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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-27 Daily Xml
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VALEDICTORIES

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (17:20): Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is my pleasant duty, on behalf of the opposition, to extend to you and other members of the parliamentary family a very merry Christmas and joyful and peaceful forthcoming holiday period. I expect that, with by-elections in hand, it will not be entirely relaxing for many of us. There are many whom I wish to acknowledge on this occasion.

Many people in Mumbai, on the other side of the world, have just experienced a major terrorist attack—a devastating event. I am sure that it saddens all members of the house to hear of such a heartbreaking event, distressing as it is for those in that community. Sadly, it comes at a time when, in the Western world, we look to celebrate the forthcoming Christmas period as these devastating events occur. This is a sobering event, of course, and I acknowledge that we celebrate Christmas with some merriment at a time when others are suffering.

It is important, however, that today we recognise with appreciation the service of many. May I start with you, Mr Speaker. I thank you on behalf of the opposition for the extra duties you carry out in this parliament. As an elected representative of the parliament you have the special role of keeping us all in order, which you do quite diligently. Of course, from time to time, we have differences of opinion, but that is to be expected. We thank you for that, and extend to you and your wife and your large family—delightful as your young children are—a peaceful Christmas.

I also acknowledge the Clerk of the House, Malcolm Lehman, who has completed his first full year of operation with us. He is a veteran of this parliament, and he has taken up this job with aplomb. We thank him for his services. He is ably assisted by the Deputy Clerk, Rick Crump, who has also moved from other positions here in the parliament. He has served us well in his role.

I also acknowledge Mr Philip Spencer. He came to us as the head of Hansard. This is a very difficult task in this place because of the different accents and rapidity with which people present addresses and debates. Therefore, I especially thank Mr Spencer and his very hard-working team in the Hansard division of the parliament for the long hours of service that they provide to us and the excellent and prompt delivery of proceedings. I am not sure that I fully understand how to electronically retrieve proceedings under the new Hansard processes, but I am told that it is better and quicker. I am sure that I will eventually learn in order to keep up. We thank you. You can always identify Mr Spencer, because he is the one who walks around in very snappy suits. Keep up the high standard, Mr Spencer.

To the Clerk in the Legislative Council, Mrs Jan Davis, her contribution to this parliament, particularly the Legislative Council, is well known; it has been outstanding and has spanned more than 40 years. She has continued, in the preceding 12 months, to be courteous in her dealings with this side of the parliament and to ensure that there is a workable coexistence and cooperation between the houses. I am sure that you would agree, Mr Speaker, that our Clerk has been able to undertake his duties on this side of the chamber with the gracious goodwill and experience that she has brought to the parliament. I am not sure why I do not ever get the PNSG service in the list of people. They do not seem officially to sit under the parliamentary family, but I like to acknowledge them.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: Hear, hear!

Ms CHAPMAN: I hear the Attorney endorsing that. Lorraine Tonglee is usually the one who comes to the rescue in our office but she has a very hardworking team. She is a bit off-balance sheet with this because her division comes through a different process, but she and her team serve this parliament well.

I also recognise those who work in the library. Dr Coral Stanley is our Parliamentary Librarian and she has a team under the Manager of Library Services, Mrs Sally Dawson, and the Manager of Research Services, Dr Zoe Gill. I pay special tribute to them because of the service they provide to all members of parliament. I place on the record my appreciation for some excellent research work that has been undertaken by the library which has been made available to all members of the chamber in certain instances of important public policy. I think it is important that we be kept abreast of these issues even if there is no immediate proposed legislative reform. That is part of our education and I thank them for that.

As I also have the pleasure of serving on the Friends of the Library group with other members from the government and opposition, I think we have put forward some recommendations this year. In fact, we had the opportunity to view and have an occasion to celebrate during an evening event a number of the rare books and records that are held in the library. We should be very proud of the library as South Australians, not just as members of parliament.

The finance manager, Mr Kent Nelson, and his team keep things in order. We do not know whether or not they balance the books because we do not see those records but I am sure there is some process here that keeps an eye on that. It is an important part of our services here.

I thank Denis Hixon, the building services manager, and his extensive team. I always see people walk along with carts, ladders and other implements for the purposes of restoring and maintaining our building. They do an excellent job. I join with the Attorney in saying that we have an historic, heritage-listed building here and how important it is that we maintain it at a standard on behalf of all South Australians.

We thank Creon Grantham and his team in the catering service—cooks, chefs and other assistants—for their refreshment and for ensuring that our sustenance is maintained. I thank him for that.

I also acknowledge, on behalf of the opposition, the hard working team within our offices both here and our electorates. A considerable amount of work is undertaken, as I am sure all members know and appreciate, by their electorate staff while we are in here undertaking services in our parliamentary role. Dawn Story is employed in my office. I always knew that she would be good because she survived my father and I think she is probably the longest serving electorate secretary who exists under the regime. I do not think even Mr Gunn has anyone who has outlived Mrs Story.

The Hon. G.M. Gunn: I trained her. She started up with me.

Ms CHAPMAN: She started with you. I see. Mrs Story also survived the Hon. Graham Gunn, the member for Stuart, so I am very privileged to have her services in my office. Of course, she is prohibited from retirement. She represents not necessarily longevity of service but the dedication of service that our staff give us. Having mentioned one person from my office, I will also mention Paul. He is a stunning young fellow who keeps my life in order and, again, I am sure other members will understand how important our staff are to our being able to function in the parliament. With those few words, I extend everyone a merry Christmas and I look forward to seeing you back here for the challenges in 2009. As it is 478 days until the next election, we have a fair bit of work to do.

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