As NSW drew stumps for the current parliamentary term last week, local MP Jonathan O’Dea slogged past a century, achieving 102 listings in this year’s Hansard records.
“A lot goes on behind the scenes in politics, but seizing moments in Parliament is the one way to guarantee my constituents’ voices will be heard in public,” said Mr O’Dea.
“In that sense, an active parliamentary record, is like scoring runs — a useful partial measure of personal performance.”
According to Hansard, since his maiden speech in his first parliamentary innings, on 30 May 2007, Mr O’Dea has notched up a solid 497 speeches, questions and comments. That doesn’t include his many additional responses and actions not listed in Hansard.
This year’s Hansard result improves on Mr O’Dea’s previous years’ listings of 74 in 2013, 60 in 2012 and 49 in 2011 — and compares very favourably with other parliamentarians.
Mr O’Dea this year addressed Parliament on local and state-wide social and economic issues, complex legislative questions, and improving Government accountability through his role as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
Hansard reports remain the authoritative literate version of what happens in Parliament; of what is said, when and by whom. The NSW Parliament will not sit again until after the State Election on 28 March 2015.
