Thursday, 10 September 2026

 The PRESIDENT (09:50): I seek leave to make a statement from the chair.

Leave granted.

The PRESIDENT: I am going to say some kind things about people all across the chamber, so I would hold interjections as I go through the different sides of the thing. Today I want to give a shout-out to some MPs I have worked with over the years. Brian Tee, we learned a lot together. Then came Sonja Terpstra, who has an amazing work ethic. No Sunday festival or market has been Terps merch‍–‍free, and I have also enjoyed her take-no-prisoners attitude. Speaking of take-no-prisoner attitudes, starting and finishing my time with Gayle Tierney is a really cool thing for me. Others to mention are Johan Scheffer, one of the smartest guys I have known; Kaye Darveniza; Justin Madden; Jaala Pulford, Martin Pakula; and so many more. MPs I have shared boundaries with are Vicki Ward, Anthony Carbines, Colin Brooks, Lily D’Ambrosio, Jackson Taylor, John Mullahy, Paul Hamer, Matt Fregon, Tony Robinson and Kirstie Marshall. Of course there are all my buddies this term in here. I declare Lee Tarlamis the GWISH, the greatest whip in the Southern Hemisphere. I will mention leaders and others next sitting week, but I have got to say I admire MPs that go hard, so I have mostly enjoyed jousting with people like David Davis, Bev McArthur, Georgie Crozier and others – even Bernie Finn – and I acknowledge the late Inga Peulich. I have really enjoyed working and jousting with the crossbench and the Greens. All the crossbench and committee work with people like Samantha Dunn and Colleen Hartland has been a real highlight.