Hansard debates

  Mrs MADDIGAN (Essendon) -- It  is with pleasure that I  rise to give my  final
speech in Parliament. I  must say when I was  first elected to Parliament  I was
absolutely amazed to meet people who wanted to  be  members  of  Parliament  all
their lives. It would never  have occurred to me in a thousand  years.  I do not
come from  a political family. If my parents ever discussed politics at home,  I
certainly was not listening. But I  can  confess  that  they were definitely not
Labor  voters. Having  been brought up in the  federal seat  of Kooyong  and the
state seat of Kew, it probably  would not have made all  that much difference if
they were.
I was asked by the  Labor Party to stand for Essendon in  1992 -- mainly because
they were certain they  could  not hold the  seat,  and they were right.  I  was
preselected about two months before the election, and  we had  about $40  in the
campaign committee account. We  did  not get any assistance from the Labor Party
because it was not a winnable seat.

After some encouragement I finally decided  to  stand  again in 1996. Once again
the ALP saw the seat  as unwinnable, so we  got no assistance that time  either.
However, in 1999 I thought my time had finally come for some central assistance,
but  then the Labor Party told me I had won by too much in 1996, so once more  I
was not eligible for any assistance. So winning and holding the seat of Essendon
has been very  much a local effort, and  I have many ALP members, family members
and community members to thank.
1 would  particularly  like to thank  Debbie  and Helen  Lewis,  Yvonne  Kernan,
Marlene and Tony Sutton, Frank Murphy, Barbara Budge, Wally Buhaj, Bernie Moylan
and Steve Drazetic, who are  amongst the  many who worked hard to obtain victory
in  1996. My  daughter Mary has  been a  great support  during my  whole career,
especially after my husband's serious illness.
It has been a great pleasure representing the people of Essendon.

I  always say that even the Liberal voters are lovely in Essendon. It is a great
community.  During  that  time  we  have  seen  some  significant  improvements,
including  larger projects such as  the upgrading of  the Melbourne Showgrounds,
the  Calder-Tullamarine  interchange, the upgrade  of  the  Ascot  Vale  leisure
centre,  the  development of the  Victorian  Space Science  Education  Centre at
Strathmore  Secondary  College and the  return  of health  services  to  the old
Essendon hospital, which was closed by the former Kennett 

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government, in the form of the headquarters of the Doutta Galla Community Health
Service.
I would also like  to  thank  my  excellent  electorate  office staff for always
enhancing my reputation in Essendon: originally Kerren Clark and Karen Sherlock,
and after them Julie Jones, Jenni Chappell and Jackie Foley.
I  knew  very  little about Parliament when I was elected,  which  was  probably
painfully  clear to those who were  here at the time.  However, the fact that we
had never had a woman  in a senior parliamentary position was well known. I  was
very lucky to therefore get the  jobs I wanted. In racing terms --  and you have
to be a bit of a gambler to stand for Parliament -- I like to say that I got the
trifecta: the  first  woman to oversight  question time, the first  woman Deputy
Speaker and the first woman Speaker.

I was  very  lucky  in  these jobs,  working with   a terrific  Speaker in  Alex
Andrianopoulos and a  terrific  Deputy Speaker  in  Peter  Loney, both  of  whom
assisted me a great deal. Not all the world  saw the election of a woman Speaker
as a good thing,  and I quote a letter  that appeared in the Age and  the Herald
Sun the day  after I  was elected  Speaker. It  is headed  'Feminist insult' and
reads:
  The  election, or rather  Labor majority appointment, of  Judy Maddigan as the
  Speaker of  Victoria's  Legislative Assembly  is  an insult to  the  people of
  Victoria and the tradition of one of our nation's oldest political houses.  In
  appointing  Maddigan, a  self-proclaimed feminist  radical,  Steve Bracks  has
  again bowed to his socialist superiors.

  Maddigan,  who refuses to be addressed as Madam Speaker and  has  snubbed  the
  centuries-old dress of her office, is bad news for the Parliament and bad news
  for the people of Victoria.
I am glad to say Victoria did  survive  this period, and I believe this  is  the
only bicameral Westminster Parliament that has  had two women presiding officers
at the same time, in  myself and Monica Gould. And of course it  was during this
period that we got a woman Parliamentary Clerk in  the  Legislative Assembly for
the first time as well.
At the time  of my election as Speaker, Parliament was in my  view still steeped
in  the  traditions of the 19th  century.  Tradition is good if  it has a useful
purpose, but Parliament must be relevant to the times in which it operates.

I  therefore embarked on  a significant change  process,  including a  corporate
management structure for the Parliament, to make it more  receptive  to the 21st
century.  This  included a single parliamentary structure, One  Parliament,  and
defined more clearly  roles  and  responsibilities.  Some  staff  embraced these
reforms, but some found them a little threatening.

Some other  reforms that I introduced included the introduction of general staff
meetings for the first time in 147 years and an improvement in worker democracy;
changes to the culture of the IT section  under John Lovell; the introduction of
service  awards  to   staff;  improving   communications  between   departmental
departments through the  establishment  of  a  middle  management  structure; an
improved and expanded role  for the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
attendants  and  more of a  career  structure for them;  introducing  a training
program for all  staff; introducing counselling services for staff and  members;
increasing library research staff; including Victoria University  as part of the
parliamentary  intern process; successfully  seeking funding from the government
for  a massive upgrade to  the parliamentary kitchens, which  had changed little
since the  federal  Parliament  gave them to  us  as  a gift when  it  left this
building  in 1927; establishing, for  the first time, a heritage management plan
for  the parliamentary building and providing significant  ongoing  funding  for
this plan; and updating and expanding the opposition rooms and the Premier's off

ce.
In 2006 we also celebrated 150 years of responsible government in  Victoria, and
in relation to this we obtained government  funding for a travelling  exhibition
that went through country  Victoria, and it was  very successful, with thousands
of visitors. Also as part of the 150th anniversary I established a gym for staff
and members and a baby change and feeding room. The latter was a good example of
the proposition that as a politician the  more you try to do the right thing the
more trouble you get yourself  into,  as  the  only  response  from  the nursing
mothers  association to this  reform  after 147 years  was to complain  bitterly
because  there  was a picture of a  baby drinking out of a  bottle  as part of a
directional sign! Also as part of the 150th celebrations the Parliament produced
a register  entitled the Biographical  Register of the  Victorian  Parliament --
1985-2006.

Our  most famous  effort was  of  course to  put the  1981 petition  for women's
suffrage online, on the  Parliament website. This  has been very successful  and
has  led to  a huge  amount  of  historical  research  in  this  area.  With the
assistance of the  Standing Orders Committee,  we undertook the most significant
upgrade  of the standing orders since 1894, also making them gender neutral  and
removing some of the archaic procedures and terminology.

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We introduced the party vote, which the  member for  South-West Coast is so fond
of and which allowed  far more time for debate. We amalgamated the parliamentary
staff into the one building -- a proposal first suggested by former minister Ian
Smith many years ago --  at 55 St Andrews Place. This building was upgraded to a
level  5 environmental  rating.  We introduced events  such  as the Pink  Ribbon
Breakfast,  which  was held again last week, with the assistance of Beth  Klein;
the ride-to-work day;  and  other  community  fundraising activities. Lastly, of
course, with fixed term Parliaments came valedictory speeches.
One of the things that  concerned me most when  I became Speaker was that  there
was  no recognition of our indigenous population, so I introduced the indigenous
acknowledgement  at the beginning of the sessions of  Parliament and established
the indigenous  art collection on this floor so that school groups would be able
to experience at least the artistic interpretation of Aboriginal culture.

Unfortunately the gallery has been removed, but hopefully it  will return in the
future. The parliamentary staff were a delight to work with.
May I particularly thank Ray Purdey and the staff of  the  Legislative  Assembly
for  all their  help.  Their  willing  cooperation  and  assistance  was  always
appreciated. Also  thanks  to Jeremy, Beth,  Lilian and Geoff  in  the Speaker's
office. The Legislative Assembly attendants are of  course excellent at customer
service and very kind  and  thoughtful  people.  I  would  like  to  thank  them
particularly  for presenting  me  with a large-print  copy  of the statement  of
government intentions when I turned 60!
It has, however,  also been a pleasure to return to a less controversial role in
my last term of Parliament as chair of the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee.
I congratulate the members of the committee of  all  sides on their contribution
to the four reports we have done.

Committee  work gives  MPs the time to examine issues in the community at length
with  the benefit of  well-researched  and informed comment.  The government has
accepted most  of  the recommendations from  our  reports which  should  provide
assistance for the most vulnerable and troubled members of the community.
As Winston Churchill said, 'Democracy is the worst form of government except for
all those others  that  have been tried', and this is  a  view that I endorse. A
well-educated and  involved community and a strong parliamentary system provides
the best form of government, and I trust this will continue in the future. Or as
no  lesser person than Aristotle said in 343 BC, 'If liberty and equality, as is
thought by  some, are  chiefly  to  be  found in  democracy, they  will be  best
attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost'.

May I  wish all my colleagues here all the best for  the forthcoming election --
perhaps with a bit more luck to this  side of the  room -- and I look forward to
watching the 57th Parliament on the evening news!
  Honourable members applauded.