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Families in Politics

There is nothing more important to me than three people sitting in the gallery today: my wife, Maryanne, and my two boys, Darcy and Henry. There are plenty of clichés about the role of our families as we enter into public life. But, for me, I simply could not do it without them, without their support to be here and the motivation to want to be here. Little Henry, mate, you give your mum such a hard time when I am away, but we adore you anyhow. I often think how hard this must be on him in particular. The poor little bloke does not know, when dad walks out the door, whether he is going to feed the chooks or he is running off to Parliament for a week. You are such a joy to be around, most of the time, and I look forward to what you become in the future. Darcy, you make me incredibly proud every day, in so many different ways, by the way you throw yourself into different activities, your sports—soccer, cricket, futsal—and your choir and dance, your imagination and understanding, and your interpretation of the world around you. If there are more kids coming through with your mind and your heart, we should be very optimistic about our future. Of course, my beautiful and wonderful wife, you have done so much for me from the very moment we met and specifically since we began this journey together. You have allowed, encouraged and supported me in ways I will never be able to repay, and I will forever be grateful. I am in awe of you and absolutely everything you do. This important role we have is not easy on our families, particularly those who live in the regions. We are away a lot. There are big moments we miss and special, little ones as well. And our families pick up the slack we leave at home. I have not been here for that long, but it is clear that it is better now than it used to be, and it keeps getting better. Recent changes have made it easier. Just last week I managed to chair a deliberative meeting from home, which meant that I did not have to come to Sydney and spend another day away from my family. I appreciate those who accommodated that. It is important that we make this place accessible to those with young families, mums and dads, who bring perspectives to this place forged only through late-night visits to hospitals or stresses over child care—stresses shared by so many others in the State. I do not know how we do that, and I thank those who have come before me, who have got us to where we are today. But let us continue the conversation and progression to make it easier and more accommodating for those with young families to continue to make an important contribution to this place. The people of New South Wales will only benefit from that environment.