my childhood, following Geelong SPORT AND CULTURE principally taught me about defeat. Joanne Ryan MP 2014 Theresa Gambaro MP on the Source: Parliament of Australia There is much excitement about 2015 NRL grand final Source: Parliament of Australia a rugby league match happening One is that it was the first time tonight, but the real state-on-state both teams were captained by an action will happen in Indigenous person. As the member on Sunday. Melbourne Vixens, led for Herbert will attest, the Cow- by the great Bianca Chatfield, will boys win was not just a win for the face off against Queensland Fire- team but was a win for the entire birds, led by Laura Geitz, in the North Queensland region. And ANZ Championship grand what a win it was! I also want to final. congratulate my home team, the Roger Price MP, 2003 Broncos. They were gallant in de- Source: Parliament of Australia feat. To coach Wayne Bennett, cap- I want to talk about a certain tain Justin Hodges and all the play- event that occurred on Sunday ers: well done on a fantastic effort! evening at Telstra Stadium, but I al- You did us proud. most feel as though I need to make a personal explanation to say that I Richard Marles MP, 2008 Source: Parliament of Australia am a dyed-in-the-wool Parramatta I rise to speak of a matter which supporter and always have been. tonight and this week has been oc- But my electorate is in the Penrith cupying much of the thoughts of Panthers draw area and I have to those in my electorate—namely, say that the majority of my elec- the AFL grand final this Saturday. torate are wildly enthusiastic Pan- The significance of the Cats and thers supporters. I like to think of footy to our community cannot be the Panthers as my No. 2 team. overestimated. It really matters. In 1

Peter Nugent, 1999 Ewen Jones MP, 2012 Source: Parliament of Australia Source: Parliament of Australia I am delighted to bring to the at- I rise in this chamber in the most tention of the House the fact that important week we will see here in the best team won on Saturday. I a long time. It is the week where we would like to acknowledge the will see the first of three State of wonderful achievement of the Origin games, which will surely re- North Melbourne Kangaroos in sult in Queensland winning the winning the grand final on Satur- Harvey Norman trophy for a rec- day, which I had the pleasure to at- ord seventh time in a row. tend. We were undoubtedly the best team. Carlton were not even in Kevin Rudd, 2009 Source: Parliament of Australia the game. We have demonstrated I am sure all reasonable members that the Kangaroos have been the would join with me in saying, ‘Go best team in the AFL throughout the Maroons!’ Swanny and I are the 1990s. backing Queensland and people I am delighted to see that the like Burky, Albo, Robert, Joel, Pe- Prime Minister has joined us, be- ter, Chris and Tanya are simply cause I also have to remind the mistaken. Prime Minister—with the greatest respect of course—that the Mel- Graham Edwards MP, 2001 bourne Storm won the rugby Source: Parliament of Australia league grand final on Sunday. It Mr Speaker, given Australia's was, I am sure, a great game. The magnificent win in the ashes series are an outstand- concluded in the very early hours ing team. In only their second year of this morning Australian time, on in the rugby league competition behalf of the Australian parlia- they have won the grand final. It ment, will you write to the Austral- just shows that Melbourne is the ian cricket team congratulating supreme city in this country for them on their series win and for the sport. tremendous spirit of fair play and 2

good sportsmanship in which they Senator Helen Polley, 2016 played the game? Source: Parliament of Australia What we do know though from Kirsten Livermore MP, 2005 the past year is that it has really Source: Parliament of Australia been a parliament equivalent to the I am sure we all have stories from Game of Thrones or the Lord of the our families about our fathers or Flies—you know, the story about grandfathers sitting there wrapped the little boys who tried to govern up in a blankets on a cold winter's themselves but failed. night in front of the old radiogram listening to the broadcasts of the Brendan O’Connor MP, 2002 Ashes tours of England in the fifties Source: Parliament of Australia and sixties. In my family there is a The fact is that, as I said in my let- story of my dad falling asleep on ter to them in June, despite Aus- the floor listening to the test cricket tralia and England having played coverage in the middle of the night. for the ashes for 120 years and de- I suspect there are a number of spite Australia having won the last members of this chamber who seven—now eight—Ashes series in have similar memories of their in- a row, the actual trophy has never troduction to Ashes cricket. left Lord's. Even on the occasion of the Centenary Test in Melbourne Deane Wells MP, 1983 in 1977 it was only seen fit to send a Source: Parliament of Australia replica of the urn. This I believe is The Premiers of Queensland and contrary to the spirit of the original Tasmania, if such expensive and gift made at Rupertswood, Sun- anachronistic sinecures are still bury, and is moreover contrary to held, will be of about as much in- the spirit of cricket itself. Even the terest to the twenty-first century as New York Yacht Club, after its first R2D2 to Darth Vader. defeat in the America's Cup, saw fit to unbolt the trophy in 1983 after 132 years and deliver it to the new

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winner. There has been no respect ago in the original Star Wars shown to the Australian cricket movie—Obi-Wan Kenobi told team and the Australian public Luke Skywalker that he fought with respect to the Ashes. with Luke's father in the clone wars. We subsequently learn, in Bill Shorten, 2016 that first trilogy, that Luke Sky- Source: Parliament of Australia walker's father was Darth Vader. So I have seen gloomier expres- it is fitting that we are debating this sions, but I cannot think where. I legislation today for all those fans was reminded of that series The of space activity. Walking Dead. They look happier on that than they do in here. I am also informed that there was no definition of outer space pro- Shayne Neumann MP, 2008 vided in the movie last night, so it Source: Parliament of Australia is convenient that a definition of Remember Lord Voldemort? outer space be provided in this leg- Lord Voldemort was talked about islation here today. That definition by everyone. Harry was the only is `100 kilometres from the earth'. I person who was able to say his thought people would be interested name. Everyone talked about ‘the that we do know what we are talk- Prince of Darkness’ and ‘He Who ing about when we are talking Must Not Be Named’. Work about space, whether it be in rela- Choices is the Lord Voldemort of tion to Attack of the Clones or Australian politics now. the Space Activities Amendment Bill 2002. Craig Emerson MP, 2002 Source: Parliament of Australia Senator Fiona Nash 2015 The movie Attack of the Clones, Source: Parliament of Australia in summary, was about a war that I welcome two forthcoming took place involving the clones. It events this December. The first is was a war that was referred to by on 18 December, when the fabled Obi-Wan Kenobi all those years

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Star Wars franchise obtains a re- screens in George Lucas's magnifi- boot through new eyes, and, of cent space opera in 1977. I do point course, a week later we get to spend out, Senator Smith, that I was 12, time with our loved ones, relatives and I thought Mark Hamill was ac- and in-laws at Christmas. Why tually quite handy. C-3PO and R2- Star Wars? There is an immense D2 started us on a journey that amount of optimism with respect traversed hyperspace. The movie to the arrival of Star Wars: The transcended a generation. I re- Force Awakens, underlining the member my two boys, Will and impact the famed original trilogy Henry, at a very young age being has had, transforming the way we transfixed by their remote con- make, market and enjoy film. trolled Darth Vader. The original cast are returning, the beloved Millennium Falcon has snuck into the previews, and early sales of tickets here in Australia point to unprecedented demand. According to Event Cinemas, in late October the Star Wars: The Force Awakens first-day presales in Australia totalled 30,000 in just four hours. To put that in perspec- tive, that is four times as many as the first day of presales for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hal- lows: Part 2 in the same period. I can remember being amazed at seeing Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill light up the

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