Liberal Party

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:26): Joyce Maynard said it best, and I quote, 'A person who deserves my loyalty receives it.' I am not going to stand here and watch this current government try to inject innuendo and doubt into the stability of my Liberal Party. I will stand up for my party and our leader. I am sure the stability of the current Liberal team drives some people on the other side absolutely crazy. We are united by a number of factors: we have a leader with vision; we have a united team; we have an incredibly hard working team with a clear plan to get this state back on the right track; we have a state that is heading in the wrong direction; and a government with priorities which are clearly wrong.

After achieving 53 per cent of the vote, yet being unable to form government due to the blatant gerrymander that this Labor government holds, we are more resolute than ever. Our unit has the other side rattled and that is why they continually spread misinformation to willing media outlets and yet no crack has so far appeared.

I read with disappointment comments made by the member for Waite in last night's sitting and in today's InDaily. Through Wikipedia I decided to do a bit of research on the member for Waite's achievements, and I am going to spend a couple of minutes detailing those. In October 2005, the member for Waite moved to challenge then Liberal leader, Rob Kerin, but later withdrew his challenge. On 11 April 2007, Martin Hamilton-Smith formally challenged then Liberal leader, Iain Evans, and was successful. In 2009, Hamilton-Smith accused Labor of accepting split donations from the Church of Scientology, based on information sent to the Liberal opposition that was subsequently found to have been forged. He might want to look at his new found friends for the source of that little zinger.

He then announced a spill of his own leadership, which he won by one vote, then immediately announced he was not satisfied with winning by one vote and would recommit the vote in three days time. Isobel Redmond won the leadership spill on 8 July 2009. On Tuesday 30 March 2010, Hamilton-Smith was elected deputy leader of the SA Liberals. He then stood down from that position because the new leader, Isobel Redmond, would not accept him holding such a position as deputy leader, mainly because he had approached her and made it clear that she should stand aside and that much of the success of the 2010 election should be attributed to him.

In 2012, Hamilton-Smith nominated for the position of South Australian Liberal Party parliamentary leader, after he declared a leadership spill against Isobel Redmond. A party room ballot occurred on 23 October 2012 and Redmond retained the leadership by one vote. Hamilton-Smith moved to the backbench and indicated he would not rule out challenging again.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Hildyard): The member should refer to the member for Waite, not Hamilton-Smith.

Mr BELL: Just put those into all the others—the member for Waite. The member for Heysen resigned on 31 January 2013 and Steven Marshall, our current leader, was elected unopposed. After being re-elected as Liberal member for Waite in March 2014—

The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Hildyard): The member should refer to the member for Dunstan.

Mr BELL: Dunstan, thank you—the member for Waite resigned from the Liberal Party and joined the Labor cabinet. In that time the member for Waite planned to back his own Independent candidates at the 2014 Fisher and 2015 Davenport by-elections, but this did not eventuate. The member for Waite pledged in July 2015 to campaign against the Liberals in South Australian seats at the next Australian federal election, saying he will endorse conservative Independents and/or Nick Xenophon Team candidates.

I want to put on the record my full support for Steven Marshall and our Liberal team. The best thing that the Labor Party has done for the Liberal Party over the last 14 years is to offer the member for Waite a cabinet position. We are united on this side of the house, because we look across the chamber and cannot believe the disaster that is unfolding in this state.