Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

By any measure this has been quite a remarkable year. The past year has delivered very significant change: an election, a hung parliament, a new parliament, a new Prime Minister. So change has been constant over the past year, but one thing that has not changed has been the strength of our economy. A year ago we were proud of the fact that we had not experienced a recession, but back then we dared not dream that we would create, as a nation, something like 375,000 jobs in the years that followed. Australian businesses have kept employing people, they have kept investing, they have kept training and they have kept hiring. As a consequence of that, Australia has avoided the high and mass unemployment that has been experienced by so many other developed economies. I would particularly like to pay tribute today to small business in our economy for the role that they have played in training and keeping our workforce in place.

As we go towards Christmas we also celebrate the fact that in the new year Australia will see its first Paid Parental Leave scheme, a very, very important achievement for the future of the country. I think all Australians can be immensely proud of what we have achieved together. We have rolled up our sleeves, we have pulled together and we have gotten on with the job.

Of course, in the past year the parliament have gone through its challenges. Who could forget those 17 days—and, I think, 17 minutes—where we did not quite know what the outcome was going to be. I think we should all be proud of what has transpired since then. We have achieved a lot together. The Australian people gave us a very clear message. They wanted our politics to work in a new way; they wanted us to work together; they wanted us to work in a better way, better than we had in the past; and they wanted us to put the national interest first. I think what has transpired since then has been a credit to the parliament. We get a lot of scrappy reporting of it but what has actually been occurring in here has been constructive, and I think it has made our nation a better place. The government have been able to get on with the business of government. Legislation is passing through the House and through the Senate and the government are providing the certainty that the country requires.

I pay credit to those who sit on the crossbenches. It is hard for many here to imagine the enormous pressure that has been placed on them. It has been an enormous responsibility and they have responded, and I believe they are stronger for the experience just as the parliament is stronger for the experience. They did not come to an arrangement because they were acting just in the interests of any particular electorate or area, like Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Hobart or Mount Isa; what they did was for Australia, particularly for regional Australia, and that is important to acknowledge. So too is it important to acknowledge the hard fought parliamentary reforms. I think all parliamentarians can be proud of those. While there will be disagreements from time to time about how they are implemented, we have kept the wheels of government going. We have enhanced accountability and we have set up a parliament where members matter. I would certainly like to acknowledge the role of the Speaker and of course the clerks of the parliament, and all of their staff—because this has put them under immense strain and pressure as well, and they have performed admirably in that endeavour. I would also like to acknowledge particularly my old friend the member for Kennedy. We do not agree on every issue but he is a proud Queenslander at heart and he has played a particularly constructive role.

I would also like to acknowledge the role of the opposition in this place. At the end of the day politics is a battle of ideas and we must debate those ideas in this House. I believe we have done that. There are matters on which we have profound disagreements, and we will continue to have profound disagreements, but we have debated those ideas. That has been good for the country. I acknowledge the shadow Treasurer. He has been a worthy opponent, always coming up with the odd new idea out of the blue. I congratulate him for that and I look forward to the contest in the year ahead.

I pay tribute to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is an extraordinary person, the toughest, most focused and most capable person that I have ever worked with. It is an honour and a privilege to work with her and it is an honour and a privilege to count her as a mate. In addition to honouring the Prime Minister today I want to honour her predecessor. Whatever happened this year, nobody doubts Kevin’s commitment to the country or his contribution to the cabinet. It is important to acknowledge that today.

I acknowledge all of my cabinet colleagues, who have worked very hard over the past year, particularly our Treasury team of Chris Bowen, Craig Emerson and Nick Sherry, prior to the election, and our new Treasury colleagues Bill Shorten and David Bradbury. All I can offer them is more hard work and challenges ahead. I also acknowledge the new Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Penny Wong. She is a great fighter and a great worker, and I look forward to working with her in the years to come. I would also like to acknowledge the very significant contribution of the former finance minister, Lindsay Tanner, who did a terrific job during one of the toughest periods in Australian politics and in the Australian economy.

I acknowledge the contribution from the Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese. His performance here has been simply magnificent. In a difficult situation one of the highlights has been the clashes, if you like, between Anthony Albanese and Christopher Pyne. I think they have given us all great delight and great enjoyment.

I would like to pay tribute to all my caucus colleagues and say to them that the privilege of serving in the parliament and working for the great ideas that we stand for in this parliament has always been one of the greatest experience of my life and it will be for them in the years ahead.

Could I also acknowledge all of the staff of the parliament, from the security guards through to the cleaners and all the people who do those very special jobs. Today I give a very special mention to the gardeners. I have seen them for many years out there gardening and blowing the leaves in the early hours of the day. I am not sure why it has taken Joe 15 years to work out that they were early starters; nevertheless I am sure that the campaign he has been mounting will pay dividends.

I also would like to acknowledge my staff in the ministerial office in Canberra. They work hard, they certainly do not get a lot of sleep and they buy a lot of coffee from Aussies. They do a magnificent job. At the moment, a number of them are vigorous fundraisers for Movember. If you have seen a few men wandering around the parliament with vigorous moustaches—some are not so vigorous—they may be that trusty team from my office who, at this stage, have raised $16,000. I urge all donors who have not yet made their commitment to Movember to kick in to the team from the Treasury. There is still a week or so to go and I think they could do a lot better. I pay tribute to my former chief of staff, Chris Barrett, who has served the Labor Party in a variety of ways over many years. Now the father of a young son, he has moved on to greener pastures. He made a very significant contribution to the public policy debate in this parliament. He has been replaced by Jim Chalmers, another hard worker who has a terrific mo and much more to contribute to the fundraising effort.

My Brisbane based staff should not go unmentioned. They have done a remarkable job in what has been a very difficult year and they have all worked very hard. I would also like to pay tribute to the Treasury. They have had another massive year, working long hours, not just preparing the budget but doing the MYEFOs and Intergenerational reports and all the detailed documents which require so much hard work. I would particularly like to extend my special thanks to Secretary to the Treasury, Ken Henry, who epitomises the sacrifices made by so many dedicated public servants. He has worked very hard for this country over a long period. I pay particular tribute to him for the hard work he has done for our country, particularly during the last couple of years.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family. We are all very privileged to serve in this place but we cannot do it without their permission. They are always the greatest supporters and they make very big sacrifices to allow us the opportunity to work long hours in these jobs. I acknowledge the support of my wife Kim, my children Erinn, Libby and Matt. The amount of support I get is remarkable and far more than I deserve.

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