Adjournment Debate

Valedictories

Resumed on motion.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (17:45): We have heard from the Hon. Gail Gago, and I thank the chamber for their indulgence. I think it is one of the features of this chamber that when we have people in for motions or for things like a final speech, we indulge people to allow that to happen. I think that is one of the better traditions of this place.

Before we hear from other members who are retiring, I rise to deliver my second speech to wrap up this year in the chamber. I was thinking about delivering this speech in song in the tradition of the Hon. Tung Ngo, who does things in song in this chamber, but I have decided not to today.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Not to today. No parliamentary year is easy, and 2017 certainly had its share of controversies. In the words of Barack Obama, 'The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose.'

Before I speak about those retiring from this place, I would like to recognise the work of our Government Whip, Tung Ngo, and the Opposition Whip, John Dawkins. It is a thankless job, a job in which you are often given advice about how to better do your job, I know from experience. I place on the record my appreciation for what they have done. I want to thank you, Mr President, for the way you have presided over this chamber during question time and debate, keeping most of us on the straight and narrow and nearly always turning up in a moderately timely fashion at the start of hearings. It has been a hallmark of your presidency.

I would like to convey my gratitude on behalf of honourable members here to those who have arguably the most difficult jobs in this place, and that is our excellent Clerk, Jan Davis, who marks something like her 112^th year of service in this chamber, and our deputy, the Black Rod, Chris Schwarz, both keeping us on track and literally putting words in our mouths for much of the time.

I want to also place on record and thank the capable and diligent staff who assist with keeping this chamber in order: Guy Dickson, Leslie Guy; our attendants Todd, Super Mario, Karen and Antoni; and our office staff member, Kate. Her post question time supply of chocolates I know has been appreciated, particularly by me.

I also recognise and thank the many people who dedicate themselves to the service of the parliament and to the South Australian people: parliamentary counsel, the Hansard staff, the catering kitchen staff, the library staff, our building staff and everyone else who makes this place seem like it just works, but who do an incredible amount behind the scenes.

On behalf of all ministers, I want to acknowledge the ministerial office staff for their tireless work over many hours and devotion away from their family and the jobs that they do. It is a deep personal commitment that is required for that job. I want to acknowledge the excellent work of agency officers, ministerial officers and administrative staff. I think the Hon. Gail Gago aptly summed up the work that so many people in the Public Service do, often without recognition.

I want to personally thank my chief of staff and advisers in my office for their almost always great advice, particularly for advising me not to drink a second or third Red Bull before question time. I think everyone is grateful that I usually have only one.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: That's not even made in South Australia. I thought you were meant to choose SA.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The South Australian-made Red Bull that I always drink. I particularly want to make mention of some people for whom this will be their last time in this chamber: the Hon. Gail Gago, the Hon. John Gazzola and, to a much lesser extent, the Hon. Peter Malinauskas mark their ends of service in this chamber today.

Firstly, to the Hon. Pete Malinauskas, who was here for a good time, not a long time, we recognise your contribution to this place. We on this side of this chamber wish you the best in your efforts to quite possibly become the next member for Croydon in a few months' time. We have all appreciated your capable performance in this place and your absence will be felt. I think it will be felt particularly if we return to government and we no longer have a health minister in this chamber to absorb all the questions in question time.

The Hon. Gail Gago and the Hon. John Gazzola have both served in this place in various capacities in high office since 9 February 2002, when they spent that one terrible day in opposition. The Hon. Gail Gago served for many years in various ministries in both the Rann and Weatherill governments and, of course, for almost five years as the Leader of the Government in this place. The Hon. Gail Gago brought to the Legislative Council a very strong record of advocacy in working for South Australians. She had experience in important fields working with people, particularly in nursing, having begun her career in South Australia as a nurse and becoming an organiser with the ANF and ultimately rising to the position of branch secretary.

She has a long history of leadership roles within the Labor Party and the labour movement. In her time here, I think she holds the distinction of being the first woman to lead the government in the Legislative Council in South Australia—although I think we had Carolyn Pickles leading the opposition—and the first woman to fulfil the role of acting premier in South Australia as well. So, she has a number of firsts as a woman, and as a minister for women it has been quite fitting. Gail's contribution to the labour movement, the Labor Party and the parliament has been very significant. I trust that her contributions will continue past her retirement from this place. On behalf of the government, I thank her and wish her the best for whatever awaits her in the future.

The Hon. John Mario Gazzola also has a very significant history with the South Australian labour movement and the South Australian Labor Party. Having served as an organiser and a secretary for what is now the Australian Services Union, he has certainly brought his understanding of South Australia's industrial landscape to this place. We thank John for his term of service as President of the Legislative Council and his very genuine committed work on a number of committees over the past 15 years. The Hon. John Gazzola has also sported the finest looking beard in this chamber, slightly outpipping the Hon. John Dawkins over recent times.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: What about the Hon. Mark Parnell's? It is the longest standing beard.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Familiarity breeds contempt when it comes to beards, I fear, which is why the Hon. John Gazzola has taken that title. It is disappointing to see that the beard has been removed, but I very strongly suspect it will make a return in the years to come. I also want to mention, very briefly, the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars, who left us earlier this year. Much was said about Gerry at the time but, again, I think it is important to recognise the contribution he made to this place and the circumstances of his sudden departure from parliament. I know many of us have seen the remarkable recovery Glenys has been making. We wish Gerry and his family all the best.

The Hon. John Gazzola and the Hon. Gail Gago are retiring, but it is the nature of elections that it is an uncertain outcome that we face. I hope to see all of us in this chamber past the election, but if that is not the case I want to thank anybody who is serving now who does not return. I know it is a difficult and anxious time. Trust me, when you are No. 4 on a major party ticket, you are not always guaranteed of getting back in. Jing, I think you will be alright; No. 4 is a great place to be with a major party running for parliament.

Thank you to everyone for their contributions. As we have talked about this afternoon in debating bills, this chamber has changed over the years. As the Hon. Mark Parnell pointed out, at various times it has been one-third, one-third and one-third. It brings a diversity to this chamber and, in some ways, the diversity we find in this chamber in some cases probably helps us make better decisions. So, I want to thank every member for what they have contributed over this year and over this term.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: It has changed, leader; it was three Democrats when I came in here.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: We do not talk about the bad old days. I should ignore interjections. I wish everyone a very happy and safe festive season and I very much look forward to being back on this side of the chamber next year. I have become quite fond of these paintings up there and I am not at all familiar with the ones looking onto the other side, and I will be very, very pleased to welcome all of the opposition back to that side of the chamber next year.

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (17:55): I thank the leader for his kind words. After last night and this morning's sitting and 15 and a bit years in this place, I can confidently say that I will not miss Wednesdays' private members' business. However, today, hopefully, will be the last sitting day and, after four hours sleep, I have to report that today started brilliantly with Henry flying in from Melbourne, and of course being the last day of the month it is our payday.

There are so many amazing, hardworking staff in this place, past and present. If I tried to name them all, I am sure I would miss a few and therefore I will not attempt to. However, I wish to thank the Clerk of the Legislative Council, Mrs Jan Davis, and acknowledge her long service in the Legislative Council. To Jan and her gentlemen Ushers of the Black Rod, the late Mr Trevor Blowes and now Mr Chris Schwarz, I owe you a great debt of gratitude for your professionalism, guidance and assistance over the years.

I will not name all of the Legislative Council staff, but thank you for your patience, understanding and support. To Hansard, the library, committee staff, researchers, PNSG, finance, catering staff, building services and parliamentary chauffeurs, thank you for helping me over the last 15 years. It has been a wonderful experience and a privilege to work with you. I know how hard you all work to make this place a pleasant and efficient workplace and therefore I hope you all get an excellent pay rise.

To all honourable members, both past and present, and members in the other place, thank you for your understanding and support. I have gained some knowledge from you and I thank you for sharing your expertise and experiences with me. You have all made me laugh, made me sigh and at times bewildered me.

I wish to acknowledge the union movement and in particular the South Australian and Northern Territory branch of the ASU. There has never been a better time to be either a union member or a union official. Collectively, we face deregulation of the workplace, industrial relations issues, employment insecurity, federal government sponsored attacks on the union movement, negligible wage growth and maximum profits. Governments of all persuasions are willing to privatise the profits and socialise the losses. To the workers I say: join a union, get organised and get a decent pay for a decent day's work. I also wish to thank the ALP party office staff and all the members of the ALP.

You may have noticed, through my speeches on matters of interest, I have pursued my passion for music, the artists and support staff in the creative industries. I was extremely pleased when Premier Jay Weatherill and his cabinet recognised the growing music industry and its benefits economically for the wellbeing of the state. Adelaide is now recognised as a UNESCO City of Music and just this week Lonely Planet named Adelaide as Australia's live music city and as one of the world's most exciting cultural hubs.

There are so many more successes in the music industry that I will have to find another way of telling the new parliament all about it. In the summer issue of Yewth magazine, Sharni Honor, of Adelaide's musical Porch Sessions, summed it up when she was asked, 'Is Adelaide's music scene dying out?' Sharni's reply was:

No way. It's such an amazing thing at the moment. And I think the cool thing about it is how cross-genre supportive it is. In a lot of scenes, a lot of people stick to their niche and that's how they exist. For the music scene at the moment, everyone is dipping their toes into everything. So people that go to rock shows go to folk shows, people that play in rock bands go to folk shows as well, and vice versa. It's really healthy and supportive in that sense. And everyone knows everyone, and I just love that.

I hope the new Weatherill government, ably assisted by its first majority in the Legislative Council, will continue—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA: Have we preselected that man? We will continue the fine work and, more importantly, continue to increase funding to the various stakeholders in the music industry. The Weatherill government deserves another term to continue building our creative industries and our beautiful state. You can be assured that I will do my best for the re-election of a Weatherill Labor government.

South Australia could not have reached this level of recognition without the commitment to the music industry from Music SA, the AHA, venue owners, promoters, event organisers and the important hardworking Music Development Office. I also hope that there are plans for an Adelaide concert hall to complement our amazing venues in Adelaide.

To my staff, past and present—Brenton, Kara, Olivia, Maddy, Alessandro, Krysta, Narrah, Felicity and Tiffany—thank you so much for your support, sense of humour and tolerance levels. I could not have had a finer bunch of staff. I wish you well for the future and thank you for your friendship.

Personally, 2017 has been a mixed year. In February, we celebrated my mother's 90^th birthday. In June and July, I had a few health issues, and in August I turned 60. I can confidently say that 60 is not the new 30 or the new 40. On 5 September, my mother passed away, and I wish to acknowledge the strength and support of my family Velina, Stella, Gino, Dino, Nives and Tony. We have been through a bit over the past couple of months but I appreciate how we have supported each other. To Gwenda, Henry and Ruby, I could not have asked for a better family. I look forward to spending more time with you but I am not sure how you feel about that.

I am often asked what I shall be doing after the 2018 election. I will travel, and upon my return, I will tend to the garden and continue my research into the fish stocks in Gulf St Vincent and beyond. There is also a fair chance that our band, which started in 1978, will continue to pursue that so far elusive record contract and chart success.

I will grow my beard again and hopefully this time next year I will have reinvented myself into a bogan hipster. Some might say, 'What do you mean 'reinvented'?' But I will ignore those comments. So I still hope to enjoy a pint of West End Draught and a pint of the latest craft brew served at the King's Head Hotel. I also hope for a Port Adelaide versus Adelaide Crows grand final which will go into extra time with Port winning by the smallest of margins. I think that would be a wonderful outcome for the VFL-dominated AFL.

Finally, I wish to thank you, honourable members. I did my best and I wish you well for the future. I promise when my mate, the Hon. Bob Sneath, comes to town next year, we will visit you in Parliament House. I leave this place with more friends than enemies—a perfect finale.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (18:02): I rise on behalf of the opposition, although some of our members are not here, to wish you all well at the end of this year and the end of the four-year term that we have had. I particularly thank the team of the Liberal opposition for their support of each other and the way we have conducted ourselves. I would like to thank all of them for their support of me but also of each other. We work well as a team and various members of the team take responsibilities for various bits of legislation. I would like to thank them and all of our staff behind the scenes who support us all.

I never like to count my chickens, and I would not dream of it, but I just relayed a story from a former minister in the Queensland government who went into opposition. They said to me, 'It is outrageous. We have to answer our own phones now and we do not have any staff.' I wish that upon you all at some point hopefully in the future. To the other members in the chamber, the government and the crossbenchers, I wish you all well. Most of the time we have a good relationship, sometimes I lose my sense of humour but usually I get it back again. Over a period of time it comes back. Thank you and all of your staff who we interact with who are important.

I thank the retiring members, the Hon. Gail Gago and the Hon. John Gazzola, who were both elected at the same time I was elected. We were all sworn into parliament on that day and, while I do hope that there is a brighter future for the team on this side of the chamber, I am a little envious of the fact that you are now going off to do something else. The Hon. Mark Goldsworthy, Isobel Redmond and others in the other chamber that were elected at the same time are retiring too and you can see that big smile on their face and the burden lifted off them. I sort of think maybe I am a little bit envious of that.

Also, to the Hon. Peter Malinauskas, only here for a short time, I hope he finds a very long and dreary time in opposition in the seat of Croydon. Also, I do want to make a mention of Gerry Kandelaars too. I had caught up with the fact that his wife has done particularly well since the transplant. I think that is wonderful news, because certainly she was here when he left and was at that time in a pretty desperate state. I am really pleased that she has made a wonderful recovery.

Also, as the Leader of the Government said, elections are a strange time and we are sort of in uncharted waters a little, as always. For anybody that is not fortunate enough to be returned—I think everybody here is seeking re-election; there is obviously nobody else retiring—whatever comes, I wish all of you all the very best in your endeavours in the election.

I would like to thank all the staff we have here—obviously Jan and Chris, and the other table staff, Guy and Leslie, and then all of the other staff here—Mario, Todd, Anthony, Karen—everybody here that makes this place work well, I really appreciate it.

Mr President, to you as well, thank you for your mostly good service and good humour. We probably have at times been a little harsh on you and you have bounced back, notwithstanding the fact that you tried to kick somebody out and the chamber did not support you, that was a little unusual. You only ever tried that once and it did not work. We were all pretty comfortable; we knew that you wouldn't kick us out, or weren't able to kick us out. Anyway, thank you for your service and what you have done.

I would also like to thank all the other people in the building: the building services people, the catering people, Hansard, parliamentary counsel, the Blue Room and PNSG—everybody that looks after us. As the Hon. John Gazzola made mention, some of us are fortunate enough to have chauffeurs. They are fantastic people to have to get you from point A to point B and they work some particularly incredibly long hours.

I could not go through this speech without talking about the head of the library, Mr John Weste, and that spectacular pink outfit that he had on a few weeks ago. I thought that was one of the best bits of apparel I have seen on a man in his place for a very long time. I would be game to wear the jacket but not the whole outfit. I do thank him and the library staff for all of their services.

With those few words, I wish you all the very best. Whatever happens in the next 108 or 109 days, I think it is—we will know in about 109 days' time whatever the South Australian people have served up for us, and, whatever the result is, I am sure those of us who are coming back will enjoy our next four years of service, and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (18:07): I rise to briefly add my support to the motion. The Hon. Kyam Maher I think did a pretty comprehensive job in naming all of those who we need to thank at this time of the year. He went through the chamber staff, kitchens, library, Hansard, and PNSG, and I echo those thanks. Without these people we could not do our jobs properly, so on behalf of the Greens, I thank you.

Secondly, we have our retiring members, the Hon. Gail Gago and the Hon. John Gazzola. I would like to thank you personally and on behalf of the Greens for your service and for your friendship. It has mostly been a pleasure—mostly. It is hard to think of the times that it has not been—I could probably count them on one hand. Thank you both.

I will just mention with the Hon. John Gazzola, reflecting on my first ever words to him, which revolved around the fact that we had just formed the Australian Greens and I was a member of the Australian Services Union and I had felt that it was not appropriate for me to belong to an affiliated union. So, I wrote a letter to some bloke I had never heard of—Gazzola, I think his name was. I wrote him a letter and resigned from the union. When I found that he was here and I said, 'John, did I write to you?' his response was, 'Yes! I still have the letter,' and it has been all uphill since then! So, thanks John and thanks Gail for your service.

Thirdly, I would just like to quickly thank my staff, Cate Mussared, Emily Bird and Sophie Comber for their work. I sometimes describe them as the brains behind the outfit. They are certainly the muscle and the hard work behind the outfit and, as all of us know, we cannot do what we do without having supportive staff who go above and beyond the call of duty.

The final thing I will say, apart from wishing all my colleagues a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year, is to reflect on what is on the top of all our minds and that is something happening in March, apparently. It is the election. Of course, as members would know, this year election day is St Patrick's Day. I expect everyone to be wearing green at polling booths. I have T-shirts I can provide. At the risk of being very culturally insensitive and inappropriate, I will just say that the Greens will be urging people to vote for our party in both houses of parliament, to be sure, to be sure.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (18:10): I would like to add my support to the motion. I will not go through all the names that have already been mentioned. I thank chamber staff, Hansard, and individual members of the chamber. It has been exciting at times and it has been a bit dull at other times. I also thank the Hon. Gail Gago, the Hon. John Gazzola and the Hon. Peter Malinauskas for the work they have done in the time they have been here. I thought John Gazzola would mention the Neil Sachse Foundation Race Day that we all go to. I would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year and every success to the members who are standing for election. Finally, I would like to thank my staff—Jenny, Alicia and Dejana—for the work they have done.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (18:11): I would like to briefly place on the record my support for the motion. In doing so, I would like to begin, of course, by thanking my staff—the on-and-off team, which includes Anna and James, who has replaced Anna while she is on maternity leave. She is due on 10 December and yet was sitting at her desk yesterday when I walked in, so maternity leave obviously does not mean what it used to. We are very much looking forward to the arrival of little Reuben. Once again, I congratulate Anna and Ben on a very exciting time ahead.

The Hon. T.A. Franks interjecting:

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: That will be the official name now because it is in Hansard, so hopefully there is not another argument going on as I speak, but whoever they turn out to be, I am very much looking forward to meeting them. I thank Anna, Cathi, James, Lucy, Emma, Anastasia and also Amy who left the team and found new work. It would be remiss of me not to mention that it was Amy's birthday yesterday. Once again, happy birthday, Amy, and thank you for everything.

I also acknowledge and thank the Dignity Party board, candidates and many supporters. I thank chamber staff, of course, building services, PNSG, library staff, Hansard, catering staff and parliamentary counsel, particularly for their work in the last few weeks and days with the rush to get some amendments across the line. I would also like to acknowledge in particular the retiring members: John Gazzola, with whom I share and will always share a great passion for the arts, so I acknowledge his collaboration and work in that area, and Gail Gago, in particular for her work around domestic violence, women's issues and also the environmental measures she mentioned.

There are a couple of stories that stick in my mind when I think of the Hon. Ms Gago. Her exuberance has always stuck with me and was very obvious to me. I remember years ago having a meeting with her about something or other. I cannot even remember now what it was about. It was such a long time ago, when I was a very new member of parliament and quite young. I was in my office ready for the meeting, and I could hear Gail talking to herself in her merry little way, trying to figure out where my office was.

I could hear her voice coming down the hallway. She eventually finds the room and comes in and says, 'This is a lovely set-up you've got here, darling. You've got this little alcove there with the fridge and everything. That's your little alcove; that's lovely. What do you keep in there?' I said, 'Sorry, what do you mean?' She said, 'Over there, in the safe. What do you keep in there?' I looked around and thought, 'There is no safe.' I am looking around and I realise what she is pointing to. Being a very new and young member of parliament, I did not want to make a minister of the government look silly but I felt that I had to say something. I cleared my throat and said, 'Minister Gago, that's a microwave.'

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Thank you for sharing that.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: You are welcome. I have been waiting this whole time. Of course, the other and far less embarrassing story that comes to mind when I think of Gail was during a period when certain circumstances had led to her being the only minister for the government in this chamber. As a result, she was under the pump each and every sitting day. I took her aside one day and said, 'Would you like to go out for a coffee or a cup of tea or something, just to have a chat? It doesn't need to be work-related, just to give you a few minutes to breathe.' We were chatting and I asked her, 'What do you like to help you relax? What is a treat for you?' If I am not mistaken, I think I remember that she said, 'A Balfours meat pie.' Was it Balfours or Vilis?

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Or both.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Either/or. That surprised me because the Hon. Ms Gago is known for her strict exercise regime and strict diet of salad and not much else. I just want to put on the record that I did once or twice think about leaving the treat for Ms Gago, but it was not appropriate to leave it on her desk in the chamber and I was worried about what might happen if a sweaty meat pie was left in her letterbox.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: I would eat it!

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Yes, I know, but I am more worried about your poor staff who have to pick it up and deal with whatever odour and condensation comes out of the letterbox. I just wanted to place on the record that I did remember that and did consider it. Now that she is out I might have the opportunity to finally provide her with one in an appropriate setting.

Thank you, both Mr Gazzola and Ms Gago, for your work. I also want to place on the record my thanks to my support workers, without whom I literally would not be able to do this job. I need them to get me out of bed in the morning and make sure that I am wearing clothes, which is always a preferable thing when you are about to go into parliament, so I could not do this without them. In particular, I thank my main support worker Jarrod, who really does go above and beyond, both professionally and personally, to support me.

I think that has been more evident this year when we have conducted no less than 10 regional trips between me and my staff. Jarrod, I think I am right in saying, has accompanied us on each and every one of them and that means a lot of driving for him, a lot of early starts and a lot of late nights. I get paid well enough to do that but a poor support worker certainly does not, so I want to put on the record as always my thanks to dear Jarrod. I am very grateful to have him.

He is not only a great worker but a fantastic friend. Jarrod actually accompanied me to my grandmother's funeral this year in Canberra. He will not like me putting this on the record because I was supposed to pretend that he did not hear it, but my cousin was thanking him for accompanying me and making it easier for me to get over to Canberra for the funeral, and he said words to the effect, 'That's alright; Kelly's my sister,' but I wasn't supposed to hear that. However, now that I have, I would like to place on the record that Jarrod is very much my brother as well.

Of course, my other friends and family, my mum and dad, and my brothers Shane and Cody have become accustomed, bless their hearts, to texts at 10.30 at night asking, 'Is this a good title for a media release? What do you think about this? What do you think about that?' When my staff are unavailable, my parents in particular are, particularly to support me through the late nights and the impacts they can have on me. I place on the record my undying gratitude for their unwavering support.

The Hon. Ms Gago made some very poignant comments about the importance of partners and the often unrecognised roles that partners play, so I want to place on the record particular recognition of Nick and my best friend Chantelle for always choosing me, even when I did my level best to make it impossible for them. I will not say any more because there are not any words.

Thank you to my parliamentary colleagues for working with me often constructively, sometimes not, and if not making it interesting at least throughout the years and achieving some great outcomes as a result. The amendments to the spent convictions provisions just this afternoon are one such example.

Lastly, I wanted to place on the record my thanks to all those advisers, supporters and particularly constituents who have contacted me over the years, because ultimately you are what we are all here for and, if it were not for you allowing me to share your stories to fight for not only change for ourselves as individuals but change within the necessary systems as well, I certainly would not be able to put to my name the number of achievements that I can. Of course I am hoping to be able to achieve more, but that depends very much on the outcome of what will occur in just a few short months' time.

Having said that, I am putting out positive vibes and I look forward to, if not returning here, continuing my love for South Australia and advocacy for those who need it in our community in some other form. But, for the time being, this is wood. I know because I remember the fight to get it here. Thank you all for your love, support and, if not love and support, then for making my life interesting.

To my colleagues who are, like me, facing election in the coming months, all the very best, and even to those of you who are not, all the very best for everything you wish to achieve and for a happy new year and long beyond that as well.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (18:21): I will be brief, but I wanted to take the opportunity to put on the record my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to be able to serve in this place. It happened rather unexpectedly, and I anticipate that this will be the last opportunity I will have to be here. I suspect that, if I am lucky enough to be elected to the other place as the member for Croydon, I will miss the relative congeniality that exists within the Legislative Council in comparison with the House of Assembly.

I am very grateful for all the assistance that all the staff put in to be able to facilitate the privilege it is to work in this place. I thank each and every member I have had an opportunity to work with over the relatively short time I have served here. It has been an experience I will always look upon fondly. I very much hope that I have the opportunity to work with each and every one of you in future, albeit in a different capacity.

The PRESIDENT (18:23): I would like to join in and support the motion. I thank the staff. They have been thanked to death tonight, but they certainly deserve it as their professionalism and hard work makes this chamber and the work in this Legislative Council a much easier job.

I would also like to wish our retiring colleagues all the best for their futures. It has been great serving next to you, or in front of you. Both of you are still young enough to get out there and get a new life. It is fantastic that you are leaving when you have time on your side.

I also wish the best for all those who are running at this election. Politics is a tough game, and we should never dance on anyone's political grave. We should always wish them well, work with them and just hope that whatever life brings them is the best in life.

I also thank the whips. As President, I rely on the whips to make sure this chamber runs well. For the vast majority of the time, the chamber has run very well, so I thank the Hon. Tung Ngo and the Hon. John Dawkins for the great work they have done as whips.

I would also like to thank and express my gratitude for the behaviour of this chamber over the four years that I have been here. Now and again we get a bit carried away but we are involved in a very passionate field of politics so it is only natural that people sometimes get worked up during debates and the like. As the Hon. Mr Ridgway noted, I once tried to kick somebody out and that failed so I learnt very quickly not to try it again. Members here have behaved very well and I think the people of this state have been very well served by the productivity and the behaviour of everyone here.

I would like to thank all the messengers and, in particular, Jan and Chris, who certainly make the job of President flow very easily. I was called in to a very teary Jan Davis before question time, who advised me that she is going to call it a day and Jan will be retiring by the end of the year. I said to Jan, 'Thank you very much, Jan, you are an icon in this parliament.' I do not think 50 years working in this parliament has been matched by anyone in the world, to be honest. To go from a clerk, a young woman working behind a desk to become the Clerk in this house is truly a magnificent achievement. I will ask Jan to say a few words before we finish.

Thanks very much. Have a good Christmas and a great New Year and I look forward to seeing most of you here next year.

The CLERK: Well, it had to happen; I have made the big step. Today, I have many mixed feelings. The Legislative Council has been a huge part of my life from the moment I commenced duties as a clerk/typist for the Legislative Council on 21 December 1964, the year the Beatles came to Adelaide, man had not gone to the moon and Sir Thomas Playford, South Australia's longest serving premier, was defeated in the ensuing state election in 1965. Electric typewriters had not been invented, nor had the smart phones that members cannot do without.

I received much exercise in those days with considerable numbers of amendments to legislation, including succession duties and electoral changes, having to run from the front office down to the basement of the parliamentary library to use the one and only manual Gestetner Roneo machine and return to my office and have to start all over again because of more amendments. It was only due to one night when the machine finally gave up that the then chief secretary ordered that an electric machine be obtained immediately.

Over the years, I have seen many changes and this place has come to be a part of my family. There were my early colleagues, especially Clive Mertin with whom I worked for many years, who was very much like a brother to me and a partner in crime, especially when we endured many, many late nights in the front office with our then boss in the chamber. We often played charades, only to be caught and suitably punished. In more recent times, there have been my colleagues the late Trevor Blowes and Chris Schwarz, both of whom I hold in such high regard. Of course, I must also mention Margaret Hodgins, who has been my assistant for many years. We have a great team in the Legislative Council: Guy, Leslie, Anthony, Todd, Mario, Karen and Antoni.

Starting at the very bottom of the Legislative Council staff structure, I never dreamt I would become the first woman Usher of the Black Rod in the commonwealth nor become the first woman Clerk in an Australian parliament.

Peter, my husband, has been with me from the early days. He has been a terrific support, listening to me when I came home late at night talking about the latest developments, especially when I first became Clerk and it seemed like it was the federal 1975 situation all over again over money legislation and the sitting of both houses was suspended while this big argument took place.

I have indeed had many, many happy years, with some difficult periods, but I will never look back with regret at choosing Parliament House as my career.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!