Page 576 - Week 02 - Thursday, 18 February 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
My day-to-day contact with constituents in my electorate and many people across the territory has been a great honour. It is an honour that they have entrusted to me their big issues and their small issues. I believe it has been my greatest reward. I discovered from my first mobile office—as you know, I have conducted hundreds of those—that the issues mainly occupying people’s minds are what we call roads, rates and rubbish.
Whether it is public land being mowed, local facilities and shopping centres being maintained, footpaths kept hazard free, trees pruned or inspected for possible removal, street lights working, gutters cleaned or traffic hazards identified and addressed, I very quickly earned the reputation in the then department, and now directorate, of TAMS, as a serial pest. I am the pesky MLA who sends all these matters to the minister. It is a badge I wear proudly: guess they are all somewhat relaxed about the fact that I am doing my valedictory today. If it means people’s lives are that much better, the effort is always worth it. I think we would all agree about that. So I would encourage you all to take over my role.
Housing, particularly emergency and public housing, is another area of my office I am assisting people with frequently. I am glad to be able to help so many who have found themselves in need of housing and running into difficulty negotiating their way through the application process, which can be difficult when you are experiencing trauma. I will never forget a grandmother, with grandchild in tow, who approached me with tears in her eyes at our annual Hawker carols to thank me for helping her single daughter find a home for her and her children.
Of course, people raise health and education issues with me. As a former health professional and as a grandmother and a great-grandmother I can appreciate these concerns and happily try to assist where I can. This is an advantage of being in your 60s when you enter this place with two careers under your belt—nursing and community management—as well as rich life experiences. Not everyone is my age when they stand for election, nor have they had the opportunities I have had.
However, I believe democracy is not served by the emergence of the career politician, as sadly seems to be occurring across all sides of politics. Fortunately, the Labor preselection process has resulted in some fine candidates emerging for the next election. I trust that a similar outcome will be evident through other preselection processes.
After all, what motivates us all is the desire to make a positive difference to our community. We carry a very important mantle, the mantle of democracy. It is not to be taken lightly. It seems robust, but history shows us that it is a very fragile thing. It behoves each one of us to guard it carefully and with our best efforts through employing not our self-interest but our higher selves.
That brings me to the final thing I want to say before I recognise and thank individuals. I spoke yesterday in this place about the manner of our unavoidable death and about people’s concerns about the death of those close to them and the manner of their death. As I said, we cannot avoid facing it and I believe we should not avoid talking about it. I am pleased to have been able to start a healthy conversation about end-of-life issues in the ACT. I thank all of those who trusted me through that process and who have joined in these conversations.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video