Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2008 Week 10 Hansard (Thursday, 28 August 2008) . . Page.. 3998 ..

pay tribute to Jan, who made an enormous difference to our community in so many ways. They are too many to mention here in the short amount of time I have available.

He was a man of vision, passion and drive, whose life touched our lives. I got to know Jan and his wife, Anne, and his stepson, Carl, through his work at the Belconnen Community Service as arts officer. As a result of his drive and commitment, the Belconnen Arts Centre was established. The centre will be large and well resourced and will have all the facilities he envisaged.

I know that many would like to see Jan’s commitment to us all recognised in the centre in some tangible way as an ongoing legacy. I value very much his friendship and the friendship of Anne and Carl. Once more, I extend my condolences to you, Anne and Carl, and to the rest of your family and your close friends. I know that Anne and Carl will continue to be fully involved and influential members in this community, and I thank them.

I wish everyone well as we go forward from this place. I am sure that I will be seeing lots more of you again, whether it is here or in other places. I am looking forward to the seventh term of this Assembly.

MR PRATT (Brindabella) (7.48): I will start by thanking my constituency, the Brindabella community: in particular, the Tharwa community, which has suffered so much, the Lanyon Valley community, the Macarthur and northern Tuggeranong communities, which I have had a great deal to do with, and I wish them all the best.

I also take this opportunity to thank the retiring MLAs. I give Dr Foskey my warmest regards. She is a gentle, thinking woman. I just hope that she serves the national interest in environmental matters. I reckon she would serve us wonderfully in that capacity. But that is not for me to say. That decision is up to her, of course.

Wayne Berry, I wish you all the best. I will not forget, on our return trip from Kiribati, Tom and me watching you jogging down the hill like a praying mantis. I do not know how you do it but you go on forever. All the best, Wayne.

I say to Karin MacDonald and her husband, Brendan, that I wish you all the best.

Bill Stefaniak, unfortunately, has gone, because I really wanted to say this to his face. Bill is a larger than life character. I can remember being cleaned up by him once in a parliamentary Rugby game ruck. It was like being hit by a white pointer shark. The trouble is, of course, that he was on my side.

With respect to my Liberal colleagues, I share a range of sick jokes and a dry sense of humour with Vicki, but I admire her for her procedural tenacity in this place. I admire Jacqui for her compassion, Brendan Smyth for his wonderful backing up of Zed—what a team these two guys have become—and, of course, Zed, for steering the Liberal ship of state. I see good things coming; well done.

I would like to thank my family. My wife, Samira, had a birthday two days ago, and she received her roses when I woke her up at midnight. I was so proud of my little

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .