Members

Weatherill, Hon. J.W., Retirement

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:01): Earlier today, the member for Cheltenham announced that he would be retiring from the South Australian parliament, and I would just like to place on record a few thoughts on behalf of the government.

The member for Cheltenham first came into this place in the election that was held in 2002. He served in so many roles right throughout his time and made an extraordinarily valuable contribution to this parliament. Unlike many people, he went straight into a frontbench role in Mike Rann's cabinet. In his first appointment, he was made the minister for government enterprise, urban development, planning and administrative services. Subsequent to that appointment, he literally has filled just about every single portfolio going.

His variety of portfolios included gambling, families and communities, housing, ageing, disability, Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation, environment and conservation, early childhood development, education, science and the information economy, state development, treasurer, the public sector, the arts, finance, investment and trade, small business, defence and space industries, health industries and veterans' affairs. Of course, we all know that in October 2011 the member for Cheltenham became the 45^th Premier of South Australia, serving in the role for 6½ years until the election held in March this year.

Can I say that on a personal level I have always got along extraordinarily well with the member for Cheltenham. We share many interests; people think that this is really only Port Adelaide, where we share great love for the Port Adelaide Football Club, but there are many other things that the member for Cheltenham and I share, including interests within public policy.

I particularly want to commend him for his great interest in the past in key areas, such as Indigenous affairs and reconciliation, which can be very problematic and tough areas of public policy. We had plenty of discussions offline about that portfolio, and I really appreciate his genuine interest in that area. Of course, he has moved the dial in terms of critical areas of public policy, such as early childhood development, and we had lots of discussions about his interests in different and innovative methodologies in education. I know that it was a portfolio he absolutely loved.

I do not know what lies in front of the member for Cheltenham. He is a very young man, so I am sure that whatever that is he has a long career ahead of him. I genuinely hope that it is a fantastic next career for you, sir. I wish you, Mel, Lucy, Alice and your extended family all the very best for the future. We faced off against each other at two elections in 2014 and 2018—so it is one all. I wish you all the very best for whatever lies ahead.

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition, on indulgence.

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): I thank the parliament for its indulgence. Today does mark a very significant day for the great Australian Labor Party in this state, and it also marks a very significant day for our parliament. This is the state, as the member for Cheltenham referred to earlier, that produced the first-ever Labor government anywhere in the world. Since then, of course, the Rann and Weatherill governments have been the longest serving continuous Labor government we have ever seen in this state.

If timing is everything in politics, Jay Weatherill is truly the Don Bradman of this parliament. Over his 16½ years in this place, he almost had an average of 99.94 per cent in time on the front bench. It is an extraordinary record. As the premier articulated, it is not likely to be one ever matched in terms of time on the front bench, and it is probably quicker to name the portfolios he has not held rather than the ones he has. That was of course achieved through a number of ways. People might point to a degree of luck, and people might point to a degree of political skill, but what we know in this house is that it is actually so much more than that. It is also a testament to the way in which the member for Cheltenham has always carried himself as an individual and as a person.

Jay's record of service is a product of his commitment to civility and decency. More than anything else, there is something about the member for Cheltenham that makes him so incredibly rare. In politics, particularly in roles of leadership, it is highly unusual to see someone have a high degree of self-belief while still retaining such a high degree of humility. Yet, in the member for Cheltenham, those are exactly the characteristics we see coming together.

It is also that combination of humility and steely resolve that made the member for Cheltenham absolutely the right choice to lead our party after premier Rann decided to retire back in 2011. Although, in that instance, I can say with some authority that it was Mike and Jay together who chose the timing, in many ways it was really the time that chose Jay because, quickly after assuming the premiership, the challenges for our state started to come rather thick and fast.

I think the member for Cheltenham's commitment to civility and his mild manner can sometimes result in a misunderstanding of his willingness to fight. That was put to the test early in his premiership in the fight for the River Murray, when the premier at the time decided to stand up, look right in the eye the challenge of the upstream states taking our water from our river and decide to fight. More than that, he did not choose just to fight: he also chose to win.

That conscious decision to choose to win is something that went on to characterise the member for Cheltenham's time in the premiership altogether. Later into his time as premier, he was faced with other significant challenges, probably the most significant of which was the economic struggle coming our way. Faced with the decision to send the submarine work to Japan, and faced with the decision to close Holden, our premier chose to stand up and fight for our state and fight for jobs.

Jay and Tom (member for West Torrens) are probably two of the most persuasive people I have met in my entire life. That certainly came to the fore in late 2015 when the premier asked me to put up my hand to run for state parliament. I remember distinctly at the time that a confidant of mine, a good friend and someone I rely on for advice, said, 'What are you thinking? Holden is closing and the state is facing double-digit unemployment. It would be the worst possible time to go into state politics.' Despite that, somehow the premier and the member for West Torrens persuaded me to do it.

I will never forget that first cabinet meeting, which was around the same time and which I was lucky enough to be in, thinking to myself, 'Maybe I'll get into cabinet and get access to Treasury documents or something that would show that, yes, this threat of double-digit employment is coming our way and it's inevitable.' Instead, what I saw was the member for Cheltenham showing that he had not just extraordinary political skill but also a genuine commitment to high-quality public policy.

Then, all at once in cabinet—I will never forget my first cabinet meeting—the premier made it crystal clear that our focus would be to choose to win on behalf of the state and to fight for jobs and that he had a direction and a determination about how he would do it. It was a combination of resolve and public policy nous, but also understanding of the intersection with politics, that made the premier an incredible leader. The premier has not just made himself a great leader for our state but also a leader that our party felt incredibly proud to call our leader.

His legacy is a profound one. More than anything else, I thought my final reflection would be on a little story about that issue of choosing to win. I remember it was during the course of the 2014 election campaign. It was pretty rough and ready, and it was always going to be a tough election for Labor to win, as we were seeking a fourth term in office. Jay has incredible self-belief. He picked up the phone one day and we were having a chat while I was still secretary of the union. I remember chatting to the premier and talking about his plan to win, and we started talking about possibilities that might emerge post the election and the idea of a minority parliament was contemplated, although we were pursuing a majority, of course.

We started canvassing various options, various possibilities, and I will never forget the premier saying to me on the phone that he thought there might be a chance of someone joining our team in a way that was not predictable. I thought, 'What's he talking about? Crossbenchers? The member for Fisher? The member for Frome? What's he getting to?' He said, 'No, no. There's something else that might happen.' I said, 'What are you talking about?' Eventually he relented and said to me, 'I think maybe someone from the other side would be a chance of coming across.' I remember thinking, 'His self-belief has taken us to the complete twilight zone. Our premier is now officially in denial mode. What is he thinking? There couldn't possibly be anyone from the Liberal Party who would cross the floor to support our Labor government.'

Little did we know that it was not just pure self-belief; it was a combination of determination and formidable foresight that we saw in a political leader that, of course, would indeed come to be true. The former premier, the member for Cheltenham, is someone who is also going out with something that rarely occurs in politics generally. It is a tough business. It is one of the hardest businesses around, and I think that often results in people leaving in acrimony and sometimes with a sense of dissatisfaction or distaste but we know that is not happening here for the member for Cheltenham. But more than that, not everyone gets to leave with an extraordinary degree of genuine adoration, and we have that in spades for you, Jay.

You have been a great leader, you have been a great servant to our state and we wish you all the very best in the future.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!