Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—On behalf of the opposition, I first associate myself with the remarks you have made in relation to Maureen Weeks, Mr President. I spoke to Maureen prior to her departure and I want to put on the public record the letter that I sent to her on behalf of opposition senators, which expressed our thanks and our recognition of her extraordinary contribution to the parliament. I indicated to her in that letter how grateful the opposition was for the work that she has done during her current role, and in previous roles, to support us in the Senate, both as we have been in opposition and during the last Labor government. I express my personal thanks for the assistance to me.

I made this point: the strength of the Senate and capacity of senators rest on the advice and support we receive. We are very fortunate to be served by experienced parliamentary officers of the highest calibre, and Maureen has been a leader in this regard. Her dedication to her work is outstanding, and many senators and staff have been fortunate to benefit from her counsel. I would like to thank Maureen for the assistance she provides to the Deputy President and in her role as Secretary of the Committee of Privileges, which obviously has taken a significant volume of work in recent times, with a focus on protecting the privileges of senators in this place from overreach by the executive and executive agencies. This is a very important task.

Mr President, you said in your statement that Maureen Weeks had made a rare contribution to public life. I would associate us with that and augment it by saying she has made a rare contribution to this institution and, through it, to the Australian democracy. This institution is so critical to the functioning and to the principles of the Australian democracy. Many of the conventions that our democracy depends on at times have been somewhat amiss in recent years, and at various times over many years, and it is this institution which has been a bulwark of democracy in this country. That could not occur without the dedication of the clerks and other staff of the Senate. I thank Maureen for her contribution to this institution and, through it, to the Australian democracy.

I also join with you, Mr President, and the Leader of Government in the Senate in welcoming Jackie Morris. That is an outstanding appointment, and an appointment we thoroughly support, insofar as it's not for us to support or not.

I will make a historic point. There was a very long period when this Senate had people who were part of the institution for many years. I'm thinking of Rosemary Laing and Harry Evans. We have had a changing of the guard, and I hope that this new team—not that the Clerk is new anymore, but, by Harry Evans's standards, he's new and very young—will make the sort of contribution we've seen from those giants who have held these positions in previous years.