Assistant treasurer Stephen Jones delivered his valedictory in the house late yesterday afternoon.

He spoke about the personal impact the royal commission into childhood sexual abuse had on him:

We often speak in this place of strength and weakness, and we reduce it to that concept of strength meaning power over others. I think there’s another kind of strength; it’s the strength that comes from the things that you overcome and the strength that knows it’s more important to do things with and for people than to them. The royal commission was a really painful experience for survivors but a necessary piece of truth-telling and reconciliation.
Survivors, including me, appreciate it—a point I’ve never disclosed because I didn’t want to be defined by it and because I didn’t want to detract attention from those who, unlike me, didn’t have a voice or didn’t have access to power to tell their story. There is power in being seen, being heard and being believed.