Tony Fletcher, the honourable member, is a remarkable man, there is no doubt about that, and a man that I admire and aspire to be like - whether or not I would ever have that ability I am not too sure. Having spent a lot of my time on the north-west coast, I was well and truly aware of the honourable member and the admiration of the people that he enjoyed, not only along the north west coast but right throughout Tasmania. That was well-known to me also in my position as a serving police officer. His name would continually come up, in the right way and in the right manner and in the right circles.

Members laughing.

Mr DEAN - I have also known of his ability as a footballer - the strength and courage that he displayed on the football field. I knew of that also since my commencing umpiring back in the early 1980s, late 1970s, when his name would come up frequently when Mum was talking about football in this State. The ability that this man had was always instilled in me. In fact on the weekend I was umpiring at Mole Creek, of all places, and one of the games there was a pretty tough game. A player came up to me and the comment he made was along the lines of 'Tony Fletcher would have fixed this'. There was a fair amount of rough play. I am not quite sure what they meant by that, whether or not they meant that his high-quality coaching skills would have fixed it and/or whether his style of vigorous play would have fixed it. But that is an indication of just how well known this man is and quite obviously they drew the connection between Tony and myself in this House. That was the comment that was made. His reputation just lives on, and that is wonderful.

Interestingly, Mr President, when I joined this House when I was successful in getting my position here, my brother-in-law, known obviously to all of you here, Steve Wilson, reminded me that if I was to closely watch Tony Fletcher I would be well guided and directed.

Mr Aird - Didn't he suggest me?

Mr DEAN - That is exactly what he said.

Mr Aird - I'm shocked.

Mr Parkinson - He probably told you to watch the member for Rumney too.

Mr DEAN - Well, Mr President, I am quite sure of that now and that was good advice. I have also learned from the honourable member that the word 'bum' is an unacceptable word in this Chamber.

Members laughing.

Mr PRESIDENT - I should ask the honourable member to withdraw that.

Mr DEAN - I have also learned a little bit about questions not on notice on notice and that it is not really required that these questions not on notice be given any notice. Does anybody understand that? I have learned now that they do not necessarily have to be on notice; one can ask them from the Chamber, as it were, or the honourable member took that opportunity.

He is an outstanding Tasmanian and I am sure that with the passage of time he will probably have State recognition of just what he has done and what he has given to this State. It is a much better place for the honourable member and for his position within this Chamber. I do not need to speak about his articulateness but he has made changes to many bills that have come through here that have benefited the public and he has made them so that they can be easily understood. We had an example of that only very recently where he was able to look at a passage, he saw the difficulty in interpreting it and he was able to change that in a way that could be quite easily understood.

Also in my short time on the Public Accounts Committee, Mr President, I have recognised the ability of Tony, his ability to chair meetings, his ability to get people to come out and express their views - and this is something that I would like to have had myself and I guess any one of us here would like to have - the ability to get up on the spur of the moment and speak about anything - matters that I have seen him in this Chamber and in the PAC get up and talk about without any, I would suggest, really deep thought about the subject perhaps. He is able to get up and explain and make an issue of it in a very intelligent way. I would like that ability myself but I would have to do heaps of research to be able to do the same thing, so I admire him for being able to do that.

In concluding, Mr President, I would wish both Tony and Marg all the very, very best in their future lives. I wish them both good health and I hope that they now get out of life some of those things that very clearly they have missed out on in the past years. I think, as Tony mentioned last night, he has not had a period of long service leave in his entire life - well, I think he has certainly earned that and I think that he will enjoy that. Tony and Marg, I thank you very, very much for having known both of you and I would like to continue that relationship in the future. I certainly wish you and your family all the very best.