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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-31 Daily Xml
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Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Adjourned debate on motion for adoption (resumed on motion).

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (16:22): Just before lunch, when I was speaking to the Address in Reply I got to the point about how we can strengthen our democracy and how we can ensure we have a much more participatory democracy to ensure more voices are heard.

One of the things we often hear discussed in the political debate and political discussion these days, and also generally in common, is the use of the word 'diversity'. I have no objection to using the word 'diversity'; we need to diversify our institutions. We need to diversify our political culture. We need to diversify to make sure that people from different backgrounds have an opportunity to participate fully in the political process.

The only caveat I would have to that is that diversity has seemed to have taken on a certain meaning, and I believe at times excludes one of the key groups in our community, and that is those who are economically and politically less powerful in our society, the people who are poor. When we talk about diversity, I rarely hear how we are actually going to engage with people who lack the economic and political power to participate in our process.

Generally speaking, those people who lack economic and political power also generally—and I say 'generally'—do not have good education. They generally live in certain suburbs. They generally live in certain housing, etc. So, if we are going to have a much more participatory democracy, a democracy that reflects true diversity, we need to make sure we tackle this group, the group that is hit the hardest when the economy is in decline, the group that is not heard when we have a whole range of reforms.

In this term, I will be endeavouring to work out how I as an MP—and I will call on other MPs—can ensure that we hear the voices of the poor in our community. These are the people who do not get counted in the census because they are homeless. These are the people who do not actually write to newspapers for a whole range of reasons, including lack of confidence. They do not participate in the political process because they do not understand what is involved. More importantly, as we have an increasing amount of our democracy based in technology, this group of people is left behind even further.

I go to community meetings from time to time where I see a lot of white middle-class people rock up. I have no problem with that; that is fine, but it is not good enough anymore. We need to ensure that, if we are going to avoid the cleavages we see in America and some other countries, we need to reduce inequality in this country. We can only reduce inequality in this country if the people who are not listened to—the poor—do get a voice. It is in our interests to protect our democracy, to reduce inequality and to give greater power to those who have the least.

My plea is that when people start to talk about diversity in politics they make sure they include that group of people, which I believe is about 20 to 25 per cent of our population who live in poverty. Not only adults but their children do not get a voice. They are the ones who do not demand things at their school and do not do well at school, so that cycle continues. I go back to the next quote of the Governor's wonderful speech, and I quote:

Since the establishment of the first State Parliament, South Australia has benefited from the vision of Premiers with courage to do what is right and necessary.

We have had a number of those. Certainly, our current Premier is one who would fit that category quite easily. We have had premiers like Don Dunstan, who at the time spoke against what was the common view; we have had premiers like Playford, who at the time did bold things—and we will put aside for the moment the gerrymander. He nationalised energy power to create ETSA and he made sure that power and water were available to ensure that we had industrial development in this state. He also put a lot of emphasis on accommodation and housing for workers. So I am confident that our new Premier will be in that forum of premiers with vision.

We also need to understand that inequality hits a lot of people. There are many small farmers, there are many small business people, there are a range of people who are less economically and politically powerful. In the parliament before last, we addressed some of those matters when Minister Koutsantonis introduced a small business commissioner bill to ensure that small business that had problems dealing with big business had somebody on their side of the court. The bill, which was designed to support small business, was opposed by the Liberal Party. Years later, they saw the merits and added to that bill, which we supported as well. Farmers benefited from that action as well.

Another matter was brought to our attention by the Governor when talking about how we respond to the global pandemic, and I quote: 'That means improving our provision of mental health care.' I am sure there is not one MP in this place who has not had a phone call, a visit, an email or a letter from somebody in their electorate who is in dire need of specialised mental health care for themselves or their family or, in some cases, students in the school ground. I cannot speak for the eastern suburbs, which may be a bit different, but I can certainly speak for the northern suburbs and in particular Gawler, where there is a shortage in terms of the provision of mental health care.

If a person needs mental health care today in those areas, try to ring a GP in terms of primary health care and their books are closed. Try to find a GP who specialises in mental health care. We do have one in Gawler; we are fortunate—Dr Naomi Rutten specialises in mental health care. After three months of opening up her practice, she had to close the books. She has more patients than she can actually deal with, and she has had to close her books on mental care.

People have to wait six months or 12 months. If you are a veteran who has served our nation and you are looking for mental health care, often the answer is that, despite having a gold card, you have to wait six to 12 months before seeing one. For somebody who is experiencing poor mental health, six months or nine months or 12 months is the difference between life and death. We need to improve that. I am aware that this government has committed to improving the provision of mental health services and support to our schools and also has improved increasing the number of beds in our hospitals, but we have to go further than that.

We need to work with the new Labor government federally to make sure that we have a much better network of support for people in different parts of their mental health wellbeing. Unfortunately, at the moment we might have some services at the very primary care and at the very acute care when people end up in hospital, but there is not a lot in between. We need to address that. In fact, last week I held a forum with some young people in my electorate, and mental health care was one of the major issues that young people saw for youth, in terms of what they are facing and trying to get access to mental health care.

Moving along in the Governor's very thoughtful speech, the Governor goes on to say:

In short, South Australia has always been a State with an eye on the big picture. It is that intrinsic quality to our State's character that will guide us again now. For we are at another pivotal moment in history, in that we are faced with the most urgent national recovery project this nation has ever experienced outside of wartime.

I could not agree more, and this government will deliver on that. We have a Premier who has that vision. We have a Premier who said that he will govern not for this term and not for the next term but for the term after that and the term after that to make sure that we have infrastructure and policies for future generations.

I can understand why the current member for Morialta, the former Minister for Education, is happy about the new school in his electorate, but I can tell you that, for the tens of millions of dollars being spent in the eastern suburbs for this school, I can show you schools in my electorate that have had to be boarded up and the classrooms could not be used because of poor infrastructure. That is a disgrace in a community that already is vulnerable. The next generation is made more vulnerable by not having equal access to a quality education, and I am confident that this government will address those issues of inequality.

The Governor goes on in her speech to say: 'This is not a time to be timid. This is an opportunity, instead, for renewal.' I could not agree more, and this is a government that will do that. We need to not only commit to rebuilding our economy and transitioning our economy, to make sure that we are a carbon neutral economy, but commit to rebuilding our society. There are huge cleavages in our society and, as I said earlier, we do not want to wake up one day and notice this inequality and the social cleavages we have in our community too late, such as in America. How they deal with theirs, sadly, is through conflict. I think we need to make sure that we build and renew our society, one based on fairness, justice and real opportunity to all in our community and not just some in select suburbs.

I am getting towards the end. I would also like to draw attention to the Governor's speech where she talks about health. She states:

It also means that we need to look at the big picture and ask if current health arrangements are still fit for purpose.

That is a very important statement. We need to ensure that the health dollar reaches every person in need, but there are gaps. I am confident this government will deliver on that, but there are gaps in our health system and there are gaps in our palliative care health system. People have spoken to me about the right to have access to quality palliative care across the state. If you are a person, for example, who is housebound, try to get yourself a flu shot or vaccination of some sort. It is almost impossible to get somebody to come to your home and give you that necessary vaccination.

We need to address that. We need to make sure that health services are delivered to people where they need them. Often, the people who are housebound are older people or people with disabilities and those are the people who need those services the most. Often it is the aged. We need to address that, and we need to make sure that transport services get people who need health services from places like my electorate to the RAH, etc. People are now paying hundreds of dollars for a return trip to get access to a weekly cancer service.

The Governor talks about the education system, which I think is very important. Certainly we need to address that, and I am confident that the new Minister for Education will do so through his new programs tackling early childhood learning and also through technical education, etc. These programs will ensure that more young people get the educational skills they need to fulfil their potential. I think that is what we all want for human beings.

At this point, I would also like to commend the Compass Catholic college. It is not in my electorate—I think it is in Taylor—but it serves my region. It is a new college based on a model of actually reaching young people who have become alienated from the education system. The innovative program will ensure that these young people who have left the system will get back into education, get their SACE and hopefully have a foundation for a successful life ahead of them. The Governor goes on to say:

Of course, society is more than simply an economy, and any recovery cannot lose sight of what makes South Australia such a wonderful and vibrant place to live.

If that term has to have some meaning, we need to review and reform our planning laws. Universally, when you go to public meetings, whether it is of community members, applicants, consultants or developers, none of them are happy with the current system, which actually has a built-in conflict and disenfranchises people from the process and also builds conflict. I was at a meeting last night where everyone was annoyed with the current planning system. Not one person thought it was a great idea, so we need to look at that and look at ways of actually building a community in which everyone wants to live.

In closing, my hope is that in this term of government, this government, in conjunction with the recently elected federal Labor government, is able to reduce the level of inequality in this community. As I said, it is the greatest threat to not only people having good lives but also our society. I have covered quite a few areas. One area I have not actually covered is to thank one important group. I would like to thank my family. My parents had the courage to migrate from Italy back in 1963 to ensure that their children (my sister and I) had the chance of a good education and a good life, which we have. I am hoping that next year I get the opportunity to travel to Italy and stand where I stood 60 years ago when my family left Italy. I thank you and I thank my electorate for their support.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (16:38): This is an important opportunity for me to thank Her Excellency for her address to the parliament and the people of South Australia some few weeks ago upon the formation of this parliament, enunciating her government's agenda over the course of the next four years.

As Premier of the state, I was somewhat humbled to have someone of the calibre of Her Excellency sharing that vision as we embark on a substantial journey over the course of the next four years. With your indulgence, Mr Speaker, I thought I would make some references to some key components of the Governor's address and the government's agenda, as well as acknowledge the substantial contribution that a few people have made in order to give the South Australian parliamentary Labor Party the opportunity to be able to deliver on that agenda.

I think there were some defining themes at this year's state election but none more so than a desire from me and my team to ensure that we had a policy vision that was fully orientated towards the future of our state not just into the short term but also into the medium and long term. So much of that I think was desired by the people of South Australia on the back of what has been a very difficult few years with, of course, the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented. This was an unprecedented period during our lifetime, and those challenges have been substantial.

What I believe our people want more than anything else is a sense that the sacrifices that have been made throughout the course of COVID deliver a return into the long term, which means a policy agenda is absolutely necessary. That policy agenda should seek to address people's primary concerns and also their ambitions for the future.

When it comes to people's immediate concerns, none is more significant than having a health system that works. The very nature of a pandemic is that it elevates in our minds and our hearts the importance of health. The pandemic has reminded us in a very startling way and a very shocking way that we are nothing without our health. What we have seen over the course of the last few months, ever since COVID was let into our state in November last year, is that over 400 people have now lost their lives in South Australia as a result of that illness.

When we think about our health we go far beyond COVID. We look at the performance of our health system, which is under extraordinary strain not just because of COVID, not just because of the flu, but because of structural challenges that are embedded within the system and also the complexity associated with having a hospital system that taxpayers can afford but that delivers for ever-increasing demand. The simple fact is that we have a growing population here in South Australia—we always have—but we have a growing population that is also now a rapidly ageing population, which means that demands on our health system are growing.

More than that, because of the extraordinary ingenuity of so many in our state, we have a health system that is also becoming more complex by nature. The healthcare service delivery that has been able to be undertaken in a First World economy such as ours is nothing short of remarkable. Nothing seems to be beyond the capacity of our researchers, our doctors, our clinicians, in performing the most extraordinary and remarkable feats in order to keep people alive and get them well. That brings with it, though, substantially more expense.

So we have a growing population, an aging population and more and more technological advancement and expense within our health system. People and the community rightly demand that those challenges are met by their government. They expect their government to make health a priority, particularly where they see a system failing. What they saw over the course of a four-year period was ambulance ramping increasing by 480 per cent and a response not being made by the government of the day. But, more than that, they saw an ambulance service that was no longer able to do the most elementary of functions in our health system, which of course is responding to urgent 000 calls.

People will understand that from time to time pressure builds on the system and sometimes calls might be responded to late, but when we go from an 85 per cent on-time performance for priority 2 call-outs down to a 30 per cent on-time performance people know something is wrong and something needs to change. We very deliberately went the election with a policy for substantial change in our health system, with the very determined effort to recalibrate a lot more resources to our public health system. I am very excited at the prospect of a state budget to be handed down in only two days' time that delivers on that commitment.

Just today, I had the great pleasure of being with the extraordinary staff at the Women's and Children's Hospital and hearing from them firsthand just how much pressure they are under but, more excitingly, just how anxious they are to get the additional staff that we are providing to them. This week's state budget will provide 48 additional doctors to the Women's and Children's Hospital—that is a massive increase in capacity—and an additional 12 senior nursing staff to the Women's and Children's Hospital. That equates to 60 highly trained professionals over and above attrition at the women's and kids' hospital in this week's state budget.

That is just one example of how determined we are to invest where it matters most within our health system. I understand that the opposition have, to quote one media outlet, 'slammed' us for that announcement today. Well, we stand accused and guilty of delivering on our election commitments, and we will continue to do that, particularly when it comes to health.

The second element outside health that has been central to our policy effort is what we do around education. There is nothing more important and empowering that a state government can deliver to South Australians than an education system that sets up the next generation of our people for the challenges coming down the line in the future. The labour market now is defined by competing with not the person next door or someone interstate for a job but rather someone overseas.

We now operate in an increasingly global labour market. That means that if we want our children to be able to enjoy the same standard of living we have, or even ideally one better, their ability to compete will be a function of their skills, their knowledge, which of course come from their education. On that score, tragically, South Australian students, much like students across the rest of the country, have been going backwards in comparison with counterparts overseas. Australia's education standards have been declining according to a number of metrics developed by the OECD.

I do not think that challenge, or the responsibility for that failure, can be apportioned to one side of politics over the other or just state governments or just federal governments. It is a national challenge that requires a national response. Nonetheless, on this side of the house we are committed to making sure that the state government does everything we can, so we developed probably one of the most substantial education policy platforms that has ever been taken to a state election. It is bold by nature. It starts from three-year-old preschool right through to the tertiary education system.

We are determined to establish a royal commission, which we will have more to say about in coming months, that guides the government's policy on delivering universal three-year-old preschool for every last young South Australian. Every bit of international research tells us that, if you are going to invest more money, do it in the early years. If you are going to put more effort in, do it in the early years. That is where you can get your biggest bang for your buck, and we are going to do exactly that. We are not having a royal commission to tell us what we got wrong: we are having a royal commission to tell us how to get it right. We are very excited to be able to deliver on that.

Outside early childhood education itself, there is also a lasting question that relates to our economy when it comes to early childhood care, the school day and the modern working life of the family. The simple fact is this: the nature of the working lives of parents, whether they be single parents or parents still together, is that it is completely different today from what it was when the school day was first developed decades, if not more, ago.

It is almost impossible for families with two incomes—I think it is almost impossible; I suspect most people would agree—to juggle having young children and two incomes: dropping children off, having child care, preschool, school, out-of-hours school care and two parents working. It is an extraordinarily difficult balancing act. The government has a role to play to try to make it just that little bit simpler in terms of accessibility, affordability and quality.

Our royal commission will thoroughly examine all the options around how we can deliver three-year-old preschool on a broader basis, how we can increase the take-up of four year olds to preschool and how we can ensure that the delivery of that program intersects more conveniently with the demands on working parents. This is a policy that is not just about delivering far better educational outcomes for young people.

That is the priority, but it is not just about that. It is also about increasing workforce participation within our economy, particularly amongst women. It is a sad truth that disproportionately the juggling act and the arrangements that are put in place for all the childcare arrangements and the schooling arrangements are worn by women. That is an unfortunate cultural reality that must be addressed.

However, as we graduate to ever-increasing levels of workforce participation amongst women in a range of different careers—increasingly more and more representation in professional careers—the state government must get behind that effort to make it easier, to change that cultural narrative, to make the responsibility not only equally shared between mothers and fathers but also facilitate service delivery that can underpin better outcomes for children and a greater degree of workforce participation, particularly amongst women, to make the life of a modern working family just that little bit easier. That is a better economic outcome not only in the immediate term, but it is also a better economic outcome in the long term.

Apart from the royal commission and the subsequent policy effort that follows, we are also determined to deliver five brand-new trade schools. We do not believe that you have to go to university to have a decent standard of living. I think that all of us in this chamber would be well familiar with the fact that there is no shortage of industries out there crying out for people with skills and trades, probably now more than ever before.

We have to change the narrative that you have to go to university for a better life. We have to change the narrative that you must complete school and then do a trade. We believe that you should have the opportunity to do both. We are re-establishing technical colleges in a school setting and building five new ones: three in metropolitan Adelaide and two in regional South Australia. We are very excited about that proposition. Only last night I was at a dinner with representatives of our building industry here in South Australia, and I was taken aback at how excited they are about that policy. There is a lot of work to be done in that regard and it is all well and truly underway.

Then we have the tertiary sector. We do not have a top 100 university in our state anymore. I believe that we can do better. We know that we can deliver a top 100 university again. We have been kicking the can down the road on discussions about university amalgamation in our state for too long—well, no more. We are going to have the discussion, we are going to have the debate and we will actively pursue higher education reform, including potentially in the form of amalgamation if it is in the interests of our state.

We are not interested in a debate defined by what is in the best interests of one institution over another, or one individual over another: we are interested in a debate and a discussion about what is in South Australia's interests. Our universities are ultimately established under state acts of this parliament, which means that we have a seat at the table, which means governments have a responsibility not to avoid being party to a controversial discussion. We should be leaning into it, and if we are not leaning into it we should be leading it, and that is why our government has a policy to do exactly that.

We want to work with the higher education sector in that endeavour, particularly universities, and I look forward to those discussions continuing in due course. With respect to education, it does not matter whether you are three years old or in tertiary study, we have a policy to realise all the potential of our young people, and nothing is more important to achieve than that.

When it comes to the challenges that our globe faces at the moment there are two big ones, and I have spoken about this at a few different forums recently, including at a hydrogen conference this morning. There are two big challenges of our time, and these are global challenges: one is decarbonisation of industry. This is happening now. This is not something that we are talking about in theory at some UN delegation somewhere.

Private capital is now shifting all their money into decarbonisation efforts. The race is on, and we are in pole position in this state because we have been first movers now for the better part of 20 years. We are on the precipice of achieving great things when it comes to decarbonisation through the hydrogen opportunity. We are not going to let this one pass us by. This is our moment, our chance. We are going to grab it. We are going to seize it.

The decarbonisation challenge is the biggest one of our time, and South Australia is at the forefront. The other big one, of course, is geopolitical instability and uncertainty. This is the riskiest time we have experienced in the better part of 30 years. Not since the Cold War have we had such a moment when there is reason for pause and concern about what is happening globally in terms of those tectonic shifts of power.

We currently have a situation that seems somewhat incomprehensible when you think about it. In continental Europe, one country is invading another. One sovereign government or country is invading another, and one of them is a Western liberal democracy. This is in continental Europe. It is an incomprehensible thought. This is happening on our television sets before our eyes, and a lot of people are paying attention to what the consequences of that will be. It will necessarily mean that we start to see more investment in defence, space and cyber. Again, what state in the federation is best placed to capitalise on that opportunity? It is South Australia.

You have two of the massive challenges around the world, the two big challenges before humankind at the moment, which are two challenges that South Australia is best placed to make progress on. We can confront the decarbonisation challenge like no-one else. We can step up to the plate and make a contribution to defence industry like no-one else, which means that we have an extraordinary opportunity before us. We want to make sure we grab that opportunity.

We want to look after people's health so they enjoy a decent standard of living, we want to invest in education to ensure that young people can participate in those industrial opportunities, we want to deliver real action on climate change so we can look our kids in the eye and say, 'You know what? We actually decided to do something about it and, by the way, you got more jobs out of the back of it.' We want to make sure that Australia is one of the best placed middle powers in the world to defend our democracy and everything we stand for by extraordinary technological advancements and, by the way, we can capitalise on that industrially at the same time.

This is our moment. This is our time. If not now, then when? If not South Australia, then where? This is something that we can all make a contribution on. We are absolutely determined to make sure that this government's agenda realises all that opportunity, but we are in a race. We are in a race against time, and that is why we are getting on with the task as quickly as we possibly can, including making the active decision to bring forward this year's state budget to be handed down on Thursday.

What I would say to everyone on my team is: let's stay together in this endeavour. Let's stay on task. Let's remember the big picture of why we are here. Ultimately, the people who put us here are those who deserve the most thanks—and that is of course the people of South Australia. This is my opportunity to put on the record my thanks to the good people of Croydon. I cannot thank them enough for giving me the opportunity to be a member in this place.

First and foremost, we are local MPs, and constituents in suburbs such as Bowden, Brompton, Croydon, West Croydon, Devon Park, Croydon Park amongst other suburbs in my electorate, I cannot thank them enough for the opportunity. They are good working people. They are hardworking people. My electorate is unique. Everyone's electorate is unique, but no-one else in this chamber can say that 49 per cent of their electorate has English as a second language. I can. I raise my children in the United Nations of South Australia, and I am incredibly proud of it. There are not too many multicultural communities who do not live in the electorate of Croydon, and I want to acknowledge each and every one of them because they make our country a richer place.

In terms of other thanks I would like to put on the record, I do want to take the opportunity to thank the party office for their campaign efforts. They have given us the opportunity to be in government, led by Reggie Martin and his team, including Steve May and the new party secretary, Aemon Bourke. I want to thank my hardworking staff. The opposition was incredibly tough; it is not easy. My staff, led by John Bistrovic, I do want to thank for their service in the past but also their service into the future.

For those who have stayed on from opposition to government, they must be patient and determined individuals, which I want to acknowledge, but I also do want to thank the whole of the parliamentary team that you and I are lucky enough to be part of, Mr Deputy Speaker. We have an extraordinary outfit in South Australian Labor. You do not come back into government after one term unless you operate as a team where your own interests have to be second to the team's interests, and the fact that we have that culture is something that is special and worthy of preservation, and I think it is unique to the Australian body politic.

Other political parties, other parliamentary parties on both sides of politics around the country, know that we have something a bit special here and they want to work out how to bottle it. The truth is it has to be organic and it has to be authentic. There is not just one thing you do. It takes a collective effort to commit to that cultural ideal of putting your interests second to others. I am very lucky to be afforded the opportunity to be able to lead such an extraordinary team.

To all of the re-elected MPs, your results have been utterly astounding. I am reluctant to start naming all of them. But for re-elected MPs who took small margins and made them big margins, that is absolutely amazing, and there are a couple here. I can see the member for Badcoe and also the member for Mawson. Those results are an extraordinary endorsement of their hard work over the last four years and further back. I think they have every reason to be proud of their efforts.

Then there are our new MPs who are worthy of acknowledgement as well. I believe there were nine maiden speeches that were delivered. The member for Playford and the member for Taylor gave great addresses to this house in recent weeks, and then we had the addition of seven MPs who had to defeat Liberal incumbents, or in one case an Independent incumbent. I have to say the maiden speeches that were delivered by those seven incredible women were probably the proudest moment of my working life.

The member for Adelaide was the first cab off the rank and after she finished speaking, I thought, 'Oh no, how are the other six going to match that?' and in each and every instance they did. They delivered speeches that were all unique, all truly special, and I think we have a lot to be excited about in that regard on this side of the house.

The last people I want to acknowledge and thank I neglected to mention on election night, and that is Bob Neil from the Adelaide Uni Football Club—no! I am of course talking about my wife and children. This is a really tough business, politics; it is hard. It does not matter what your politics are or what your style of politics is, there is always a price that is paid by family and loved ones. I have not been home very much and somehow it all comes together, and that in no small part is because of the most extraordinary person I know. My wife, Annabel, is a professional herself. Her work ethic is truly second to none, and she has been such an amazing support to me and our three beautiful children.

There are moments in opposition when it does get a bit tough. You wonder how you are going to get through a particular situation, and you are anxious about the responsibility to your party and your team that rests upon your shoulders. There were a couple of times when that was probably obvious to Annabel at home. She was just the most incredible support to me, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I would not have been able to lead my team to victory without her by my side every step of the way. She paid a sacrifice putting up with my absolute focus and I do not know how I repay that.

I hope that in our time on this side of the house, lucky enough to be on the government benches, and in my privileged capacity as the Premier of the state, we are able to make some change that has a lasting legacy not just for my own children but for other children who are voiceless in the community. That is our ultimate test of success. We do not claim success now because we have won an election. We can only claim success if we are able to make a difference, no matter how big or small it is, for those people. I want to thank Annabel, Sophie, Jack and Eliza for the sacrifice they are making in that endeavour. My children are too young to understand any of this, and that is probably a good thing, but I want to thank them nonetheless for willingly giving up time with me.

All I can commit myself to do is my level best. I am very lucky to lead a great team, along with Susan, the deputy leader of the party, who has also been an extraordinary support to me. We regularly reflect on how lucky we both are to have this opportunity before us. We are determined to make the absolute most of it, so thank you.

Motion carried.

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