John Hogg (President) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I wish to thank honourable senators for their confidence in re-electing me as the President of the Senate. It is truly an honour indeed once again to serve this parliament in this honourable office. I wish to thank my party, in particular, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Evans, for their support in nominating me for this position. I thank those people who have supported me over a long period of time both inside and outside of this parliament to enable me to assume an office such as this. I wish to thank my staff, both in Canberra and in Brisbane, because without my staff I would indeed be nothing. Last but not least, I want to thank my wife Sue—my wife of 33 years and three days—who has been a tower of strength to me. As we all know, in politics the hard part is for our wives, our partners, our spouses. Sue, I love you for all that you have done for me and I thank you very much.

Before we suspend, there is one other thing I should do at the outset, and that is to congratulate the Clerk and the officers of the Black Rod on the transition that has taken place from when the Senate last sat until now. The effort has been exemplary indeed and the transition has been as smooth as we could reasonably hope it to be. So I want to put on the record for all time that they have done a marvellous job in settling in all of the new senators. Last but now least, I congratulate all those senators who have assumed their seat in this chamber for the first time. Well done. We look forward to having some robust debates over the next period of time. Thank you.