Page 6282 - Week 19 - Tuesday, 17 December 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I thank Mr Duby, without whom I would not have been here, for all the support that he has given me, and also my son Aaron, who has given me a lot of support during this time. I just want to say that it has been a privilege to be here. I have certainly learnt a lot, and it is an experience that I will not forget. I wish all members who are standing all due success at the election next year, and I wish everyone a happy Christmas and new year.
Valedictory
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (7.53): Mr Speaker, I think we would all agree that the First Assembly got off to an inauspicious start, as a result of the election result that we have all been living with for the past three years. But there have been some extraordinary achievements of this First Assembly, and I think that it is worth mentioning what some of them are, because they are all matters that improve the lives of our Canberra citizens.
They include such initiatives as the occupational health and safety legislation; the anti-discrimination legislation, which we have just recently passed; the planning laws, which were a very long time in coming and were worked upon, of course, by all three governments, but they are here now and they are passed; the Weapons Act, again worked on by more than one government; workers' compensation amendments, which we have recently passed; and, of course, the guardianship and powers of attorney laws which have been passed here; domestic violence amendments; and all of the consumer law amendments which have been passed through the Assembly.
All of those matters do assist our Canberra citizens and we can all be proud of them. I think that most people in the community welcome those initiatives, and a number of people in the community look forward to further initiatives like that in the Assembly as it continues.
I would like to pay tribute to a number of people who have played a very significant part in the life of the First Assembly and, of course, in the life of the Government. There are two individuals who deserve special mention.
The first of those is Mr Gary Whitley, who will go down in history as the public servant who played the key role in the implementation of self-government. All of those who supported self-government owe a debt of gratitude to Mr Whitley for the work that he did and for the very open and consultative manner that he displayed all the time that he was doing that work. He has retired now, and I am sure everyone would wish him well in his retirement.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .