Announcements
Parliamentary officer
The PRESIDENT (17:26): I want to advise the house that it is Greg Mills’s last day as the principal attendant. Greg has been in the Parliament for 30 years, and he has been 12 years as principal attendant. In all jobs that last this long there are some fantastic things and some sad things. I know Greg took over from his great mate Russel, who was a terrific guy that, unfortunately, passed away too young, and also during Greg’s time one of his very good friends and one of our very good friends, another attendant, Nick, unfortunately, passed away way too young. I was privileged to be at Nick’s funeral, principally because Nick was a fantastic man, and it was great to be there. But I was also privileged to hear Greg’s tribute to his great friend at that service.
A few people have been talking about MPs that have left writing books about their time in Parliament, and I know we have all probably had chats with Greg about things that he has seen inside and outside this chamber which, if it could get through a lawyer, would be a spectacular book – things like two MPs actually having a physical fight that were on the same side of politics, and some other spectacular things that I reckon he probably has not shared with us. We always talk about respecting this institution, and for all of us Greg has been an enormous part of this institution. I was going to say he never complains. But I remember once asking to borrow a trolley from him, and I am not too sure he was impressed with the reason I wanted the trolley. But he always will help and deliver, and he has just been a spectacular friend and colleague of all of us.
Of course we wish him well and pay tribute to the great part of this institution he really has been, but I am hoping for selfish reasons, probably on behalf of all of us, that this may be like one of those John Farnham farewells, where if we are all lucky we might actually see Greg hanging around and helping us out in a different capacity in the near future. I am not too sure if that is what he wants to do, but I think we would all agree that is what we want him to do. Anyway, John Farnham farewell tour aside, he has been a great principal attendant. I have not heard an MP complain about him, and that is our thing. Greg, that has been some sort of magic act that you have performed, but we all wish you well. I know there are other people that would like to join my tribute to Greg’s great work, so I will leave it at that. But once again, it has been fantastic having Greg around, and let us hope we can find a way to make him hang around more.
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (17:30): I would love to say a few words as well, and I am so comforted by the fact that it is likely that you will reappear again in a capacity post your final formal day as principal attendant, because I do not think I would get through this speech without crying if I thought that you were not returning on a somewhat semiregular basis, which is what I believe will hopefully happen. So it had better happen, because otherwise I will cry later.
What a constant of this Parliament – a comfort, a source of familiarity, someone that you can always turn to and someone that your staff can always turn to. I know that that reflects everyone’s experiences in here. Greg is like Red in Shawshank Redemption of the Parliament. I rocked up to Parliament drenched one day, and he appeared with a towel. I had a contraband heater delivered when I was cold, and I was not supposed to have one under my desk out in the annexe when it was really cold out there. He knows where everything is in this Parliament, he knows where everything physically is and to the President’s point I think he knows a lot of people’s skeletons as well. Hopefully that book does not come out too soon.
Thirty-three years, I think, or more than 30 years doing what you do – it is because you are so good at what you do. You are someone that knows this place better than anybody else, we really rely on you and you will be missed in this chamber for the service, good humour and friendship that you have brought to this role. Hopefully you have got a little bit more time for rugby, a little bit more time for fishing and a little bit more time for yourself, because I think you have given up a lot to give so much to this place and to us, to always be here. So thank you so much to Greg. I know that we will miss you. I know your team will really miss you as well. But as I said, we hope that you are not going too far or we get to see you as a regular occurrence after your final day. Thank you so much. You are a good friend.
Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:33): It is my absolute delight to be able to rise and speak on behalf of the coalition, Nationals and Liberals, and just to echo the words that the President and the Leader of the Government have said about Greg, the service that you have provided to the Parliament and the service you have provided to all of us. I remember as a very new MP finding my feet and wandering around this place, and you were always there, you were always somebody one could go to and you always provided that assistance that we all need at times. What you do in the chamber, what you do for MPs and what you do for the other staff and everybody to make this house operate in the way it does cannot be underestimated.
Greg, as has been said, 33 years of service in the Victorian Parliament is no mean feat. It is a wonderful, wonderful record. You should be proud of the time you have spent here, what you have contributed to and what you have done for every single MP who has passed through this place and is here, and what you have done will not be forgotten. So we do extend our best wishes to you for your maybe not-so-full retirement but for not being here as often as perhaps you have been in the past, and we wish you all the best. Thank you for everything.
Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (17:34): Thank you for the opportunity. I too would like, on behalf of my colleagues in the Greens, to thank you, Greg, for your incredible service over decades. We are all indebted to your kindness, your constancy, as has been mentioned, and your know-how to get us through what can be very strange days in this place. As has been reflected by others in this chamber, all of us arrive here in this place as strangers in a very unfamiliar environment. No workplace can ever prepare you for what this workplace feels like. There is a lot of toing and froing, a lot of fleetingness. Even your own colleagues are very, very busy. You are coming and going and passing each other, but I can tell you that when you come here as a stranger the attendants and the staff in Parliament play such an important role. We do not often get the opportunity to thank you enough, but your constancy and your knowing of us – you get to know us, we get to know you – make us a workplace that helps us get through some pretty tough days at times. I cannot thank you enough, Greg, for being just so stoic and strong for all of us in a very unusual environment – you and your team, many of whom have provided so many years of service, often a thankless task. I bet you have seen some interesting things that will make for some very interesting semiretirement conversations. We wish you all the very best and cannot thank you enough on behalf of the people of Victoria for your service to this great institution.
Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (17:36): Greg, nine years ago I stood in this place with quivering knees and all this sort of thing. I am now the longest serving crossbencher, which is kind of a bit scary in its own way. As I found my way through this place there were two things I found: one, the major parties and even the Greens were not so bad and they would help us out; but the red shirts were the constant, and Greg, being the leading one, was always there to help us, was always there to make sure I got things right as best as they could help me. But at the time, particularly in the early days, there were some pretty late nights, and I got to know Greg and he got to know me. Despite that, he still talked to me. And I started to understand: we come and go; the staff stay. People like Greg and the rest of the staff, to be honest, are what make this place tick, and this place will be poorer without you, Greg. I hope you do hang around, because I do like the sarcastic comments when we are in private and things like that. So enjoy your fishing and all the stuff you want to do, and remember to put sunscreen on your feet. I remember when you walked around in here one time very gingerly when you had forgotten to put sunscreen on your feet when you were fishing, and you were paying for it. So think ahead, my friend, and fair winds and good sailing.
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (17:37): At the risk of turning this into the Greg Mills show, I think that it is probably opportune. Greg, you are defined by your stillness and defined by your friendship and defined by your dedication and your commitment, yes, to this place, but to the people who you love and care about around you. You are the keel of the ship of attendants and of the team here at Parliament but also of the people in your life, and none of that was on display more than in the friendship that you showed to your dear friend Nick Paraskavas when he was going through the toughest of times. You showed love and dedication, an evenness of humour and an ongoing presence to him and to his family when they were in their time of greatest need. That is a measure of your character. When you spoke at Nick’s funeral it was with a sense of stillness, a sense of respect and a sense of extraordinary dedication that made sure that his life was honoured.
You have had your own challenges, not that many people would know. You have carried those with your typical stillness, continued to show up here and continued to put other people’s needs before your own. You are the best of us. You have been and continue to be a very dear friend. Thank you for all that you do. It has been a joy to follow the chapters and the achievements of your life since I have gotten to know you, and I know that I am not alone in my respect and my admiration and my very, very deep care for you. Thank you for making us better than perhaps we deserve to be. I look forward, as I am sure so many others do, to continuing to see you in perhaps a more refreshed and rejuvenated role as you continue to make a contribution. You deserve joy, spare time, an opportunity to enjoy your new home and all of the things that you have perhaps longed to do but not had a chance to do, because of the challenges that you have tackled and indeed overcome. Thank you for your friendship, your expertise and above all your capacity to keep a poker face when all around you is going down as a screaming dumpster fire. You are wonderful.
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (17:40): Greg, you have been a great adornment to the place. We will miss you tremendously. Godspeed. I wish you well. I hope you will be back a little bit. But we really do rate you, and we really will miss you.
The PRESIDENT: What do we do next? I reckon we stand up and have one big round of applause.
Members applauded.