Christmas Felicitations

Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie): It has been a very interesting first full year of the Fifty-Eighth Parliament. From a political point of view, a lot of business has been transacted in this House, albeit in only 15 full weeks of parliamentary sittings. But as the Leader of the House referenced earlier, a lot has certainly been achieved. The Parliament itself has seen a lot of activity. It is 200 years since the embryonic parliamentary system was established here, not just in New South Wales but in Australia, with the Legislative Council sitting in the Wentworth Room just behind this Chamber.

It is an honour for us all to be elected to this place at any time in its history, but especially to be here at a time when we celebrate 200 years since the establishment of parliamentary democracy. It is a great privilege for each and every one of us. I am very proud of how the Parliament has responded to the pressures upon it through that period. The Legislative Council's bicentenary celebrations required an awful lot of resources and incredible expertise and commitment from our staff and members right across the Parliament. In the lead-up to the celebrations, we also had the first visit by a male monarch, King Charles III, which went off without a hitch. That was only delivered because of the extraordinary work that went on behind the scenes.

Many people make significant contributions to ensuring the Parliament runs on a daily basis so that we can open, operate throughout the day, close and then start again the following day. Our staff, in particular, do that with exceptional professionalism. I believe our members assist and guide this place to be a professional, diverse and generally happy workplace. I thank the members of the crossbench. I spend a lot of time with them, even though I have mostly separated myself in my role as the Speaker. But I thank all of those crossbench members for their collegiality. I call out the new member for Pittwater. Having just come into this Parliament, I imagine she was wondering just what she had got herself into as the parliamentary year came to a bit of a climax. I know she has hit the road running and got lots of good advice and certainly lots of energy. I am sure she will do well.

I acknowledge the Speaker's panel. Madam Deputy Speaker, thank you for everything you do to make sure that this place can run. The Speaker's team is really important to running this place, particularly when we have some of those extraordinary long days, which happens from time to time. So I thank you and the member for Strathfield, the Assistant Speaker. We have a number of Temporary Speakers, being the member for Sydney, the inimitable member for Cessnock, the member for Drummoyne, the member for Parramatta and the member for Oxley. The latter four members are relatively new into this place and took up those roles. Unless you have been here for some time, it is hard to understand how the Parliament works. Most members who sit on the backbench, and even perhaps some members who have been Parliamentary Secretaries or Ministers, might not understand the details of how Parliament works as much as the Leader of the House and the Manager of the Opposition Business and those on the Speaker's team do. But a lot of work goes on, and I thank them for that.

I thank the leaders of the Government and of the Opposition. The Premier and I sometimes have differences of opinion in the Chamber during question time, but I really appreciate the way in which he has been so considerate of me in my role as Speaker. He has always listened to me—though not so much in question time—and we have had really productive and collegial discussions on a regular basis. I thank the Premier and wish him and his family, particularly Anna, a wonderful Christmas break. It was lovely to hear the Deputy Premier's words earlier. I thank her.

The Leader of the House had some eloquent words for how he feels about the Leader of the Opposition. Nobody would ever meet the Leader of the Opposition and not immediately realise that he is an honourable person. It is a tough gig. I have never been in opposition, but I do get to see it and I appreciate how hard it is. I was disappointed to have to send the Deputy Leader of the Opposition out of the Chamber yesterday and he missed out on the Parliamentary Friends of Seafood event. It is noteworthy that we all have a good working relationship. I acknowledge all the Ministers, who work so well to try to help everybody, even members of the Opposition. My observation is that where there is an important, legitimate issue, the Ministers are always there. They take it objectively. The Ministers are not there to serve their side of the House. They are there to serve the needs of the community.

The Leader of the House and I spend a lot of time together. How we have resolved many of the issues in this House has been quite extraordinary. It is not the first time. In the previous Parliament, the Fifty-Seventh Parliament, the roles were reversed. The member for Heffron and the member for Wahroonga, as Manager of Opposition Business, and I have dealt with each other for some time. I thank them for the collegial way in which we do it. I thank the Whips. It is wonderful to work with the member for Leppington and the inimitable member for Lismore. I thank the member for Terrigal, the Opposition Whip, and the new revelation, the Nationals Whip. What a decent person the member for Clarence is.

I thank the people of Lake Macquarie. Of course, I would not be here making this contribution if it were not for them re-electing me. I really do appreciate that. I do not understand why I maintain such support, but it is very much appreciated. One of the reasons I know I maintain such support is my staff. I acknowledge and thank my senior electorate officer, Belinda Pevy, as well as Kim Williamson, Alex Freeland, Debra Dennis and Francesca Arciuli-Matar, who I poached from the Legislative Assembly committees team. She is fantastic. I send my sympathies to the Legislative Assembly staff and Clerks, but she is a fantastic addition to Lake Macquarie. I have also picked up Jake Foster, who is working as a temp in my office. I do a lot of community engagement. I thank Madeleine McKell and Trudy Craig, who are responsible for all the visitors I get. Every now and then I have visitors in the public gallery.

I acknowledge the staff of the Legislative Assembly. I thank Clerk Helen Minnican for everything she does. The sage advice she provides is greatly received. I thank Deputy Clerk Carly Maxwell, Simon Johnston and Todd Buttsworth—or "Mace Man", as I call him. I thank also Jonathan Elliott, John Young and all their staff. I thank Rohan Tyler, whom no-one has mentioned today. He has been backing us up here for a long time. I thank the attendants, including, of course, Ian Delahunty, who is a legend around this place. I really do appreciate Ian, Monica, Matt, Chris, Blake, Eve and Nathan, and it was wonderful to farewell Danny Heldal just recently.

We have a lot to do with the Legislative Council, although there is sometimes some contest between the Houses. The team of the Speaker and the President has been very collegial and beneficial to the Parliament. I acknowledge President Ben Franklin and his chief of staff, Will Coates. I thank Rebel Neary, Dave Smith and Damian Spinks. I thank Legislative Council Clerk David Blunt. I thank the staff of the Department of Parliamentary Services. I acknowledge CEO Mark Webb, Melinda McIntyre and the leadership team for the parliamentary division: Julie Langsworth, Matthew Dobson and Janson Hews. I thank Will de Vos, Toby Loo, Helen Gors and Margaret Palmer, who run the corporate services division. I thank Rob Nielsen and Danielle Schefer, who lead the branches making our capital works and technology projects come together. I recognise Rob Nielsen and his team for the amazing work they have done to restore this building and bring it up to a standard that can hopefully survive another 200 years.

There are so many people to mention. I thank the IT and digital transformation crews. I give a big shout out to Helen Johnston and her husband. The reason her husband will remain nameless is thanks to Stephen Smith. If Helen is listening, she can blame Stephen for that. I thank building services and the capital works team. I thank catering, including Lee Kwiez, Carlos Andrade, Vanessa Harcourt and the rest of the team, especially Kim, Anong and Mai. I thank the cleaning team, particularly Carmen, who looks after this Chamber—she is amazing—Gusti and Jon Vega.

I acknowledge the finance and governance team, and members entitlements and Tass. I acknowledge human services and Michelle Bartolo. I thank our security team. Security was a big issue for us this year. We have been talking about it a lot. I want members to know that it is taken very seriously, particularly by our security team. I thank Anthony Macvean and Ralph Ewen. I thank the library and research crews, including Deb Bennett and Nicola Dunbar. I thank the media team, including Ingrid Lane and Taylah Ribarovski, and the education and engagement team, including Jeannie Douglass. I thank the Hansard team—I will not be able to name them all—led by Vanessa Schlenert. I also thank Lisa. I acknowledge the audiovisual team, led by Mick Kennedy. I thank our Aboriginal engagement team, including Joe Stewart and Damon Goolagong.

I thank "Team Speaker". The person who keeps the place going and deals with all the difficult, complex issues is Jason Gordon. Jason is a legend with a huge capacity for work and can get his head around complicated matters. I thank Shu-Fang Wei, Jodi Rahme and Ally Hawes. I thank my drivers, Gerry and Floyd, for everything they do, as all drivers do for all members.

I thank all members in the Chamber. The members treat me very well, even if I do not always treat them very well. I do try. Most people are very surprised at how well we all get along when we come into his Chamber to say nice things about each other at Christmas. But it is the reality, and we do treat each other well most of the time. It is generally the exception when we do not. I thank all members for their collegiality, their friendship and what they do for their electorates and democracy in New South Wales.