Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Adjourned debate on motion for adoption.

(Continued from 9 May 2018.)

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Davenport, I remind members that this is the member's first speech and accordingly I would ask members to extend the traditional courtesies to the member. The member for Davenport.

Mr MURRAY (Davenport) (11:02): Thank you, Mr Speaker. As others before me have done, I congratulate you on your election and your appointment as Speaker. Unlike most others, I suspect, I have observed firsthand your outstanding work supporting your community and its volunteers through my role as president of the Norwood basketball club, which is based in Hartley at the ARC recreation facility at Campbelltown. You richly deserved your win. May I also congratulate you on your scrupulous and fearless application of the standing orders thus far, particularly when proceedings become rowdy. The consequent mix of consternation and incredulity on the face of my very good friend the member for Waite when he is being chastised by you is something that I will not easily tire of.

In supporting this motion, I commend the Governor for his work in the community and thank him for the inspiration his story of a refugee made good provides to all of us. In doing so, I relate another similar story. Bridget Corbett was born in 1847 in a village called Mullagh in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland. Mullagh is today perhaps best known as the site of a golf resort developed by US President, Donald Trump, whereas its previous claim to fame when Bridget was born was the nearby Spanish Point, the site of a mass grave of sailors from several ships of the Spanish Armada, which ran aground in the area.

Unfortunately, Bridget was born at a time when a wider, more infamous history was being written for Mullagh and all of Ireland, and 1847 was the worst year: the height of the five year long great famine. County Clare and Mullagh were the worst affected areas. In the five years of the famine, one million died of disease and starvation and a further one million emigrated to countries such as Australia. Whole families of tenant farmers, like Bridget's, were summarily evicted from their homes during this time, and all the while Ireland was a net exporter of food.

Somehow, Bridget survived, although she would always suffer the physical side effects of her childhood suffering from malnutrition. She emigrated to Australia as a child where she would later marry another Irish immigrant, the son of a Tipperary schoolmaster. He was literate, whereas she signed their wedding certificate with a cross—her mark.

Bridget and her husband would go on to be successful landowners and farmers and raise a family together. Two of her grandsons would serve overseas in the Second World War, with one paying the ultimate sacrifice in the infamous Sandakan prisoner of war camp. Bridget's story is like so many others, where successive Australian generations enjoy further improvements in their standard of living, compared to their parents, with a strong desire for education and self-improvement being inculcated into them in part as a response to the shadow cast by the past.

I am Bridget's great-great grandson. The son of the Tipperary schoolmaster whom Bridget married was James Murray. I come to this place mindful of my own history and that of our state, optimistic about our future and utterly determined to do all I can to ensure that successive generations will continue to enjoy a life equal to, or better than, their parents.

I am the eldest son of Peter and Bev Murray, who provided me with a loving stable home environment and all the support, encouragement and discipline that I needed and/or deserved. In enumerating Peter and Bev's traits and characteristics, I will leave it to others to determine which, if any, I have inherited from them.

Peter was an articulate, outgoing man with a wicked sense of humour, who was a leader in his community and his workplace. He rose from the factory floor to become the CEO of agricultural machinery manufacturer Horwood Bagshaw, which was based in my home town of Mannum. Peter was a man of immense integrity who instilled in me the lesson that you must always do the right thing no matter how unpopular or difficult that may be. Peter was not just my dad but my mentor and my mate. He has been gone for almost a decade now and I miss him enormously.

Bev is here today. She is the peerless people person who can talk literally for hours and who has a genuine love and compassion for people and their stories. She has the original heart of gold and immensely enjoyed herself on a booth for me on election day, in the process striking up a rapport with all and sundry, notably some of the volunteers for the member for Hurtle Vale and that nice young man from the Greens, that is, their candidate. She is hopelessly optimistic when seeking to meet deadlines, a trait I will readily admit has been passed on to me, and I love her enormously.

I thank my siblings—Andrew, Suzanne and Natasha—for their help, love and support and for their patience with me and the inevitable issues that can arise with politics. I am immensely proud of you and your extended families, and I love nothing better than when we socialise together.

I spent my formative years in the river town of Mannum. I was a graduate of what was then the smallest high school in the state, playing all manner of sports but with a particular emphasis on football and the local club, the Roos, the theme song for which I am happy to teach their new local MP, the member for Hammond, should he require some assistance. It is with particular fondness that I recall many of the misadventures we participated in in an age where, fortunately, there was no such thing as social media.

Many of my mates from this time are still friends all these years later and they still keep me grounded. I acknowledge and thank, in no particular order: Bocky, Gobby, Harry, Pudge, Drew, Rocket, Sparky, Cooky and Zooks and many other Resting Roos, as they are now known, and observe not for the first time the disturbingly high proportion of them who support Port Adelaide.

From Mannum, I attended Adelaide University and was awarded an economics degree with an accounting major. At this stage of my development, my favourite sounds were anything sung by Cold Chisel and the noise made by anything powered by a Ford 351 Cleveland. As testimony to the civilising influence my wife has had upon me, I would later add, for example, Andrea Bocelli to that list.

This next paragraph or two carries the standard caveat that applies when someone (that is, a middle-aged male) is recounting their sporting prowess: to wit, the older I get the better I was. It should be noted that this caveat does not at any time apply in cases where the tale is being recounted by, for illustrative purposes only, a former commonwealth gold medal winner or a bona fide former long-term AFL player, but otherwise the caveat applies.

The caveat dealt with, I can share that at this time I also played football for Adelaide University, the Mighty Blacks, a distinction I believe I share with the Leader of the Opposition and, it is alleged, also the member for Waite. I subsequently enjoyed the highlight of my time as a footballer when I was invited in 1983 to trial for the Sturt Football Club senior team. This quickly turned into a life lesson in the comparative advantage theory that I had learnt in my economics degree. Put simply, after training with the great Peter Motley, I quickly realised that I was wasting my time because I did not have sufficient skill for my size to be competitive.

I will return to the subject of competitive advantage that South Australia must have or develop in order to best compete for jobs and investment. Unencumbered by any delusions about my football future, I won an IT and management role with the Ford Motor Company at a time when they held market share of 30 per cent, versus its 7 per cent in 2017, and the 2017 market leader Toyota's share of 18 per cent.

After a number of years, I next moved to the country's leading automotive IT supplier with responsibility for their overseas sales and then, latterly, responsibility for their nascent internet site carsales.com.au, during which time I oversaw its first revenue generation, the formulation of its business and marketing plans and the logo and branding, which persists to this day, with its publicly listed successor. I subsequently established and ran, for the best part of the last 20 years, several of my own successful IT start-up businesses, which quickly grew staff to up to 50 or so people in order to accommodate multiyear contracts with some of the biggest and most successful classified businesses and websites in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK.

In 2014, I successfully stood for a vice president's position on the governing board of the South Australian Liberal Party, the state executive. In 2015, I was elected state president, a role I relinquished exactly 12 months ago in May 2017 so that I could focus on my campaign for Davenport. I sought election as president with, in part, a platform to modernise our IT and admin systems, repair our finance systems and to aggressively prosecute the party's case in the state redistribution process. It is now history that the outcome of that 2016 redistribution process was a successful one for the Liberal Party.

What was not widely known until now is some of the key things that occurred so that we were able to derive that outcome. I want to take the perhaps unusual step of detailing on the public record what occurred because it is so fundamentally important and I may not get an opportunity like this again. The Liberal Party has won the two-party preferred statewide vote in seven of the last eight elections, including the election in March of this year, but has only governed on three of those seven occasions. Prior to this year's election, the fairest in 25-plus years, the Liberal Party won the two-party preferred percentage vote in six of seven elections contested, with government in only two of those six two-party preferred wins.

Stretching back to 1989, when Labor won government with just 48 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, a fairness clause was inserted into our constitution in 1991 to try to ensure that the boundaries were drawn up in a manner that was fair: that is to say, consistent with the mathematics. Very simply, the fairness clause meant: get more than 50 per cent and you will win. To be clear, from 1991 to 2016 the redistributions were not fair—they were fundamentally mathematically flawed, curiously always in the same way and always favouring the same party.

The fairness clause sat unused and unloved from 1991 until 2016. South Australia had an electoral system that was regularly corrupted or contrived so as to derive a predetermined outcome, regardless of the actual vote. All the while, myths were peddled to cover the contrivance. Amongst the most egregious were that Labor won due to superior marginal campaigning or the fatalistic excuse that it is not possible to draw fair boundaries, it is the fault of the system. The fourth estate were, with one or two notable exceptions, only too willing to peddle and perpetuate these falsehoods.

What changed in 2016 was a new Liberal team that asked questions, mounted arguments never made previously and availed itself of opportunities not previously made available. To understand what changed, consider the process or steps used by the Electoral Commissioner at many successive redistributions:

Step 1: Public submissions are sought by the conduct of hearings, and expert witnesses can provide advice to those hearings.

Step 2: A draft set of boundaries is produced and distributed, the draft being based on the evidence provided and/or data provided by the Surveyor-General or the Electoral Commissioner.

Step 3: Written submissions may be made regarding the draft.

Step 4: A final set of boundaries is delivered.

In 2016, the Liberals argued in step 1 that the fairness test should be the highest ranking criterion for drawing up boundaries, not just communities of interest, etc. In step 2, the commission agreed with the Liberals' 'fairness first' argument, but then went the same way they always had before: delivering draft boundaries which, if the two-party preferred vote had been 50-50 for both Labor and Liberal, would hand Labor 28 seats and the Liberal Party 19 seats; that is, the boundaries commission's idea of a 50-50 split of the 47 seats is to give Labor 28 and Liberal 19. Clearly, the fairness test was still gathering dust.

In step 3, the Liberal Party was able, for the first time, to use data provided by the boundaries commission, the same data they used in their own mapping systems. This enables a highly accurate and detailed assessment of how many voters lived in a mapped area and which two-party preferred the people have, in aggregate, voted previously in that mapped area. There is no more guessing about voter numbers, quotas or two-party preferred for a given map shape, etc.

Liberal and Labor were given this data by the commission. The Liberal Party purchased mapping software and hardware and trained staff and volunteers so that we could replicate the boundaries commission's processes and results. As a consequence, the Liberal Party submitted in step 3, the response to the draft boundaries, roughly 70 pages of maps, based on those provided by the commission, but making them fair. This was done by using the data and mapping software to adjust the commission's maps so that they became fair.

By contrast, the Labor Party did nothing with that data and submitted nothing with the data provided to them. Although, to be fair to them, why would they bother when they had just been handed a 28-19 result in return for getting just a 50-50 two-party preferred vote? Two unexpected things then occurred. The commission announced an unprecedented further public hearing regarding the fair maps produced and provided by the Liberal Party.

I am the sole author and producer of those maps and the associated pendulum analysis submitted by the Liberal Party. It was my very great pleasure in my capacity as the Liberal Party state president to attend those hearings and watch my very good friend the current member for Heysen eviscerate, in a polite and respectful manner, the three silks employed by Labor, who were in essence arguing the retention of what amounts colloquially to a gerrymander, although it is more accurately termed, if you are a pedant, a malapportionment.

The second unexpected outcome is that the commission elected to adopt and fundamentally apply our fair boundaries. They accepted that it is possible to derive fair boundaries and that it is desirable to do so, and they did it. The fairness clause had been dusted off and applied. The people of South Australia would, on 17 March 2018, have their first fair elections in a quarter of a century.

Members opposite appear to be surprised at the extent of the boundaries changes we all faced, with 40 per cent of the population going into another seat. That is in fact the best indicator of how badly corrupted the old boundaries were. They needed massive change if they were to be fair. It is a matter of record that the Supreme Court rejected 5-0 a challenge by Labor against the notion of the supremacy of the fairness provision. Clearly, from Labor's point of view this fairness had to stop. The clause was now working as intended. South Australians may now always get the government they want—clearly not acceptable to them.

After all, Labor lost seven of the last eight elections measured on the two-party preferred vote, so the fairness clause had to go. The fairness clause, and what it represents, was effectively assassinated as the last act of the 53^rd parliament. I look forward to its return so that South Australians can have their say reflected in an equitable outcome at the ballot box.

By way of a footnote, remember the draft boundaries provided by the commission before the fairness clause—the first lot put out prior to our maps submission, with 28-19 if the two-party preferred vote was 50-50? The 52-48 result of 17 March would have, if those boundaries stood, resulted in 24 seats for Labor—25 if we include Frome. That is a taste of the future without the fairness clause. To be clear, the commission's first set of maps at the last redistribution would have enabled Labor to win government with 48 per cent of the vote.

The Liberal team who worked on the party submission were party vice president Morry Bailes, who articulated our requirements and facilitated them; Tom Duggan SC; Josh Teague, now the member for Heysen, who researched, argued and authored our submissions; Sam Hooper and state director, Sascha Meldrum, who arranged everything; and me, the chief mapmaker and spruiker. This team laid the groundwork for the first demonstrably fair election result in South Australia for at least 25 years, with the former member for MacKillop saying it is more like 40 years.

I will close my discussion about my time as state president by looking back at how incredibly difficult things were for staff in 2015 and how magnificently the Liberal Party's SA division now runs. I want to express my enormous pride in and thanks to the secretariat staff for the job they have done and the help they have provided me over the years. Thanks and well done to Maurice, Julian, Laura, Yvette, Lynne, Ben and Sascha.

Moving to the seat of Davenport and our campaign, I want to start by thanking the people of Davenport for the faith they have invested in me, and I dedicate myself to doing all I can on their behalf. Davenport now encompasses the suburbs of Bedford Park, including the Flinders precinct, through to Bellevue Heights, Flagstaff Hill, Aberfoyle Park, Chandlers Hill, Cherry Gardens and a substantial part of Happy Valley. Davenport has comparatively high levels of retiree communities and workers engaged in academic fields and in particular health in the Flinders precinct, a very high number of whom commute on a daily basis on roads and public transport which are not fit for the task.

I have lived in this community for over 25 years and I share their concerns and their perspectives, and that is why the Liberal Party has promised to contribute $500,000 to the upgrade of the Flagstaff Community Centre as well as fixing the intersection of Candy, South and Lander roads and the addition of a permanent fourth lane on Flagstaff Road, which carries 25,000 cars a day on a three-lane road with a reversible-direction middle lane known as the suicide lane.

Davenport is renowned for its hills. In fact, one of the issues I had as a candidate was that the people who came out to letterbox or doorknock with me were rarely seen a second time after walking up some of those hills. It has significant communication issues, with mobile reception and the NBN being major sources of frustration. Access to mobile black spot funding and CFS maintenance backlog funds is also important to the rural and semi-rural areas of the electorate.

I want to thank Sam Duluk and Nicolle Flint for your help, friendship and encouragement—the last in Nicolle's case anyway—and your support to me over the years generally and in this endeavour particularly. I am deeply appreciative of all your help and I look forward to reciprocating, especially in the upcoming election in Nicolle's seat of Boothby. To Alex Hyde and Leighton Stuart, my campaign director and campaign manager respectively, thank you for the enormous amount of work you did but especially the intellectual and creative contributions you both continually made. My apologies for those times I was distracted, grumpy or sceptical or some combination of all of the above. Simply put, we would not have won the seat without either of you, so thank you.

To Kian Rafie-Ardestani and Matt Shilling, thank you for the countless hours you gave and even more so the laughs we had as well. Thanks, Paul Frisby, Angus Heaton, Keith Eva, Matt Hume, George Galloway, Dave Henderson, Andrew Rowe and Ralph Billet for the work and for the friendship. Thank you to Jocelyn and the YLs and Caroline for your doorknocking and letterboxing. To Rachel and Vondy and all the phone canvassers, thank you.

To my mum and my siblings, again, thank you. To Kerry, and in particular to Nick Minchin, thank you for your help and, importantly, your advice as well. Thank you to Michael van Dissel and Terry Stephens for your magnificent help and support. My congratulations go to all elected members, and commiserations to those who stood but fell short.

To two special women in my life, my wife, Aileen, and my daughter, Erin, thank you. Aileen, you have always been a selfless supporter of me and my aspirations, and I thank you for your encouragement, enthusiasm and organisational skills. I love you and I love how you continue to try to get me organised despite the poor results you have had from me for so many years now. Without you, I am incomplete. Erin, you are my inspiration. I am so incredibly proud of you. You, of course, have my unconditional love as your dad, but I often reflect on how lucky you are to have inherited your mother's organisational skills and her sense of direction and her looks and her work ethic, although I suspect you have inherited your tenacity and resilience from Bridget.

I want to spend the remaining time touching on my political philosophy as well as addressing a number of issues that I will seek to develop and/or pursue in the near future. My credo is best summed up by Thomas Jefferson's United States Declaration of Independence, where it states or describes the equality of all men and, in particular, the endowment by God to all men of the rights of life and liberty. I am a Liberal because I passionately believe in the importance of liberty. Liberty is the right to the capacity to exercise one's own free will in any sphere or pursuit. The pursuit and exercise of liberty is the cornerstone of our party.

This is tempered by my conservative, practical inclinations. My lived experience is that the existing order is an evolved, organic solution which should not be discarded or modified capriciously. Economically, I am not a supporter or adherent of trickle-down economic theory, nor frankly do I know anyone who professes to be. I believe in the inherent merits of capitalism with appropriate protections in place to prevent predatory behaviour. I believe that these protections are a hallmark of a civilised society. I am a believer more in the outcome than the economic ideology and, in that regard, I have much the same philosophy as Sir Thomas Playford.

I propose to pursue the following issues, some of which are the subject of policy measures announced by the Governor: fair elections, addressing the ice epidemic, domestic violence, nuclear technology and SA's comparative advantage in that regard, debt and our standard of living, and education outcomes. I wish to propose that we all challenge the inevitable 'business as usual' mindset. As John Lewis, a freedom rider, said when speaking out to end segregation in the US South in 1961: 'If not us, then who? If not now, then when?'

I am not proposing prescriptive solutions here, but offer the following examples of some of the questions I think we should be prepared to ask. For example, I am old enough to remember when Adelaide was the third largest city in Australia. Why are Perth and Brisbane now much bigger? Why do we not set our sights on retaining that third spot? What sort of Adelaide would we have then? Why do we not have the hard discussion about debt levels, and especially the interest costs, which now run at about $1 billion a year?

In my view, if we have no other form of backup, then South Australia's base load power will likely eventually come from Queensland coal. We will be long-term dependent price takers. In South Australia, we sit on about 38 per cent of the world's known uranium reserves and we already export enough to power about 20 million homes every year. We should investigate the implementation of fourth-generation reactors that require no water and leave waste with a 30-year half-life. South Australia would, in my view, be in the box seat to be a net power exporter to as many places as it sees fit, given the comparative advantage we have with sourcing that fuel.

We need a hard series of discussions about not just addressing the by-product of domestic violence but also locking up the perpetrators. We need to ascertain why our literacy rates have fallen or stagnated despite record spending on education. I am deeply humbled and honoured to be given this opportunity to represent my community in this place. I close by reiterating and embracing the freedom rider's question and I challenge all members to likewise embrace it so that we may build a better South Australia: 'If not us, then who? If not now, then when?'

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members, I welcome the new member for MacKillop to the house, and as this is the member's first speech I would ask members to extend the traditional courtesies to that member. Member for MacKillop.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (11:33): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Firstly, I congratulate you on your deputy speakership. I would also like to congratulate the Speaker on his election as the Speaker. I am confident that his time in the chair will give this house respectful dialogue, decorum and equal voice for the men and women on both sides of the chamber. I also express my gratitude to the Speaker for winning the seat of Hartley, as the alternative may have meant that we were required to dress Bollywood style and sing along to motions, and, given my poor singing voice and lack of dance moves, those in the chamber should sigh with relief.

On a more serious note, I am very proud to have been elected to be the third member for MacKillop and have been humbled by the support that I have received from the people within my electorate, most notably the support of the former member Mitch Williams, and his wife, Leonie. I wish to acknowledge his passion and persistence in ensuring the correct enactment of the electoral boundaries fairness clause, as this now means that the people of South Australia will have a government that the majority elect.

I wish to acknowledge the first member for MacKillop, Mr Dale Baker, who sadly passed away in 2012 after a long battle with motor neurone disease. Dale was the leader of the Liberal Party, and many thought he gave our party spine with his tough stance on the State Bank debacle. However, he is most remembered in my circles for his business success, insightfulness, quick wit, charm and charismatic persona, all delivered with a dash of larrikinism.

I was born to Philip and Helen McBride in 1969, the fourth Philip in my family, and named Nicholas after my mother's maiden name, Nicholls. My father came from a family of South Australian pastoralists and was a grazier himself, and my mother, a teacher, was the eldest daughter of a Duntroon-trained Army brigadier who hailed from Wallaroo. I spent my younger years at Newry, which is in the Taratap region 50 kilometres north-east of Kingston. This is prime sheep and cattle country, but at that time it was native scrub and swamps. My father spent many long days clearing and developing pastures to ensure that it could carry good stock numbers.

When my grandparents, Phil and Pat McBride, moved to Adelaide in 1978, our family moved to Conmurra, which is 40 kilometres south of Kingston, and this is where my family resides today. I attended Kingston Area School from reception to year 7. I caught the school bus each day, leaving home early and arriving home late but still consider this to have been an incredibly happy time with memories of giant courtyards, paddle bats and foursquare.

I had many teachers at Kingston Area School, but the standout was my year 3 and 4 teacher, the late Mrs Anne Maczkowiack. She was by far the strictest teacher in the primary school, but she was every parent's dream. She concentrated on the essentials, like maths, times tables, English and grammar. She had high expectations on neatness in workbooks, respectfulness and good manners. These are characteristics that I continue to value today.

Secondary education in 1982 saw me head to boarding school at Prince Alfred College, an obvious choice for the family, given that I would be the fifth consecutive generation to attend the school. Some find the transition to boarding easy. I found the transition from country living to city life more difficult. However, I am left with a multitude of fabulous memories, but perhaps less fabulous memories of the boarding house food, which was bleak and bland and only constituted a meal if one was starving and nothing within a bull's roar of country home cooking.

I often reflect and reminisce with old scholars as we spend much time laughing about the tricks, mishaps and antics that amused our young minds. My son, Philip, has since followed the tradition and flown the banner for the family and, to his credit, enjoyed greater leadership roles than any family member since the late Keith McBride. I am happy to report that he did not get up to the school adventures of my father who, at the ripe old age of 10, made an attempt to flee back to the farm. Knowing his parents were abroad, he and his mate planned to live in the scrub and eat rabbits. Thankfully, they only made it by bus to Meningie before being discovered and relocated back to Adelaide school dormitories.

I need to mention two memorable staff from the college. Mr Don Millard, my geography teacher, was an ex-military man and took a no-nonsense approach to the subject. He always ensured that the core content was interesting and relevant, which engaged the class. Mr Bowman, my metalwork teacher, was a true gentleman, and the respect given to him by the students was a reflection of the man himself. In a metal workshop with a class of eager teenage boys, the fact that he could contain classes where stupidity could reign supreme attests to his quality teaching skills.

The reality is that sometimes we do not appreciate what we have until it is gone. It was not until I finished year 12 that I truly understood with real appreciation how lucky I was to have attended the college. To be part of a school that in this year is celebrating its 150^th anniversary is something that I will value for the rest of my days. Following metal fabrication with Mr Bowman in year 12, and my mother's involvement with the local TAFE board, I found myself commencing a pre-vocational training course at Panorama, and this led to my apprenticeship at Adelaide Ship Construction.

The time I spent in the North Arm shipyard was the making of a new chapter of my life. Mr Joe Glamocak, the owner of the yard, was a hardworking man from Croatia. His working life in Australia started at the Holden plant as a fitter and turner. He, like many new immigrants, built his business from the ground up and every cent he saved was put back into the business. It is small businesses like this that build, drive and grow our economy and we must foster them, support them, and reduce the demands placed upon them by bureaucracy and departmental regulation. The shipyard was a cultural explosion, with over 20 nationalities working as employees or contractors during the busiest times. Most were great people and fantastic mentors, always willing to impart their wealth of knowledge onto the younger generation.

The multicultural nature of the shipyard taught me many things about the importance of cultural diversity and how, as a nation, we are richer for it. It has also gifted me in other areas. Gabriella taught me how to grow tomatoes, not to drink cheap Italian wine—which he mixed with lemonade—and where the best bargain shops are in Port Adelaide. Istvan, a Hungarian fitter and turner, taught me machining skills along with an eye to performing all jobs as perfectly as can be constructed.

At this time, I had been a member of the Liberal Party since leaving school, and I had met the late Senator Jeannie Ferris. When working through my apprenticeship at Adelaide Ship Construction, there were quiet times with a lack of consistency of work, so I contacted Jeannie, who went above and beyond to assist. From this time and well through the nineties, Jeannie was significant in my growth and development. I will be forever grateful for her friendship and counsel.

I returned to the South-East to work on the family property in 1992 to face the consequences of the greatest corporate collapse in Australian history. The removal of the Australian wool floor price saw the biggest commodity price correction Australia has ever seen. It will likely never be matched in real monetary terms. It crippled rural communities and forced many from the land. There remains a generational gap of livestock-skilled labour and managers today because of the drastic loss of people within the industry.

If I had known then that it would take until 2003 to see a small improvement in the wool market and a further eight years for it to recover to its manageable level, I would have made many different financial decisions through the nineties and 2000s. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I am glad to say the industry is now looking positive, and I believe livestock agriculture will again be an industry of choice. This experience has taught me a significant amount about influence, control and impact. This downturn for 20 years of recovery has provided me with many learnings moving forward.

On returning home, I embarked on a TAFE on-farm training course that was led by Mr Ken Solly. Ken was an integral part of my learning, and he constantly provoked and challenged my thought processes. In its final year, the course offered an educational trip to New Zealand. Exposure to practices on the other side of the Tasman taught me to further challenge our farming business and increased my drive for long-term sustainable profit. It is worth noting here that TAFE formed an integral part of my learning experience. They offered advanced, highly technical and basic practical learning opportunities for people from any walk of life. This was not the last time I sought education from TAFE.

In 1995, I married Katherine and, in 1997, our son, Philip, was born. Parenthood opens a new chapter in all families, and ours was no different. The responsibilities, nurturing and unconditional love you feel for your child somehow changes you. My son, Philip, at the age of seven, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and will require multiple injections of insulin every day for life. As a child, he adapted to the finger pricking and needle regime, and not once can I recall him complaining. He is a champion in Katherine's eyes and in mine.

Philip is now 21 and, despite wanting to take over the property, understands that forging his independence, gaining life skills and developing his own sense of self are critical to developing his own identity. He currently lives in Middleton and is in the second year of a mechanic apprenticeship at McIlroy Motors. The Fleurieu Peninsula does apparently have some advantages over the farm. Of course, it is only an hour away from the city and night-life, and surfing, wakeboarding and kitesurfing are just a few of the daily activities to occupy one's time.

Katherine and I commenced a farm management diploma through TAFE in preparation for operating our family business. Again, Ken Solly was a course facilitator and, again, he inspired me to seek and establish where I want to be in business and in life. I wish to thank him for his counsel, knowing the questions he made me ask of myself. He has given me confidence and made me a more objective thinker. In 2016, Ken Solly was acknowledged by Kondinin Group and ABC Rural as the Rural Consultant of the Year.

My appointment to the inaugural South East Water Catchment Board in 1998 saw me in the agripolitical arena for the first time. We spent six years consulting and working through water allocation plans to ensure the underground water in the South-East was managed in an equitable and sustainable manner. The water debate at the time was a very emotive issue and had many stakeholders all wanting a piece of the pie. Today, those water allocation plans continue to be developed, assessed and reviewed according to our changing land use and seasonal fluctuations.

Our daughter, Annabel, was born in 2001. Annabel is a sporty number and makes herself busy playing netball, touch football, Aussie Rules, running, and has recently added golf to the list. She is in her final year at boarding school and, given how hard she applies herself, I have no doubt she will achieve well. She does seem to have a fond passion for shopping for clothes but, as fancy as she can look all dressed up, she is tremendous help when home on the farm. She is not afraid to work in the yards or run the mower over the lawns, and she is happy to move a mob of sheep or cattle when asked. Philip and Annabel are, without doubt, the pride of my life.

In 2004, the family business purchased a property 50 kilometres west of Armidale in New South Wales. We made the decision to buy on the premise that fine wool prices were at the 30 per cent decile point over 10 years but, several years later, it wound down to the 15 per cent point. Our time at the Armidale property was hard work, particularly because of endemic parasite problems resulting from a summer rainfall pattern. Katherine and I spent days drenching sheep. I think because of the short time frame between doses, we drenched over 120,000 sheep in a single year while managing a flock of 15,000. Philip was at school, but Annabel used to come out with us each day and happily occupied herself by stoking the fire for billy tea or making castles out of sheep dung.

It was not all doom and gloom in New South Wales, as we found our children an excellent education system. Armidale, with a population of 20,000, is an education hub with over 20 schools—public, private and independent—and they are all competing to be the best. This showed across the board. It made the education system adaptive and outcome driven, and the winners were the students who, despite which school they attended, got great results and a good education. The education department also worked collaboratively with all campuses and allowed the school bus drop-off and pick-up at every site regardless of school type— something we could learn here in South Australia. After 2½ years, we placed a manager on the property and moved back to South Australia. After many tough seasons, we divested ourselves of the property in 2017.

At this point, it would be remiss of me not to mention my great-grandfather, Sir Philip Albert Martin McBride, a federal member of parliament and a senator for 25 years, a defence minister, privy councillor, and a co-founder of the Liberal Party with Sir Robert Menzies in 1944. Prior to being promoted to cabinet, Sir Philip is reported in Hansard on issues of primary industries, unemployment and communications, issues that are still important to this day in rural and regional Australia. Politics was different back then. When he retired in 1958, one political commentator said of Sir Philip that 'he left national politics without making an enemy'.

Sir Philip and his father, Albert, were pastoralists in the north-eastern and north-western districts of the state. In 1920, father and son incorporated the small business into AJ and PA McBride Limited, Sir Philip serving as chairman of the company for 50 years. Over the past 98 years, AJ and PA McBride has expanded to nine pastoral grazing properties across South Australia and is now one of the largest wool producers in the country, despite the wool crash in the early nineties.

In 2006, I joined the board of AJ and PA McBride as the fifth generation of the family company. During the early part of my directorship, the industry was struggling, with low rainfall and low commodity prices. It was important that the board and management comprehensively reviewed the company's outlook and put in place the strategies that have now allowed the company to capitalise on the good commodity prices of this decade. In business, as in government, it is important to get the strategies in place to achieve the desired outcomes, strategies based on empirical evidence. It is my intention to work in parliament in this manner, by reviewing the facts, creating a plan and implementing it.

Parliament should not forget the contribution to gross state product that regional areas provide from food, fibre and resources. The 10 top export products produced in South Australia are from regional areas, from wine, wheat, meat, to copper, lead, iron ore. Given that South Australia is the most urbanised state in the country, it has been easy for the previous government to treat the regions like a cash cow, deriving income from the bush without investing sufficiently back into the communities.

In 2015, the previous treasurer called for submissions into a taxation review. In the AJ and PA McBride submission the company noted that in 2014 it paid more to governments—federal, state and local—than its profit for the year. In particular, the removal of the primary producers' concession on the emergency services levy resulted in that levy increasing by 900 per cent. There was never a response from Treasury to the review, but the resulting changes to taxation were skewed in favour of urban areas. On the spending side, virtually every budget delivered by the former government resulted in real reductions for PIRSA and there was a chronic infrastructure underspend in regions, with road quality getting so bad in areas that the speed limits have been reduced.

My areas of focus are undoubtedly led by my commitment and the constituents of MacKillop's commitment, knowledge and experiences from living in the middle and upper South-East areas of our state. MacKillop is home to some incredible natural wonders, such as the Coorong, Bool Lagoon, the Naracoorte Caves, amazing farming land, incredible vineyards and wineries, southern rock lobster fishing and rugged coastlines to name a few. MacKillop contributes a lot to our great state; however, over the past few years, along with other regional areas, MacKillop has not received the infrastructure resourcing it has needed or deserved.

The people of MacKillop have lived through the reduction of speed limits because the roads are in poor condition. In many areas, they struggle to access reliable mobile phone coverage, along with many regional South Australians, and they have endured power outages that have graced the covers of many a national paper over recent years.

Also in MacKillop, we have two drainage schemes: a recent northern development, which is 20 years old, and an older southern scheme, which was started in the late 19^th century. What should be highlighted here is that the drainage board has been operating on a budget of $2.4 million since the last Liberal government, and the drainage area has doubled. I am as aware of these infrastructure issues as the people in the electorate of MacKillop because these concerns are concerns to me, too.

In regard to infrastructure and development, I am excited for the people of Penola, who will finally have a completed bypass due to a state and federal Liberal government and a local Wattle Range Council—three levels of government working together to complete community projects. The community of Penola first considered a bypass for the town 60 years ago, and when the state Labor government delivered the bypass they only built half the project, which was three years ago. If there was ever an example of how regional South Australia has been treated, this is it. We know that we have come last. We know that we have come second fiddle and, basically, the last Labor government did not care.

I have spoken today of my experiences in public and private pre-vocational education settings. I have been incredibly fortunate to have had access to excellent education and training opportunities that suited both my interest and my academic level. I have been able to access different educational opportunities, despite geographic location or age. Families should not have to fight to have access to a school bus to get their children to school. Children should be able to access all levels of education and schooling from kindy through to year 12. There should be no difference between the educational opportunities available to a student who attends a public school versus a student who attends a private or independent school. If we cannot do this, then I think we are failing our youth.

Anecdotally, it is well known that our poor education levels and engagement with training and employment can lead to poorer outcomes longer term. Given we know this, I feel strongly that we have to invest in our education and training to improve the longer term outcomes for our youth today and assist them to find their purpose. Further, I believe that everyone should have access to an education that provides them with the skills they need to engage or re-engage in the workforce and to diversify, if required. There is a significant gap in our regional workforce, and we owe it to everyone living in regional areas to ensure they have equity of access to education and training.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the value and importance of volunteers in our regional communities. MacKillop has over 240 community groups, and volunteers form the backbone of our regional spirit. This is never more obvious than at our sporting events, local shows, fundraising occasions, schools and other assistance services, such as Lifeline and Men's Shed. I have been privileged to have met many of these volunteers over the past 12 months. I am a football umpire for the local Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football League and, while I am confident my umpiring decisions are not always favoured by everyone on the field, participation ensures that regional activities continue.

Education and training are not the only areas where regional people continue to miss out. Due to a lack of funding, the health services of our regional communities have continued to suffer, depriving people of basic health services. In my electorate of MacKillop, the township of Millicent has lost access to obstetric services. Not only can this jeopardise the health and wellbeing of an expectant mother and her unborn child but it also places a higher level of burden on our families who need to travel to seek services, access accommodation or are isolated from family during a most significant and stressful period in their lives.

The current Patient Assistance Transport Scheme is inadequate, far from covering the expenses of a family that needs to travel to Adelaide from Mount Gambier and secure accommodation. The cost of accessing health care, especially timely health care, by rural families is high. This is unacceptable to me. No family should be placed in a position where they cannot access the required medical treatment. South Australia recently opened the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, and we are kidding ourselves and the people living in regional South Australia if we think this is a regional hospital—it is not.

Again, we need to fund regional health services to be able to provide the health care that regional South Australians need. This includes working with GPs, enabling continuity of care but, most importantly, providing primary health care. This is everyone's business and, as the adage goes, prevention is better than cure. These are some of the areas I will be focusing on as I represent the people in the electorate of MacKillop. I will continue to engage closely to hear their concerns and ensure their views are considered when we are discussing matters relevant to my electorate.

In getting here today, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have supported my journey to this point. First, I would like to thank the people of MacKillop for putting their faith in me—I will not let you down. I would also like to make special mention of my campaign committee, which consisted of my campaign manager, David Hood; treasurer, Sonia Winter; secretary, Jillian Andrews; social media officer, Derek James; Carol Koch; David Malpas; Liz Rymill; Jo Edwards; Robert Bull; and the MacKillop SEC president, Lachie Haynes, who has an infectious political appetite and is a great sounding board.

As this process started way back in March 2017, I owe the six Liberal candidates who were successful a huge amount of gratitude for being encouraging, helpful and supportive through this election campaign. To the federal member for Barker, thank you for your assistance, wise counsel and mentoring over the last 12 months. I hope in the coming years we can work together as a team and bring the benefits to MacKillop and Barker that regional South Australia has been looking for. With 29 polling booths in MacKillop, it is no surprise we needed a well-organised volunteer group, and there is none better than the Liberal branches around my electorate. I thank all the presidents and their members for their help with corflute placement and retrieval and the management of the polling booths.

I wish to acknowledge my family, including my parents, Phil and Helen, who are here in the house today. I also give thanks to my favourite sisters, Kate and Georgie, who have supported me throughout life's journeys. Both have kept me level-headed and ensured I ate a good dose of humble pie each Christmas, and for this I am eternally grateful. I need to make special mention of Georgie, who has gone above and beyond her sisterly duties to write letters and speeches for me over the past weeks but, I might add, this speech is not one of those.

I would like to thank my children, Philip and Annabel, for their love and support. Of all the changes this political career has made to our family, they have had to wear the biggest change. As a grazier, it is a seven-day-a-week commitment and this means I have been home most days throughout their lives. As they are entering their adult lives, I do not think they quite understood the time this political opportunity would take up, and I thank them for their patience and understanding. My hope is that the outcomes of the decisions we achieve here in this parliament will ensure that they and their contemporaries are afforded the opportunities and rewards that I have been afforded as a proud South Australian.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the incredible support of my wife, Katherine, who has been a friend, companion and a rock of support for 30 years, as well as my wife for 23 of those years. We have been through thick and thin together and endured and relished all that marriage can bring. I would like to congratulate all the new members in the house today, particularly those with whom I have shared the journey over the last 18 months. In particular, I would like to thank the Premier for his support and congratulate him on becoming the Premier of our state. I look forward to working with you and I am excited by the strong leadership qualities you all possess. My election motto was 'substance not spin' and that is what you can expect from me now and in the future. As a newly elected member of a Liberal government, I will endeavour to make MacKillop matter.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (11:59): I would like to start my Address in Reply by congratulating all the successful candidates on their election to this place. It is a bit of a surreal experience when you come back in and see 11 new faces sitting in the Liberal team. It reminds me of a time when I finished playing football and went back the next year to support the same team from the sidelines. When you look at the team that you were playing in, it seems like half the team has changed from just a short period of time before. I am sure the Leader of the Opposition will find that when he finally hangs up the boots.

I also think of those MPs who contested the election and who are no longer here with us. I would like to thank them for their service to this great state: the Hon. Kelly Vincent MLC, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, Tom Kenyon, Annabel Digance, Duncan McFetridge and Leesa Vlahos. I was genuinely happy to see Tom Kenyon find employment post politics, and I wish all the others my sincerest best wishes. It is one of the stranger professions, where you are employed on a Saturday, but you have no idea whether you are going to be still employed on the Sunday.

I think this is an area where we can improve somewhat. Sporting codes recognised this a long time ago and provide opportunities for participants to keep their skills up or develop additional skills in preparation for their career coming to an end. It is sometimes quite an abrupt end, just like politics. I think about my previous colleagues and their transition into meaningful employment post a political career. It may seem strange to some, but in actual fact I would argue that the longer you are in here the more de-skilled you become and the harder it is to find job opportunities going forward.

During the election for the seat of Mount Gambier, the electors were spoilt for choice. I want to acknowledge the candidates in the last election and their efforts. While some people are critical of politicians and politics, it is often the same people who are not courageous enough to stand for election. The following people are not only courageous but will serve our community well, and on behalf of all the people of Mount Gambier I thank them for participating in the democratic process. SA-Best was represented by Kate Amoroso. Kate has advocated for a number of years for more services in areas of drug addiction and mental health. As a reformed drug addict, she is passionate about assisting those who are struggling with this insidious addiction.

Lance Jones of the Dignity Party is a lawyer, academic and successful local business operator. Twenty-five years ago, Lance launched a disability service called COMREC from his home. That is now functioning very well in the seat of Mount Gambier, assisting those with disabilities. Gregg Bisset from the Australian Conservatives has had a number of roles during his lifetime and has owned, managed and developed businesses throughout regional Australia. Gregg was passionate about helping regional families and communities.

Gregg spoke passionately at numerous forums that were held and is very knowledgeable about the many issues that were raised by the audience. This man, along with his wonderful wife, Helen, really walks the walk. They provide assistance for people coming out of prison and help them readjust to life as a functioning member of a community. I remember one weekend during the campaign when Gregg had to fly halfway around the country to bring a young person home. They are amazing people and it is a real privilege to get to know them.

Isabel Scriven for Labor, the daughter of Legislative Council member Clare Scriven, provided a youthful view of issues within the electorate, and I am sure she helped secure those much-needed Legislative Council votes which helped Labor achieve their fourth spot. I am sure she will remain active in the political arena.

Craig Marsh for the Liberal Party: many local constituents recognise Craig as a local weatherman, who for numerous years provided information to the entire Limestone Coast about all things weather. Following the closure of the weather station, Craig transitioned into real estate for a short time before joining the Liberal Party to run as its pre-endorsed candidate. He dedicated his time to campaigning full time and had knocked on over 3,000 doors. I know this because my phone would ring most days. It is an amazing effort and I want to give him the credit he deserves for dedicating his time to the cause and to our community.

Gavin Clarke from the Greens, the son of a local veterinarian, Rex Clarke, returned to Mount Gambier after spending many years away in his role as an entertainer. Gavin was deeply concerned about the prospect of fracking in the South-East and that was his number one issue. Lastly, Richard Sage, an Independent, who is the Mayor of the District Council of Grant, has served our community over the last 20 years in local government and has been mayor for nearly nine. Richard is, and continues to be, a strong advocate for the residents of the District Council of Grant.

I would like to put on the record my gratitude to all those candidates for the time that they and their supporters put in to what was a very hard-fought campaign. I would also like to acknowledge the success in the other place of Clare Scriven, who is based at Port MacDonnell in the seat of Mount Gambier. I look forward to working with Clare in the coming years to deliver for the people of the South-East.

Some people may wonder how we won the seat. Well, the truth of the matter is that you cannot fatten the hog on market day. Your re-election starts the day after the election, and you do this by looking after everybody who walks into your electorate office. I have an amazing electorate team that looks after everybody who walks through the door. The first person they see when they come through the door is our trainee. Over the last four years, I have had a number of trainees because I always want to give young people an opportunity or their first full-time, paid job—whether it is a gap year student or a student who has finished year 12. My trainees over this period have been Victoria Ceceli, who is currently with me, Abby Hepburn, Ruby Nicholas, Lilly Thornley and Ashlyn Clarke.

Once a constituent comes in and sees our smiling, wonderful trainee, they are then greeted by either Denise or Travis. No matter how large or small their issue is, Denise and Travis show concern and compassion, and they research. We have had many wonderful results due to their diligence and hard work. Over the last four years, they have assisted many thousands of people who have walked through that door—sometimes the same person thousands of times, but you will get to notice that in your own electorate offices.

To the campaign team and to all the volunteers who gave up many hundreds of hours to support me, I will be forever grateful. To Doug Mullen, Chris Patterson and some who will not want to be mentioned because they are associated with another party, I want you to know that I am truly honoured by your commitment to and support of me. Before I start on the most important people in my life, I want to say that I admire the commitment that the Leader of the Opposition has shown in taking on that role, especially with such a young family.

I reflect on the resignation of Tim Hammond, the Western Australian federal member, and commend him for prioritising his family. Being a country MP with a young family, a number of points he and Wayne Swan made resonated with me, and they are as true in this place as they are on the federal scene. Most in this house will go home every night to their family, especially during sitting weeks. Those of us from country areas will not. Wayne Swan talked about families lives moving on without you—soccer practice, family routines. The family (quickly, it seems) learns to live without you, and then when you are there there is a little feeling of getting in the way because the routines are occurring without you actually needing to be there.

I would ask that this government keep this in mind when developing sitting schedules for next year. Whilst back-to-back sitting schedules may be more efficient for city electorates or ministers, it is often the case that those members can still attend functions in their electorates in the CBD or close by before or after sitting times. That is not the case for us. We find that the weeks we are home get jam-packed with constituents or events, particularly in a back-to-back sitting week.

I thank my beautiful wife, who has endured more than is reasonably expected and who has sacrificed a great deal and who takes the true meaning of marriage for better or worse. I have a lot to make up to her and I dedicate my time on this planet to doing just that. To my children, Jordan, Jackson and Bridie, thank you for your understanding and ongoing support. To my mum and dad, thank you. The babysitting, the taxi service, as well as the support over the campaign are truly amazing and something that I am forever grateful for.

I have heard a number of members in this chamber speak about their boundaries and the electoral changes. In this respect, I am lucky. My electorate cannot go any farther south, or east, because I have a coastline and a state border. It really only can progress into more conservative territory, which is quite okay by me. My aim is that my electorate gets smaller because that will signify that the City of Mount Gambier and the District Council of Grant are, in fact, growing in population. That is what I would like to see happen.

I am profoundly grateful that my community has supported me and I commit to them. I will not let them down. We have achieved a number of amazing things over the last four years. To that end, I do need to pay credit to the previous Labor government. The MRI machine was a conversation between Jack Snelling and me about getting past roadblocks that were put in the way for this machine to go into our hospital. I thank Jack and I always will for that.

The traffic lights between Wireless Road and Penola Road were a combination of our federal member, Tony Pasin, and Stephen Mullighan, then minister, providing the funding and making it happen. To Stephen Wade, the $2 million upgrade to the renal dialysis unit, which has been promised, is much needed and greatly appreciated, as is the reinstatement of palliative care services, rail trails and vibrancy of our community.

I note that the new leader of the Labor Party announced that he is embarking on a listening tour. I welcome this. Listening, however, is one thing. Acting on that information is where the challenge certainly lies. I point out that the seat of Mount Gambier has not always been a Liberal seat or an Independent seat. In fact, Ron Ralston held it with a primary vote of 68 per cent to the Labor Party in 1962. Alan Burdon held it with a primary vote of 58 per cent in 1973. In fact, Labor held the seat continuously from 1958 right through to 1975.

However, if we look at the 2014 election results, Labor's vote in the seat of Mount Gambier was 10.9 per cent and 14 per cent in our neighbouring seat of MacKillop. If we look at this last election, that has dropped to 9.9 per cent in Mount Gambier, under 10 per cent for a major party. MacKillop just pips me at 9.8 per cent. They have gone from 14 per cent to 9.8 per cent in the space of four years. You would need to ask yourselves: why is that the case? I am hoping that when the leader of the Labor Party comes to the lower South-East he understands the real reasons behind that. I appreciate and welcome his travel to the Limestone Coast. It appears that the big, black, shiny bus did not make it down south during the campaign; maybe it can be filled up and driven down by a new driver.

What you are going to find in the South-East is that the residents are opposed to fracking. What the Liberal Party did was listen to the community and acted—a 10-year ban on fracking in the South-East. I have just introduced a private member's bill, which will be debated on 4 July. The ex-treasurer stands here and says that there is no science. In my second reading contribution, I will outline a number of peer-reviewed studies that provide the science. The problem is that the ex-treasurer is a relic of the old Labor, a relic that does not listen. If you follow his lead, you will find that the Labor vote in the seat of Mount Gambier and MacKillop will not improve, but I fear the listening will not turn into anything more than lip service.

If the Leader of the Opposition is genuine about listening, then here is his first test. It is probably a little bit difficult when he has a previous minister for mining and resources, the member of West Torrens, in his ear and, in fact, that member's previous chief of staff now employed by Beach Energy, the one company that is operating a conventional gas well in the South-East. To be clear, our community is not opposed to conventional gas. It has been welcomed and that activity continues.

It is probably a little bit difficult when that same person is the Leader of the Opposition's brother, Robert Malinauskas. I do hope the appropriate disclosures of all conflicts of interest, when deliberations get underway, are made. It is also probably a little bit more difficult when his party gave $11 million to Beach to keep its headquarters in Adelaide, and probably a little bit difficult when his party gave $7 million to Beach to drill down in the South-East; but here is his chance to listen.

A small warning to the members on the government side: the rarest commodity in politics is trust. If you say you are going to do something, then you need to do it. Once trust is lost, it is very difficult and a long road to get it back. If you listen to the member for West Torrens and start taking his advice, you are heading down the wrong path. If you honestly believe that the member for West Torrens has your or the Liberal Party's best interest at heart, then you must also believe in the tooth fairy and Father Christmas. The member is trying to wedge the Liberal Party because he knows that this broken promise will have consequences and it will be telling.

I congratulate the government on their election victory, but one name that has not been mentioned is that of Mitch Williams, the previous member for MacKillop. Mitch fought long and hard for fair boundaries, and I credit part of the Liberal Party success to fair boundaries. I hope the history books reflect the important contribution that Mitch Williams made to this cause. In fact, if you look at the boundary redistribution and the prediction based on the 2014 results of 53 per cent Liberal and 40 per cent Labor, two-party preferred, you will see that it was calculated right back in January 2018, before the election, that the new boundaries in 2018 would deliver the following based on that percentage: 19 seats to Labor, 24 to Liberal and four Independents.

The end result was pretty close, with one less Independent going to the Liberal Party side, so three Independents, 25 Liberal seats. If you look at the pendulum, it is unbelievably close to the seats that lined up due to the boundary redistribution. If you swap King (which they had in Labor's side) over the Liberals and Mawson (which they had in the Liberal side) over to Labor, it is 100 per cent accurate minus that one Independent.

Just be aware: before people start congratulating themselves on an amazing campaign strategy, which I think both sides had, I would say that both campaign strategies pretty much cancelled themselves out and that the boundaries made the greatest difference to achieving a fair outcome. The word of caution is that boundaries will be redrawn now not on a 53-47 basis but on a 52-48 basis. It is actually an increase to Labor for the 2022 election. It is possible that fracking will be an important topic at the next election.

Last week, we listened to the Governor outline the government's agenda over the next four years. Today is about addressing those goals and replying to them. Can I assure the members of the government and this house that many of the aspirations of this incoming Liberal government I share and will be supporting. I have also specific goals for my region, and I have introduced a number of motions on the floor of parliament to debate and progress these. These include Generations in Jazz achieving major event status and epilepsy reform.

Believe it or not, South Australia and the Northern Territory are the only states in Australia that do not recognise epilepsy as a disability or provide any funding to support them. With over 61,000 people living with epilepsy in South Australia and 8,000 in the Northern Territory, I think this needs to be addressed. Mount Gambier mother Katherine Gray has brought this to my attention having watched her eight-year-old daughter suffer seizures since she was three months old. To watch an eight year old, bright and bubbly, suffer seizures is terribly distressing. Another of my goals is a meningococcal B strain vaccine for all South Australian children, as well as an awareness campaign. Quite frankly, I find it unacceptable that a preventable disease is still claiming lives, particularly young lives.

The advancement of a cross-border commissioner based on the success of the New South Wales model, a bioenergy fund, the advancement of nuclear energy and discussions around that, a covered aquatic and sporting centre, an opt-out organ donation scheme for South Australia, and also protection for our tradies and subcontractors so that all small to mid-sized operators receive a greater level of protection are also my goals. Every single tradie I know has had to write off bad debts of people who refuse to pay, or of businesses going broke and leaving the subcontractor or tradie out of pocket for work already completed and materials already paid for. We need to give tradies and subcontractors a fair go in this state.

Imagine if we randomly chose a teacher or a politician every week and said, 'Thank you for your work, but you are not getting paid this week. If you do want to get paid, you are going to have to take us to court.' There would be protests up and down North Terrace. There would be people in every electorate office demanding that the system change, yet this is the exact same situation that occurs every single week for our tradies and subcontractors in South Australia. We need to better protect and support our tradies and subcontractors.

With those remarks, I look forward to engaging in debate over the next four years to improve South Australia and the lives of South Australians.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (12:21): I rise today to give my Address in Reply to our Governor's speech when opening the 54^th parliament. I would like to join other members in this place and acknowledge the wonderful way the Governor and Mrs Le have undertaken their public duties in this state. They are both great servants of the people and ambassadors of the state. We are fortunate to have them in their respective roles.

I wish to extend a welcome to all the new members in this house and the other place and wish you all success. We are a privileged lot, each of us having been entrusted by our local communities to represent them in this house where we have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the betterment of South Australia. To our new members, I would urge you not to take your new position for granted and to focus your attention on your electorate, for it is your electorate that has granted you this honour. To those former members who either resigned or have not returned, I wish you well in your new endeavours.

I have now had the opportunity and honour of representing the people of Light in this house for a fourth term. I look forward to continuing to work closely with my community to improve the quality of life for all and, in particular, those who are politically, economically or socially less powerful. On this occasion, I will have to undertake my duties from the opposition benches. It is not a position I ever contemplated, not because I thought I would always win or be re-elected but, in holding a very marginal seat, I believed that should Labor not be in government I was unlikely to still be in parliament myself.

My new position is an opportunity for me to learn new things and new ways. The people have made their judgement and I respect their decision. As John Steinbeck says in The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights:

Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory.

Turning to my electorate, I am happy to accept this role, as the electorate holds a special place in my heart. It is a place where my parents raised me after arriving in Australia from our native Italy. It is the place where I formed my views starting work as a small child in neighbouring farms, where I received a strong public education and where I have chosen to raise my family. I have been privileged to continuously represent parts of Light in some form since I was first elected to the Munno Para district council in 1981. I sincerely thank the people of Light for bestowing upon me the great privilege and honour of being their representative in state parliament. I hope that their trust in me is not misplaced.

The population centre of Light is based around the Town of Gawler. Gawler is an historic town, the first country town established in South Australia. It has a proud history of manufacturing with James Martin and Co and May Brothers and Co building locomotives and agricultural machinery there until the early 1900s. Gawler is a thriving community where sporting clubs, service clubs, churches and many other community organisations mould the culture of the town. The residents of Gawler, while proud of their history, have their eyes fixed firmly on the future, with many young entrepreneurs seeking to make their mark on our town and our great state.

I have enjoyed working with the local community in establishing the training schemes for existing small businesses through the Northern Entrepreneur Growth Program. The program supported Red Centre Enterprises to grow from a small home-based native foods business to a native foods manufacturing enterprise employing 10 people. It has also supported other businesses such as Down to Earth Sustainable Solutions in securing their business futures.

Currently, there are 11 young people participating in the Young Entrepreneurs Program Pilot, which is providing training to help them form their business and social enterprise ideas and providing them with the knowledge of how to build a successful business or social enterprise. In this regard I wish to thank the City of Playford, the Stretton Centre, Business SA and the Gawler Business Development Group, who have worked with me to develop programs to promote business activity and job growth in Gawler and the northern suburbs of Adelaide.

Like many members of this house, my electorate changed significantly as a result of the electoral redistribution. The redistribution brought with it a tinge of sadness, as I lost many of my rural constituents I had worked with over the previous 12 years. I built strong relationships as I worked closely with residents in the wonderful townships of Wasleys and Roseworthy, the surrounding districts of Magdala, Hamley Bridge, Woolsheds, Pinkerton Plains, Kangaroo Flat, Reeves Plains, Gawler Belt, Ward Belt, Gawler River, Concordia, Kalbeeba and Kingsford.

I was awestruck by the resilience of the residents in Wasleys and the farming communities in the northern reaches of the electorate during the Pinery fire. The licensees of the post office, Lew and Dawn Richter, exemplified the spirit of the Wasleys community. They did not let the fire define who they were. They picked up the pieces of their business and operated out of a makeshift space within weeks of the fire. They continued to support the local community until they were able to move back into the main post office after it was repaired. The dedication of Lew and Dawn to their community was recognised by Australia Post when they received an award for excellence in customer service and post office operations. I would like to acknowledge and thank the members of the Wasleys Community Group for their hard work in supporting their community.

I also lost the Angle Vale township to my colleague the member for Taylor. While I may no longer continue to directly represent these areas, I will continue to count the many residents of these areas as my friends. While I was sad to lose the northern parts of my electorate, I was pleased to regain some of the southern areas that had formerly been part of Light in previous elections; however, these areas are much different now compared to when I last represented them.

Munno Para has changed largely from farmland to a highly population residential suburb containing a public college with approximately 1,500 students from preschool through to the senior school. I have been fortunate to commence an excellent working relationship with the four schools in Munno Para: Munno Para Kindergarten, Munno Para Primary School, Mark Oliphant College and the Adelaide North Special School. All of them have great leaders and staff. We have worked with a local community leader Sandra Watherston, the City of Playford, Renewal SA and the Gospel City Church in setting up the Munno Para Community Market with the aim of building a stronger community in Munno Para.

I would like to thank the small army of volunteers who have assisted me over the past 12 years and more. I could not have achieved what I have without their dedicated support. There is also a special note of thanks to those volunteers who donated so much of their time during the recent election campaign. I had the privilege of speaking with many of my constituents at their homes, as I knocked on their doors and visited shopping centres, local cafes and pubs during the campaign.

I was aided in this task by a group of volunteers who joined me on most weekends. I would like to give a special mention to Ruben Bala and Tom Caunce. Tom and Ruben rarely missed an opportunity to join me in speaking with the people in Light. I would also like to thank Martin Kennedy, Gerri Donaldson and Gill Caunce, who regularly gave up their time to speak with local constituents by phone to discuss the issues that impacted upon them.

To Margaret Hague, Kelly Richards, Gill Taylor, Angela MacFarlane, Cheryl McKibben, Akram Arifi, Pat Fabian and Anna White, who donated so much of their shoe leather to my campaign, thank you for your regular contributions. These are just a few of the volunteers who regularly came out to assist me as I sought re-election as the member for Light. I also thank my campaign committee: Paul Martin, Tom Caunce, Ackram Arifi and Ruben Bala, who commenced meeting and strategising even before the Liberal Party had preselected their candidate for Light.

My campaign committee was headed up by Joel Wemmer, who gave his all to this campaign, so much so that on election day he was sending out text messages and making phone calls while lying on his back because he was unwell. I thank Joel for all those hours he put into the campaign. I thank those members of the community who publicly endorsed me for re-election as your public support helped instil confidence in the community that I was worthy of re-election.

Within the party, I acknowledge the support I received from people like David Wilkins; Paul DeSisio; Cameron Smith; Daniel Romeo; our current leader, Peter Malinauskas; and former ministers Tom Koutsantonis, Stephen Mullighan, Zoe Bettison and Susan Close. These are some, amongst many others, who contributed to my success in some way. I also acknowledge Reggie Martin, the Secretary of the ALP SA Branch, for taking my endless number of phone calls. There are many others I could thank and should thank, but it would be difficult to mention them all in my allocated time. If I have not mentioned you personally, I hope you understand.

Campaigns put a great deal of strain on the electoral office staff, so I acknowledge their contribution: both my current staff—Janet, Brad and Joel—and those who have worked alongside me over the past 12 years. I would also like to thank my two sons, Raffaele and Stefan. Stefan dedicated many weeks to my re-election campaign and played a critical role in organising and managing my 200 volunteers. I would like to acknowledge the support of my mum and other members of my family. Without the dedication of such hardworking volunteers, family and friends, it is unlikely I would be here today.

In my time growing up in this community I have seen great changes in the Town of Gawler as its population has grown and the suburbs of Munno Para and Munno Para West have changed from farmland to residential housing. These changes have brought with them the challenges that occur with rapid expansion.

Challenges for which I have fought hard to obtain funding to resolve include $55 million for the construction of the Gawler East Link Road, a road that the member for Schubert has often advocated as a link from the northern suburbs of Adelaide to the southern Barossa region. He expressed such an interest in the road over the past year that he joined with other Liberal MPs and the unsuccessful Liberal candidates in calling for the road to be extended further south to Tiver Road.

I support the extension of the road. However, I do not support the preferred route of the Town of Gawler, which would negatively impact the residents who live along the Bentley Road corridor. Unfortunately, the member for Schubert does not understand the impacts on the Evanston Park residents who live along the route preferred by the Town of Gawler council.

It now appears that the member for Schubert's dedication to this infrastructure upgrade has waned since becoming a minister. The local Gawler newspaper, The Bunyip, inquired with the member for Schubert about his ongoing views on the extension of the road. Mr Grady Hudd, the editor of The Bunyip, claimed to be disappointed with the response from the now minister, who is the minister with the power to make the extension of Tiver Road a reality. Despite his regular calls for the extension of the road, the member for Schubert now says that the extension should be treated as a separate project. To quote the editor—these are not my words but the words of the editor of The Bunyip—a member of the Country Press association, that august body:

Less than one month since his party formed government, the Liberal Member for Schubert Stephan Knoll has already distanced himself from a key local infrastructure initiative that he has for years advocated for.

He goes on to say:

It appears as if Tiver Road has been placed in the 'too hard basket'.

It appears that the member for Schubert has taken a leaf out of the advice Quintus Tullius Cicero gave to his brother, Marcus Tullius Cicero, on the eve of the consular elections in Rome in 1BC:

Broken promises are often lost in the cloud of changing circumstances so that anger against you will be minimal. If you break a promise, the outcome will be uncertain and the number of people affected small. But if you refuse to make a promise, the result is certain and produces immediate anger in a larger number of voters.

The community is tired of such cynical political games, and you can rest assured that I will continue to advocate that the Town of Gawler look at alternative routes for the extension of the Gawler East Link Road. The minister will be held to account for this broken promise and for the other statements he has made in recent days.

Curtis Road, which now forms the boundary between the electorates of Light and Taylor, has become inadequate at managing its current traffic load. Curtis Road has become a link road from the Main North Road to the Northern Expressway and carries many thousands of vehicles a day. Parents taking their children to Mark Oliphant College, Munno Para Primary School and St Columba College create havoc in the mornings and afternoons as there are no viable alternative routes.

I will continue to be a loud voice calling on the City of Playford and the state government, including the new state government, to fund the upgrade of this road and its many intersections. I will also be calling for a rail crossing to be separated from the roadway. As a former minister for road safety, I know the dangers of level crossings. As a motorist who regularly uses this road, I know the delays that the rail crossing causes on this road. Munno Para has become a wonderful place to live, work and learn. By improving Curtis Road, we will make it a better place.

I would like to thank the former and existing members of this house who have assisted me over the years. I would also like to thank the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Croydon, for putting his trust in me and including me in his shadow cabinet. I look forward to working with my colleagues in keeping this new government to account. In my new role as the shadow minister for planning and local government and shadow minister for housing and urban development, I look forward to working with many stakeholders to hear their views on planning, urban development and housing in our state and to ensure that we do achieve housing affordability.

Our leader has committed our party and its members to listen to the views of South Australians and hear what their priorities are. I intend to follow his lead in my new roles, and I have already been lucky enough to join with the leader in hearing the views of a number of stakeholders at a recent building communities forum. I look forward to continuing to meet with stakeholders and hear from individuals, community groups, not-for-profit organisations and business groups in this important policy area to learn what they want and need and to work out how housing and urban development in this state will create stronger communities.

As the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, I have already had the privilege of attending a number of commemoration services remembering the sacrifices of our country's service personnel. I have had the joy of working closely with the local Gawler RSL sub-branch for many years. The local sub-branch and its members are a great support to the many veterans and current service personnel who live in the Light electorate. The sub-branch president, Paul Little, also serves as its welfare officer. Mr Little regularly visits elderly veterans and provides assistance to them and their families in obtaining services, pensions and allowances.

If it were not for dedicated members like Mr Little, our service personnel would not receive the care that they need. Mr Little served in the Australian Army during and after the Vietnam War and was a South Australian police officer until his retirement. He served his country with pride and continues to serve his community to this day. In my new roles, I look forward to working alongside Veterans SA and meeting other members of the RSL, the Vietnam Veterans Association, the Vietnam Veterans Federation and other veterans' groups from across South Australia that are dedicated to the welfare of their colleagues, as Mr Little is.

In closing, I would like to acknowledge other candidates at the election. This was not their time, but the future may be different. I look forward to working with all members in this place, and in particular the ministers, for the betterment of my community and the wellbeing of South Australia.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (12:37): I rise today to speak on the Address In Reply, which sets out the Liberal government's reform agenda for the 54^th parliament. Thank you to the Governor, His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC, for his opening of parliament last week. As the 35^th Governor, you and your lovely wife, Lan, have served the South Australian community well, and I hope that you serve for many more years to come. I would also like to acknowledge the election of our Speaker, the youngest Speaker in South Australian history, and wish him all the best in this prestigious and important role in this parliament.

I also congratulate the Premier. As the leader of the Liberal Party, you took a strong and focused team to the election. You articulated our many, many policies to the masses and led from the front during the whole campaign—not only during the campaign but for the many years leading up to 2018. I remember fondly our time together on the back bench when were both first elected in 2010.

I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the new members in this place: the Liberal members, the members for Colton, Davenport, Elder, Finniss, Heysen, Kavel, King, MacKillop, Morphett, Narungga and Newland; and the Labor members, the members for Badcoe, Croydon (arriving from the other place), Playford and Wright. I stand today in government, led ably by the Premier but also equally ably by the Deputy Premier. Almost 125 years after women got the vote and were able to stand in this place, the member for Bragg holds the highest parliamentary role held by a woman in South Australia's history, and she also holds the role of Attorney-General—again, the first woman to do so.

As Minister for Child Protection, I am very pleased to be taking responsibility for overseeing a department that is building a better system to protect vulnerable children and young people in South Australia. There are currently 3,583 children and young people under my guardianship as at 31 March this year. As Minister for Child Protection, I see my ultimate responsibility as doing everything in my power to see that vulnerable and at-risk children and young people are kept safe from harm and neglect so that they have the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential, and I take this responsibility very seriously.

During my time in opposition, and indeed since taking up my place as minister, I have met with many young people, carers and other stakeholders in the industry who have felt that they were not being heard in the past and that they had been undervalued by the previous system. Since assuming the role of minister, I have already visited more than a dozen Department for Child Protection site offices, speaking with staff, children, young people and carers, gathering their thoughts and opinions so that we can work with them to build a better system where there are fewer children and young people in care and so that those who are already in care are served better.

Where possible, those in care should be living in stable, nurturing family-based environments surrounded by love and encouragement so that they have the best opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential. In the lead-up to the election, I campaigned on a number of issues relating to child protection that became Liberal and now government policies that I intend to deliver on. These include the diversification of the workforce. The Nyland royal commission talked about the shortage of suitably qualified social workers to meet the demands of the child protection system in South Australia.

My department is working on a recruitment process and criteria where the types of qualifications recognised by recruitment panels will be expanded beyond those with a degree in social work to include qualifications in a relevant field. This will go a long way towards addressing the skills shortage. I have met with both the PSA and the AASW to discuss their preferred qualifications that should be included. In particular, this government will not restrict its workforce to those holding an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in social work. This will be done without compromising the welfare or safety of children who need protection.

As the Nyland royal commission found, South Australia has not aligned itself with the recruitment practices in all other Australian jurisdictions which have targeted workforce planning strategies. As a result, vacancy levels have been consistently higher, placing pressure on staff to work beyond their capacity, compromising service delivery and potentially risking the safety of vulnerable children.

Like all other Australian jurisdictions, this government will recognise a broader range of qualifications in the human services field. As the Nyland royal commission recommended, while social work will continue to be regarded as the preferred qualification, other relevant qualifications will also be recognised which can be augmented by further in-house training.

Another policy that we are working on is to appoint an Aboriginal commissioner for children. The over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care is also something we will be addressing. Our government has committed to appointing an Aboriginal commissioner for children, and this will occur shortly. The Aboriginal commissioner for children will focus on assisting Aboriginal families and communities to keep children safe in culturally appropriate ways. We must do more to deal with the poor outcomes for Aboriginal children in child protection, education, health and justice.

In South Australia, 37 per cent of all children admitted to care and protection orders in 2015-16 were Aboriginal children. Aboriginal children comprise more than 32 per cent of all those on care and protection orders. A series of inquiries in South Australia, including the Nyland royal commission in 2016 and the Mullighan report in 2008, identified the extent of Aboriginal child sexual abuse, child abuse and neglect, and also educational issues, youth crime and substance abuse. The Aboriginal commissioner will develop policies and practices that promote the safety and wellbeing of all Aboriginal children and, once appointed, a round table will be organised to discuss with all of the stakeholders where best to direct his or her initial concerns.

I have also long been an advocate for extending foster care and kinship care payments from age 18 to 21. This will enable the young person to remain in a stable supportive family home environment. This will provide some of the most vulnerable young people in our community with the extra security they need to branch out into the workforce, attend university or gain further training. Thirty per cent of those leaving care are homeless within 12 months. This policy will provide the opportunity for young people to remain in their foster care or kinship care placement through to 21, should they choose to do so, by ensuring the provision of reimbursements to be paid to carers.

While this policy is about removing barriers that keep our children in out-of-home care from achieving their best lives, it is also about allowing government the flexibility to move with the times and update their policy settings to reflect changing society values. The whole community benefits when our young people are safe and secure in a loving environment. We want to ensure that young people who have suffered a hard start in life are able to get on their feet as they approach adulthood.

Research shows that home-based care is far better for children than eight-hour rotational care, such as is used in residential and commercial care. I have directed my department to audit all children in either government or non-government residential and commercial care to identify children and young people who are suitable to be moved into home environments, such as foster care or kinship care. Unfortunately, there are some children who, I am told, may require therapeutic care in a residential care home. However, the use of commercial care should be stopped as soon as possible, and that is certainly one of my goals.

The best interests of children and young people under my guardianship are at the heart of all decisions and policies that will be implemented. A whole-of-government approach is one of the major priorities of this government. We need to stop the silo approach of the former government and work as one for the best interests of children and young people and the staff in our departments. The department and I cannot do this alone. Over the next four years, we will be calling on other government agencies, the non-government sector, families and community as we work together to continue to improve how we do business and create opportunities to ensure that children and young people in our care have the best chance to thrive and have success in adult life. Child protection is everyone's responsibility.

I would also like to thank my electorate for believing in me once again. It was a hard-fought election, being my third election, and I would like to thank the many volunteers who made this possible. There are many volunteers who have been with me through all three campaigns, working tirelessly, putting up posters, doorknocking, letterboxing, working on booths and helping with administration as well. There are lots of workers. Everybody in this house would know that it takes a whole community to win an election.

I am both humbled and privileged now to be the Minister for Child Protection. Whilst this is a very difficult area that has been fraught with controversy, royal commissions, reviews and inquiries for many years under a Labor government, I will do everything I can to work with my department to implement changes and reforms that are needed to improve the lives of children who are already in care, reduce the numbers of children at risk of coming into care and support families to be stronger so that they are able to maintain their relationships with their children.

It is a wonderful opportunity to be part of a Marshall Liberal government, and I certainly take my responsibility very seriously. Again, I will not only work very hard in my new ministerial role but I will continue to be a very hardworking local member and advocate strongly for my constituents throughout my whole electorate, where for many years development issues have been one of the hot topics: the risk to heritage buildings, the overdevelopment, in many people's opinions, the change of the landscape in Prospect—Prospect Road and Churchill Road in particular—and now some of the institutional zones in North Adelaide. There were a lot of planning decisions made under the former minister that have seriously affected my electorate, and I look forward to working with the new minister to ensure any issues can be tidied up so that there is not such a dramatic and devastating effect on my local community.

I will continue to be accessible to my electorate; however, I must say that in the first couple of months it has been a bit of a whirlwind needing to contact so many people in my ministerial role. Literally hundreds of people have written to me in relation to my new portfolio, whom I need to get around to meeting, so I hope that my electorate will be a little bit patient. I will certainly be back there, as I always was, but there is a lot to clean up from what was quite a devastating 16 years of Labor government in child protection. There is a lot to do, but I will work very hard over the next four years to prove to my electorate that I am able to do both very well, and that I will serve them well in this parliament.

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (12:50): Thank you, Mr Acting Speaker, for the opportunity to speak on this motion. I want to start by congratulating the Speaker, for whom you are ably standing in today. I want to congratulate him first of all on becoming the Speaker of this house. It is an ancient office and it is one which is worthy of respect, and I can see from the first few days that he is taking it seriously. I am sure that there is a lot to remember, but I am sure he will rise to the occasion.

I want to congratulate him also on his success in the electorate of Hartley. Hartley was one of the few electorates outside of Elizabeth in which I took an active interest during the campaign itself. It was fascinating to watch. I saw firsthand how hard our candidate, Grace Portolesi, was working—the phones, the doors and all of those things. She worked very hard and it is a disappointment to me that we do not today count Hartley on our side of the ledger, but I do, however, congratulate the Speaker on his victory in Hartley. It was a hard race—

The Hon. S.K. Knoll: At least he is not on the crossbench.

Mr ODENWALDER: Indeed. It was a hard race, I am sure, and in fact he was the only person on the other side of the house I congratulated before this house returned because I was so interested in that particular race. In some ways, the race in Hartley informed a whole lot of what happened in Elizabeth and other northern seats and across the state generally, but I will get to that.

I also want to congratulate the member for Flinders on his election as the Chair of Committees. This is also an important position, not least because he gets to chair some of the estimates committees, which I have had the pleasure of doing over the last four years.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Pederick): Always enjoyable.

Mr ODENWALDER: Indeed, always enjoyable and unfairly maligned I think, Mr Acting Speaker. It is always good fun. It is probably fair to say that there are voices on both sides who would like to see the whole process reformed, but I have to say that as the Chair of Estimates Committee B, I always had a good time and I hope that the new incoming Chair of Committees will have a similarly good time—while it lasts.

I want to sincerely thank the people of Elizabeth for re-electing me. It was an interesting election campaign, obviously. It was, as I say, informed by the presence of a third party, but I will get to that. Elizabeth, as no-one here would have failed to notice, has been through some hard times recently. We have seen hard times before. In fact, there is a very good book by Mark Peel, I think from Flinders University, called Good Times, Hard Times: The Past and the Future in Elizabeth,which was written in the 1980s, I believe, so that just shows how far back this sort of theme in Elizabeth goes.

But it is fair to say that over the last five years it has been particularly challenging, and the closure of Holden, which for many years was the essential reason for the establishment of the City of Elizabeth by Tom Playford, put us all under enormous strain—obviously the people who worked there and the people who worked in the subsidiary industries, and their families, many of whom I have spoken to over the course of the last five years about this issue.

In the end, I think, due to the resilience of the community and also due to some good government policies and some good corporate responsibility from Holden, the final hitting of rock bottom was not quite as bad, in a general sense, as it could have been. Of course, it is an absolute tragedy for many families who were victims, particularly in the supply chain that serviced Holden, who may not have got quite the same support from the parent companies as Holden gave to their workers.

The state government did a lot of good work through the task force and also through the good work of the Industry Advocate, Mr Ian Nightingale, whom I will just mention briefly. I hope that the current Minister for Transport and Infrastructure listens to the wise advice of the Industry Advocate, Mr Ian Nightingale. Over recent years, he has made sure that the economic benefit to South Australia, and the economic benefit to the northern suburbs particularly, has been front and centre when negotiating contracts for large infrastructure projects.

We have seen some very good results on the Northern Connector. I cannot speak with much authority about some of the other projects along the line, but the Northern Connector certainly has had very good results. Lendlease have been good corporate citizens. They have delivered some very good results on their targets. The last time I checked, more than 50 per cent of the workforce were from the northern suburbs, and that includes a lot of ex-auto workers both from Holden and from the subsidiary industries. I want to acknowledge the work of the Industry Advocate in ensuring that the impact of Holden's closure was not quite as devastating as it could have been.

However, it has been hard. Over the course of the election campaign, as we all did, I knocked on hundreds of doors and spoke to many people at shopping centres and on street corners, and Holden was a continual theme. In my first speech to this place, I said something along the lines that I hoped that Elizabeth was always a place that made cars. In my time here, I have seen that time come to an end. Of course, there is always talk of things replacing Holden. In fact, while I was knocking on doors throughout the campaign, a lot of the talk was not so much about the jobs: it was about the site itself and the fact that no-one wanted to see the GMH site be an enormous testament to our collective failure in manufacturing.

So I was pleased that, in the early months of this year, there were some announcements from the Pelligra Group about purchasing that site and creating a high-tech manufacturing hub there. The first tenants were negotiating moving in as the election campaign got into full swing, and I sincerely hope that the current Liberal government will facilitate that process and ensure that manufacturing continues in Elizabeth and at the GMH site. The last thing we want to see is it perpetually fenced off, surrounded by security guards, in an area that needs jobs and needs government assistance in helping those jobs to materialise.

I want to talk a little about the election. The election was informed, first of all, by the redistribution, of course. The member for Lee yesterday made a series of observations about the redistribution, which I will not repeat here. In my case, it had the effect of making my seat nominally safer on a two-party preferred basis but also making it attractive to a third-party candidate, and in that sense it was not safe at all. Indeed, it focused my mind and focused the mind of my campaign team. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended from 12:59 to 14:00.