Evans, Hon. I.F.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:29): I rise today to pay respect and recognition to the member for Davenport, the Hon. Iain Evans, who has served in this parliament for some 21 years and tomorrow will start a new career. I am sure everyone in the house wishes him well in his next chapter, challenge and endeavour.

He has of course been an active champion of the Liberal cause for as long as I can remember, from when we were both much younger, at least 40 years ago. He has been a champion not just for the Liberal cause and what it stands for but also for this parliament and the importance of it in the structure of democracy in South Australia, and for the Liberal Party of Australia and our South Australian division in particular. He is retiring today from this house, from this parliament and from the very public office that that attracts, but I have every expectation that he will continue his contribution to public policy and to our party work and the cause that we have all been strongly advocating.

He has served in this house as a member of the parliament. He has served the state as a minister, and the details of that will be traversed, I am sure, by the Premier and Leader of the Opposition later this afternoon. He has also served us on this side of the house as the leader of the party. It was a privilege for me to represent our side of the house with Iain, as his deputy, and I thank him for the extra work, time and commitment it takes to do so.

May I say that, while some may wish to dwell on the differences between Iain and me, we have had much in common. Of course, each of us have been party to beating the footpaths during election campaigns, and there have been dozens of those at the state and federal levels. We have each been strong advocates for electoral reform and in public policy discussions.

Can I say to the members here that you have had the benefit of witnessing Iain in full flight in debate. Sometimes, if we had a different view, I would have to say that the sort of reasoned argument that went with it was a bit thin, but it was always entertaining and it was always powerful. If I had not been on the other side of a few of those arguments, I would have actually been persuaded by them. He has demonstrated a very strong debating skill in this parliament, and he has been a powerful advocate for those he has represented on those occasions.

The public largely see him at community events, at the local football, on televisions or listen to him on radio, and have had the benefit of that contribution for now over 20 years. We on this side of the house also get to see Iain in the party room, in our private discussions, in Liberal Party meetings and in the party structures, and that is also very indicative of the commitment that Iain has made to what he stands for in this house. Again, we have that added advantage of being able to see his contributions. They are just as powerful, they are just as committed and they are just as effective, so we get to see that advantage more so.

Can I recognise his work in relation to the support of the federal structure. These are not occasions to dwell on constitutional reform but, perhaps for slightly different reasons, Iain and I have always been at one over the importance of states, state governments and state parliaments, the importance of keeping the services close to the public at the state level and not have everything run from Canberra, and our dismay at the ever-encroaching reach on the federation of Canberra under different Liberal and Labor governments.

He has studied that and advocated very much at a financial level. I hope that he will remain in the taxation debate that we will inevitably have to have in the public arena and in this parliament. His contribution will be valued and I hope will be welcomed by all.

His greatest personal quality, in my view, is that he likes people. If there is one thing that is important about coming in here to represent an electorate it is that you actually have to like people. I have seen a few who did not, and they were not really interested in identifying what the people want or the concerns they were expressing and wished to have represented. That is a fine quality of Iain's, and I think it will serve him well in his future career.

Fiona, you will get him back. He is a bit thinner. He has been thin and put on a bit of weight during this time, but you have got him back in shipshape condition for tomorrow's next enterprise—well done. Can I say from my brother, who served in a winning grand final in the under 17 Sturt team back in 1976, that he sends his good wishes to you, Iain. It was probably your finest hour and highest point in football; nevertheless, he sends his good wishes and recalls the great barbecue celebration they had afterwards. All the best, Iain.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (15:35): Unusually, it's not going to be a grievance. I also would like to say a few words, if I may, about the member for Davenport. Obviously, the member for Davenport preceded me in this place and, by the time I arrived here, he was quite an experienced campaigner. I learned some lessons very early as a consequence of his skills.

I remember very early on, because I was basically involved in reading things in the library and whatever, I thought it would be interesting to get involved in the CPA. There was a contest, on one occasion, for a regional delegate for the CPA. I cannot remember what year it was; Iain might be able to recall. In any event, as a sort of 'wet behind the years' type, I thought, 'That's alright. The government will support me, and that's all going to be very well.' Anyway, up until almost the last moment, it appeared that there was only one contestant for this proposition, and it appeared to be me at the time.

The weird thing, Mr Speaker, is that this was not a bad opportunity if you were into CPA, because you were actually a regional delegate, which means that you are obliged to visit other CPA people in quite a number of regions, and it sounded pretty damn interesting to me. Anyway, the vote came, the hooter went off, and we went to the other place. Then I realised that there had been a bereavement on our side of the house—I do not need to go into details—but it meant that a number our people had decided, quite reasonably, that they would attend to this matter which involved a friend of theirs who was a member of parliament.

At the same time, the member for Davenport's nomination went in, and he won. At the time, I thought, 'That's a bit rough,' but then I realised that it was actually just clever. Anyway, I have to say that there is a happy ending to that story, because later on when he was not able to go, he used to say to me, 'You can fill in.' So, that was good.

The other thing I want to say is that I have had the opportunity since then, over a number of years, including a few years as a minister, to have the privilege of working with the member of Davenport, and can I say that that has always been a challenge in the sense that he is no slouch. He asks very difficult questions. I have often said to him that, if he had his time again, he could have made quite a good career as a barrister. He does this in committees, and he certainly does it in negotiations about matters, and that is that he asks really good questions.

The Hon. J.J. Snelling: Dangerous questions.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Indeed. I just want to let members know that, last year, the member for Davenport, on behalf of the opposition, and I were engaged in a very complex process, I guess you would call it, of completely revamping our electoral laws in South Australia, intended to create greater probity, greater accountability, transparency, public funding and a whole range of other very complex and very difficult things, through a series of meetings, which went over many months, possibly the best part of a year, I cannot recall, but it was a very long time.

Can I say that those meetings were always conducted in a spirit of good faith, in a spirit where there was absolute confidence that the nature of those discussions remained within the group conducting those discussions, which were essentially the member for Davenport, me and I think Jeff Green and Reggie Martin, and we had, obviously, some other people who helped us from time to time. The end result of that was that we wound up producing what I believe to be the best set of laws of that type that any state in the commonwealth has. We are well in advance of the commonwealth. That was done with a minimum of fuss and it was done very much in a spirit of integrity and harmony.

I want to congratulate and thank the member for Davenport for that process and all of the other engagements we have had of that type, because it has always been a real privilege to be able to work with somebody who understands the importance of trust, particularly in this business. I wish you all the very best for your retirement.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The SPEAKER: Hear, hear!