have not disappointed them and that I have fulfilled their expectations of me.
At a branch meeting recently just out of the blue someone asked, "What is the thing you have enjoyed most about being a representative?" I had not thought about it but I said, "Helping people." I get the best buzz out of people coming to my electorate office and my being able to solve a problem for them that otherwise would not have been addressed. That was my gut feeling. I get great satisfaction from helping someone with a problem that otherwise may not have been addressed. I have had great support from the branch members. It is common for there to be tremendous divisions in branches in some areas—Lefts and Rights and people who hate other people for various reasons. I have never had a problem in my branches. I have had absolute consistent support and I have never had to worry about my back or be concerned about divisions being detrimental to my candidature. I am very pleased about that.
During elections we run extensive campaigns and I send out about 160,000 pieces of addressed information. We have never had to pay a cent to have that information delivered. Branch members, people from various unions and personal friends put their hands up and deliver everything. I pay tribute to my first wife, Marianne, who gave me great help and encouragement. Not long after we were married we had two children. I did a commerce degree course at night while she looked after the children. We had five children in all, so she obviously made a tremendous contribution to everything that I achieved in the democratic area. Unfortunately, families pay a price for this lifestyle. I express my appreciation to my five children for their support, tolerance and humour over the years. They used to be ragged at school because their father was the mayor and so on but they put up with all of it. They became branch members because I asked them to. They did all the normal electoral work, sorting out envelopes, delivering them and helping on election day.
My family was a powerhouse of support. My eldest son, Harry, works for the Australian Taxation Office, and loves it; he has that sort of streak. My first poll was declared on his birthday, 30 September 1981. My second child is a daughter, Therese, and my first election was held on her birthday, 19 September, 1981. I well remember those two days. She and her husband, Clive O'Brien, and their children Jasmine and Kurt, live in Morayfield in Queensland. My second son, Matthew, was married about 12 months ago on the roof garden at Parliament House, and the reception was held in the parliamentary dining room. My second daughter, Janemaree, lives at Sawtell with her husband, Steve Cook, and three children Paige, Vincent and Joseph. My youngest daughter, Rebecca, and her husband Dave live at the old family house at Bondi with their children James, Ben and Olivia.
It would be remiss of me to not mention Barbara, whom I married about eight years ago. I have a tremendous relationship with Barbara. Everyone in Parliament would know Barbara, and they respect her and like her. Her two children, Alan Dixon and Jackie Bell, have accepted me into the family; there has never been a suggestion of any animosity. I pay great tribute to them. Jackie has two children, James and Jamica. In a former life I was an electrical engineer and James, who is now 18, is doing electrical engineering at the University of Technology Sydney. I cannot claim any connection with his skills in that regard.
I refer now to some political allies. All honourable members would know Ann Symonds; she and I have been close friends for 35 years. I was very sorry when she left this Parliament. Other allies were Jeannette McHugh, the Federal member for Phillip, and a Federal Minister; Barbara Armitage, the Mayor of Waverley for a record 10 years; and Paul Pearce, who has been Mayor of Waverley for six years and who will follow me in the seat of Coogee. Honourable members will get to know him very well in the next few terms of Parliament.
I pay special tribute to Paul Tracey, an extremely resourceful and innovative guy, who has run every State campaign in which I have been involved. He was a dedicated campaign manager, I say he is the best in Australia. He is always thinking up new ideas that other people copy. No-one could do better than have Paul Tracey as a campaign director. Paul's wife, Sue, was my first electorate officer, and worked with me for 10 years before she moved on to work for Ann Symonds. My current electoral staff are Carolyn Nielson and Stephanie Richards. They have been with me for nearly eight years and they have made fantastic contributions.
My ministerial staff included Paul Tracey, Ted Plummer and Freda Backas, who were with me before I came to the ministry, as well as Ros Riordan, Paul Murphy, Vanessa Lovett, Samantha Mangan, who is now Samantha Whyte and has four young children, and John Westley, our driver. I owe them all a great debt of gratitude. Honourable members would no doubt know that I am an insulin-dependent diabetic. Now and again, when my sugar level starts to drop, I tend to lose the plot. John Westley was always very sensitive to that; no-one else was as sharp as he was to notice when my pattern of behaviour was changing. I pay great tribute to him for that.
In Parliament members could do nothing constructive without the help of the parliamentary staff. For an active member the start of operations is always the library; that is where we get information and advice. I pay tribute to Rob Brian, and his predecessor, Russell Cope, for the great management of the library system. I acknowledge also Greig Tillotson, Margaret Horton, Evan Cole, Philip Dixon, Prue Jessep, Christine Lamerton, Lynette Tavukcu and, of course, Carmen Vella. All members know Carmen, because if a book is one day overdue Carmen will drive you into the ground. I warn new staff about Carmen and advise them not allow a book to become overdue. I thank also Jan Duncan, who does the media monitoring, and David Clune, for research.
Second on the list of important sections is the Dining Room. I acknowledge David Draper, who today received an award for 10 years of service, Joseph Rokoqo, and chefs Scott Clark and Eric Bradley. Eric is a Canadian. When I was Mayor of Waverley I presented Eric with his citizenship certificate; I have that bond with him. I thank also Maureen Morgan, and Peter Doe and Robert Anitelea in the bottle shop. Another great character is Santiago Rodriquez, who members know serves drinks in the dining room. I thank also John Da Silva, who delivers meals to our offices.
I acknowledge also the staff of the Legislative Assembly. The Clerks provide great technical service to the Parliament. With all the ins and outs of the way in which the Parliament operates, we need experts who have some idea of what is going on so that the place functions correctly. Working in that office is Patricia Broderick, and in the general office there is Jenny Lamont, Jeffrey Page, Gary O'Rourke, John Hatfield and Rebecca Cartwright. The well-known Serjeant-at-Arms, Merv Sheather, is respected and admired by all members. I have never seen a member attack Merv as he accompanied that member from the Chamber. But I wonder if a member will be a bit outrageous and do that in future. I acknowledge also Lucy Gonano and David Auert.
Another section that we all have a lot to do with is the printing section. Unfortunately it was decided that that section be gutted, which I thought was horrendous. It is a sign of economic rationalisation times that if good personal service is given by some section that that section has to go. We cannot have people putting any soul and humanity into a service that they provide. I pay tribute to Patricia Makin, who has left the Parliament's service. I acknowledge also Demetrio Miraflor, Ross Fulwood, Paul Brock, known as Radar, and Robert Bartrim, known as Bones. They all did a tremendous job for me and I am sure we are all sorry that they have gone.
This morning I attended the ceremony of the handing out of awards for people who had served up to 30 years in this organisation. Economic rationalists hate those functions. If one has been here a long time, that is a reason for them to go. I hope that at some stage people will realise that that it is inhumane to shovel people out of jobs for no real reason. There should be a golden rule that if someone wants to rearrange an organisation, and shed staff, the first thing that person should do is write down why he should be retained. We have an accounts section, that is where the money comes from, and that is a pretty important service.
Mr Orkopoulos: What about the superannuation section?
Mr E. T. PAGE: The accounts do not handle superannuation, that is covered by a separate group. I thank Greg McGill, Iris Elder and Joyce Turner. They have always been very helpful at sorting things out for me. Parliament is becoming more involved with the information technology [IT] process. We have been given great service by Parliament's IT section, from Neil Dammerel, Kerrie O'Brien, Helene Bell and Louise Hanna. They have always fixed up my problems and I thank them for that.
Mr Fraser: That's a big call.
Mr E. T. PAGE: Yes, it is not easy. Barbara Dixon and Christine Czintos, who are stenographers, have been here longer than I have. I have always been assisted by them to get work done. We do not get to know the names of the Hansard reporters, but we know their faces. They do a tremendous job. It is amazing and revealing that after giving a speech we read it in Hansard and cannot believe it is what we said-it sounds too good. They do a great job. I thank them for their innovation and their Christian spirit—I use that term in the general sense given that I am an atheist.
When I first came into this place there were no female Hansard reporters. [Extension of time agreed to.]
Because Parliament sat late at night it was deemed unsafe for them to go home by themselves. That seemed odd to me. Wran stopped that and allowed women to be employed as Hansard reporters. There are now more women than men in the job. Three female Hansard reporters were presented with ten-year service awards this morning, so there is not much evidence of them being mugged or getting lost on the way home after a long night of sitting. I also thank the attendants, the cleaners and the staff of the Building Services section. They have always been very helpful.
I pay tribute to George Thompson, who spoke before me. He has been a tremendous Whip. I have seen a few, but none has been better than George. The Whip has a thankless job, because he must berate members if they are not doing the right thing. George has never displayed any antagonism. He is tremendously respected and he should be here next year. I will not say more about that. I thank Jim Anderson and Jan Clifford, who have been his offsiders. I will not say anything about members. If we want respect from anyone we must earn it. The way we behave determines what people think of us. I leave it up to individuals to judge my relationship with them. I am prone to calling out at Opposition members, but I have never said anything personal about a member. It is all hype—I was about to use the word "bulldust". It is designed to get a bite. I have never had a personal go at anyone. It is not a rational way to operate.
In my early years in politics we had a light on the hill; we had something to believe in and goals. That seems to have gone. People no longer have causes to pursue and problems to overcome. Everything is bureaucratic and inward looking. That has taken the soul out of Parliament and politics. Economic rationalism has been the greatest disaster for politics throughout the world. Everything is reduced to a profit and loss account. Unless we can provide figures on one side or the other of a ledger to prove a point, it is does not matter. Ideas no longer count. It does not take long to find out that there is no positive economic basis for economic rationalism. It is leading the world into incredible economic problems; it is the doctrine of the hopeless. That must be changed so that personal feelings mean something in political parties. According to the economic rationalists, people and jobs do not count any more.
I worry about my children's future. When I grew up everyone had a job or a career in a public or private organisation. People did not face unemployment and society helped people. That is no longer the case. The future for young people is very bleak and society makes them no promises. Society no longer believes that it should look after its citizens. We are all on our own in overcoming whatever problems occur, and more and more problems are occurring because of the way society is going. That is very hard to tolerate. With those words, I have enjoyed working with everyone. No doubt I will see members around the traps. I hope life turns out well for them, despite my pessimism.
Dr KERNOHAN (Camden) [10.56 a.m.]: Almost 12 years ago I completed my maiden speech in this House with the quotation, "This above all, to thine own self be true; and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man", which I have followed throughout my political career. I can assure incoming politicians that they will sleep very well at night if they follow that quotation with words and actions. However, they will rarely climb the ladder of success as a politician. Refusing to be politically correct also does not help career progress. Honourable members should note my opening words and that the use of the term "maiden" instead of "inaugural" is historically correct—in 1991 we still made "maiden speeches". A colleague advised me that one should not be too controversial in a farewell speech; it should leave listeners with a happy glow. However, people who know me well and cannot believe I have stayed a politician for 12 years know that I could not make a bland, pedestrian farewell speech.
I first wish to record my appreciation to various people. I have never worked in a situation before in which the general staff-I refer to cleaners, attendants, security officers, secretaries, dining room, maintenance and legislative office staff-have all worked so hard to look after and satisfy a group of 135 egotists, which includes me, who believe their wants and needs are the most important thing on earth and that they must be met immediately. I will not mention any particular staff member's name because I am sure to miss out some very helpful person. I wish to thank not only those staff but also the committee staff, librarians, IT specialists and the Clerks of this Parliament who do a great job. I do not forget the Hansard staff, who can make written sense out of spoken sentences that often have little meaning. I thank all the Parliament House staff. Without their friendly help and support this place could well have been unbearable at times.
I wish to place on record my undying gratitude and thanks to my electorate office staff of the past eight years. Without Sandra Raine's and Pat Grundy's help, support and faith in me during a stressful time in my political career when they were only temporary staff, I would not be standing in this Parliament today. Their professional competence and their compassionate and caring attitude towards constituents, together with that of my more recent part-time electorate officers, Jan Stewart and Kathryn Small, played no small part in my success as Camden's local member of Parliament. No electorate office could have been run more efficiently and smoothly than my office was run over the past eight years with Sandra Raine as my senior electorate officer. We made a good team. My one regret for the future is that I will not have those friends around me virtually every day. I wish them every success in whatever they propose to do next with their lives. I also wish to thank Liz Richardson for her help and friendship during the 12 months she was my original electorate assistant.
I also put on the record my grateful appreciation and thanks to the local Liberal Party members who worked so hard to ensure my election. The help of those members and my non-party friends, who came from far and wide on such occasions, will never be forgotten. I name only two people—my campaign and office manager, Nance Cottle, and my agent, Wanda Sharpe, without whose help and support my three election campaigns would not have been smoothly run and relatively painless. Many individuals have done tremendous jobs in various capacities over the different campaigns but Nance and Wanda, who have been there for all three campaigns, remained steadfastly efficient and overcame any difficulty that arose. I thank those parliamentary colleagues on both sides of this Parliament and members on the crossbenches who have shown me friendship over the last 12 years. I look forward to continuing those friendships after my retirement. It is gratifying to know that a few members of a different political persuasion can be pleasant and friendly at a personal level at all times.
I believe I have been a good local member and I could have remained as the member for Camden virtually for as long as I wished. However, I did not want to. At my time of life, after 18 years of being an elected representative of the Camden people in local government and 12 years in Parliament, I decided it was time to relax and have a little time for myself. Members who are community people, love their local district and work hard for it generally can retain their seats because members of the public, despite overall voting swings on party lines, appreciate someone who cares and works hard for them. I have proved that by increasing my winning margin in two elections which were considered unwinnable, because Camden is a growth centre with an ever-increasing population and changing demographics, and despite swings against my party. Also, being direct and honest with constituents and refusing to play party politics are attributes that are much appreciated by them. However, that does not endear one to one's colleagues on the political scene because one could be dangerous and one has to forgo the chance of ever advancing past the backbench.
Despite being a lousy party politician because I considered the governance of our State too important for game playing, I have tried to abide by the rules of the game. It is a game, as everybody in this place knows. In other words, one does not embarrass one's party or colleagues by publicly disagreeing with them and one does not disclose what goes on in the party room. Generally, I have followed those rules and I have never defended myself in the press, despite being maligned on a number of occasions when lies were purposely leaked from the party room for political purposes. The Sydney media has to answer for the lack of esteem in which politicians are held by the general public. At every opportunity politicians are denigrated to make a story.
When asked by people if he was proud of me, my late father used to answer, "Sometimes, but I always thought she was meant to be intelligent." My father thought I was a fool to give up two prestigious positions when I had not only a reputation for honesty and integrity but also the respect of the local community and the New South Wales dairying industry. It is surprising to me that anyone who has a successful professional career, a good reputation, and a family would give up that career to be a politician. People's character can be maligned and their children baited and jeered at school due to a story in the media that might be highly inaccurate. The option to sue is always there, but it gives the media a chance to publicly rehash the lies. That, together with the stress of a trial with its ongoing publicity, hardly does a politician's career or health much good. Hence the media often gets away with untruths that are never corrected.
Within Parliament the only real contribution that backbenchers can make other than being a part of the "head count" at divisions is through their membership of various parliamentary committees. I have thoroughly enjoyed being on the Regulation Review Committee since 1992—a committee often considered boring by non-participating members. It will become one of the most important committees in this Parliament when, during the Fifty-third Parliament, it takes on the job of scrutinising bills. I have also found being on the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Legislative Assembly Standing Ethics Committee since 1995 a most educative process in relation to the workings of same.
My real joy was chairing the 1992 Joint Select Committee Upon Waste Management, which was unique when formed, with two non-parliamentary sub-committees, one representing local government and the other representing the environment and industry points of view. As the industry and environment members could never agree, even on a time to meet, I took it upon myself to accept and report the input from three separate committees rather than two. At the time the ensuing report was the most reprinted and sought after report the Parliament ever published. My one disappointment was that nothing ever came of it—not even discussions with the then Minister as to its inadequacies.
What really have I achieved over the last 12 years for the Camden electorate, that is, apart from helping my constituents with problems involving government departments, which has given me great personal satisfaction and enjoyment over these past years? Indeed, I loved the electorate work and I regret that I will no longer have that involvement. When in government, input as a member of backbench committees and the accessibility of Ministers made lobbying on policy possible. I did succeed in achieving the purpose for which I entered Parliament, namely, to stop the proposed urban development of the Cawdor Valley. That proposed development, although in Wollondilly shire, abutted Camden and would have destroyed the ambience of urban Camden for which I had worked so hard to maintain on Camden Council.
My lobbying of the Coalition ensured that Campbelltown's O'Hare's Creek Gorge was proclaimed the Dharawal Reserve, which was the highest environmental protection possible because of underlying coal seams and leases. I also lobbied the Coalition Government to buy a Singapore banking group's land at Wedderburn to save the famous koala colony threatened by its housing development—the first official koala sanctuary in Australia. I can take some credit for the following major works being expedited: the Picton Sewerage Scheme, the replacement of the Narellan Road level railway crossing by an overbridge, the upgrade of Campbelltown railway station, the Queen Victoria Hospital upgrade, the M5 missing link construction and the upgrade and refurbishment of many older primary schools. However, because those issues were highly desirable politically I often wonder just how much weight my lobbying really carried!
I also believe that my 36-page formal submission on the draft environmental impact statement for the second Sydney airport proposal, indicating its gross inadequacies when I gave it to the Leader of the Opposition, played a small role in the Coalition's stand in 1999 against the construction of a second airport in the Sydney Basin. Unknown publicly, my caustic letters to the Minister for Defence, Bronwyn Bishop, resulted in Army cadets once again using rifles for catafalque duty on Anzac Day.
Unfortunately, I have failed my constituents and the people of New South Wales in a number of ways, and I apologise for that. At the local level I have been unable even to get a decent taxi service for Camden let alone a fully functional general hospital, or to improve the existing roads and public transport system to cater for the ever-increasing population. I have tried since 1994 to get Ministers to accept the proposal of a local church group to solve the worries felt by 60-year-old to 70-year-old parents about what happens to their totally dependent 40-year-old to 50-year-old profoundly disabled children when they die. All Ministers were sympathetic and agreed it was a compassionate, sensible and commonsense proposal, but none was prepared to give it a trial. Is it the fear of politicians not winning the next election that lets the views of vocal lobby groups prevail over commonsense?
On the wider scale I did nothing to help to solve society's problems as it did not seem to be the role of a backbencher. Are the streets safer for citizens or the classrooms safer for schoolteachers than they were 12 years ago? Has the waiting time for surgery or treatment in hospital emergency departments been reduced? Has public transport been improved enough for people to use it rather than their cars? On reflection I was wrong: I should have lobbied furiously on a number of social issues when the Coalition was in government. [Extension of time agreed to.]
"Political science" is a widely used term, recognised by all as a reality. Yet science plays little part in practical political decisions. In politics, perceptions become reality, while political game playing, polling results, emotions, and party affiliations play a real role in decision making. One of the reasons so few trained scientists are members in this place is that scientific training teaches one to look at facts, which can be either good or bad but are nevertheless facts, and one does not play games with facts. In politics it appears that one has to look at everything in shades of grey, with very few accepted facts, because every voter's opinion has to be considered in order to obtain his or her vote. Hence another reason I have not been a politician's politician, in that I have standards that decree that certain things are right or wrong and, being politically incorrect, that I state what I believe is right. What has happened to commonsense in legislation? In the debate on 17 October 1996 about the closure of the veterinary laboratories I said:
… commonsense is rare in academia; it is rarer in politics; and it is positively endangered on the front bench of the Carr Labor Government.
Everybody thought that a clever political jibe. However, I meant every word of it, and the lack of commonsense in legislation passed by members of the New South Wales Parliament over many years is often unbelievable. Why did it need a disastrous bankruptcy in the insurance industry for politicians to recognise that people should take some responsibility for their actions?
As a former academic, I want to talk about the role of academics and politics. More than 40 years ago "publish or perish" was a very well-known edict in academia, which nowadays can also affect actual total funding to universities. Hence academics concentrate on new ideas and lateral thinking, and work hard to discover new things. There would be little progress, particularly in our scientific and technological worlds, if that did not happen. The same requirements apply in social fields, so one must produce new concepts to gain prestige and position. The resultant theories can be absolutely correct on the basis of accurate research, with results that look great on paper, but when these theories are accepted and transformed in full into legislation many do not work in practice.
Has the Richmond report worked in practice when one considers the number of mentally disturbed people living on our streets or in our gaols? Ask schoolteachers whether they feel they can fairly apportion their time to all members of a mainstream class that includes a disabled or behaviourally disturbed child who requires a full-time aide. Academics and bureaucrats producing ideas for legislation are not required to look into the numerous traits of human nature, referring particularly to greed, spite, hate and envy. We, as politicians, should look at the effects of such traits on new theories and suggestions proposed for future legislation. This we now do only occasionally, as seen when every bad trait of human nature is brought out as the reason for not legalising euthanasia despite the fact that polls show that 70 per cent of the general public are in favour of it.
Is it the "emperor has no clothes" syndrome, are politicians without academic titles and degrees overwhelmed on a personal level, or are they too politically correct to question any new theories? Why do we not query new theories more? Why is there not a Minister for Commonsense? Perhaps finding someone willing to take the job could be difficult! However, a committee made up of politicians and non-academic, ordinary citizens could play the role of devil's advocate on all new theories proposed for legislation. They could consider how the nastiest aspects of human nature could affect these theories, and suggest possible modifications. Some legislation has disastrously affected so many good-living, decent people when the intention was to deal with only the worst 2 per cent to 3 per cent of the community. Some examples are the misuse of current sexual abuse laws and apprehended violence orders, which are a perfect weapon for malicious or spiteful people.
What kind of a society have we developed when female schoolteachers are advised not to pick up and cuddle a five-year-old child who has fallen over in the playground and hurt herself? What happened to the time when a teacher's duty was "in loco parentis"? What kind of society do we have when a father is frightened to cuddle his toddler or baby daughter in public because of what people may say about him? There are disgusting paedophiles in our community who should be in gaol, and laws to put them there were legislated many years ago. However, we needed only to overcome the "non-dobbing" Australian tradition and to educate people to report this behaviour and other gross abuse of children. We have gone overboard with legislation, but are the children any safer?
I believe we need to review the definition of "child" in legislation because more and more major crimes are being committed by so-called children. The child of today is hardly a child when he or she can leave home, live alone and hold a permanent job, if obtainable, at 15; legally marry with a magistrate's permission at 16; and drive a potentially lethal machine—a motor car—at 17 years of age. The broad education that children get these days and the activities they learn from television or publicly witness in today's community make them grow up faster than they did even 20 years ago. I believe that for legal purposes there should be three classifications of maturity: a "child" until the age of 12, an "adolescent" from 13 to 18, and an "adult" from 18 years of age. When such adolescents commit adult crimes they should be treated as adults, with their names not suppressed and with the courts open to the public. We have so many laws in this State and country but so little justice. I believe that everybody is entitled to a fair and just trial but when guilty people are set free because we, the legislators, have made errors or left loopholes in the law for clever lawyers to find, that is not justice.
As a former agricultural scientist who specialised in dairying, I would like to conclude my final parliamentary speech with some thoughts on the general farming community and the value placed on it by politicians. I regret only that my experience and expertise were not tapped by my coalition colleagues in determining some agricultural policies. Farmers are generally to be considered the most conservative group in our society but in reality they are the greatest gamblers of all time. They gamble on the weather, hoping crops are not decimated by drought, flood, hail, locust or mice plagues, and the many plant diseases not yet controllable by science.
The animal industries are similarly affected by weather, with animal diseases playing a significant role, particularly in the intensive industries. Like urban business people, farmers suffer the vagaries of local and overseas markets, interest rates and the availability of bank finance. Urban families do not suffer the massive lifestyle change that occurs when a family farm is lost and they are forced into city dwelling. The people affected most are those farmers born and bred on a particular farm, who love their land, have an affinity with it—a trait readily acknowledged in our indigenous people—and who wish to continue earning a living by working it.
With the demise of family farms, there is an ever-increasing flow-on of economic problems to country towns and regional cities that will be felt more each year. Moreover, most of the current problems of rural New South Wales are caused by government decisions, both Federal and State, based on economic rationalisation, with little thought of long-term social effects. Because a farm is relatively small it does not mean that it is uneconomic or that its owners are bad farmers, but political decisions are forcing out many small farmers. The ever important balance between social and economic factors weighs heavily toward the economic side. Unless politicians start to take into consideration the social, and not just the economic, effects of their decisions there will be no need for governments and politicians: society could be run by companies on purely economic grounds.
With those words, I conclude my farewell speech to the New South Wales Parliament. I thank all those involved with it for a wonderful experience over the past 12 years.
Mr ROZZOLI (Hawkesbury) [11.16 a.m.]: I thank the House for the opportunity to say a few closing remarks on a career in this Parliament that has spanned some 30 years. The most important thing that I can do initially is to thank a few people, as have members before me. There are two thanks that I would like to make first of all, which are the most important. The first is to the electors of Hawkesbury, who have looked after me for 30 years—and I believe I have looked after them fairly well. They have a supported me through thick and thin, and through swings to our party and against our party. The people of Hawkesbury are some of the finest people in the land. They have always shown a strong independent spirit and fierce loyalty to their area. That is what they look for in a local member. I hope I have been able to honour that commitment.
I will share with the House an anecdote I often tell about the people of Hawkesbury to highlight this longstanding tradition. When Lachlan Macquarie was recalled to England as a result of the report of J. T. Bigge, the personification of the arch bureaucrat, the people of Hawkesbury went to him and said that if he wished to overthrow the British yolk they would support him, and they would install him as the leader of the new colony. Macquarie, ever the sensible person, said, "Thank you very much. It is a great gesture on your part, but I do not think it is the right thing to do. I will accept the situation in which I have been placed." I find myself in somewhat the same situation today. The people of Hawkesbury would dearly love me to run as an Independent, but I chose not to because I do not think it is the right thing to do.
The second special thanks I wish to offer is to my wife, Carol. She has been an enormous support to me over the years. In public life too few people recognise the contribution of the family and the enormous strain of public life on people. I have not suffered as badly as many in terms of abuse or attacks on my children. They came through school remarkably well. We have not had to suffer in that way, but there are so many other areas in which you need courageous support to continue to make a dedicated contribution to the community, which should be the hallmark of every public representative.
It is of some concern to me, and I echo some of the remarks of my good friend the honourable member for Coogee, that to some extent the true spirit of elected representation is left wanting today. But as I have said often, we are microcosm of the community at large. We are representative of the community at large. The community has a lot to answer for in terms of integrity and selflessness, which sits in strange contrast to the high levels of volunteerism from many sections of the community, but that is a specialist area. By and large we live in a very selfish, self-centred age. We, as members of Parliament, collectively tend to be representative of that.
I would also like to thank my secretary, Barbara Mork. When I first came to this Parliament 30 years ago I got a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet, and a phone. I shared my office with five other members of Parliament. There has been quite a change from then to now. Barbara first worked for me as an amanuensis, one-third of a secretary. We have worked together for almost 29 years, which is a record even for this place. I thank her for her long and dedicated support. Barbara had many opportunities to work for other members and Ministers during that time, which would have earned her more salary, but she stuck with me and I am very grateful for the support she has given me. She will retire at the same time as I do, and I wish her well in her retirement.
I would like to thank the staff of the Parliament, from my good friend Russell Grove, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, right through to the cleaners, with whom I have always had a bit of a special association. I always believed that the people who work here deserve to be respected as human beings and as people who do their job well, irrespective of the position they hold within the Parliament. Whether it is a cleaner who works here 20 hours a week or a senior executive officer who might work 60, 70 or 80 hours a week, they should be treated equally.
During the period I was Speaker, I always tried to make a special point of ensuring that all members of the staff, irrespective of the level at which they worked, were treated properly. I am not saying that is not the case today. I am not making any comment on any other situation. But that was always my aim. I have a special relationship with many of the staff. I was very pleased to be the guest speaker at the recent farewell of three members of the Parliamentary Printing Service, which is some reflection of that special bond we have had over the years, one that goes back, in some cases, the full 30 years. When I was Speaker I always said to new members, "Treat the staff with respect. They are here to serve you. They serve you very well. You should always think of them in the demands that you make upon them, demands that often are very heavy by circumstance, not necessarily by choice." However, I know there are members who are excessively heavy in their demands and who do not always think of the ramifications of their demands of staff.
I would also like to thank the many public servants who have been of great assistance. I always had a philosophy that you never went to the top, you never went to the bottom, you went to a level about two or three rungs from the top, where the real work is done. Some of the people who now fill those positions started as junior officers in the public service when I started. We have grown up together. In many cases we have formed very strong friendships, which has been very useful. A quick phone call in the right place to the right person would work miracles when the long and tedious correspondence that might otherwise be generated did not seem to bring any result. I thank those people for the support they have given me over the years, which has made my life a lot easier and enabled me to deliver results for my constituents that I might otherwise not have been able to deliver.
I have probably left out groups of people. I certainly have tried not to mention too many individuals because it is a very odious thing: some people will always be left out. As other members have done I should make special reference to Hansard, who always have been a bit frustrated with me because I seldom, if ever, speak from notes. Therefore, when they come to ask me for my notes to assist them in reporting what I have said they never get any. I apologise for having been a nuisance in that regard over the years. This is a bit of an in joke, but I would like to acknowledge the membership of a very special little group in Hansard, the Cook Island club. Kia Orana!
Having made those thanks I would now like to turn to some more profound areas. As many of you would know, over the years I have taken a great interest in the operation of the Parliament as an institution. It probably has its manifestation in my period as Speaker, when, as part of what I considered was my job, I studied Parliaments assiduously and came to a number of conclusions about how the institution of Parliament should work. At present we have a great dilemma facing not only this Parliament but all parliaments, which is reflected in research that is done in parliaments throughout the world. Basically, we are operating according to a parliamentary mechanism that has been in place for many years.
Although we have been equipped with computers and all sorts of fancy gadgets, the basic philosophy on which we run our Parliament has just drifted along and is now out of keeping with the demands that are placed on us and on the institution. Our work is much more complicated than it used to be. If honourable members are in any doubt about that, I will tell them of an incident I recall when I had been here about three years. In about 1974 I spoke to Doug Wheeler, who was then the Clerk-Assistant but became the Clerk. He said to me, "Kevin, nowadays you guys are actually full-time parliamentarians." When I first became a member of Parliament most parliamentarians would be part-time, but in 1974 Doug told me that we work very hard. We were full-time, and the demands on us then were much greater than they had been 20 years prior to that.
I can assure honourable members that from 1974 to 2002 the demands on parliamentarians have dramatically increased. Many so-called gadgets provided to facilitate the way in which we operate are a burden, as much as anything, as we try to get our job done. We have the ubiquitous email. I do not know how many emails other honourable members receive, but I get approximately 200 a day. I try to handle them all and work on the basis of keeping my outstanding emails down to about 50 so I can overview what is on the screen. Such things have made life much more difficult and the problems we face much more complex. [Extension of time agreed to.]
The population is much greater yet each member is still a human being who represents one electorate. Unlike many other professionals we cannot bring in a partner, as one can do in accountancy or legal firm or a medical practice. If we are to fulfil our duties properly we must reconsider our work role and the way in which we carry it out. It is of some concern to me that over the years I have seen a much greater reliance placed on staff to do electoral work, to write speeches and to do research. I am of the old-fashioned school: I do all my own research and prepare for my speeches. I attend to all my correspondence individually. That has given me a tremendous grasp on the issues in the community.
As many honourable members know, I have been involved in many human rights and social welfare issues: homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, those with disabilities and the environment. The background knowledge and personal focus that I have developed has enabled me to do my job reasonably well. I do not make any judgment on how any other member of Parliament operates, but I see reliance being placed on others to do their job. That is only natural given their enormous workload, but I believe it reduces our capacity to do our job properly as representatives of the community. If that problem is to be addressed, we have to look at restructuring the way in which Parliament operates.
We should look at the way in which we structure the working program of the Parliament. For example, committee work should be recognised as part of the day-to-day parliamentary workload of members of Parliament. In a paper I have suggested, in line with many European parliaments, that committees should be convened on days that are regarded as sitting days. In other words, in addition to the 50 to 60 days in plenary sessions in the House, on another 40 to 50 days we are committee members working on our committee work. Those 40 to 50 days should be regarded in every sense as sitting days of Parliament.
It is unfair for people to claim that we only work 50 to 60 days a year because that takes into account only when Parliament sits. That is a totally false premise, and the media deserves their fair share of condemnation for compounding that impression. I think every member of Parliament should be involved in committee work. The current way of selecting members for committee work is not appropriate because the workload is not spread evenly and it is much heavier on some members than on others. As part of the constitutional structure of the Parliament that work should be more evenly divided. Everyone should have an opportunity to work on committees and their work should be acknowledged as part and parcel of the day's work.
We need many more broad-ranging policy debates in Parliament. It is a weakness of the system that we mainly debate legislation. I have always held the view that legislation is about fourth or fifth down our line of responsibilities. We should debate more and more major issues. Although in one sense our recent forum on public liability insurance did not serve any great purpose, in another sense it was a small light showing the direction in which we might go. On that occasion it was good for members to be able to access four eminent people in their field. Rather than move into a restricted debate on public liability insurance in which we were confined to the matters contained in the bill, the forum should have given rise to a much more wide-ranging debate. We could have raised and teased out the issues that surround public liability insurance so that when the legislation was debated we would have had a better grasp of the issues that should have been addressed.
Similarly, in relation to the introduction of major legislation, after a relatively brief introduction of the legislation—I go back to the first reading debates we used to have when I first became a member of this House—benchmark legislation should then be sent to a legislation committee which comprises the Minister, representatives of the parties and the Independents. That committee should have the capacity to call expert witnesses and members of the public to give evidence on the issues which surround the reason the bill was introduced. The legislation is then amended and crafted by the legislation committee. That would result in a much more sensible outcome than the adversarial debate that now takes place in committee when amendments are moved by the Opposition and rejected by the Government because they have come from the Opposition. Most amendments that are drafted on the floor of the Chamber are not well thought through and they need to be drafted in much more detail. That is similar to what is done in many European Parliaments and has great value.
I thank everyone for their friendship and companionship in this place. I recognise particularly the work I have done across party lines in the areas I have mentioned: homelessness, drug addiction, and Amnesty International. I have enjoyed very much the camaraderie that has transcended the party-political boundaries. I have made some very great friends in Parliament and they will be friends for life.
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