15 NEW SOUTH WALES PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) _________________________ FIRST SESSION OF THE FIF TY-THIRD PARLIAMENT ____________________ LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Tuesday 29 April 2003 ______ The House met at 2.15 p.m. pursuant to the proclamation of Her Excellency the Governor. The Clerk read the proclamation. The Clerk announced that he had received a list, certified by Her Excellency the Governor, of the names of the members to serve in this Parliament, together with the writs on which they had been returned. He announced also that with Her Excellency's certification the writs had been returned prior to the day by which they were by law returnable. OPENING OF SESSION The Usher of the Black Rod, being admitted, delivered a message from the Commissioners empowered by Her Excellency the Governor to open this session of Parliament requesting the immediate attendance of the members of this honourable House in the Legislative Council Chamber to hear the Commission for the opening of Parliament read. The members of the House, having attended the Legislative Council Chamber, reassembled. OATH OR AFFIRMATION OF ALLEGIANCE The Clerk informed the House that Her Excellency the Governor had issued a Commission authorising the Hon. Robert John Carr, the Hon. Dr Andrew John Refshauge and the Hon. Craig John Knowles to administer the oath or affirmation of allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen required by law to be taken or made by members of the Legislative Assembly. The Clerk read the Commission. All members, with the exception of Mr Armstrong and Mr Souris, took and subscribed the oath or affirmation of allegiance, and signed the roll. SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Election The Clerk announced, pursuant to section 31B of the Constitution Act, that the House would proceed to the election of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Having called for nominations, and sufficient time having elapsed, he declared nominations closed and informed the House that one valid nomination had been received: the Hon. J. J. Aquilina. The Hon. J. J. Aquilina was declared elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. John Joseph Aquilina was then taken out of his place by Mr Martin and Mrs Perry and escorted to the Chair. 16 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 29 April 2003 Mr SPEAKER (The Hon. John Joseph Aquilina), standing on the upper step: I would like to thank my parliamentary colleagues for this election. To quote Sir Edmund Barton on his accession speech as Speaker of this Chamber on 3 January 1883, I accept it solemnly, with fear and trembling. I pledge that I will undertake my duties as Speaker of this House impartially and fairly in all proceedings, and during my time as Speaker I will be guided by the Constitution of New South Wales, which I believe has served this State well. The New South Wales Parliament is the oldest Parliament in Australia. It is steeped in tradition; it is part of the very basis of the democracy of this country. The Parliament itself has been in many ways a founder of many of the democratic traditions that formed this nation. Many of those traditions, and many of the individuals from here, were to play a prominent role in the formation of this great country. The traditions and the history of this place date back to the earliest days of the colony, and I am very conscious of those traditions and very conscious of what they mean to each and every one of us as elected representatives and, indeed, to the public of New South Wales. It has been a long and at times rocky road since a Maltese migrant boy visited this Chamber on a year 5 excursion from St Joseph's, Rozelle. He could barely understand English at the time, and could barely see the proceedings over the bar of the top public gallery opposite. But it left him with an indelible mark; it left him also with an insatiable curiosity which has remained with him all of these years. It has been that curiosity and that respect for the traditions of this place which have brought me here, and which now, along with the honourable member for Lachlan, see me as the longest continuing serving member of this Chamber. I honour those traditions, and far from waning, that respect for those traditions, that respect for the proceedings of this Chamber has continued to grow. To quote Sir Edmund Barton again, to be the elect of the elected, the one chosen from and by the representatives of the people, for the high position of Speaker is the highest honour that the House can offer to any of us. To members whose rights and privileges I may have unwittingly or otherwise transgressed over the years, I offer contrition and a sincere apology. I beg your forgiveness and indulgence for the future. I hope to be able to assist all members as much as possible to fulfil your highest expectations in your respective roles as public representatives. I also extend my support to the many members of staff who perform their various duties. Running a Parliament is a huge task, requiring a large contingent of staff with varied skills. While those who work in this building are well known to many of us, I also wish to make special mention of our front-line staff members who work in the electoral offices around the State. I know only too well how much each one of us is indebted to them. In conclusion, I would like to make the point, as my predecessor did on many occasions, that this Parliament is to be regarded not as the members' Parliament but as the people's Parliament. It has been a proud, recent tradition that members of the public are welcome here at all times. We want members of the public to know that your elected representatives welcome you to see how they are representing you. This is your place. This is the place where it all happens on your behalf, and we will continue to welcome you, to note your presence, and to trust that you will continue to come and see the proceedings of this Chamber so as to fulfil to your satisfaction the feeling that your representatives are representing you well. I thank all members of the House. Mr CARR (Maroubra—Premier, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Citizenship) [3.15 p.m.]: Mr Speaker, I congratulate you on the great honour that has been bestowed on you: your election as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales. Fair to a fault is, I think, the assessment already being made by members on both sides of the House of the approach you will bring as Speaker of the House. For my own part, let me say that if ever I uncharacteristically should be considered by you as Speaker as making too harsh a criticism of those opposite or, for example, straying from a strict sense of relevancy on a matter before the House that I am addressing, I would expect to be corrected by you. I would take it with a sense of appropriateness that all honourable members would consider fair. If ever any of my attempts at humour were to be considered to overstep the mark, again I look to you for the necessary, if painful, instruction in what is appropriate behaviour in this House at all times, and I know I will not be disappointed. Mr Speaker, you described what it was like for a boy from a Maltese migrant background. As it happens, your father was brought out here to be a tradesman on some of the big building sites around the city, as so many migrants were in the period of the great post-war immigration. As a migrant boy from a working-class school, you were brought in to observe Parliament at work, managing to see a bit of it and go away with some 29 April 2003 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 17 sense of the significance of representative government. All these years later, after a record in local government you are now able to preside in this Chamber as Speaker. We would all join in saying that is the kind of country Australia is. It is a great thing, and that is a great story. There is a special honour in coming from that migrant background, your father a tradesman, and you making good—in particular, being Speaker in this Legislative Assembly. I pay unstinted tribute to you for your achievements in education. The fact that our youngsters have the highest literacy of those in any school system in Australia is proof of the effectiveness of literacy programs and the extra funding applied during your years as Minister. The strengthening of vocational education, which is seeing youngsters in the school system make a seamless transition to the workplace, is a great tribute to your achievements. The State numeracy plan is working, because when you go to schools you see youngsters learning maths by different means and strategies that are more alive and interesting than they ever were in the past. The requirement that schools provide annual reports to parents and to the community provides a new level of accountability. But above all, the testing that has underpinned all these achievements that have been strengthened in the school system—testing for literacy in those early years of high school, for example—has provided indispensable feedback for teachers, parents and school communities. These are all great achievements that have strengthened school education in New South Wales, and they are achievements of which you can be very proud.