Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler) (13:57): Twenty years ago today I had the honour of being elected as the member for Grayndler. I never forget the date because it happened to be my 33rd birthday, and since then I have been proud to represent my local community as the Labor representative and to serve as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister, Leader of the House and shadow minister. For two decades my electorate office in Grayndler has assisted many thousands of people. I thank my staff, my Labor Party members and the voters of Grayndler for giving me the ongoing privilege of serving here. Most of all I thank my family, who give up a lot when we are here, and I thank Carmel and Nathan.

In my first speech I said:

I will be satisfied if I can be remembered as someone who will stand up for the interests of my electorate, for working class people, for the labour movement and for our progressive advancement as a nation into the next century.

Now that we are in the next century my values remain the same, and I look forward to continuing to serve—however, on the other side of the House—after the next election.