THE E HON B BILL SH HORTEN N MP

Leader of the Op pposition n r for Mar ribyrnong g Member

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E&O OE TRANS SCRIPT PRE ESS CONF FERENCE OPENING G REMARK KS PAR RLIAMENT T HOUSE, CANBERRA MONDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2013

EN: Good afternoon everyone. . Today is another im mportant ste ep for BILL SHORTE bor in our re enewal and d rejuvenat tion, and re ebuilding th he trust and confiden nce of Lab Aus stralians. W We have a great challenge in fro ont of us. W We are see eking to dr raw a line under the division of f the past a and to mak ke sure that t we are re elevant to th he futu ure lives of Australians s. eres alway ys a need fo or Labor to o be the pa arty of hope e. This is b because many The Aus stralians rely upon Labor to help p fulfil their dreams an nd aspiratio ons. There e are fam milies battlin ng to make ends mee et; Australia ans who re ely on pena alty rates, wor rking wome en who rely y on afforda able childc care, the ne eed for qua ality educat tion and d quality he ealthcare. There T are older Austr ralians who o shouldnt t work hard d their who ole working g lives and retire poor r. There ar re Australia ans with disabilities and a their carers wh ho have be een treated d, until rece ent times, like second d class citiz zens heir own co ountry. There are fam milies in the e regions and a small business b pe eople in th who o put their f family bala ance sheet on the line e to fulfil a d dream or to o chase an n idea a. On all th hese things s, Labor wi ill stand up p and make e sure that all these peo ople have a voice in th he future o of this country. From m day one today, unt til the next election, th his is what the Labor Party that I and my colleagues s lead will b be focused d upon. This s leadershi ip ballot ha as given La abor the op pportunity to o recommit to what we w stan nd for and w what is imp portant for Australians in the fut ture. There e will alway ys be a job for Labor to speak up for all A Australians s, to speak up and be the champ pions of th he voiceles ss and the disempow wered. e relentless sly negative e as an Op pposition. W We will see ek to put We will not be ward a posi itive vision of this cou untry as we ell as hold t the Coalitio on to forw

account. We will be a Labor Party that is focused on ideas and a view of an Australia writ-large and we will be a brave party tackling the hard issues. But Im very proud as part of this renewal to be standing here with the new leadership team for Labor over the next three years. The leadership team which I stand alongside represents the strength and the unity of purpose of Labor. Im very pleased to announce to you all, the new Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party, Tanya Plibersek. She is a remarkable Australian. Not only is she a respected member of Caucus, not only does she have a distinguished record of public service as the Member for Sydney but also most recently as the Minister for Health, but she reflects the Australian story. She is the daughter of Slovenian migrants. Her father helped build the iconic Snowy Hydro Scheme, along with thousands of others. She has graduated from UTS and indeed has spoken up on many issues and achieved many reforms for people throughout Australia. We also have with us, someone who needs no introduction, Labors Leader of the Senate, Penny Wong. Labors Deputy Leader of the Senate, also, Stephen Conroy. Id like to ask Tanya to say a few words at this point.

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