Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

He is out of place. You never know where he is going to bob up next as he goes about his duty. To all members of the Labor team, thank you very much. To the crossbenchers, in a remarkable parliament in a remarkable year, thank you for your good humour and good spirit. Thank you for the support you have provided us whilst noting the fierce independence—which means we cannot take that support for granted. I hope each and every one of you gets a break. It is well deserved.

To each member of the opposition, sometimes we are not so charitable towards you—I know that; but, at this time of year, I hope everyone on the opposition benches gets a good break, and my best goes to them as they spend some time with family and friends over the Christmas season.

To all of the staff who support us, I want to say thanks. To the staff who particularly support me, I would like to say thanks. I convey my thanks to my chief-of-staff, Amanda Lampe and, through her, I convey my thanks to all of my personal staff in this building. I would also like to convey my thanks to my electorate office staff who continue to make me look good in the electorate of Lalor. Whilst I cannot be there as much as I would like, they very much go about their work of supporting me and making sure our people of Lalor get to talk to them and work problems through—so my thanks do go to them.

To the great Australian Public Service and particularly to my department, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, my thanks go to each of them and to the secretary of my department, Terry Moran.

I also say thanks to the Australian Federal Police, who are now an ever-present part of my life but do a great deal to make sure that we are all kept safe and secure.

To the Australian Labor Party membership overall—to those who work so hard in our national organisation, to Karl Bitar through to every volunteer who handed out a Labor how-to-vote card—my very sincere thanks. Every how-to-vote card mattered this year. To the supporters of the wider labour movement, my thanks and my wishes to them for a happy Christmas.

Also at this time, my thanks go to my own family for their support during what has been a pretty tough year. My thanks to Tim, my mother and father, my sister and niece and nephew. I look forward to spending time with them over the Christmas season.

As we move from this year into the next, I think we can reflect on what a fortunate nation we are, but we can also renew our determination to make sure that we always live in a land of a fair go and that we always work together to build our nation. Thank you.

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