All the very best Adam for whatever comes next

Politics is two different jobs as I sit and participate in the Convocation meeting for the University of New England. There is the part you see on television, which is for general consumption, sometimes colourful, of a national nature. That is about 10 to 20 per cent of the job. The rest is about the issues of your electorate with little to no regard to the political views of those you serve.

I have seen many shining lights in Canberra, the previous Treasurer Josh Frydenberg being a classic example, who have starred in the Parliament and lost their job in the electorate. John Howard was another casualty.

Likewise, I have seen people who have never cracked it on TV holding a marginal seat for election after election, the late Paul Neville, Member for Hinkler (Bundaberg), being a great example of this.

So, I believe Adam is of the second group. Adam and I have had our differences, but we have in large part our similarities. Politics, by its very nature, attracts people with strong views, it is actually appropriate that you should know what people think on an issue. That is honesty.

What you don't want is a person who believes in anything, as that means they possibly don't believe strongly about any of it. If you know what they believe and are onside with them for most, that is probably a good choice at an election.

Talking about someone who has left politics is like talking about someone who has passed away. Life goes on, and for many lives gets better as they walk again as a private person, not a public figure.

In a grand scale, Neil Armstrong was seen later buying and selling small pens of his cattle at his local sale yards and Colin Powell ordered his bodyguards to leave him merely days after leaving public office. The Roman Emperor, Diocletian had the nous for abdication rather than the near inevitable assassination as he retired to Croatia.

Picking your time to go is a very fine art before fate picks it for you. As it is said, leave when the tears of loss are running down the voters' cheeks before the tears of fury.

Adam is a very astute politician and could sniff the breeze especially when the breeze was changing, and renewable energy zones was one of those issues.

In closing, as an astute person, I definitely believe that Adam is not retiring to the coast to go fishing. No doubt we will hear that as a comparatively young man there is the next step of his career in front of him and as an astute person I reckon Adam has a thought as to what that is.

All the best Adam