Ms MACKLIN (3:37 PM) —As another member of the small band from 1996, on our side at least, I recall the great euphoria felt by the group of us who came in in 1996. There were not very many of us.

Mr Melham —You were shy and retiring then.

Ms MACKLIN —Greg and I were both shy and retiring. It was a strange sensation, I remember, particularly at the early caucus meetings, to be surrounded by so many miserable faces—the Leader of the Opposition and others who, of course, had been in government for so long and had suffered that terrible defeat. We, too, had been part of the party that lost the election, but to people like Greg, me, Robert McClelland, Joel Fitzgibbon and the few others who came in in 1996, it was a great place to be and we were thrilled to be here. I remember Greg saying to me then—and we talked a lot about this in the ensuing years—that we were here for only one reason, and that was to make the world a better place. I think all of us come here for that reason. Greg had spent all of his working life trying to do that, particularly for working people. We all understand and we all feel so strongly on our side of the parliament—and I appreciate the way that members of the government have understood this today—how much that binds us together. He knew that we could not do that from opposition, and I know that it was a constant source of frustration to him that he was not able to improve the lot of working people in the way that he thought was proper from where we sit today. He knew so clearly why he was here in this parliament, and we will all remember that very proudly.

The other thing that has been lovely about this debate is all the happy things that have been said about his life. As Mark Latham, Kay Hull and others have said, he really loved to laugh. I must say I was often the butt of those laughs. He, Steve Martin and Joel Fitzgibbon, as others have said, like to sing the song Wild Thing. Just so you all know now for the record, I am often the butt of that song. They took great delight—

Mr Anthony —Were you the singer?

Ms MACKLIN —No, I was not the singer, I was the wild thing. He always took great delight in that, and much frivolity was had in that regard. I think Mark's expression of him as a great Australian—in that lovely sense of the way you put it, Mark—is so true. Many people over my life have called me Macka, but the only person in this parliament who ever called me Macka was Greg. It was just like him to do that. It was that lovely Australian way of shortening your name and putting an `a' on it. He did it with great comradely affection. Like Greg, I am a mad surfer. We would often have many a serious discussion about the waves on Victoria's beaches. I know you people from New South Wales think we do not have waves—

Mr Anthony —The best in the world.

Ms MACKLIN —That's right, they are the best in the world.

Mr Anthony —They are the coldest.

Ms MACKLIN —And they are the coldest. I can remember many an occasion when Greg would tell me of shocking dumpers he had experienced—getting belted around the head by his surfboard. I will not tell any stories about my shocking experiences. I know how much he loved the surf and I cannot imagine what it will be without him.

Of course, what we think about the most today are not only the great things that he stood for, that he believed in and that he was here for, or the fun times that we had with him. He was a person who had a great time. I agree with everyone who has spoken today: he loved a laugh and he loved the good times that we had together. But we all think so much today about Maria, the children, his mother and his sister. I know Maria. I want to say very personally to you, Maria, that my heart goes out to you at this time of great pain that you will have to carry for such a long time. We all love you and I know you love Greg. You will remember, probably more than any of us, the wonderful person that he was.