Grievance Debate

Valedictory

Mr SPEIRS (Bright) (15:12): At the end of my four-year term as the member for Bright, I want to take this opportunity to put on the record some reflections of my time in this place and to thank some of the people who have walked this unique journey with me. This is a role that I do not take for granted.

Today, 30 November 2017, marks exactly 15 years to the day since I migrated to Australia. Sometimes 2002 feels like only yesterday; on other occasions, it feels like a lifetime ago. If you had told me that I would be a member of the state's shadow cabinet within 15 years, I would have scoffed at such a ridiculous prospect. For me, this has been an incredible journey. People often mention the terms 'honour' and 'privilege' when describing their time in parliament. While perhaps overused, those words accurately describe the role that has been granted to me by a community I have always lived in while in Australia. It is a community I love and to represent it I put far beyond personal ambition or politics.

It is easy for me to pick a highlight of my past four years, that being the development of the Beach for All program and the rolling out of a community-funded disability access mat at Seacliff Beach on Australia Day 2016. This is an example of how using this role to drive positive change, in strong partnership with the community, can deliver really good stuff for the people who need it most. As well as Beach for All, I am also proud of being part of a vision, articulated by the Liberal Party, for Glenthorne national park. It is such a phenomenal opportunity to secure a large tract of open space in the midst of suburbia for future generations to enjoy.

These two headline projects sit alongside the hundreds of individual relationships I have enjoyed as a consequence of this job, people whose path I have crossed because I am their local MP or, previously, their local councillor and whose stories and experiences have enriched my life far more than I have been able to help them. I have met many fascinating people who live the length and breadth of my electorate and beyond. I think of individuals like Joan Wallbank, John Wallace, Brian and Mia Taylor, Fran and Dennis Southern, Ron and Ted Skov, Andy and Michelle Fry, Jenny Tuck, Jacky Chant, Linda Batten, David and Linda Greenhough, Kym Rampling, Kaye Gaskin, Carol Bouwens, Felicity-ann Lewis and Cheryl Connor, Graeme Botting, and Tom and Jill Kimber to name but a few.

I count myself fortunate to have had a chance to engage with so many great clubs in my electorate, each filled with phenomenal volunteers who give their time and energy, ideas and passion to drive a better community. They are clubs such as the surf clubs at Brighton, Somerton and Seacliff; the incredible Lions Club of Hallett Cove and the other Lions clubs in Brighton and Marion; the Rotary clubs of Hallett Cove, Brighton, Holdfast Bay, Glenelg and Somerton Park; and the Kiwanis Club of Brighton. I have had a great time working alongside incredible people to establish the Hallett Cove Business Association, and it has been a joy to engage with the many environmental groups that look after the unique coastal environment that forms my electorate.

I have often heard it said that politics is a lonely job, where no real friends exist and where relationships of trust are mirages destined to disappear, but that has not been my experience. I have struck up genuine, solid friendships in politics, and I believe that these will continue for many years. In particular, I would like to draw attention to the friendships I enjoy with the class of 2014-15: the members for Schubert, Hartley, Davenport and, of course, my neighbouring MP with whom I have forged an amazing partnership, the member for Mitchell. I want to make special mention of the retiring member for Kavel, who has been an incredible support and encouragement for me personally through difficult times. We have enjoyed many laughs together and exchanged many thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of text messages.

My time in politics has not been easy for me at a personal level. My life has changed immeasurably since my election four years ago, yet my faith has been strengthened, my resilience bolstered and my passion to make South Australia a better place strengthened. I could not be here today without the immense support that I have received from my friends and family, my amazing mum and my string of friends who hold me up when I feel like falling down: Tyson, Jodie, Tobias, Maisie, Brendan, Rachel and baby Jeffrey, Sarah and David, De and James, Chantel, Ryan, Ebony, Sophie and Stuart; and my wonderful staff: Meg, James, Chris, Maddi, Raelene, Thomas, Zoe and Aric.

In my maiden speech on 7 May 2014, I concluded by saying that I hoped that the sum of the things I do while in this house, whether my time here be short or long, when weighed up will show that I have used my role to nurture, to grow and to fasten a sense of community in Bright and in South Australia. As the sun sets on my first term in parliament, I hope that those people whom I have tried to enthusiastically, creatively and diligently represent would conclude that I have achieved this goal.