Adjournment Debate

VALEDICTORIES

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (12:50): I will gladly take a few minutes on the last day of this parliament. I believe that parliament will prorogued, and we will come back all refreshed with a new parliament early next year. I take the opportunity, certainly on behalf of the Liberal opposition, also to say thank you, as the minister just has, to a significant number of people who work in and around this institution to make it operate and who certainly help us with our work.

As the minister said, it would be impossible for us to achieve what we achieve on behalf of the people of South Australia without a fully functioning and operational staff manning the parliament building and I guess ancillary to that as well, and I will go through those people in a moment or two. Hopefully, I will not leave anybody out, but they all provide essential services to the operation of the parliament and to the members so that we may undertake our duties.

I will start here in the chamber at the top of the tree with the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk, the table staff and the attendants, all of whom obviously perform a very important duty in making sure the day-to-day running of the house occurs smoothly and efficiently and that we undertake the business of the house in a manner that keeps the state out of the courts. Also very important for the working of the house are staff upstairs, such as Hansard and the staff who turn on the microphones so that when I stand up I can be heard with my diminutive voice.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: You're such a shy person.

Mr WILLIAMS: Yes. Outside the chamber, a large number of agencies within the parliament keep us operating. There is the library, obviously, which is an important service to members, and there is also the committees office, which enables our committees to do their very important work. In fact, I think committee work is most rewarding in the sense of not only pure enjoyment but also of achievement. In the time I have been here, I have done work through the committee system, and I think the committees of the parliament do important work. I would like to see them being utilised a little bit more, but by and large I think the committee system works quite well.

Being a country member and spending an inordinate amount of time away from my home—and all country members appreciate this probably even more so than the city-based members—I appreciate the catering staff. Catering is incredibly important. We get a bit of stick every now and again about the catering services that are provided here in Parliament House, but I think some of the people in the media in particular fail to understand that, when we are here during a sitting day, we cannot get our lunch, a cup of coffee or something from the deli down the street or around the corner.

We actually have to be here for the business of the house, which just continues through the day. We have to be here in case there is a vote coming on. I think we would be derelict in our duty if we left the building for the sake of getting a coffee or a meal. Notwithstanding the attitude of the media from time to time, I think it is absolutely necessary that we have the catering facilities in this place, and I for one am very grateful for the services that we get from the catering department.

There are also services such as PNSG, that keep our IT systems operating, and the finance service which obviously keeps us paid, people like the travel clerks and a whole range of other staff in the bills and papers office that enables this place to keep operating. There are also the building services people who keep the building in good fettle. From time to time, a number of people complain about the air-conditioning in the building and in an old building like this it is very difficult to physically keep a building of this age and style operating as we would expect it to keep operating in modern times.

To all the people involved in and around the parliament, on behalf the opposition I offer our very sincere thanks. We wish all the staff the compliments of the season and we hope that they have an enjoyable break from us and the tedium of parliament for a few weeks and are able to spend some quality time with their loved ones over the Christmas break.

I would also like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the opposition (and I am sure all members)—to thank our hard-working electorate staff. I do not think there is anybody who works more diligently for members of parliament than the staff in our electorate offices. They probably spend more time at the coalface than we do; they are there every day of the week providing the interface between members of parliament and the electorate at large—I thank them, as well.

I have been fortunate enough for a time now to have a driver, and a very important role it is, too—certainly for ministers, some of the committee chairs, myself and my leader Isobel Redmond. We all have the availability of a driver and I am absolutely aware now, certainly in the job that I do, and I am sure all who have drivers available to them, that we would not be able to do the jobs anywhere near the level we do without that service.

As somebody who spends a lot of hours on the road—like yourself, Madam Speaker, and others who spend many hundreds of hours a year on the road—I had often thought about the danger I was putting myself in because of the amount of driving I was doing, so having a driver is a great relief. I thank particularly my driver, Gary, who is incredibly accommodating. I have managed to keep him away from his family on a pretty regular basis.

As the minister said, there are, I believe, at least two members of government who have announced an intention to retire but they have not announced the exact dates at this stage: the member for Ramsey and the member for Port Adelaide (the former premier Mike Rann and the former deputy premier Kevin Foley). Unlike the minister, I am not going to praise their good works; there is obviously a political divide. We do not necessarily share the minister's praiseworthy remarks about them but we do acknowledge their longevity in the parliament as representatives of their respective electorates. Those of us who have had the experience of being a parliamentarian all know that it is a pretty tough gig. It is hard on families.

Mrs Geraghty: We are nice people.

Mr WILLIAMS: By and large we are all nice people, thank you Robyn. It is a tough gig. It is tough on families. If we go back and look at the record of the people who have been involved in this line of work over the years, it is tough on families. Those who have spent a considerable amount of time in here have probably given up a lot of other things that they might well have been able to enjoy. Without commenting on their respective contributions to the state, I wish both the former premier Mike Rann and the former deputy premier Kevin Foley all the best with their future. I am sure that they will leave this place with at least a sense of relief because the day-to-day grind obviously is wearing and I am sure that they will appreciate the release from that.

To my colleagues in the house, particularly those on this side of the house who I have worked with very closely over the session of this parliament and for a number of years now, I express my personal thanks and I wish all members of the parliament and, as I said, the staff and ancillary personnel who keep this place going the compliments of the season. I hope we will be able to return refreshed and eager in the new year.

Debate adjourned.

[Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00]