PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION

Senator RUSTON (South Australia—Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (18:00): I, too, stand to associate myself with the remarks that have been made by so many people in this chamber. To my bench buddy: we've had some fun. We've told some tales.

I don't imagine that anybody would want to know what we actually say to each other during question time, but I can assure you that we spend an hour doing our Wordle and our Connections, and I'd like everybody in this chamber to know that I always beat Jonno at Wordle and I usually beat Jonno at Connections. It is interesting reflecting. There have been a few photos floating around of Jonno when he arrived here 10 years ago; apart from the beard, he doesn't really look much different.

The one thing that's always said about people when they leave this chamber is that they lose 20 years from what they look like when they're here, so you can probably expect to see Jonno running around as a toddler sometime very soon. Sorry for stealing that one off you, Maria! One thing that I think everybody in this place can agree on is that Jonno is pretty damn smooth.

That doesn't just come from his amazing hair and his incredible good looks—you're a very lucky lady—but also from the simple fact that everybody in this place loves Jonno. I mean, Penny loves Jonno; you just heard it. Katy loves Jonno.

We know Carol loves Jonno; we see the way you look at him across the chamber every day, Carol! We know that Sarah loves Jonno, and we know that MC and all of us love Jonno. And you know what, Jonno?

I love you, Jonno. Senator RUSTON: But the reason that we can say these words of platonic love is that you are a damn good bloke, an absolutely, incredibly good bloke. All of the 'platitudes' that have been expressed by those that have made a contribution today are so incredibly true—you're an honest man; you're a loyal man; you're a tough man; you're a great friend.

I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss you as my bench buddy. But, quite frankly, our loss, Anisa, is yours and the boys' gain. We've had him for 10 years, and I don't think that we can be selfish enough to keep him any longer than that.

It's with a heavy heart, but graciously, that we hand him back to you. Given that I know that every word spoken in this place from now on is one more word Jonno is going to have to wait for before he gets to have a drink, I'll sit down. Thanks, mate.

You're a great buddy. Good luck, and I wish you all the best.