Valedictories
10/12/2015
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Briefly, on behalf of Dignity for Disability, I endorse the comments and echo all the sentiments expressed. I particularly thank my staff Anna, Cathi and Lucy (our trainee), as well as the casual staff who have helped us out throughout the year, Amy, Allison and Ian. I particularly thank Ian for the work he has been doing in the past few weeks on the planning bill. He has been down there on the lower ground level with pencil and paper in hand, dutifully scribbling away as we pass or defeat certain amendments, crossing them off and ticking them. So, thanks to Ian for that enormous task he has undertaken so well.
I also thank all members with whom we have worked constructively throughout the year—I think that is all of you, in some way or another—the Clerk, yourself, Mr President, all the table staff of course and all the chamber staff, particularly people like Mario, Todd, Leslie and Guy. I particularly thank and acknowledge Leslie as a staff member of this chamber but also as secretary of the committee on access to education for students with disabilities.
I have just had a note flash up on my screen which says ‘Anna?’ I think I said ‘Anna’ first of all, but just in case, Anna, Cathi, Lucy, Amy, Ian and Allison: thank you all very much, particularly Anna, since I have been pulled up, my chief of staff, because on more than one night a week I have to remind Anna to go home. So, thank you, Anna, for all you have done.
I thank all members and organisations with which we have worked constructively throughout the year, and all the other parliamentary staff who have been mentioned. I also thank Hansard for their unenviable task of having to write down everything my machine gun mouth says. It is a challenge at times, so thank you for that. I also acknowledge parliamentary counsel for the work they put in drafting the bills and the policies we put forward throughout the year. I particularly acknowledge Richard Dennis as he embarks on his retirement. I wish him all the best, as I am sure we all do.
It has been another great year for Dignity for Disability. I have been sitting here thinking, as I have been listening to other members, that I wanted to highlight a few achievements very quickly. We have had the disability justice plan pass into law via the vulnerable witnesses bill earlier in the year, which will give more and more people with disabilities a voice in court and in police interviews, and thereby hopefully, if nothing else, see more cases going to court, particularly where abuse and neglect of people with disabilities is alleged, so it is an enormously important change, and one of which I am very proud.
I acknowledge that we have a way to go in the implementation of that law, particularly around the communication assistance in court, and I particularly thank the Law Society and Speech Pathology Australia for continuing to work with us on getting that right, and I look forward to doing that in the New Year coming.
We also have the consistency in the provision of AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) in emergency services announcements, which was implemented following a push by Dignity for Disability following the Sampson Flat bushfires. It has certainly been a pleasure to see more sign language used in the announcements around the Pinery fires as well. Of course, it would be much more of a pleasure if we did not have to make those announcements but, given that they have to happen every now and again, it is good to see more and more steps being taken to make them accessible to everyone.
Again, there is a way to go on that particular measure, especially around the use of captioning, but it is a success nonetheless. As I mentioned, we also have the education committee now looking into the very important issue of enabling equal access to students with disabilities to an equal education. Those are just a few of the things that came to mind as I sat here listening. Certainly, there are a number of things that still labour for us for the new year.
I do not want to get too off topic and too serious here because I know I am supposed to be jovial, but I think one of things will be that all members, I hope, in this place staunchly defending the Legislative Council. I think particularly this year the Legislative Council has been brought into a fair bit of disrepute. Some members may have seen my rather public Twitter stoush with David Bevan when he alleged that upper house members did not have any constituents. So, we are going to have to defend this place yet again, and I hope we all band together to do that successfully.
The Legislative Council is vital to democracy and to ensuring that laws that are passed in this state go through the right checks and balances. I hope that we will continue to defend the Legislative Council together in the coming year. I am sure that the people who will now be able to have a voice in court, thanks to the Disability Justice Plan, and the police force, of course, with recent measures under return to work, are very glad to have a Legislative Council because those are two very important measures I can think of just off the top of my head that originated here in this chamber.
I hope we will come together in the new year refreshed and energised and ready to resume our important role and defend our ability to undertake that role. Having undertaken that homily, can I again thank all members and all staff for your work throughout the year and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a great season. I hope you get a great rest and some quality time with your friends and family and whomever and whatever is important to you, and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year. I am sure I will see many of you before that, but see you all in 2016.
