Page 33 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 13 December 2016
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attractive to want to do my very best. A lot of people laugh at the cliché that school years are the best years of your life, but mine were fantastic.
It was at university in Brisbane that two very, very important things happened. On my very first day I met my best friend, Jane Symonds. We are now separated by distance, but she continues to be one of the single greatest influences in my life because of her friendship, intelligence and for simply being a remarkable human being. And she is a great writer. The second is that I joined the Labor Party. I did not necessarily come from a Labor family, but I was drawn to the values of justice, fairness and opportunity. And in the year I joined, Labor was returned to power federally and Anna Bligh became the first female Premier in Queensland.
It was a big deal for me to accept a graduate job in Canberra in the commonwealth public service and move here on 17 January 2008. With no friends and no family south of the Queensland border, I knew no-one, and I had actually never stepped foot in Canberra before I moved here. I got over some of my initial nerves by convincing myself it was not permanent and that I would last about four years, the average time I had spent living in every other place. As you have heard, this story is familiar to other members too.
In the Attorney-General’s Department I was lucky to have a varied career and was privileged to be mentored by some incredible individuals as well as to serve as a manager and a mentor myself. I would like to make special mention of Rachael Jackson, who is here today, and Matt Hall, whose trust in me opened door after door for me, as well as David Fredericks and Robyn Kruk, two extraordinary leaders who instilled in me compassion and pragmatism.
Of the many jobs I had, none left a more lasting impression on me than my work in the defence abuse response task force. This important task force was established in November 2012 to assist complainants who had suffered sexual abuse, physical abuse, sexual harassment, workplace harassment and bullying in defence. It was an honour and a privilege to undertake this meaningful work, the lessons of which will stay with me for the rest of my life.
But while I led a fulfilling public service career with some amazing individuals, something else was happening to me. My friends said I was acting peculiarly. Having moved around so much growing up, I had never really felt like I had a home town, but moving to Belconnen had changed that. I finally felt like I belonged. I did not just like where I lived; I loved it.
When you love something, you want the very best for it, and you want to share that love with others. Moving here, starting life here from somewhere else, is a story shared by many Canberrans, and I was happy to share my story and show people why I fell in love with my home. I created a blog called “In the Taratory”, a portmanteau of my name and “territory”. The blog serves as a record of the fun I have had in the capital, but I know it has inspired others to get to know their city better. I am proud and humbled by its reach and its influence.
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