Condolence

Condous, Mr S.G.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:00): I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Mr Steve George Condous AM, a former member of the House of Assembly and Lord Mayor of Adelaide, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious service and that as a mark of respect to his memory the sitting of the house be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

Over four decades, Steve Condous made a significant contribution to the community, local government and the governance of our state. He was a member of the Adelaide city council for 25 years, as councillor, alderman and lord mayor. After his three terms as lord mayor, Steve was elected to this parliament as member for Colton in 1993, with a two-party preferred vote of more than 60 per cent in an electorate then regarded as marginal. His reputation for effective representation of electors had preceded him. He retired undefeated at the 2002 election.

The current Lord Mayor, the Rt Hon. Martin Haese, has paid tribute to Steve's distinguished service to the city council and in particular to his integral role in shaping our capital city as a business, education and tourism destination. His achievements included securing upgrades to Hutt Street and the North Adelaide aquatic centre, encouraging residential developments in the West End and Halifax Street to grow the city's population and supporting the greening of city streets and preservation of the Parklands. Steve remained rightly proud of his civic work, which set Adelaide on the path to becoming the vibrant capital city it is today.

Born in 1935, Steve grew up in the city's West End, the son of Greek migrant parents who, he remembered, 'could not afford very much in those days'. He once told this house:

I can remember having a pair of shoes for school and a pair of sandshoes for when I came home, but most of the time most of us would walk around barefooted.

During his childhood in the West End our capital city's population exceeded 40,000. Much later, the postwar decline in the city's population saw it bottom out at just over 10,000. This was why, while Steve was lord mayor, reversing the residential decline of the city became a priority for him.

In his maiden speech to this house, Steve called for the city council and the state government to work 'hand in hand to bring about a rapid increase in the population of the City of Adelaide for the benefit of tourism and the future economic viability of the city'. It remains a credit to him that governments of both persuasions have subsequently taken up this challenge.

Steve became known as the people's lord mayor for many reasons. For example, on the occasion of a royal visit by his Royal Highness Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Steve and his wife, Angela, were to host 1,400 people at the Adelaide Convention Centre. Steve insisted on revising the guest list so that many city residents and workers could be invited to meet the royal couple, a gesture warmly appreciated by the prince and princess as well as all those who met them.

Steve was proud to become the first member for the seat of Colton because it was named after a woman who had been just as dedicated to community service as he was. Mary Colton was a worker for the rights of women, the needy, the neglected and the underprivileged. As member for Colton, Steve was just as tenacious in his advocacy for preservation of metropolitan beaches and the prevention of coastal pollution, for small business and for many local community and sporting organisations.

He took an active interest in the revival of Henley Square, and while he was the local member a number of new restaurants were established in the precinct. His deep interest in recreation and sport and his support of the Crows were reflected in the savage criticism he made of the AFL draft in his first parliamentary speech for forcing the best of South Australia's young footballers to go to other states.

Beyond football, West Beach Surf Life Saving Club, Henley Surf Life Saving Club, amputee sports and Heartbeat QEH were just some of the organisations that benefited from his patronage. As all honourable members are aware, in more recent years Steve's remarkable wife, Angela, has continued the family's philanthropic and charity work. South Australia owes both of them enormous gratitude for their contribution to our state.

As the son of migrants who made good, Steve's life was a reflection of some of those things we cherish in Australia, like the fair go for all, the opportunities that would open up with hard work and giving back to our community. In passing on our condolences to Angela and daughter, Stacey, we trust they will be comforted by the fact that many benefits of Steve's contribution to state and local government, to our capital city and to the wider South Australian community will live on in memory of his service to all of us. Vale, Steve Condous.

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:05): I also rise to support the motion. Much of the life and times of Steve Condous were themed by his passion for the City of Adelaide and its renowned Parklands. It is where he grew up, where he was educated and where he started his business career.

As the Premier mentioned, Mr Condous was born in the summer of 1935, three years after his parents had migrated from Kastellorizo, the eastern most of the Greek Islands. They had come to South Australia in the wake of their home island's economic decline. The island's late 19^th century population of 10,000 had dwindled to less than 2,000, and many had moved to Australia. Among them was Steve's father, mother and several other members of his family.

The new home was in Liverpool Street at the north-west end of the square mile of Adelaide. Young Steve's playground was, indeed, his beloved Parklands. In 2001, he told parliament of his memories of playing opposite the Newmarket Hotel, where there was a small granite statue marking the point where Colonel Light inserted the first pin when laying out the City of Adelaide. He always had a strong sense of the origins of the city boundaries and Light's contribution to our great city. He said back then, and he doubts that many members of this parliament would know, what the granite statue represented. That is probably still the case today.

The other favourite area of Steve Condous' childhood was Victoria Square, which he recalled was planted with 30 Moreton Bay figs of enormous dimensions. In later years, he made no secret of his disappointment with the city square's evolution into what it is today. Any Parklands development proposal was always going to attract the attention of Steve Condous, even the place where he went to school, Adelaide Boys High School. In asking the house to commit to protection of the Parklands, he reminded them that the Parklands do not belong to the ratepayers of the City of Adelaide. As he said, and I quote:

They do not belong to the Adelaide City Council or the state government. It is Crown land that belongs to all the people of South Australia.

Steve Condous' other great passion, of course, was the Central Market. Again, that passion had its roots in his childhood but was also marked by his family's early business ventures. His father and uncles had opened a cafe at 73 Hindley Street that was called Central Cafe. That was followed by a larger cafe at 95 Rundle Street opposite John Martin. These businesses and the entire family bought food and groceries from the Central Market. In an archive series called the Central Market Project, he revived the sound and smells of the market. It is worth repeating Steve's description:

The magic was that every single stall had someone who could spruik, and therefore that person would stand up and yell out the special of the day.

It might be a bunch of carrots for sixpence, but if you bought two bunches of carrots it was ninepence.

There were people playing flutes and others were playing squeeze boxes.

You had jugglers, you had magicians.

I can remember the number of horses that were used to bring produce to the Market…and leave their mark…that smell added to all the other wonderful smells that were in the market.

It was just the place to be if you wanted a little bit of seeing the world, or seeing Adelaide go by.

The market had played a major role in the diversification and enrichment of our culture. Steve Condous had been a major part of that diversification. His experiences with the generational shifts in retail and the impact on the community remain informative experiences for us all. His love of the market and the city drew him to his service at the Adelaide city council and, as the Premier mentioned, his 25 years in the council as alderman and then lord mayor. In that capacity, he continued his passionate defence of the Parklands, the market and the city as the key to our state's cultural heritage.

On the matter of the keys, he did have a regret or two. In 1990, when the then 44-year-old American singer and actor Cher came to town to perform at the Grand Prix, he presented her with the keys to the city. When the said keys went up for sale on eBay 20 years later and sold for $96,000, Steve was a little miffed. Mr Condous described the singer's decision to sell the keys as 'pretty poor'. If only he could turn back time.

The passing of Steve Condous has today allowed us to reflect on other times and for what we stand for in our service to South Australians through this parliament. He was committed to his family, to his friends and to the city he loved. He has left an outstanding mark on South Australia and its capital city. The parliament extends its condolences to his wife, Angela, and their daughter, and acknowledges Steve's substantial contribution to our city and state.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (14:10): I rise to support the motion and extend my condolences to Angela and their beautiful daughter on the passing of Steve Condous. My only regret in speaking on this today is that, for the one time, perhaps in all the time I have been in parliament, I wish for the former member for Croydon (Hon. Michael Atkinson) to be here. This is probably the one issue on which we would agree; that is, Steve Condous made a colourful and significant contribution to public life in the City of Adelaide and its surrounds, ultimately as the member for Colton in this parliament.

Together, Steven and Angela made an outstanding contribution to community life. They were truly champions for those who had less than others, and those who were less well off, and I know that continues to this day. If nothing else is remembered in relation to Steve and Angela's public life, it will be the community service that they employed in ensuring that those less fortunate had the comforts that they deserved.

The other reason I am sorry that the Hon. Mr Atkinson is not here is that we like to reminisce about preselections, and occasions of merit as to what might have been. I just want to say today that Steve Condous, remembered for so many things, almost became the federal member for Adelaide. I had the privilege of being the president of the Liberal Party in South Australia when Steve was preselected and then ultimately elected in 1993. Earlier in that year, prior to the famous state election, there was federal election.

The Liberal Party's federal candidate at the time sort of bit the dust, and we had to quickly find someone else. Ultimately, Trish Worth stepped up to the challenge and became the member for four terms. Prior to that, someone suggested, 'Why don't we get Big Steve to stand?' meaning Steve Condous. Someone thought he may have been out doorknocking in Colton, which is fine, except we did not have mobile phones in 1993 and so it was not a simple exercise to find him.

I, along with a few others, were asked to go down and try to find this bloke in all the streets of the state seat of Colton, which had around the same boundaries as it does today—it changed in the meantime and then came back, but it is about the same. The current member for Colton knows every single one of these streets. We all traipsed around and tried to find him. We were assured that he must be out doorknocking, only to find that we had spent the whole of that Saturday afternoon trying to find him and of course he was not there at all.

When we went doorknocking, asking people, 'Have you seen Steve Condous?' we received all sorts of responses, such as, 'Is he that big guy who's standing as a local candidate?' 'Isn't he standing for you?' 'Don't you know where he is?' and that sort of thing. However, we did not find him on that day. Angela, you might look back—I think had we actually found him, he probably would have been automatically preselected at the meeting we had at 6 o'clock that night and been the federal member for Adelaide. But we did not.

Steve actually became the state member and made an enormous contribution to this parliament. He brightened our lives. He was a big man in heart and in contribution. We miss him and we wish to acknowledge the great contribution that he made as lord mayor and then as the member for Colton.

Finally, when I explained to him that, under Liberal Party rules, up until the end of the 1960s in the famous sort of Hawker-Downer-Cudmore era, if you were a member of the Legislative Council, you were given some preferential advantage in the pre-selection to go into the Legislative Council. I do not know why you would rush to go there—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: If you were the lord mayor.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —if you were the lord mayor, yes. He said, 'Yes, Vickie, I have heard of that, but I think they stopped that precedent with me.' He had the last laugh, Angela. He came in here and served us well. Thank you.

Mr KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:15): I was incredibly proud of Steve Condous. The son of Greek migrants, as I am, he was born in the same year as my father. His family migrated from Kastellorizo to Australia, like many Greek migrants. My first encounter with Steve Condous was as a student at Adelaide High School when we invited our most famous son to come speak to us at an assembly. He spoke to us and addressed us all. Of the 1,000 students at that time, 650 of those students could trace their heritage back to Greece. I cannot tell you the pride that we all had in seeing a guest speaker at that school holding a position of such trust in the Australian community as the lord mayor of our capital city.

When I entered this parliament, Steve always had a kind word for me. Steve always discussed things with me and told me things as they were. Steve chose the Liberal Party, he told me, because of the entrepreneurial spirit his family had. His parents, like many migrants who came out from Greece to Australia and like many migrant communities, started their own business and traded, as my parents did. Steve's family was very good at it, as was Steve, but Steve had a higher calling.

I cannot tell you the pride the entire Greek community had in the efforts of Steve Condous and his compatriot from the same island Nick Bolkus. In fact, at one stage the tiny island of Kastellorizo accounted for nearly 60 per cent of all Greek Australian politicians in Australia. There were a number from New South Wales, a number from Victoria and a number from South Australia who could claim their heritage back to that small tiny island.

Steve was the de facto Greek leader in this state. There was not a funeral he did not attend. There was not a dispute he did not attempt to resolve. I have to say that, in the discussion about the preselection that the Premier talked about, I have a different perspective, one that I think Steve shared with me. He was asked to run for a seat that was considered marginal, but of course did not need to be because of the wipe-out that occurred in 1993. The reason Steve Condous was chosen for the seat of Colton was his immense popularity amongst the community here in South Australia and it scared us to death.

He was someone who was beloved by the South Australian community. He had a certain way about him. He had a certain connection to ordinary people. He was able to sell a message to Labor voters that Liberal MPs and candidates should not be able to sell because Steve had those working class roots within him. He was very good at it and I admired it.

He was a great asset for the Liberal Party. He had an attribute that many Liberals have since lost: a spirit of independence. That spirit of independence probably often drove people like the member for Bragg crazy as president of the Liberal Party and certainly Mr Cameron also because Mr Condous was not afraid to speak up.

Steve contemplated not contesting the 2002 election, which we were very pleased about because, without disparaging Labor's candidate Paul Caica, who became a long-serving member of parliament, I think it would have been a lot tougher if Steve had run. I remember my father warning me, saying, 'If Steve runs again, he will win.' I have to say that I probably did not disagree with him. But the reason he quit, he claims in a story to the Sunday Mail, which is Steve all over, is that he was sick and tired of supporting two-bob policies. I am not making a criticism of the former government of that time; it just speaks to who Steve was.

He spoke and said it like it was. He never attempted to carry a party line. He always said what he thought. When minister Armitage was attempting to do things that Steve Condous disagreed with, he said so and people loved him for it. I have to say, I remember sitting with him over there where he used to sit, just behind the Member for Transport, and talking to him about these things. He was great mates with the former member for Enfield, Ralph Clarke. We would sit and chat about things and Steve was very generous with his honesty about what was occurring. He was just sick and tired of having to support things—whatever we were saying or whatever the government of the day was saying—because he felt there was not a fair debate occurring. I have to say, I loved him for it.

On his retirement, I would often see him at the Central Market, sitting on his stool, never short of advice for me about what I was doing wrong, or even what I was doing right. I remember a day very, very clearly when I, as treasurer, ran into him. We were having a discussion at the Central Market and he was speaking to a very strong supporter of the Liberal Party. When I turned up to speak to Steve, the man had a few words to say to me, and the defence that Steve gave of me really filled me with pride. It was not on a policy level: it was on a personal level because Steve was exceptionally proud that Australians with Greek heritage were doing well. That is how large he was. That is how generous he was. He was a good and decent man and we are worse off for his loss.

I would like to acknowledge his wife, Angela, and daughter, Stacey. Angela has been a tireless worker in her own right. I cannot do justice in this condolence motion to the work that she has done for charity. Steve was exceptionally proud of her. They had a very beautiful and loving relationship and I thought that was lovely. Steve had a deep love and admiration for his daughter, Stacey. They are a beautiful family and the work that they did together has made our state better.

There are not many members of parliament who can leave this place and have condolence motions spoken of them in the way Steve Condous deserves. He broke barriers for migrants. You cannot have a Gladys Berejiklian as Premier of New South Wales without a Steve Condous as Lord Mayor of Adelaide. You cannot have a Nick Bolkus as a cabinet minister in the Hawke-Keating government without a Steve Condous breaking that glass ceiling in local government for 20 years as an alderman. He was a pathfinder and I am glad to have known him. I am glad to have been his friend. I will miss him and I will miss is honesty. As they say in our church: may his memory be eternal.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:22): I rise to make a few remarks about the encounters that I had with one Mr Steve Condous. I only met Steve later on in life, mainly because my life has been a lot shorter than his. I came across him in a business capacity when he had a business proposition to put to me as the general manager of the family business. I knew the name Steve Condous and I knew he had something to do with being the Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide but not much beyond that.

As became the custom over the meetings that we would have together, the meetings would take place at his house, which made me pause a little bit thinking, 'What sort of business is it with this guy when I have to go to his house to sit down and have a discussion?' I went along down to Norwood and rocked up to this beautiful, well-manicured front. It was a lovely house. There was Steve, shoes off, in an immaculately presented house in a way that I think that Greek Australians would be extremely proud of. We would sit down at his dining table next to the kitchen and discuss some business.

What again became very apparent to me was that the discussion of business was really just a side note to the discussions that we would have about politics. Over time, I would find excuses about why we would have to go back to reconsider the business that we were going through to be able to sit down and have a discussion. We would certainly get the formal bits out of the way and then sit down and have a chat. Steve would always put on a nice, small spread. We would sit there and I would always make sure that I would put an hour, an hour and a half, a couple hours aside to sit down to have the discussion, knowing that getting out the door would be very difficult.

Every single discussion—and to give context, it was at the time I had just joined the Liberal Party and become a member of the Young Liberals, so was a little bit naive about Steve's history—when he would turn topic to wanting to offer me a piece of advice, he would always start with the same phrase. He said, 'Stefan, let me tell you something.' That was the signal for me to sit down, as a young buck, shut up and listen to the wise advice that was going to come out of his mouth.

I can tell you, as lord mayor he was so proud of the work that he did in Hutt Street. I think he knew every light pole down that street by first name. He certainly did not stop to tell me all the detail about everything he had achieved for that stretch of Adelaide and how he saw that as a real beacon for how you could revitalise Adelaide. I think about some of the questions that this new government is dealing with at the moment, down at the East End of Adelaide, looking at how you rejuvenate a quarter of our city. Certainly, a lot of the work that he did asked the same questions and answered them in the same way.

He gave me a very strong piece of advice and was certainly very encouraging of my getting more involved in the Liberal Party and in politics. For those who have just gone through a marginal seat campaign, Steve told me that he doorknocked the entire seat of Colton before 1993 to win it. The only houses that he did not doorknock were the apartment blocks because he knew that they would turn over so often that it was difficult to build a relationship. After he had done it once and been elected, he went and did it before 1997 when he sought re-election and, as previous speakers have said, he did it extremely well.

He was also extremely proud of his family. Again, he had very strong fatherly advice for me and would often explain the love for and the way he looked after his own family. It was a real blueprint for how South Australian families should operate. I must admit that, in the first instance, I did not understand why he took such an interest in me but, after a longer period of time, I was really grateful that he would invest his time and immense knowledge and experience, and so freely share that with some young kid who just wanted to help sell some sausages to a few Foodland stores.

I think back fondly upon the time that we spent together, and it was extremely sad to hear about Steve's passing. I pass on my condolences to Angela and to the family. This man was a giant. He was someone who was willing to share every aspect of who he was. I think these kinds of characters enrich our parliament and our state and speak to a desire for true public service that should inspire all of us as we go about our work in this place. Vale, Steve Condous.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:27): I rise as many have to also support this condolence motion and to acknowledge the contribution of Mr Steve Condous, who represented the seat of Colton between 1993 and 2002. I should say that, having heard the contributions of members so far, I have growing regret that I never actually met Steve. From what I have heard so far, his contribution to this place and to our state is almost unparalleled.

As has been mentioned, prior to his election as the member for Colton, Mr Condous served with distinction on the Adelaide city council from 1968 to 1993, firstly as a councillor and then later as lord mayor. His work upgrading the Adelaide Aquatic Centre is something that I am personally extremely thankful for and without which I may not even be here today as the member for Colton.

His long tenure on council ably prepared him for his election to state parliament as the member for the newly renamed seat of Colton, replacing the previously named seat of Henley Beach. I am advised that prior to his election to this place, Steve campaigned for a full 16 months and, as was said, doorknocked every single door to recapture the seat for the Liberal Party. In a further testament to his strength as a campaigner, Mr Condous was re-elected at the 1997 election, suffering just a fraction of the statewide swing against the government of the day.

I am told that during his time as the member for Colton, Steve's door was always open to his constituents, whose concerns he passionately represented. His penchant for standing up and fighting for his beliefs, while laudable and, I am sure, respected by his constituents, at times attracted criticism, a price which Steve was only too willing to pay for fights he believed in. In one infamous example, this led him to cross the floor—I believe four times in one night—during a debate on an amendment bill.

During his time as member, he fought for many significant environmental issues that affected Colton at the time, many of which remain relevant today. Improving water quality at the Patawalonga, increasing rainwater retention, improving wetlands and safeguarding our sand dunes were issues he argued passionately for. He also fought strongly on behalf of South Australian small businesses, being a small business owner himself as a distributor of wholesale health foods.

Steve was a patron and active member of many of our local organisations, such as the West Beach Surf Life Saving Club; the Henley Football Club; the Henley Surf Live Saving Club; as I have just heard, Amputee Sports, which I would be interested to know more about; and Heartbeat at The QEH. He was also a keen supporter of the West Torrens Football Club and attended their matches regularly. He was similarly a strong and loyal supporter of the Adelaide Crows and, with perceptive insight, predicted their great success of the 1990s in his maiden speech in this place.

As honourable members have heard, Steve was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004 for his community service to this state. His wife, Angela, an active community member herself through her work as patron of The Advertiser Foundation, continues to do wonderful things for our great state. On behalf of the Colton community and myself, I extend my deepest sympathies to Angela, their daughter, Stacey, and the wider family on the passing of Steve Condous.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

Sitting suspended from 14:32 to 14:41.