AFTER a quarter of a century representing Scullin, MP Harry Jenkins admits he will probably find it hard to “let go” when initiatives he has pushed are only half-finished.
“It is hard to imagine just walking away when things are not completed,” he said as he reflected on his planned retirement after the next federal election.
Mr Jenkins held the Speaker’s chair in the House of Representatives for three years until last November and before that was Deputy Speaker from 1993 to 2007.
He acknowledged that had he still held the Speaker’s position, his timetable for getting out of politics might have been different.
But, he added, “I am a realist” – an acknowledgement of the minority Labor Government offering the chair to Liberal Peter Slipper, strengthening its own numbers in Parliament by freeing up Mr Jenkins’ ability to vote.
Mr Jenkins nominates the national apology under then
prime minister Kevin Rudd to indigenous Australians as the proudest moment in his long parliamentary career.
“That stands out as the most important time for me as Speaker and as a member of Parliament,” he said.
