Page 308 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 December 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
As Canberrans we are lucky to live in a city surrounded by nature reserves, grasslands and wildlife. As the bush capital, we are unique. But as a growing city we cannot take for granted that things will always be an easy fit. As we continue to mature, we need to be more and more mindful of balancing our built and natural environments so that our nature is healthy and our city is the best it can be for everyone who lives here.
Finally, as many of us in this place would know, campaigns do not happen without the blood, sweat and occasional tears of many people. I would like to thank my campaign team who were there every day of every week for months on end, brainstorming, fundraising, letterboxing, phone calling and doorknocking. I say to Sarah, Ella, Nick, Anselm, Wade and Michael, the little campaign that thinks it can, did, and that is due in no small part to each of you. I thank you for the time, support and sacrifices you made to support me and the Labor cause.
I would also like to thank all my wonderful friends and comrades who helped in any and many ways during the campaign. Thank you to my comrades at the CPSU, the TWU, the CFMEU and UV. A huge thank you to Matt, Megan and everyone at Labor Party office. To my parents, brothers, sister, nephews and niece, thank you for being my rock. I could not ask for a more wonderful or supportive family. To Julie, thank you for all your guidance and advice.
I also want to take a moment to pay my respects to two men who have been by my side providing unconditional love, advice and occasionally a stern but fair talking to since the day I was born—my pop and my grampy. My pop was the only son of Irish immigrants who came to Australia for a better life. Pop had hoped to be a doctor or a lawyer, something that would give him the opportunity to help people and really make a difference. But during the Great Depression, when aged only 13, he had to leave school to return to the family farm.
He stayed at the farm for the rest of his life, never finishing school or getting the university education he had longed for. But he still contributed to his community as a member of the rural fire service, the agricultural show society and the agricultural bureau. Pop once told me that even though his life did not go the way he might have imagined, he was still able to give back to his community and, along with my nan, raised a loving and caring family; and that, he said, was the most important thing.
My grampy was the only son of two loving parents. During his youth, he fell in love with the girl across the road. Despite the many warnings my grammy received about that larrikin from across the street, she still agreed to wait until he returned from the war to marry him. After a short stint in Tumut, the family settled in Canberra, where they happily went about their lives. When my mum was just a young teenager my grammy was involved in a car accident that left her bedridden for the remainder of her life. My grampy stoically stood by his Shirl, helping with her caring needs and running around after their five young children. When he retired he would go on road trips across Australia, coming back with thousands of photos to show to grammy so that she could also see the country they both loved. It was a dedication and love that extended to his children, his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video