Condolence

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan) (15:38): I rise to speak to the motion moved by the Premier and seconded by the Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition on the sad passing of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, expressing our condolences as a house to His Majesty the King and the royal family at this very historic and, of course, sad time. I share the sense of grief and loss that is being experienced right around the world at this time.

In my lifetime, certainly until the last couple of weeks, I have only known one sovereign—Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. There has been much commentary about her extraordinary life over the past few weeks, being referred to as the glorious reign of the second Elizabethan era by some. I tend to reflect on it as the most extraordinary service of a dedicated and selfless and dignified individual. Since her very first days on the throne, she has exemplified what leadership and what service are all about, and so I share that great sense of loss and grief at this time.

I had the great honour to meet with Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace in October 2018. This was a meeting that was arranged by our Agent General at the time, Bill Muirhead. It was a great honour to meet with Her Majesty. I had seen commentary on meeting with Her Majesty before that she always put people at ease and that she had a great sense of humour and a great sense of interest in all that was being said, and certainly that was my great experience.

We talked at length on various wideranging topics, including her visits to South Australia and her parents' visit to South Australia, when they went into the now electorate of Finniss, I would think it would be, and stayed at Wellington Lodge. She also spoke about topics like rail gauges in Australia, the difference between the Senate and the House of Lords, PTS, defence, space and a huge number of topics. I was particularly interested in her knowledge and appreciation of the growing crowds that were attending ANZAC Day services. It was an extraordinary moment for me to have that opportunity during my time as the Premier of South Australia.

I wrote to Her Majesty on a regular basis keeping her updated about what was happening here in South Australia, and I always received correspondence back. I updated her on the terrible bushfires that occurred and the way that we were dealing with the coronavirus, and I was always impressed at the speed with which we received correspondence back. That demonstrated to me the great love she had for this state, and that was, of course, what she conveyed in that audience that was held at Buckingham Palace.

In fact, her final lines to me at that audience in October 2018 were that she had always enjoyed her visits to South Australia, but unfortunately she would not be making a further visit, and that prophesy proved to be correct, unfortunately for us in this state. However, she did make numerous visits here. The first, of course, was in 1954, when she came to this parliament, and it has been wonderful to see some of those historic images of that visit and many others being shown in the media in recent times.

I had the good fortune to speak with Her Majesty on a second occasion, which was a fairly novel experience. In fact, I think it was one of the very first times she had spoken on a Zoom meeting, and it was the occasion at which we were presenting, virtually, a maquette of the wonderful sculpture that graces the grounds of Government House.

I must say that, when I became the Premier of South Australia, I was astounded at the very few representations of Her Majesty here in our state, so I very quickly was able to get in touch with the Art Gallery of South Australia to see whether they had any portraits. I was very pleased to work with the President in the other place to make sure that that portrait of Her Majesty hung adjacent to the Legislative Council chamber.

I also had the opportunity to speak with the Hon. Hieu Van Le, who was the Governor of South Australia at the time, and I was very pleased that he took on the project of commissioning a sculpture of Her Majesty for the grounds of Government House. For that, we are again grateful to our Agent General at the time, Bill Muirhead, who effected an audience between Her Majesty and the great South Australian artist Robert Hannaford, and some of his paintings hang in this building. He was able to have that audience, meet with Her Majesty and create that extraordinary sculpture.

There are only three sculptures of Her Majesty in Australia—in fact, the second one goes right back to 1988—so I think that we have contributed in South Australia to those statues that exist. The thing that I really love about this sculpture by Robert Hannaford is that it depicts Her Majesty not set on a plinth or a pedestal above everybody but walking around the grounds of Government House, handbag on her arm, hat on her head just like many people will remember her.

I must say that I think it has been a central figure in the mourning that has taken place in South Australia. I am very grateful for that opportunity to be part of the establishment of that statue. I would like to thank not only thank the Hon. Hu Van Le for his work in bringing that project to fruition but the generous donors who all contributed very significantly. That sculpture did not cost the taxpayers of South Australia any money.

I also would like to put on the record my grateful thanks to Her Excellency the Hon. Frances Adamson AC, the Governor of South Australia, and the government for the outstanding way that we have responded with state mourning at this time. I was fortunate enough to work alongside some very professional people within Protocol in my time in office, and in particular I would like to acknowledge the work of Carolyn Sladden, the head of Protocol. She and I had many meetings prior to March this year, planning what we would do as a state.

I must say that early planning and the work of the current government delivered, I think, a very dignified response to this very sad occasion. I would like to put on the record my grateful thanks to Carolyn Sladden and the team at Protocol, Her Excellency the Hon. Frances Adamson AC and, of course, the government for their responses.

There has been an outpouring of emotion and sentiment at the passing of Her late Majesty. I have spent quite a bit of time speaking to people in my electorate, visiting some of the nursing homes and retirement villages where people maybe could not come in to sign the condolence books either at my office or in Government House. Nearly everybody has a personal reflection, a personal story, on a life well lived. Her late Majesty was held in such high regard by so many, and it was all a reflection of her extraordinary service.

I do not think there has ever been a monarch in the past who has served with such dedication. Because of her length of time, I think it is very unlikely that we will see similar service into the future. Having said that, I would like to conclude my remarks by offering again my sincere condolences and also my best wishes to His Majesty King Charles III. I wish him all the very best. It is an honour to serve in this parliament during his reign. I hope it is a long and happy service to his people throughout the world. God save the King.