Ms O’CONNOR (Hobart) – Mr President, I am only going to say a few short words, principally of thanks to our Leader and I feel genuinely sad that you are going. It has been a privilege this past year and a revelation to work with you in this place. I know arriving as the first Greens in here, you had reasonable grounds for suspicion, but I never felt anything other than welcome and included.
I am really thankful, it is a common theme that has come up in all these wonderful speeches of love that have been made for you. I always feel welcome and I always felt I could go and ask you anything and in fact there were times when just being able to walk over and check on a procedure with you, or even sometimes you get a bit stressed and you are not sure what is happening and just to be able to walk over to you and you have this disarming gaze. Bright eyes, a wicked twinkle – never seen anything quite like it – and just be able to have conversations with you about the way this place works.
I really admire you. You are strong and warm, you are nobody’s fool. You are as smart as a whip. I love your tenacious, no nonsense character. We all appreciate the fact that you are a true straight talker and a good, honest woman. You are very funny and fair. You have the work ethic of a Trojan, extraordinary, and you have this look that you get in briefings of almost Zen-like patients – or resignation even – but you let those briefings flow, you let us ask our questions, you look after the people who are giving the briefing. There is mutual respect around the table and it is because of the way you have been running those briefings. I feel that they have been really important for me, a learning opportunity about the legislation.
I have learned a lot from you, honourable member for Montgomery Leonie. I have particularly learned about procedures and various and specific standing orders and I do want to note that Standing Order 99.8, promoting a quarrel, is something that you have promoted a few of yourself over the journey and I have always enjoyed the sparring because it is never personal, Mr President, it is always done in good spirit and good heart.
We come from different backgrounds, you know, I am a Greens, you are a Liberal woman, but I think there are a lot of values that we all share in this place. I think that hopefully having a Green in here has broken some stereotypes for you. You gave yourself away a bit once, when you told me you knew what the sound of an echidna was and then proceeded to make echidna sounds in the Chamber. Also, one of the things I will remember and treasure about the honourable member –
Mrs Hiscutt – Through you, Mr President, it was a parrot.
Ms Thomas – A parrot, yes. A parrot.
Ms O’CONNOR – I am pretty sure it was an echidna because I was talking about how important they are to digging up the soil. No – we were talking about the grey parrot at one point and you did start squawking like a parrot.
Mr Gaffney – Standing Order 99.
Mr PRESIDENT – 99.8.
Ms O’CONNOR – It is the only one I really know here, Mr President.
Yes, there was one time last year, and I do not know how the conversation had come up but anyway, you went home to the beautiful north‑west corner, where the soil is good enough to eat, I agree with that, and a text arrived from you. It was a picture of wedge‑tailed eagles above your home, and it told me something about you, about your heart and your love of this place and the love that you have for where you live and also that you are a bit softer than sometimes you let on – no, okay. Are you going to take a point of order on that one?
Thank you Leader, for your patience, kindness, decency, and your good humour. I acknowledge what you have given to this place, what you have, in a dedicated and loving way given to your community and, even though we have different perspectives on what good outcomes look like or could be sometimes, I know that every day you have come in here to work, you have come in here with a clarity about your purpose and an honesty and integrity and that your contribution has been about much more than Montgomery. It has been about this island that we love and share, it has been about the rights of women, your beautiful granddaughter. I really appreciate you, Leonie, honourable member for Montgomery, and I hope you enjoy your freedom and that first day, when you wake up after you are let out of this place and all you have to think about is doing whatever you want to do for that day because you will probably only get one day off before you are back on grandparent duty –
A member – On the tools.
Ms O’CONNOR – And back on the tools. So, enjoy your freedom, your beautiful family, gorgeous garden, and those eagles that bless the sky above your home. We will miss you. I will miss you very, very much.
