It is a pleasure to rise to speak on the Statute Law Repeals Bill 2024. From the outset I will say that it has been a wideranging debate today, and I allowed that when sitting in the chair where you are, Acting Speaker Addison, in making sure that everyone had a thoughtful contribution to this wide bill, which has a lot of changes to different acts. It is what we do in this place here.

We have always in this place some very serious and important legislation that comes to be debated, and as I have said in other debates, it is important that we as a government continue to have modern and fit-for-purpose legislation. What is important in doing that work is making sure that all those finer details are also addressed, and this bill particularly does that. It looks at those finer details of what needs to be changed in acts.

Representing the Bellarine now for a couple of years has been very much a privilege and a responsibility that I take very seriously. I am committed to serving not only those who may have voted for me to be in this place but all those residents in the Bellarine electorate, families and community members, and I do so with dedication. I work incredibly hard, but I also think integrity and transparency are really important in this place, and the electorates put trust in all of us to represent them here in this place. I am mindful of the many voices that I carry into this room.

Across the Bellarine electorate we have seen more people come to the regions to enjoy the lifestyle that the Bellarine offers, being near many coastal towns. We have families raising children. It is a great place to start a family. There are very many small businesses that enjoy the thriving tourism economy. It is a wonderful place, and we have got a wonderful environment as well. In that regard, I stand in this chamber and am reminded of that responsibility to address their concerns, and every constituent does deserve a representative who listens to them, who speaks for them, who fights for them and who can develop policies to improve their lives. One of the core duties that I have had to obviously learn more about is the role in this place of debating legislation that truly reflects the values of this government. It is a pleasure and an honour to be part of that process of making legislation, drafting laws and debating and casting votes here in this place, but it is more than that. It is about doing the hard yards, the hard yakka, all the grunt work behind the scenes to get those things done. That is what the Bellarine electorate certainly expect, and they expect us to get on with the job of governing for the state.

This is a statute law repeals bill. Bills are passed as part of Parliament’s regular housekeeping, and we do ensure that legislation is accurate and clear, and it is to maintain that orderly manner and accessibility for the public to understand, and this is just common practice that we have.

Sitting suspended 1:00 pm until 2:02 pm.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.