Mr ALLAN MORRIS (10:49 PM) —Mr Speaker, I am pleased that you are in the chair at this point of time because you and I have something in common. The fact is that we came into this House at the same time. We attended the same initiation seminars—not that many years ago, it seems, but sufficient years ago for me to have announced at the weekend that I shall not be renominating for the electorate of Newcastle in the next election, whenever that may be. That decision is one that causes my wife and me great sadness because we have had a very interesting and satisfying life—and, at times, a very difficult life—and the amount of time that is taken up by my career will be very hard to fill. But it is important to ensure that both the party members in Newcastle who will be involved in selecting candidates have adequate time to consider whether they themselves wish to run or to choose an alternative candidate. I am not so arrogant as to think that in itself would retain the seat, but the fact is that I am optimistic that the record that the party has in the Newcastle area will help the candidate to be successful.

Mr Speaker, as I have said, you have had almost precisely the same number of hours as I have had in this place and would know what it has come to mean to us. This is not a farewell speech; it is more of an announcement speech. Having announced it in Newcastle, it seemed to me appropriate that I make a similar statement in Canberra. I suppose that, since I made the statement, I have had a very great number of people making contact and expressing their appreciation, their sadness—and also their excitement. In a sense, `The king is dead. Long live the king!' is a wonderful concept. I am moving on, but the position continues and will take a new shape and form, new directions and new ideas. That is exciting for my community, and it is exciting for me to consider that.

I would like to remake myself, but the fact is I cannot so it is best for me to move aside and let someone else project their ideas differently. I think it was particularly poignant that I made this announcement today because I had two schools from my electorate here: Hamilton Public School and New Lambton Public School. Those occasions always give us great emotion. I was looking at those bright young faces and encouraging them to be active, to think about the community, to be involved and so on at the same time as I was saying, `By the way, I'm moving aside in the next year or so.' It was a very poignant thing.

This place is complex, difficult, ordinary in the American sense and rewarding. There are all those conflicting emotions and feelings. It is a place where I have achieved great satisfaction and enormous frustration, and I am sure that is the same for all of us. I want to signal a couple of things which I hope will be important in this next year, and one of them is in your home state, Mr Speaker. I cannot accept my level of frustration at the submarine project and the way it is being treated in the community and the media. What is happening there will lead to the world's best diesel electric submarine. I think the failings that have happened to date have been failings of time, particularly on the part of the weapons system made by an American company who were the best in the world. We brought in the world's best company at enormous cost on a fixed price contract that they absolutely guaranteed could be done, and the fact is they failed. We did not fail; they failed but we are getting the blame for it as a country. That is not good, and I would like to see you and your colleagues defending that project a lot more because it is a very fine project that is being done extremely well.

We always knew there would be great difficulties with the new submarine. We always knew that, but it was a great challenge and South Australia took it on. We would have loved to have had it in Newcastle, but you took it on and I think you did it well given its sheer size and complexity. It breaks my heart to watch it being badmouthed and blackguarded the way it has been, and it has largely been by commercial interests who do not want us to do it again. They want us to buy equipment overseas in the future, and I am scared that will happen.

Another project I want to mention is the hot briquette iron project in Western Australia, which will be a national disaster in the making if we do not fix it. There will be $3.6 billion of capital losses and $400 million a year of export earnings lost if that project does not succeed. I think it can succeed because of Newcastle scientists who are world leaders in steel technology and iron ore smelting. I think it is critically important that we all start to get much more active and be much more supportive.

The final thing I want to mention is that last week I had the Public Works Committee in Newcastle, and Judy Moylan did an excellent job. It is a good committee and they spoke about the CSIRO energy project. It is wonderful, exciting stuff happening in an old industrial centre. In my time, we are remaking Newcastle; I am sorry I cannot remake myself.

Mr SPEAKER —There will be other occasions to pay tribute to the member for Newcastle, but may I simply wish him well in what I know must have been an emotionally very difficult decision to make. All of us read the decision and I think it is appropriate that he has made the remarks he has made tonight.