House of Representatives

Thursday, 1 December 2016 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 13
their sake, and ours, I hope they have a quiet Christmas. Then, of course, there are many who will serve us this
Christmas who do not wear a uniform. I think of the Australians who will not spend Christmas at home but will
instead be up early or working through the night this holiday season, indeed relying upon penalty rates to provide
for their families. Our nation runs on the efforts of all of these modest heroes.
Mr Speaker, 2016 brought us triumph and tragedy, joy and sadness, and the Prime Minister has spoken about
some of these most movingly. I recall on the Great Ocean Road the families and volunteers alike who had to leave
their tables set with Christmas lunch to either flee the fires or fight them. In Western Australia, there were the
children from Yarloop Primary School, who started their year with an evacuation when lightning strikes began a
blaze that claimed two lives and many homes. In the face of fire or when the floodwaters hit the Hunter or the
Territory, Australians responded with kindness in another's trouble and courage in their own.
On the world stage, we celebrated our Olympians and Paralympians in Rio, and the record-setting Oscar
success of the rebooted Mad Max. We mourned for the LGBTI people murdered in Orlando because of who they
are and who they loved. We stood in solidarity with other nations that have felt the toll of terrorism and we have
rededicated ourselves to meeting these challenges here at home. We have farewelled irreplaceable characters: Max
Walker from the very wide world of sport—
Mr Broadbent: Avagoodweekend, Mr Walker!
Mr SHORTEN: My friend Mr Broadbent—I acknowledge him. And there was, of course, my very good
friend Bob Ellis, whose words will live long after him, who passed. Of course, from the beaches of the shire to the
streets of Footscray, we cheered the underdog and enjoyed the fairytale football story.
Nobody in this chamber needs to be told how hard this job is on our families. There are those Saturday night
goodbyes, trying to help with the homework from the other side of the country, the netball games, the plays and
the concerts you miss, the re-immersion you do when you return from these long parliamentary sittings and the reacquaintance
with your family. None of our partners or our children asked for a spouse or a parent in public life,
but they live with it—they live with us—and we could not do it without them. To Chloe, Rupert, Georgette and
Clementine, thank you for your love, your support and your patience. I cannot wait for our Christmas together.
From my family to the Labor family, I am lucky and proud to serve in a caucus of all the talents—and I am
pleased that there are many more of you here to thank this year than last! In particular, I want to acknowledge my
leadership group. My outstanding deputy leader—Tanya, you know how much I value your counsel, your support
and your leadership. Thank you. There is our leadership team in the Senate, starting with the formidable Penny
Wong, light-years ahead of her opposite number and light-years ahead of whoever replaces him, whenever that
happens. There is the always calm Don Farrell, who has been such a welcome return to the parliament. And I must
acknowledge the one-of-a-kind Stephen Conroy, who can be very proud of the 20 years he served our party, this
parliament and our country. I want to thank our shadow Treasurer, who has ensured that our party leads the policy
debate and sets the agenda, particularly on housing affordability but on many other fronts. Then there is the
member for Watson, who carries the day for Labor in this chamber—whether or not the government turn up or go
home! There is the member for Jagajaga, who knows more about social policy than any think tank or Liberal
frontbench in this country. There is the chief whip, Chris Hayes, and our deputy whips keeping order.
For all of us—my talented shadow ministers and backbenchers—we are here in the service of a movement as
well as a cause. To every member of our great party, from National Secretary Noah Carroll and his predecessor,
George Wright, to the tens of thousands of true believers who made calls and handed out on election day, I say
thank you.
In 2017, our people deserve a parliament capable of rising above narrow, self-seeking sectional interests. In
2017, Australians deserve a parliament capable of raising the standard of living and opportunity for all
Australians. For a country built on the ideal of a fair go, the stubborn, persistent presence of inequality in our
prosperous society is a national wrong.
It is a challenge to us next year in this parliament to use our parliament more intelligently to elevate politics, to
make this a more pluralist, more democratic, more representative place, to include more people who are too often
left out, ignored, dispossessed or forgotten. I speak of the First Australians and I speak of many more. I speak of
the survivors of violence. I speak of farmers doing it hard on the land. I speak of people trapped by insecure work.
I speak of women denied genuine equal treatment. I speak of Australians living with disability or Australians
living in poverty not being able to have an equal share of the Australian dream. Marginalising our fellow
Australians only weakens our society. We can never condone the complacency that another Australian's
misfortune is someone else's responsibility. Our duty next year is to gather Australians in to leave no-one behind.
Those who would make fairness too difficult make the splintering of our society too easy.
CHAMBER