Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Training, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I think it is a very important time for us all to reflect on the great things about Australia. At this time, I feel particularly for those people who are going to volunteer in so many different capacities over the summer period. Most importantly right now, they are the firefighters. I want to say to them that we know that this will be a very tough summer for them. For many of them, it may be the case that they will not get the opportunity to spend it with their families. I want to send a particular message to them. They are fighting fires in a part of Victoria where I grew up. I know it very well. It is a very beautiful part of Australia that is being ravaged by fire yet again. You would all know that I am also a bit of a maniac when it comes to bodysurfing, so the other volunteers who always come to my mind at this time of the year are those who make sure we do not get into too much trouble in the surf. I think these two groups of people often come to mind as encapsulating what it means to be Australian. These people are prepared to put their own lives at risk, often in very dangerous circumstances, in the sea or in a fire, and I do think it is wonderful that we have so many people who are prepared to do so much for other people.

It has been a tough week; there is no question about that. The Treasurer summarised it pretty well. Unfortunately, that is the nature of politics, but one of the things I think we can be very proud of in Australia is that, even though it is tough, we do it in a way that leaves all of us able to continue as decent human beings. First of all, let me particularly congratulate Kevin and Julia. I know that they have taken on the leadership of the Labor Party in a most energetic way. They intend to take the fight right up to the government over the next 12 months, and we in the Labor Party will be there with them to make sure we are on the other side of the chamber come next Christmas.

To all of my caucus colleagues: I know it has been a very bruising time. Let me say thank you to them for the support that they have shown me personally. Let me say also that I will continue to be there for them. The most difficult thing that has happened this week has been with Kim Beazley and also his staff. I will say a few things about Kim’s staff first. I think many people never see the enormous amount of work that is done, particularly in the leader’s office, and I am sure it is the same in the Prime Minister’s office. Kim Beazley had the most extraordinary group of people working for him. I want to place on the public record my personal thanks for their enormous dedication to this great party of ours and to the broader labour movement. Over the last few years, Kim’s office has been second to none. There are so many of them I cannot name them all, but I do particularly want to pay tribute to David Fredericks. He is really a most outstanding human being.

Their efforts and their extraordinary decency were certainly every day evident to me. I will certainly convey tomorrow everybody’s fond wishes and thoughts to Kim Beazley and his family. Probably, as much as thinking about Kim at this time, we think about his parents. David lived with Kim’s mum and dad, so this must be an extraordinarily difficult time for them. I just know that they will get some strength from the great kindness that everybody is showing to them through these comments that have been made tonight.

The thing about Kim Beazley that I want to remark upon is that, in the time that I have been here, which is the last 10 years, we have turned to Kim Beazley in our most dark hours for the Labor Party. In 1996, of course, we were badly defeated, and we turned to Kim Beazley. He demonstrated his extraordinary capacity to campaign against the government. At the next election we won 20 seats, and we won the popular vote. That result was a demonstration of Kim’s leadership capacity.

I suppose the time that I remember as much as any other is that period after September 11 in 2001. It was a terrifying time for the world because none of us knew what else might happen. We went into an election with bombs dropping on Afghanistan and at a time when the Australian people were frightened. Kim Beazley brought the Labor Party back from the brink. We were facing a very significant defeat, in large part because of the community’s desire to stick with people whom they knew. They obviously felt that very deeply. At this important time for Kim, we have to remember what he did for us, and that was to bring us very close to victory in that most extraordinarily frightening time. We recognise his great leadership in achieving everything he did in that period. He achieved that because the Australian people saw him—and continue to see him—as one of the most decent politicians that this country has ever had. At those frightening times, they want to know that there is somebody at the top who they are going to be able to trust when things go really bad, as they certainly had in the United States in 2001.

We turned to Kim again after 2004 when Mark Latham had to retire due to illness. Once again, we turned to Kim to lead us after a very difficult period and to bring us together. He has managed to bring our party together, which needed to be done. We are all—and this goes for everybody in the party, those who voted for him and those who voted against him in the leadership ballot earlier this week—terribly sad at his departure because of the enormous contribution to Australia, to the Labor Party and to so many of us individually.

I join with both Kevin and Julia to wish the Prime Minister and all members of the government all the best for Christmas. I will not go through all of the parliamentary staff, because there are so many of you. I do not need to repeat it—you know how much we rely on you and how much we appreciate what you do. There is one group that has not been mentioned so far, which might indicate a lack of attention by the leader and the deputy leader. Some of you would know that I spend a lot of time in the swimming pool early in the morning. The people in the gym help us keep some measure of fitness in this ridiculous job that we have.

Mr Speaker, we know that we give you a tough time. Unfortunately, I have to say that that will continue. Be that as it may, we respect both you personally and your office, and that is the most important thing—and we will continue to do so. I am sure that you will be able to have a break over Christmas and I hope that you will come back refreshed like the rest of us.

I want to make a quick mention of another group that has not had any attention yet. All of the portfolios that I have held have required me to work very closely with state ministers. It is the case at the moment that they are all Labor. Particularly the state ministers for education and training—and I could single out a number of others—have been extraordinarily helpful. When you are in opposition that can be very useful. In the schools sector, there are so many different organisations that I could not possibly seek to mention them all, but I want to highlight the great role that teachers play in our community. They get pilloried by so many different people. I know that all of us who are parents rely on teachers to help us develop our children. They are up there with some of the best people in Australia. They are not just hardworking men and women; they are dedicated to the future of the next generation.

I have done some pretty significant policy work this year. I want to single out the vice-chancellors of our universities, who have been enormously helpful to me personally in the development of that work. We have not had that sort of thought go into higher education reform for the last 20 years, and I know that we would not have been able to put this policy work together without the enormous input of those vice-chancellors.

I want to thank all the members of the education unions. Julia just mentioned the attention that both Greg Combet and Sharan Burrow get occasionally. Both Greg and Sharan are very close friends of mine. I thank them for their very personal support for me. I also want to acknowledge the support of the education unions. They do not get quite as much attention as they used to when David Kemp was here; nevertheless, I say proudly that they make a great input into our party and will continue to do so. I particularly highlight the role that Julius Rowe plays. He is the President of the AMWU and he knows more about the training needs of Australia and the importance of apprenticeships than anybody. He has been a great source of advice for me over the last year. Tim Gartrell is a good personal friend of mine. He is a great strategist. We could not do it without you, Tim. I know that it is a very busy time for you right now. I have no doubt that he will lead an extraordinarily professional campaign as we come up to the election.

As I said before in talking about Kim Beazley’s personal staff, our staff really do provide the most dedicated service to us. Given what is happening to me personally, everybody has been very nice to me. Of course, in these changeovers, if I can put it that way, our staff are also very deeply affected because of the dedication that they show. I want to say how much I appreciate everything that all of my staff have done. I will talk about my staff here in Canberra first of all. David, my chief of staff, Jim McMorrow, Nick Talbot, Ryan Batchelor and Moksha Watts are an extraordinary group of people who are totally dedicated to the Labor Party but who have been an absolute rock of support for me, particularly this week.

Others have mentioned their electorate office staff. Not only have I been the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party for five years, with three leaders, which has taken some stamina, but I have a marginal seat. It requires fabulous staff in your electorate when you are carrying the load of the deputy leader. To Vicky, Irene, Jessica, James and Ann—all of you are able to do the job in the electorate that makes sure that all of the people of Jagajaga know that we are there for them. Of course, we cannot do it without the support of large numbers of volunteers and branch members.

Finally, to my family, it is extraordinary when your children basically grow up during the time that you are in the parliament, and that is what has happened to me. I guess that is the thing that I feel the most about—you are not there to see them grow up. I have been quite good so far emotionally. I probably should not talk too much about them.

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