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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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Adjournment Debate

VALEDICTORIES

The Hon. L.R. BREUER (Giles) (18:18): The room is emptying; the story of my life! I rise to speak for the last time in this place after 16 years, and I wonder where the time has gone. I am not going to give any advice or words of wisdom because I believe you can go one term too many. It is time to hand over to the young ones and, if they are all like my children, they know everything, so what can I tell them? It is a big opportunity, though, for me to have a go at everybody that has upset me, annoyed me or who I do not like, who I can't stand. It's payback time! However, why should I? Because really the last 16 years have been quite amazing.

What a privilege and honour to serve in this place. Would I do it again if I knew what I know now? Yes, I would. Absolutely, yes. I read my maiden speech last night and I was really quite impressed at what I said, and it has just gone downhill from there. It has been a privilege and an honour also to serve my electorate of Giles, and mine is the greatest and best electorate in the state. Mine is bigger than yours, member for Stuart. There are so many stories that I can tell, but time has prevented it. We were given 10 minutes by the whip, but the whip herself went over that, but I will try to cut it down because it is getting late and there are drinks upstairs.

What can you say about 16 years—16 years that have consumed your life and your family life? It has been perceived for me as a life of luxury. I know that people think that we live extremely well, that we are very well heeled, that we have all sorts of perks. All I can say is that I am looking forward to packing a case because I want to not because I have to. I am told how wonderful it must be to eat out so often—and to eat here. They don't know about the zucchini! I am really looking forward to having poached eggs at night for tea, rather than a gourmet meal and zucchini.

I am also told about the luxury accommodation that I stay in regularly, that I stay in hotels. Well, yes, I have stayed in a few nice hotels, but I have stayed in some others as well that have been quite choice. One particular one I stayed in (it wasn't a hotel, it was place with accommodation), and a dog—I hope it was a dog; I think it was a dog—had actually left a message in the first room, in the corner, so I did not sleep in that room. I went to the second room, and there was a message left there, also in the corner, so I did not sleep in that room.

However, in the third room the dog had left a message but somebody had cleaned it up, it was just the remnants, so I decided to stay there in that room. So, that was very classy, and that is the sort of classy accommodation I am used to. Another hotel I stayed in, I was not game to get up at night because of the cockroaches on the floor—so much for my luxury accommodation I have stayed in over the years in my electorate.

I have travelled about 100,000 kilometres every year. Toilet stops have been a major issue for me; they are a scourge for women. I know that other people are aware of my incident when I was caught by the Indian Pacific, which crosses the Nullabor four times a week. Four times a week, and I happened to be there—however, they won't remember my face!

Being able to do things for my constituents has been a wonderful pleasure for me. I know that unemployment in my electorate when I was first elected to parliament was very, very high. It has now been cut right down, and things are really quite good in Whyalla now. We have survived some terrible times, but we are doing very well now.

I have met many people in my time. If you have been to the outback, you know that there are just heroes and absolute legends out there. I have forgotten some of them, but I met so many. Trevor Wright, the sheik of William Creek, he was in here yesterday, and it was lovely to see him. I have done some amazing trips with him over Lake Eyre. I have seen Lake Eyre quite closely.

Adam and Lynnie Plate up at the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta, they are wonderful people. Lynnie is living down in Adelaide now, and I said, 'I will come and have a cup of tea with you one day,' and she said, 'Cup of tea, pigs arse; we're having a sav blanc.' That will be something to look forward to. Peter Allen, up at Andamooka, is a great mate of mine. It is a wonderful community is Andamooka. Alex Mendelssohn lives up there; he is a descendant of the composer and an artist extraordinaire. Bob Norton, 85 years old, has helped me for years.

Bill and Effie Korbelis, in Coober Pedy, I have to say have been great friends of mine, very dear friends, and they have always helped me out when Labor has been on the nose in Coober Pedy, and that happens fairly regularly. One week you go there and you are great, and the next week you go there, look out. Bill and Effie have always helped me out and taught me a lot about Greek culture and about Greek food, too. There are other people in Coober Pedy, such as Sonia Mazzone from Umoona Aged Care—I often think of her as my other daughter. Of course, there are the wonderful residents of the aged care there, particularly the old ladies who passed away in recent times.

And Nimbula, my namesake—it was a great privilege to get the honour of that. Also, recently, I danced with her; she made me dance with her, the Dance of the Seven Sisters, at some celebrations. I told her I would not go nikiti, but she said that I could wear a T-shirt, so that was good. I can remember that while I was dancing—and I am not a really good dancer; it is only slightly better than my singing—all I kept thinking was, 'Thank God my son's not here watching me.'

Other people—Robin Walker, Patrick and Priscilla Larkins from Coober Pedy, and Annette and Chris Dodd, from Oak Valley—have been great friends of mine over the years. Rosie Kite is a dear friend of mine in Whyalla. Up in Olympic Dam, there is a fellow called Kenny Lamb, who is a legend in the outback. He is a philanthropist. I think that he is one of yours on your side, but he has always been a great mate of mine. He has done some amazing work with Aboriginal communities and with Aboriginal people. He was with me when I went to Fiji.

He was actually doing some work there and I went over there to see his aid work there. He was there when I was proposed to by a chief in Fiji. I chose to decline because I didn't want to come home and tell my kids that they had a new father who was a Fijian chieftain. I was also a propositioned by a young man while I was there. Poor old Kenny could never understand why I knocked him back. Kenny was a great mate of mine and he has done some incredible work.

There are lots of outback heroes there, who you really have to go and meet to understand what I am talking about, and I know that there are people here who do know what it's all about. I was there with my driver—I'm not sure where we were—and we were driving along, and we pulled up, and there was a car there with a flat tyre. The old fellow who was there said to my driver, 'Can you help me with my tyre? Can you get it for me? My daughter is too fat to get under that car.' So poor old Gary had to do that.

Another time there was another family who was stranded at Tarcoola, and we stopped to give them some water. He said, 'Oh, my brother's been here but he's gone to Tarcoola for a drink.' And I thought about it, and I thought Tarcoola is about four hours west. It must have been a good place for a drink. When I went back there to get one, the pub was closed. I do want now pay tribute to some of the most important people in my life who have helped me through my journey in the last 16 years. Gary Hough, my driver for 11 years—we both got the booby prize when we got each other, but 11 years later we are still together. He reckons he is entitled to half my super; I tell him he's dreaming. He's looked after me far better than any husband ever did.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.R. BREUER: Absolutely! I probably saw more of him than his wife ever has in the last few years. He has done things like nearly kill me on a big red sandhill up in the Simpson Desert. We were going through the Simpson Desert. He tore up to the top of that sandhill, and I nearly died—we nearly went over the top. He swears that he saved me by stopping in time; I said he tried to kill me. Another time he was attacked by a crocodile at a waterhole, which turned out to be a catfish.

He's also known as a lover of goats, but we won't go into that. But, what I want to say about Gary is that he is the epitome of a good driver. Another member was talking today, saying that your drivers are just amazing people, the way that they look after you, the work that they do. And anybody who's ever had a driver will understand what I am talking about, and if you have had a bad driver you'll really know what I'm talking about. Thank you, Gary. He has done an amazing job over the years, and it will be like a divorce.

Tracy Robinson has also looked after me and my office for most of my time there. Her family has been involved in it all is well—Peter, Mark, Dale and Ben. Tracy is like my right leg—I can't do without her. Sherie Lamb was a former student of mine, and she has been a single mum like I have been for many years. She is our IT specialist. She has been extremely loyal to me and it is lovely to have her here today.

Linda Hall, she wanted to retire years ago, but I made her stay; so she's hanging out for 15 March. She would talk underwater, that lady. Josie Hudson, who worked for me while I was here—you all know Josie. She still gives me a bit of help and advice every now and again. Pat Toomer was the life of my office for many years, a very good Mormon lady, but she is a legend for her antics on the night of the 2006 election, when she had to be taken home by my son.

Ryan Sutherland was my first trainee. I have had many trainees, and your trainees are the light of your office quite often. I always say Ryan Sutherland was my worst trainee ever. She really gets upset when I say that, but Ryan, we absolutely loved her, and I am really proud that she was one of those trainees who went on and did something with her life, and she is doing really well. So Ryan I have always loved.

Of course Eddie Hughes has been with me for 16 years. It has been a love-hate relationship in that 16 years, but I know he'll do a great job if he succeeds me, when he succeeds me. If nothing else he will talk the caucus into giving in to whatever he wants. He will just talk them down until they do. And I have also taught him to swear so that he will keep our caucus in line when he is in there. So, good luck to Eddie.

I also want to pay tribute to the class of '97, those retiring members who you have heard from here today. We have been great mates. That group who was elected in 1997, I think we were special. We made some great changes around here. If nothing else, we got a whole lot of women's toilets put in because so many women were elected; so that was one change. I think we changed this place forever, because after we got in it wasn't grumpy old men anymore. There were a lot more women in here and things started to change, and I think it has been for the good of the place.

I have had friends and foes on both sides, but I particularly just want to mention two members on the other side (otherwise I will have to go through everyone): my mate Duncan, I love to have a beer with Duncan, and my mate Ivan. You have been special. There are so many others, like Vicki. I really like Vicki; she is dreadful in here, but out there she is wonderful. We enjoy her. There are so many others as well but, like I said, once you start singling them out everybody else gets offended. But I must mention Robyn Geraghty, dear friend and ally: thank you.

I have also had friends and foes in Labor Unity. I want to thank them for their support, and I particularly want to thank Reggie Martin for the great job he has done and the help he has given me, as well as Peter Malinauskas and so many others who have been there. It is good to be part of a team.

I want to thank the staff in this place. I do not want to single anyone out because we would go on forever. However, I do want to thank the two tennis balls sitting in front of the Speaker there. They have done a great job over the years. When I was Speaker I would look down on their heads and wait for someone to serve them—yes! There is also the Serjeant-at-Arms over there; he was always good at calming me down when I was in a panic. So thank you to all of you.

Then there are all these other staff who work here. We do really appreciate what you do, and we know that this place could not run without you. I do not think you get recognised enough, so whether you be catering staff (and it is good to see some up there), Hansard, committee staff, chamber staff (and I am glad to mention Joy and John), the library, the cellar, travel, whip staff (particularly Caroline and Wendy, thanks to them), all of you are wonderful. You all do this amazing, professional job, and you do it so quietly. Most of the time we do not see what is happening, but I thank all of you. You should be recognised for what you do.

I am really sad at what has happened, what I have seen over the last 16 years: how we are held in contempt as MPs. It was not like that when I came in; we had some respect, but we seem to be held in contempt now by the media, people out there, the public. I am sad that is so, and I hope it changes, because MPs are hard working and dedicated. Some are eccentric. We have had many characters in here, and there have been some highlights. One of our former Speakers gave us some very interesting insights into ducks in Macau as well as how he dealt with an injured mate at some stage. We have had some very eccentric characters.

Finally, I want to thank my family. Tim and Kate grew up in politics. At four years old they were handing out pamphlets at elections, etc.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: They started late then.

The Hon. L.R. BREUER: Not like your daughter. Despite having an absent mother, being dragged up really rather than raised, things like being forgotten at child care, they have turned into wonderful people and they are my greatest achievement. I am very, very proud of them, and it is lovely to have them here today. Tim's extended family Kylie, Josh and Tennyson have also been a great support. My parents were Keith and Ruth Raymond, and I used to sit at the table and listen to my dad and his brothers and his father talk about politics. They were Cornish miners so, of course, it was Labor politics, but it was a great upbringing and it made you really think about life and what was important in life.

There is my brother Gary and his wife Sue Raymond, and my gorgeous nephews Dale and Brad. Without my family I would not have been able to do what I am doing; they have been a great support for me. There has been another special person who has been a rock for many years, and I want to thank them also. They provided that essential support network for me.

What have I done? I do not know; who knows what you do? My greatest honours were being the first female Speaker, of course, and also getting my Aboriginal name and becoming a Yankunytjatjara woman. Beyond retirement, who knows? I know I have been pretty outspoken in this place; too bad, I am from the bush and we say it how it is. I have always done that. It goes without saying that Aboriginal communities have been very dear to my heart and I hope that my great mate Duncan will carry on, as he said today.

I do have the best electorate in the state. In my maiden speech I said that I had the best electorate in the state and I would do all in my power to live up to the role of a local, very local, member and do my best for the battlers in Giles. I hope I have done that.

I cannot wait to say to those who get to me, when I am at a function—well, I will not have to go to functions any more—you know those people who, when you are at a function come up and start to tell you something. You smile and you nod your head. I cannot wait to be able to say to them 'Please leave and be quiet.' Knowing me, I probably will not say it quite as politely. However, I do want to thank all the electors in Giles for supporting me for so many years. It has been a wonderful journey and it has been a privilege to serve them. I also want to say 'thank you' to everyone here. Palya.

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (18:35): I am very pleased that I am following the member for Giles who has got everybody a little bit agitated and—not enervated, a bit more—

Members interjecting:

Ms THOMPSON: —energised. Thank you, member for Ashford. It has been a long time for everybody sitting here and I thank everybody who is able to stay until the end of my remarks, particularly the nine members of my family who are here today; two of them who are here have come over from Melbourne especially to share this occasion with me. I thank them very much.

I started my inaugural speech by referring to the privilege I felt to be standing there and thanking the people of Reynell for the confidence they had shown in me and pledging to uphold their trust. I thank them still. I feel that privilege today and have worked throughout to uphold that trust. In this, I have been helped by many people, such as my staff members over the years. There have been many, some of whom have gone on to positions of influence in different areas.

It is impossible to name them all, but I want to especially thank the first—Jo Carlisle—and the last, Penny Gregory. They were called things like 'office manager' and 'personal assistant', but really they were 'Gay managers'—quite a challenge. They are remarkable people who worked with me to meet many challenges. Penny came with me all the way to the Supreme Court, fighting against some of the most influential hoteliers in Adelaide. I do not get Christmas cards from a whole stack of people any more. We were in opposition to the location of a pokies parlour in our community, and we won.

I also thank my volunteer staff and the students on placement who have enabled me to do much more for the people of Reynell than would otherwise have been possible. I thank my fellow caucus members for the camaraderie, the debates and the experience of taking on a range of roles in the parliament and on committees. I particularly thank the whip for managing things and being so understanding when we had commitments that clashed and for enabling us to juggle our personal and political lives. I thank the Labor Party for supporting my preselection, and especially today I wish to thank the Premier for his very kind remarks.

I thank all the staff of Parliament House, including the many committees I have enjoyed working on, who make our lives much easier. Special thanks go to the catering staff who on many occasions have been more vigilant than I in ensuring that I do not eat anything that does not agree with me. I thank them for introducing broccoli to the list of vegetables served.

Ms Bedford: Hang on a second: they had help.

Ms THOMPSON: They did. They were reminded well by the member for Florey, and. I hope that a reform of the next parliament is to get rid of the wet zucchini. I thank my drivers over the years. All of us who have the privilege of being supported by drivers know we see more of them than our partners, and they often bear the burden of our defusing or anxiety so our partners do not get the worst of our frustration. I thank my family and friends, who have reorganised commitments, done my share of family work and, most importantly, been another source of grounding and insight. They help to put big and small adversities and victories into perspective.

When we are elected to parliament I do not think either we or our families really understand exactly what we are letting ourselves in for. In my case, not only did I embark on a new career but on a new relationship with my partner, John. It has been a challenging time for him and his support and understanding has been invaluable. We now embark upon a new stage of our partnership, and I am very excited about this.

I thank the people of Reynell, and especially the educational leaders—professional and volunteer—who have joined in my quest to use education to address the imbalance in privilege in our community. Looking back at my inaugural address, the main theme was the role of education at all levels to address inequities and to give children a chance for better lives than their parents.

It is also important as a means to provide a second chance to those many people who work as care attendants, cleaners, construction and manufacturing workers, retail workers and more whose valuable work keeps our community going but whose bodies often pay a severe toll. They need new careers and often the chance to take advantage of higher education in a way that was not available to them in their youth. I am very proud to see the great progress the Labor government has made and continues to make in these areas, especially through the ACE program, Skills for All and our year 12 retention rates.

I have often been humbled by the way constituents put their trust in me and my staff on a personal issue. Often the services we have been able to organise for them are because they have told us important elements of their story that they did not or could not tell anyone else. With the full picture, they have received a service or justice to which they were entitled. I will miss all these things.

I also want to speak of my joy at seeing the younger women who have entered the parliament on the Labor side: the members for Hartley, Bright, Taylor, Port Adelaide and Ramsay are skilled, insightful, compassionate and realistic. They offer great hope for our state's future, especially with the guidance of the senior women who will remain. I hope my classmates have made it a little easier for you, and I am pleased that they will be joined by another skilled woman in my successor, Katrine Hildyard.

In this regard I also wish to commend our male colleagues on this side. In general, they have become much more used to listening to women's voices and recognising that our perspective is sometimes different but equally valid. I do not claim that we have yet reached nirvana but I do think our governments have been better because of the active participation of strong women and the readiness of the men to listen to them.

In conclusion, it has been an amazing experience, one which my father, Francis John Malone—I promised my family I would not cry today because I did that last night—who worked as an apprentice plumber on the gutters of the Legislative Council, or my grandfather, Terence Malone, who in 1931 proposed a toast to the parliament which was recorded in the annals of The Mail, could not have envisaged.

Interestingly, it was my maternal grandmother, Lynda Elizabeth Doherty (nee O'Brien), who was the first person who said anything that indicated that I could aspire to parliament. Mind you, she said that in the context of hoping that I did not, but at 22 the thought had never crossed my mind. My mother, Mary Loyola Malone, who followed in my footsteps to be a union delegate, would have not been surprised and would have been very supportive and proud of my achievements here.

I wish all my colleagues on this side well in the forthcoming election. They all deserve to return and I look forward to joining them on Thursdays for lunch. My thanks to everyone for the privilege I have enjoyed and the support they have given. Special thanks again to my family members and my adopted family members, so many of whom are here today.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The SPEAKER (18:45): I offer my gratitude to all who make the parliament function as it should. The Clerk and the table staff have generations of experience between them. Members of parliament come and go but the clerks are with us always, remembering relevant precedents that MPs have forgotten even if they were members at the relevant time.

For 24 years I have been grateful for the work of Hansard, making us read much better than we sound. For all those years they have been repairing solecisms, split infinitives, disagreements in number between subject and verb, mispronunciations, anacoluthon, catachresis, barbarism and bulldust.

My thanks go to parliamentary counsel who turn MPs' ideas for changes to the law—some sane, some harebrained—into logical bills and turn the camel of a deadlock conference compromise into a horse that can gallop. Gratitude is owed to the attendants who must sit still and listen to our monotony for hours on end and who respond generously to our requests.

I thank the protective security officers and police who protect us from those who would do us harm. The library staff guide our literary tastes, find the half-remembered long-ago fact or tell us that our fond recollection is wrong, and provide the research that makes our speeches plausible. The catering staff supply us with delicious and nutritious fare in silver service surroundings. The finance and management staff make sure our pays arrive on time and correct weight and keep the house functioning. I thank the building services staff and those who keep watch through the night. I thank our drivers who must rise early, drive under pressure owing to the tardiness of their passengers, stay awake into the early hours, and who are so discreet.

I offer my gratitude to the electorate officers and trainees who must, usually in our absence, bear the brunt of our angry and sometimes vexatious constituents and who try to find ways to make us appear diligent, conscientious and worthy of re-election.

I thank the member for Lee in particular for being an able deputy speaker and for occupying the chair for hours after question time each day. I thank my assistant Josie Hudson for making the Speaker's office run smoothly. I thank the house for its forbearance and goodwill. I wish you all a happy and holy Advent and Christmastide.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (18:48): Very briefly, I offer my thanks to all those within the house for the roles they perform in making our parliament work. I start by thanking you, Mr Speaker, and the honourable member for Giles for the superb way you have both performed the roles of Speaker during the term. I thank all the staff here in Parliament House as well as Hansard, the Parliamentary Library, catering, building staff, finance manager, parliamentary counsel, and all who work to make sure we have a functioning parliament. I thank our retiring whip for the miracles she has performed and also her deputy whip, the member for Mitchell. I wish her the best for her retirement and I thank her staff, Wendy Gee and Carol Putland.

I am very proud of the government's achievements. I would like to thank those ministers, government members, chiefs of staff, advisers, administration, electorate office staff and drivers who have worked so hard, not only over this year but over the past 11 years of the government.

I particularly would like to thank my ministerial and electoral staff. I would to thank our families, and I would like to thank the member for Torrens, as already mentioned, and the members for Giles, Lee, Kaurna and Reynell for their service to the Labor movement in the house, as well as the Hon. Carmel Zollo, who has served for many years in the other place. I wish them all, together with the member for Schubert, the best in their retirement.

I would like to thank all members from all sides of this place and the other place for their hard work during this session, which will be prorogued on 13 December. Finally, I wish everybody a safe, happy Christmas and festive season. I look forward to seeing everyone anew, with returning members from this side on this side of the chamber next year.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (18:50): I conclude, sir, by wishing you a merry Christmas and trusting that I will beat your primary vote at the next election—see you next year.


At 18:51 the house adjourned until Tuesday 17 December 2013 at 11:00.


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