Speaker’s Statements — COVID-19—Acknowledgments

Before I go to general business, I just would like to acknowledge the fact that this is the first time the House has sat in its normal form since the beginning of the COVID period. I want to place on record my thanks to all members of Parliament for their tolerance during this time. I want to thank the Leader of the House, the shadow Leader of the House, and both senior whips for the work that they’ve done, and to acknowledge the COVID committee and the work that it did. I think it’s been recognised internationally as doing work that was very important and meant that we had a balance of accountability with safety in a way that I don’t think any other country actually managed during this period.

I would also like to ask the Clerk of the House and the chief executive of the Parliamentary Service to pass on to staff my thanks for the work that they did during the period. I think that there was, especially within electorate offices, a lot of new demand and intensive demand, which was handled generally very, very well. Thank you.