Falklands : Falklands: The Hon Mr Ian Hansen's Motion for Adjournment Speech
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 21.12.2011 (Article Archived on 04.01.2012)
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, in rising to support the Motion for Adjournment I would like to begin by thanking Honourable Colleagues for their welcome to this Assembly and I’d like to add my congratulations to Dr Barry Elsby on his conclusive victory in the By-election.
The Hon Mr Ian Hansen:
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, in rising to support the Motion for Adjournment I would like to begin by thanking Honourable Colleagues for their welcome to this Assembly and I’d like to add my congratulations to Dr Barry Elsby on his conclusive victory in the By-election. I would also like to take this opportunity to publically thank those who encouraged me to put my name forward for the Camp By-election and pledged their support.
And I can assure you all that many of the Camp electorate have already marked my card and made it crystal clear what they want and what they expect of me over the next two years. And these wishes and expectations are regarded as my mandate. And I will work towards it.
Of course, it would have been nice to have another three or four candidates probably in both By-elections. This wasn’t the case, I think, for several reasons. The perceived lack of interest or commitment – call it what you will, is not just a problem for the Camp. One candidate out of an electorate of 271 is actually a higher percentage of interest than four candidates for 1311 – or to put it another way, one person out of 271 in this by- election opposed to one candidate for every 328 in Stanley. So statistically, Stanley actually had a bigger problem in culling people to stand for Legislative Assembly than in Camp.
That aside, though, I would agree absolutely that the situation on the whole is not as we would wish and I hope that during the next two years we can somehow encourage more people to take part in the General Election 2013, howbeit to remuneration changes or some other means.
I would also like to mention the retirement of Mrs Phyl Rendell from Government. I was very fortunate in the previous Assembly to work with Phyl in Minerals and Agriculture. Not only did she teach me an awful lot about Government – certainly in the mineral part of it – she was an excellent teacher – but she was also very professional and dedicated. I think to find anybody more professional and dedicated you would have to work pretty hard.
So I wish her well in – I won’t say retirement – she’s going to be doing things on a farm – so she won’t really be retired. But I wish her well.
And I would also like to add my farewells to our out-going Chief Executive and his lovely wife, Alison. And I wish you both the very best for the future. I do hope that your departure wasn’t hesitation for the thought of working with me again.
Mr Speaker, I have been deliberately brief. I think there will be much more to say in the New Year when our portfolio responsibilities are decided later today (Friday).
I would just like to wish everybody in the Falklands a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Mr Speaker, I beg to support the Motion.
(100X Transcription Service)
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