No-Confidence Motion

PREMIER

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (16:17): As I was saying—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister for Defence, I warn you also.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: As I was saying, Madam Speaker, there has been more mud thrown at this leader than any other leader that I can recall, with the possible exception of Don Dunstan. Why have they thrown mud at this man and why did they throw mud at Don Dunstan? For the same reason: because there was no other way of getting at him. You could not get him on the basis of policy, you could not get him on the basis of performance, so you got him on the basis of muck, and that is exactly what the Liberal Party—even today, in the deputy leader's address, he went into the same gutter that they've crawled into many, many times, Madam Speaker—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: But the great thing about Mike Rann—the great thing about this leader—is his strength of character, and he has come back every single time fighting; fighting for this state, fighting for the Labor Party. I think it is outrageous that this motion is being moved by the Liberal Party in here today. It shows a complete lack of initiative and imagination on their part, but what it does give us is an opportunity to speak in celebration of his achievements.

Now Madam Speaker, when I take—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, deputy leader!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: When I take children around the parliament, as I do from time to time—and my former profession of teacher gives me a certain thrill when I get to show children around the place and talk to them about this great institution—I often take them to the corridor at the end and point to the three great premiers of our state: Kingston, who was really the constitutional premier of South Australia, Playford, who was really the industrial and employment premier of South Australia, and Dunstan, of course, who was the great social, consumer affairs, and equal rights premier of South Australia. I say to them, 'There is room for one more premier, and that is the Premier who is currently in the job.' Mike Rann will go down as one of the greatest premiers of our state. His record is unparalleled in the history of this place—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —across a whole range of areas, including and especially in mental health. He is the first Premier of our state to seriously engage in—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: This is not just me saying this. I was very pleased during the week to meet with the Mental Health Coalition of South Australia. These are the advocates for people who have mental illness, and they wanted me to especially note the fact that they were going to write to our Premier to thank him for his commitment to mental health, and for me to pass on to the Premier how grateful they were for the attention that he had given mental health in our state.

Not only did the Coalition say that, but the COAG communiqué, at its recent meeting on 9 August, acknowledged the significant contribution of the Premier in the area of mental health. COAG of course is bipartisan, it is Labor and Liberal premiers. Also, and I quote, '...acknowledge the leadership of Premier Rann in driving improvements to Australia's mental health system'.

All of the spin and all of the nonsense on the other side about Glenside is just arrant nonsense. It is about snobbery and about people from other parts of the world coming to live in their precious little bit of Bragg. What is happening in Glenside is a transformation of that site which will help patients with mental illness. It will also transform some old buildings which will be able to be used productively again to the benefit of our state, and to the benefit of our film industry.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Transport.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure) (16:18): I have a very short time left to me and I would like to make a couple of brief points. First, can I say I have absolute faith in Mike Rann, and I will—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition!.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: —miss him terribly, and I can tell you I have absolute confidence in our new leader. The one thing I am absolutely confident about is, having heard you today, that he will lead us to victory in 2014.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: I will though, in a debate where the words 'hypocrisy' and 'dishonesty' were thrown around—how is this for hypocrisy: imagine an honest vote. Marty? Imagine an honest vote. Wouldn't that have been good?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Voting according to your conscience does not matter: it does not matter what the votes are; it does not matter how many there are. Imagine an honest vote. And James Thurber—if this man knows anything about James Thurber I will go he for chasey. I have been to the Algonquin Hotel where James Thurber and his set met and wrote. I know a little about him. What is your favourite Thurber's fable? Yes, I did not think so. And the word dishonesty—if you take away the commonwealth contribution there will be less for infrastructure—what a bald-faced lie, and I will debate you in any forum in Australia on it. Do not talk to us about honesty.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. Foley interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! We can sit here all afternoon.

The house divided on the motion:

Majority of 11 for the noes.

Motion thus negatived.