00:00Thank you, Yasmin. Thank you to you and Jodie for what you do, and the reason Jodie and
00:28the announcement of speaking tonight is because this is a victory for all of the Labor movement.
00:34This is a victory for our representatives at a state, local and federal level. This is a victory for the trade union movement.
00:42And this is a victory for everyone connected, including friends and family.
00:47And a couple of people to me have to go, so I'm going to reiterate what I was going to say to personally thank my mother-in-law, Gail, for all the sacrifices you made.
01:06And thank you to my son, Michael Conroy.
01:13So, have you now with me, and for letting me say, go to what looks like, I'm looking like I'm going back to Canberra for three more years.
01:22So, thank you Michael for everything you've done.
01:31When I reflect on this campaign, I want to talk about what we thought for.
01:35Because this is a victory for Australian values. This is a victory for Labor values.
01:42This is a victory centered on a simple proposition to the people of Shortland and the people of this country.
01:49That they want an Australian government and their representatives locally to fight for them.
01:56Whether it's to fight for better healthcare through our tripling the bulk billing incentive and our Medicare urgent care clinics.
02:03Whether it's cost of living relief for working families and pensioners in our area.
02:08Whether it's bringing manufacturing jobs home.
02:11Whether it's tackling the housing crisis by actually building houses for first home buyers.
02:17And building affordable housing for families escaping domestic violence.
02:22We won this election because we have the superior vision for this country.
02:31That is why we won this election.
02:35And we won this election because everyone here worked their guts out.
02:41I'm really proud to say, and I can say this honestly, this has been the best campaign I've ever been involved in locally.
02:48And that's not the brilliant shade or any other campaign that I've been privileged of.
02:57But between the efforts of everyone in this room and everyone who couldn't be here.
03:02We have door knocked or phoned over 75,000 people.
03:08And that is what people want.
03:09I had so many people coming up to me on pre-col and saying, I met you when you door knocked me in Charlestown.
03:22Or, I'm sorry I missed you when you left a night under my door at Lake Manmora.
03:26That personal contact is how we persuade people that Labor has the best vision for this country.
03:33And I want to thank everyone in this room for what you did for that.
03:37Whether it was door knocking, phone banking, putting up core flutes, letter boxing, hounding out the pre-col, handing out today.
03:46This is a victory for all of you because this is a victory that you've all earned.
03:50So I want to thank you very much.
03:51And I'll finish shortly by thanking a few groups of people in particular, but I want to reflect on another thing that this is a victory for.
04:05This is a victory for locals.
04:08This is a victory for people who live in this region, who represent this region, who want this region to be better.
04:16And unfortunately, over the last two weeks, I saw some very ugly scenes of pre-poll.
04:22And I'm following the poll.
04:25And they don't reflect well on some of our opponents.
04:29I want to be very clear, Emma King is a lovely person.
04:35And she has fought a clean campaign.
04:37And I want to thank Emma King and all the other candidates for sticking their hand up.
04:42And the public office, because it's no small thing to run the public office.
04:48And so I thank Emma, and I thank the other candidates who put their hand up.
04:52But what the Liberal boys did in head off them was a disgrace.
04:59What their campaign headquarters, and if you believe what Nikki Savile wrote in the Fairfax papers on Thursday,
05:07that was personally coordinated by Peter Dutton's office,
05:10to send in hundreds of people from a group to quote our, just re-elected Prime Minister, a religious cult, an extreme cult,
05:22to our boob, from as far as field as Tapworth, was not about democracy, it was about intimidation.
05:29I saw people in Liberal blue t-shirts, physically blocking the voters, trying to vote.
05:42I saw people in blue t-shirts, with a certain dress style that we all witnessed on pre-pile,
05:50who didn't know where Charlestown was, let alone the Charlestown Medicare Aging Care Clinic,
05:54literally escort people in, with negative call flutes on both sides with them,
05:59to shield them from anyone else handing out.
06:03I saw intimidation that I never want to see in this country.
06:08Because it's corrosive to democracy, and if the media reports are true,
06:15they were all coordinated by the personal office of the opposition leader, if those reports are true.
06:22The formal office of the opposition?
06:24Right.
06:26But, whether his office directly ordered it,
06:31it was done in the name of the Liberal Party of Australia,
06:35to have a cult, trying to interfere in an election,
06:39was a disgrace.
06:42It didn't work.
06:43And it didn't work.
06:45Because people, I'm convinced, want to make their decisions quietly,
06:49in the secrecy of the ballot room.
06:53We had people badgering voters saying,
06:56who are you going to vote for?
06:58Who are you going to vote for?
06:59Tell me who you're going to vote for.
07:01That is not democracy.
07:03That is intimidation.
07:05And the people of Shortland stood up to that today.
07:07To that intimidation and said, no, no, no.
07:25So, I'll finish by thanking a few groups.
07:32I want to start with the other Labor representatives here,
07:36whether you're branch members, trade union delegates,
07:38or elected representatives.
07:40Tonight, sorry, during the day and during pre-poll,
07:43I saw Yasmin talking to voters,
07:46I saw Jodie talking to voters,
07:47I saw Jodie talking to voters.
07:48I saw Jodie talking to voters.
07:49I saw Jodie talking to voters...
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