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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-30 Daily Xml
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Motions

Pnevmatikos, Hon. I.

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. K.J. Maher:

That this council acknowledges the meritorious service to the parliament of the Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos since March 2018.

(Continued from 2 November 2023.)

The Hon. C. BONAROS (16:12): I rise to speak in support of the motion and lend my words to all the very good words that have been said in this place about the Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos and acknowledge her meritorious service to the parliament since being elected in 2018.

I have not really prepared much today because I have been thinking about all the things that Irene and I got up to in this place since she got here and the list is very extensive. But for people of Greek background, I will start with this: Oxi Day is one of the most significant days in our cultural calendar and, for me, it serves as my anniversary with Irene.

Shortly after being elected, we both diligently attended the memorial service to lay our wreaths and during the service I noticed her and thought, 'Ah ha, that's the new Labor MP.' Before I even had time to finish that thought, Irene approached me and introduced herself and the rest, as they say, is history.

Of course, Irene was much more than my Greek colleague and friend: she was my work mum. I have always told her—and this might delight some of you—that if she leaves this place I am going to follow and we will go out like Thelma and Louise. But that is not to be. We had that discussion in her office just before she left.

Honestly, I do not know what this place is going to be like without Irene, but there are a few things that I would like to say on the record. I think people have canvassed a lot of the stories around Irene well, but I want to share a few personal reflections that I have had with her.

People always ask me what Irene is like. I always get asked that question and my response has always been exactly the same. Firstly, she does not fit the mould of a traditional Greek woman and mum. Secondly, I always tell them—and the Hon. Tammy Franks is going to excuse me—that she makes the Hon. Tammy Franks look like a Liberal.

We would have coffee sessions in our kafenio. Whoever does not know where that was it was upstairs next to the Hon. Emily Bourke's office. I know Emily would sit and wonder what the hell it was that we did in that office, and I think everyone wondered what it was that we did in that office. We always saw people coming to have a look at those two who were in the office scheming and plotting and wondering what they were up to and in fact nothing could have been further from the truth. We did everything but scheme and plot in that office. We shared lots of laughs. There was lots and lots of swearing, which I reckon the Hon. Emily Bourke probably did hear through the walls and sometimes she would join us for those coffees. Mainly it is where we went to vent and have a good laugh.

During one of those coffee sessions, I recall someone referring to me as a feminist and Irene laughed pretty hard at the notion that I could possibly be referred to as a feminist because we all know that Irene—and she would tell me as much—had been so active in this space before my parents even had the notion of conceiving me, that is how long she has been active in the areas that I was given this tiny little bit of credit for that day.

Her response was one that I will not forget. Irene is not someone who we know to have the attribute of mincing her words. Sometimes she is as subtle as a sledgehammer and most times she is as subtle as a sledgehammer. Some of our views are actually worlds apart and she never holds back in telling me so. She never holds back in telling me when I am just wrong, when I am just stupid or when what I am saying is pathetic, but by the same token she never held back in sharing all of her wisdom with me on the things that she thought we shared a common interest in and also the things that she thought she could convince me of otherwise.

As her Labor colleagues can attest to, when she does not agree with you she does not hesitate in telling you what for and that has become my favourite Irene saying: 'I gave him or her what for'. It is one that is now stuck in my vocabulary, so when we really have a crack—and I think we know who 'they' were—'They knew I gave them what for'. If you have ever been at the receiving end of one of those what fors, you know that anything I have ever said in this place pales into insignificance. I do not envy the people who are at the receiving end of one of those what fors.

I think the other thing about Irene that was a bit sneaky was that there was also method and a wickedness in fact to everything she did in this place. She would propose a motion and I would say, 'Good motion' and she would say to me, 'Don't be an idiot. I didn't do it for that reason. I did it for' and then she would tell me why she really did it and it would always just leave me blown away that she could be so wicked in terms of getting things done. Her motion on Nelson Mandela was no exception.

I do laugh at the fact that often Irene would be sent to talk to me about things and, while everyone else thought we were sitting there thrashing out what we were going to do on a piece of legislation, we would be sitting back, usually sipping coffees, sometimes an ouzo, and not doing much in terms of what was before us at all.

I feel sorry for the Hon. Reggie Martin, because one of our worst habits in this place and especially in this chamber—but one that came out of nothing but habit—was reverting back to our native tongue on every single given occasion. If the Hon. Justin Hanson thinks he heard some commentary that could not possibly be repeated in this place, he has not heard anything. I can assure everyone that 'colourful language' does not even begin to cover some of the discussions we would have—not about everybody but just colourful discussions we would have about things going on around us.

I think we both owe the Hon. Reggie Martin an apology, because we also had a bad habit of not talking over him but just talking through him. We banked on the fact that we said it went in one ear, his brain did not absorb it because he could not understand the language, it came out the other ear, it landed on Irene and it would be this vice versa exchange between us in this place.

Irene's work in this place has been spoken of by lots of members. I am exceptionally pleased that, together with Irene and other members in this place, we worked on the menstrual hygiene issue. I know that was something that meant so much to her. That is one of the wicked ways she managed to get her government, while in opposition, to support something that she knew, if they formed government, would form part of their policies going forward. She was a smart operator, and she was strategic in the way that she got results. I know that is very dear to her still.

One other thing I will reflect on is our trip together to Greece, where, finally, we both were able to leave the South Australian parliament behind and just be. We had lots of laughs, we made lots of memories, and it was nice to be with Irene away from here, just as a friend.

In my first speech I said I did not come to this place to make friends, and I did not make a friend when I met Irene, I gained a family member, and I found my work mama. My work mama has always treated me just like one of her girls, and over the past 5½ years there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that Irene has not stood by me on. She did not need to, but she stood by me in the most difficult of circumstances. She did not ask permission from her party to do that. She did not care what her party thought about that. She did it because that is who Irene is. If you know Irene, then that is hardly surprising.

Like many people, I do not know how you ever repay her for those things she did for us, not just on a professional level but on a personal level. I have no way of repaying her. I know when Irene first told me of her diagnosis I did not know how I was ever going to stand by her and provide her with the level of support that she provided to so many of us in here. I just did not think it was possible.

I am glad—I am glad—that she left, not because she did not do an exceptional job in this place but because she deserves to go and smell the roses and to be with her family and her loved ones and to look after herself and to tell the rest of us what for while she does that.

If you have ever met Irene it does not take much to realise what she stands for and who she is as a person, and her valedictory speech was no exception. Irene has always done what she did before she came into this place. This was just an extension of what she has done throughout her entire working career and throughout her entire personal life, and this parliament and our communities are all the better for having had her serve as a member of the Legislative Council. I think we are all better for having been able to work alongside her.

For all migrant women, and children of migrant parents out there especially, you could not have asked for a stronger ally and a more dedicated MP. There are a thousand other things I could say about her, but we always say that we are not going to say these things in here; we talk about them amongst ourselves.

I will say to my filenada, my work mama, my teacher and the leftist, leftist woman I know: thank you for making me a better person, Irene, Irini. Who knew that that tap on the shoulder on our anniversary would have led to this? I have no words for you other than thank you, a million times thank you for everything. You will never know what your support and friendship has meant to me. We did not come here to make friends, but I am eternally grateful to have found Irene. Enjoy your family, but expect the continued phone calls and the visits to the kafenio. My kafenio will always be open for our rants. You fight this like you fight for everything you believe in, because we are all counting on it. I love you, filenada.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. L.A. Henderson.

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