Ivan Dean, Speeches Index

Thursday 19 November 2009

RETIREMENT OF MEMBERS OF LOWER HOUSE

Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - Madam President, I will be very brief indeed to wish Tania all the best in the election. I know what she is going through. I went through it last year and you will be okay, there is no problem about that, and you will be back with us again next year. About the three members that are going out, I knew all of them very well. Mr Kons I remember as Mayor of Burnie and Mr Kons coming to me and speaking to me on a number of occasions, saying, 'Ivan, I need you to sell this, I need you to push this', the planning thing was on the way at the time - 'I want you to help me get through this', et cetera et cetera.

He is a great person. I admire him. Mr Cox I have known for a long time. I remember when I was Commander of Police and Jim Cox came to me on a number of occasions and said, 'Ivan, I am going to be a minister for Police one day. When I become Minister for Police, these are some of the things that I am going to do.' He set them out, and in fact he has achieved some of those things too. I admire him for that but unfortunately, he did not become Minister for Police whilst I was still there. Michael Hodgman I have known for about 30 or 40 years. Michael was a mentor of mine as well. When I started prosecuting for the police service, Michael was on the other side of the table and I can remember the stoushes that we used to have. When I was a bit younger I had a bit more fire in me and I used to get quite upset quite easily. I remember Michael and I shouting at one another -

Mr Aird - You do a pretty good impersonation now.

Mr Finch - Some things never change.

Mr DEAN - across the table and doing all the things that you do to get yourself in a better position with the magistrate and so on.

Michael was a great man. He would walk out of that room, outside he would grab hold of you and say, 'Ivan, we now shake hands'. He would shake hands after every case that he dealt with and he said, nothing that happened in there we will take outside with us, not a thing.

That was the man. When I got into Parliament he was the very first person to ring me to wish me all the very best. He has been close to me in a lot of respects ever since that time, since I was a young boy prosecuting for the police service. I admire him, and he was a great mentor. He has done a lot to help me get where I have and he has helped me achieve what I have achieved. I take my hat off to Michael Hodgman and I wish him all the very best. I also wish him all the very best for his health and that he is able to get on top of all his difficulties and problems and that he will live a long, healthy and happy life moving forward and no doubt, we will see a lot of Michael between now and in the future.

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