Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This chamber looks a bit different to how it did this time last year. I look around and I see a lot of new faces, and I'm pleased that they are still filled with excitement! During question time I asked the newer members if they wanted to keep going with traditional questions, and they had a different view from some in the gallery and some behind me on the front bench, who were quite happy to finish up a bit earlier than we did—and that is understandable, because they are, quite rightly, proud that they have the great privilege that very few Australians get to have of representing their electorates.

To come here and serve our communities and our nation is an incredible privilege. As we prepare to return to our electorates and the very people who entrust us with being their voice in this place, it is worth reflecting on the responsibility and also the opportunity that being a member of parliament extends to us. We have the onerous responsibility of being worthy of the trust that our communities place in us by voting for us, regardless of which political party—or none—we represent in this place. We have a responsibility to do all we can to make this wonderful country of ours even better because of our presence. It's a road that doesn't end, even when you reach your destination.

To serve our country as prime minister is the greatest honour of my life. I'd like to mention a few of the people who make all this not just possible for me but, indeed, a joy to be. Firstly, the caucus. I can't go past the words of a great son of Marrickville, Jeff Fenech: I love youse all! The delight, the capacity and the skills we have in this caucus are quite extraordinary, and the sense of solidarity that is there, with people working as a team, is something. As I said last night in a different place, it is the most united team I have seen in the Labor Party anywhere at any time. Since Federation, I think it's fair to say—and it would be hard to argue, given those of us who've read a lot of books of history—it has never been better than it is with the class of 2025.

To the Deputy Prime Minister, my friend Richard Marles: thank you for your loyalty, for filling in for me and for the work you've done as Minister for Defence; it is quite extraordinary. You continue to be a source of counsel, and I have a relationship with you that is absolutely perfect between a leader and a deputy—a relationship of absolute and complete trust and faith.

To the Leader of the House, Tony Burke: I said to Tony when I gave him this gig that it would be the best fun he'd have in this place—and he does it with diligence and does it very effectively. The changes that have been made to make this parliament function better are a credit to him. And his banter has got better as well!

I didn't stay at the caucus and staff party last night because of my ongoing flu I've had all week, but I did hear the beginning of Blur, and 'Song 2', which was fantastic. I pay tribute to the fact the band are better, because, quite frankly, a few years ago they were awful; they really were!

To my Senate team: Senators Wong and Farrell are both amazing. They get stuff done—along with the wonderful Katy Gallagher, as Manager of Government Business in the Senate. I sit in meetings quite often, and the Treasurer and I in particular say that we don't speak Senate—and I don't. I think I understand this place; the way that place operates is a bit different, but the Senate team do a magnificent job. When you look at our standing internationally, something that I see when I go to something like the G20 meeting, something that's reflected in what happened at the Conference of the Parties meeting in Brazil as well, our engagement internationally is one in which Australia's place is respected and trusted. We are a middle power that are punching way above our weight, and that's a good thing for our nation, because out of that engagement comes jobs for Australians—a real plus.

To the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance, the financial team: they do an extraordinary job. We sit in ERC meetings for a long, long time. We've been sitting there again in the lead-up to the MYEFO. It's hard work, it is detailed work and the Treasurer works in a way that is quite extraordinary. He's across the breadth of everything that has to happen in government across portfolios, and together he and Katy make an extraordinary team. I thank you, Jim, for the extraordinary work that you have done.

To everyone who makes this chamber work—the clerks, Hansard crew, ushers, Serjeant-at-Arms, all of you—thank you for the work that you do. To everyone who makes this huge building hum, especially our wonderful cleaners as well, who are just delightful. To all of the parliamentary staff: I thank you for the work that you do.

I thank in particular the AFP detail, whose job is unfortunately becoming tougher with the rise in threats. We had drinks for the gallery last night. Normally, at the Lodge, people would just be there. Unfortunately, they did notice that I had members of my detail at different spots even in the Lodge. The truth is that there have been a number of arrests in recent times, including multiple arrests associated with my safety. They do an incredible job. They put themselves on the line, and I thank them for their diligence and also their friendship. I spend more time with them than I do with my cabinet colleagues, by definition. I haven't got to drive a car for four years, so it's going to be a problem, I think, when that starts! I'm a bit concerned that I was able to renew my license without having a test, but I was earlier this year. But they do an incredible job, and indeed they are friends as well. I look forward to hosting them at an end-of-year function, as I do to hosting the RAAF crew as well, who are just amazing and diligent and so good at the service that they deliver.

To my department, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, under the leadership of Dr Steven Kennedy, and to all of the departmental heads and public servants who work right around the country: thank you for what you do. I look forward to once again going down to a function before Christmas at PM&C and thanking the people in my department personally.

To you, Mr Speaker: the extraordinary job that you do has given you respect personally, which is really important, but what's more important is that you've lifted up the respect that Australians will have for this chamber by the way that you conduct yourself not just here when Question Time is on but in going around the electorates of people across the parliament. That was something that Tony Smith began and that you have accelerated across the board. I thank you for the work that you do and the other work that you do hosting. I've been to a number of charity events raising funds for important organisations, like Redkite, in your chambers, and I thank you for that.

To my own personal staff, led by Tim Gartrell. To Liv and Bell, who look after my diary and look after me as well: I thank you for all of the work that my personal staff do. They work extraordinarily long hours. One of the things I'm quite proud of is I have a range of staff who literally started work for me last century, including Tim Gartrell. That says something about the relationship that we have, and I think it says something about the culture in my office. Culture comes from the top, and Tim Gartrell is a great chief of staff and makes it a great place to work as well.

To Tim Murray and my electorate office staff in my wonderful community of Grayndler: it's a bit tough being in an electorate office for a prime minister because everyone thinks the staff are the government as a whole. They get every call from right around the country, and, tragically, they have had to put up with protesters who continue to be outside my former electorate office, which is now just a church, with flags and banners, and engage in hassling people walking down Marrickville Road. I say to the protesters: blocking people from accessing help and services does not send the message that you think it does. It undermines the position that you purport to support.

To the staff at the Lodge and at Kirribilli, Kim and Adam and the other staff who look after those premises and host important events, such as the recent dinner that we had for the President of Indonesia, and who work in such a diligent way: thank you.

I also want to acknowledge the press gallery. It was a pleasure to have you at the Lodge last night.

This is a time when we speak about our families. To my fiance, Jodie: I thank you so much for coming into my life at an unexpected time. This job would be so much harder to do by myself. She is someone who is not a party or political person. Of course, she was born Labor and will die Labor—I'm not into mixed marriages! And, of course, she has a red eye and a green eye—also not into mixed marriages! Jodie has been thrust, in many cases, into a public role that she could not have expected a decade ago or six years ago, and she is so well liked. Everyone from President Macron to Prime Minister Starmer and others on the international stage asks where she is and if she's working full-time, which is what she does as well. She takes leave without pay to represent Australia. And I thank her for that. But, most importantly, I thank her for what she does for me to make my life so much better.

To my son, Nathan, who turns 25 very soon: I'm not quite sure how that happened, I've got to say. But he is a fine young man. I look forward to the 'festival of Nathan', the 2025 version, in a couple of weeks. He is my best mate as well, and we have developed such a fantastic relationship. I know that he is friends with many of the people on this side, but people like David have also reached out and treated him with respect, and I thank everyone for doing that. It sometimes can be hard to have a really obvious surname as a young man trying to make your way in the world; he stands out. He is someone of whom I am very, very proud.

As you return to your families and electorates across this great continent, I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. For people of faith it's a particularly important time. I will go to an event, prior to Christmas, at St Mary's Cathedral with Archbishop Fisher, who has invited me, and I look forward to that. It is an important time, when people can rekindle their faith, think about their place in the world and remind themselves that, in the arc of history, they're small. That is something that is very important, particularly for Christians. For those who will be celebrating their faith and recommitting or just confirming their faith at Christmas time, remember the message of Jesus Christ and what that means about caring for each other as well.

Once again, on Christmas Day, I look forward to being at Exodus with Reverend Bill Crews. It's a fantastic thing. It's the best example I can think of in my life where just doing something for someone else—that is, feeding people on Christmas Day—gives more to the people who are serving than the people who are being served, because it's delightful. Bill tells me that once again there are more volunteers who want to help on Christmas Day than they need, so they've had to say no to people helping out. It's a fantastic thing. To all those who are helping people on Christmas Day—all those emergency service workers who keep the hospitals running, aged care, people who are working on Christmas Day to look after others—I thank you as well.

I wish everyone across this parliament a wonderful Christmas. I wish the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the Nationals and everyone else here a merry Christmas. You do get time to spend with your family and with friends. I look forward to continuing to watch Australia humiliate the English cricket team, starting on Saturday with the PM's XI sorting out the English team at Manuka Oval.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to add my remarks to these end-of-year statements. It has been an intense and demanding parliamentary year, but at this stage it is worth remembering and pausing to think about why we are all here. Every one of us, regardless of where we sit in this place, has been given an extraordinary privilege by the Australian people. When we walk through the door as new members of parliament, we come here with our hearts filled with hope, determination and strength, because we do want to make Australia a better place. While we have different philosophies about how that should happen, we all come together in this common purpose. It is indeed an extraordinary privilege. Representing the communities that we all do—150 across this country—is an honour that I know none of us takes for granted. I want to acknowledge that fundamental truth to begin with.

To the Prime Minister: can I thank you for your remarks and for the courtesies that you have extended across the aisle over the year. We don't agree on a lot, but the ability to engage constructively in the national interest, required very much by our democracy, is appreciated by me. I wish you, Jodie and Nathan a safe and peaceful Christmas.

To the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party—who hasn't made it back after the suspension—I thank him for his hard work as deputy. I thank the Manager of Opposition Business, the member for Mitchell, for his energy and support. I thank, of course, the deputy manager, the member for Page. In particular, I thank the Leader of the Nationals for forming the strong coalition that we have throughout this year and for our joint purpose and effort—

An opposition member: Stronger than ever.

I like that—stronger than ever. I thank you, DLP. I thank the whips, who are often not seen and often not heard but incredibly effective. I thank the member for Casey, who is universally incredibly respected—perhaps not yet feared as much as he should be. Member for Casey, that will come! I thank the member for Fadden, who manages the Federation Chamber like clockwork—my appreciation to you. I thank the member for Bowman, who keeps everybody in check every day and is much needed by me and the team.

I thank, in the other place, the extraordinary Senator Cash—who is unwell but very much still engaged in the business of the other place—Senator Ruston and Senator Duniam, who are absolutely invaluable in a chamber that the Prime Minister and I would agree is something of a mystery but nevertheless very important for our democracy.

I also acknowledge my colleagues in the Liberal Party party room—every single one of you. Thank you for your hard work, your conviction and your good humour throughout the highs and the lows of this year.

To my crossbench colleagues: I note that while we often differ sharply in policy, I value the civility and the conversations that we have had and the things we do have in common, because all members have things in common. The diversity of perspectives in this parliament is a reminder of the strength of our democracy. We vote every three years, but we are Australians every single day.

I acknowledge the people who keep this place functioning. When we have a late night in our office, we often see them quietly moving about the corridors, doing incredible work: the clerks; the attendants; the Serjeant-at-Arms and her staff; all of the parliamentary staff who work long hours so we can do our jobs; and the AFP, who protect us and our families with professionalism and kindness. Thank you. It's a service that is never taken lightly.

I acknowledge my own staff, led by my chief of staff, Dean Shachar, and every single one of my staff—because we say that it doesn't matter where you sit in the office; you're equally important. You might be the smiling face when the doors open in the morning or you might be the person who very rarely comes out of the area where you work, but you're still contributing, and it is not easy. So, I thank all of my staff. I thank my electorate staff, led by the incredibly capable Nicki Waldron, and my staff in Griffith as well, led by Sally Argent-Smith. Being an electorate officer is often no fun at all. You feel as if you're between a priest and a doctor. You don't know who's going to walk through the door, but you're always representing your member and your member's interests. It is a very important role. Sometimes, when our electorate looks to parliament, it seems like all the excitement and all the action is here—maybe some days it is—but I never miss an opportunity to say a very deep thank you to the people who work in our electorate offices.

Above all, I want to thank and acknowledge the families of all of our members—our spouses and partners, children and loved ones. They carry a heavy burden so that we can be here. We miss milestones. They live with uncertainty. They put up with the demands of political life with far more grace than we deserve. To my own family, my three beautiful children, Paul, Georgina and Isabel, the greatest gifts of my life; to my six grandchildren, who I'm looking forward to seeing over Christmas—we get emotional when we talk about our families.

We talk about ourselves a lot in this building, but we should never forget the Australian families who are beyond these hallowed halls who look to us for leadership and support. I always say, at this time of year, that I want to think of Australians who are working hard, who are struggling, who are doing it tough. And I want to I think of the Australians who are in separated families because, for them, Christmas can be pretty bloody awful. We understand that, and we care about that. In terms of the connections that you all can make with people who, for whatever reason, are putting on a brave face over Christmas but you know behind the brave face there's a bit of distress and uncertainty—make sure that you reach out to them.

Of course, to the incredible emergency service workers—our police; our nurses; our doctors; our paramedics; our Defence Force personnel, standing by for so often what we see is an event that they're called out for over Christmas, serving here, serving abroad, unable to come home—and to the volunteers, who come out at Christmas because they know how much they're needed, we owe a debt of gratitude.

Christmas, of course, at its heart is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. To Australians of Christian faith: I wish you a blessed and holy Christmas. And to all Australians, whatever your traditions or your celebrations: I wish you a safe, peaceful and restorative break.

To you, Mr Speaker: I wish you a very merry Christmas. I look forward to returning in 2026, refreshed, energised and ready to continue to serve the people of this great country.