Members

Valedictory

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (17:00): When I reflect on the stages of my life to this point, often they are defined as being either side of important turning points: pre or post swimming, pre or post marriage, soon to be pre or post politics, and the most seminal of all, pre or post kids. For Lizzy and me, like most parents, having Fletcher and Macey in our lives has changed our purpose and challenged us in ways we never imagined, but has also provided us unimaginable joy and fulfilment. The decision to depart politics now is also for them.

Fletch and Macey never had the opportunity to see me swim competitively, doing what I loved and what consumed the early part of my life, but grandpa has from time to time been tempted, in a way that I never would, to show them some videos of past successes—successes that were shared in the same way that the dedication and sacrifice to achieve them were shared.

At this stage, as I prepare to leave politics, I would like to share some insights on the similarities that exist between elite sport and politics because, as it turns out, the two are more similar than most would think, and perhaps in ways that some would not expect. Firstly, finding purpose and enjoyment is important. Anybody who thinks that swimming is an individual sport is very sadly mistaken; after all, nobody gets up at 4am to swim by themselves. Without a clear idea of why you are looking down at a black line for hours and hours on end, it gets hard pretty quickly.

I have been lucky in politics to be surrounded by an amazing team. To the members of the Colton SEC, some of whom are here today, thank you, firstly, for the confidence that you had in me to take on the challenge of winning the seat of Colton eight years ago and also for your steadfast support, friendship and counsel in the years that followed. In particular, a thankyou to those who have served as SEC presidents over the years: Andy Giles, Narelle Hards and Graham Parry. The Colton SEC has always been an active and engaged group, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to represent you and our broader community in this place.

To my staff at the electorate office, both past and present, a sincere thankyou. To the current team of Jack, Tom and Kerry, you have served our western community in a professional manner each and every day. You are not just great at what you do, you are also quality people, and I cannot say thankyou enough for your loyalty and for standing side by side with me over the journey.

I found purpose in politics at the local level. I entered politics as an outsider who was passionate about making a difference, improving the outlook of our state, delivering improvements and supporting our local neighbourhood. I hope that my community knows that I did this to the best of my ability each and every day. I am incredibly proud of the work that my local team and I, in partnership with our community, undertook over my time as the local MP.

We worked hard to save the Western Hospital. The grassroots movement to save the hospital involved a diverse cross-section of the local community. The hospital friends group, advocates, volunteers and local businesses culminated in a near 23,000-signature petition being presented to the parliament. As I said at that time, I am incredibly pleased that the government took the course of action it did on that issue.

I have been pleased since to watch closely as the hospital transitioned to new ownership and I am pleased to say that the new management has retained, as best as possible, the community feel of the hospital by retaining a role for the significant volunteer group. The famous Western Hospital Christmas and Easter raffles have returned, care of The Friends of Western Hospital, and our local rotary group is still making thousands of sandwiches a year from the hospital kitchen to assist the KickStart for Kids breakfast program.

I have seen services at the hospital expand, and even as recently as last week we saw oncology services that were unfortunately lost in the transfer of ownership returned to the hospital with plans for future expansion. At the end of the day, my community, like many others, does not want to see political pointscoring, they just want to see both government and opposition work in the best interests of our local community. Serving your community in parliament should not be about sledging or overt partisan politics but about delivering outcomes for those we serve.

We fought for improved environmental outcomes on our coastline. The ongoing mismanagement of our coast and beaches is the one policy area that I wish I was able to reach a sensible conclusion on prior to me moving on from this place. Those opposite know that this has gone on for far too long and that further delay and obstruction will have more severe environmental and economic impacts. Given all the talk I have heard from the government over the recent weeks and months about being guided by science rather than politics, my parting message to them on this issue is to please heed their own advice.

Over and above these projects, we delivered upgrades at Breakout Creek, Henley High, local primary schools, kindergartens and sporting clubs and I believe I leave having made an impact, hopefully not just with physical infrastructure but also in the way I went about the job.

I will sincerely miss the unique level of interaction that being a local MP enables with our local clubs and community organisations, but I know that those friendships and connections will remain strong into the future as Lizzy and I continue to raise our children in the community that we call home.

Secondly, timing is everything and culture matters. Elite sport is based on four-year Olympic and Paralympic cycles and so are elections in South Australia. We can never choose when we make the breakthrough and debut on national teams. For some, the apex of your career involves two Games. For others, you may only be in your prime for one. Most of the time, though, it is a coach or a leader who helps us unlock our potential and sets us on a path.

While I have been lucky to be surrounded and supported by a group who I can only describe as gold-medal standard, classy individuals—and they know who they are—I would like to highlight the role that two important people played, without whom I would not have had the opportunity to serve. The first is Steven Marshall. A lot has already been said about the skill and work ethic that Steven applied and does apply to everything he does. But I can hand on heart stand here today and say that Steven's vision for our party and for our state is the reason that I was motivated to enter politics.

The second is the member for Morialta, John Gardner. Without his friendship and support this journey would have been a little less full. While I am sad to see John leave the parliament, I am certain the significance of the loss will only be felt by our party in his absence. I am so very pleased about and proud of his decision and the time he can now commit to Trudi and the girls.

Finally, family is everything. You cannot be a successful athlete without unwavering support from those closest to you. Sharing success and failure with a wider circle makes the highs more enjoyable and the lows that little more tolerable. Being an elite athlete is an inherently selfish endeavour. You have to make decisions that best support performance, so saying no is often more frequent than it should be. Parents sacrifice sleep and sanity for early morning pool runs and full weekends on the pool deck.

In some ways, politics is very similar, with your direct family having to sacrifice for you to have the opportunity to do your job to the best of your ability and at a standard the community should expect. Collectively, our families are aware of the sacrifice required when we sign up for the job—although sometimes not fully aware, but still aware—but it does not mean that it is always easy. To the love of my life and my rock, Lizzy, and our two children, Fletch and Macey: I cannot thank you enough for your patience, for your willingness to sacrifice and for your unconditional love. I love you all very much. I am looking forward to you having dad available again on weekends and to better support baseball games, swimming lessons, basketball, Little Athletics and whatever sporting or other pursuits that you are inspired to pursue.

To finish, I want to share a couple of things that have centred my approach to politics and to life generally. One of the things I am really grateful for and that this job has allowed me to do is to continue to raise awareness and share the impact and importance of the Paralympic movement in Australia. Many of our local community groups and service clubs have heard me talk about many things, often not involving politics, over the years. In short, the importance of the Paralympic movement is far more than providing a platform for elite sport for people with a disability, although it is certainly that. It is about changing perception, showing the value of equality and ensuring we all understand our own personal responsibility to not limit ourselves.

Like others before me, it is now time to publicly air my non-socially acceptable obsession: the game of baseball. Many in the chamber would not have heard of Major League pitcher Jim Abbott, who had a successful 10-year career through the nineties, including pitching a no-hitter. He was born with a congenital hand amputation. I think one of his quotes succinctly articulates why the Paralympic movement is important: 'Never allow the circumstances of your life to become an excuse. People will allow you to do it. But I believe we have a personal obligation to make the most of the abilities we have.' This is what the Paralympics is all about: making the most of your abilities and the opportunity, whether that be in the sporting context or, more importantly, in everyday life.

To that end, I stand by my first contribution in this place, where I spoke about the notion of opportunity and how it underpins core Liberal concepts and the need for government to provide citizens with the opportunity to succeed and to put the economic and social settings in place that allow all South Australians the opportunity to forge their own successes through hard work. Much work has been done to this end, but there is still work left to do.

Only in the last few weeks have I fully appreciated the impact of the conversations and words that I use every day, understanding that they are indirectly being absorbed by my kids and how that is shaping them as humans. Both Lizzy and I could not be prouder of both Macey and Fletcher. Fletcher came home with a picture book that he had authored and illustrated at school a few weeks ago and seeing it made Lizzy and I smile and cry at the same time and really reflect and I want to share it today. The book was titled The Question and it began:

One day a little man lived in a house. He had three legs. One day, someone knocked on the door and said, 'Why do you have three legs?' He said, 'I was just born like this.'

It is simple, it is beautiful and it is exactly the outlook that we want our kids to have. As leaders, as a South Australian community, kids can teach us lessons that we did not even know we needed to hear. A society that is just a little more accepting and tolerant of difference, no matter if that is physical difference, differing political views or priorities, is important and it is one that we should strive for. Tolerance and acceptance of our differences has been the bedrock of the democratic system of government forever, and it must remain that way, but in the years ahead I suspect we will need to fight harder than ever to ensure that remains the case.

Finally, I never got into politics for a career. I have always seen my time representing my community as a period of service and an opportunity to return some of the phenomenal goodwill I received during my swimming career. With the number of MPs stepping away from politics ahead of the next election, I have also reflected on the changing make-up of this chamber and perhaps, while novel, I think it is time that we appreciate that, no matter when we enter or leave this chamber, whether it be early career, perhaps having spent some time in a professional setting before entering mid-career, or finding one's way here prior to retirement, each has value and brings different perspectives.

As was announced in May this year, I will initially return to sport as Deputy Chef de Mission for the 2026 Australian Commonwealth Games team competing in Glasgow next year. It continues to be an honour to help and inspire the next generation of Australian athletes and I hope to continue making a contribution to Australian sport as we head towards an important milestone games in 2032.

Thank you again to the people of Colton for the opportunity to serve them. As Seattle Mariners superstar Ken Griffey said, 'To succeed in baseball, as in life, you must make adjustments.' And so it is time for me to make an adjustment. Thank you for having me.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (17:17): I take this opportunity to thank the member for Colton for his enormous contribution to his local community and his state and his party. I also thank the wonderful gallery who are here with us this afternoon, starting with Lizzy, Fletcher and Macey, who I know have been Matt's everything. It was such a heartfelt tribute to them for all their support. To his family, to people who have been involved in the party, staff, supporters, those who have stood with Matt and fought elections with him the whole time, thank you.

Matt is one of the good guys in politics. He is genuine, thoughtful, compassionate and professional and just as he has excelled in sport in another career he has excelled in politics for his community, for his state and his party and it has been a privilege to have him in our team. I know that the electors of Colton are very grateful for the enormous contribution that Matt has made, improving the lives of many throughout his community.

He has made an enormous difference during his time in this place and on behalf of the opposition I would like to take this opportunity to thank him and to wish him well in his best endeavours in his next part of the journey. To Lizzy, Fletcher and Macey: I know you are going to enjoy having Matt around for much longer. He is a dedicated father. I know that he loves his family and we are very sad to see him go, but I know he is going to love every minute being with you.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (17:19): Matt Cowdrey is a wonderful ambassador. He is a wonderful ambassador for his sport, he is a wonderful ambassador for this parliament and, unfortunately for us, he was a wonderful ambassador for the Liberal Party.

We are in neighbouring seats and I saw firsthand his independent thought processes. It has been my experience in watching leaders that the first principle and characteristic most leaders have is the ability for independent thought, and Matt has that in spades. I will give two examples. There was a potential code amendment occurring in Lockleys while the Marshall government was in office being considered by the then planning minister and Deputy Premier. There was a very large public meeting, which could have been hostile to a government MP. Matt, classy as always, turned up, took people's questions and took their considerations back to the government. He always remained loyal to his party but remained independently minded about what he thought should happen.

The other was a very difficult vote in this parliament on the decriminalisation of abortion, where I thought Matt made one of the most telling and important contributions of the debate at the end, which I thought was moving. I will not do it justice, but I thought the way he spoke spoke for all of us in the minority, and for that I am eternally grateful. That day, he earned a respect that I do not give to very many people in this parliament, because he showed a vulnerability to the parliament that I think not many MPs do.

Matt will go on and do amazing things and be a great ambassador for our country and our Paralympians in Glasgow, and he will serve them well there. No matter what he does in the future, no doubt he will be an exceptional participant. The people of Colton no doubt will be very grateful for his service as well. I stood with him every day in the last election at a pre-poll, and it broke my heart the number of people he knew personally coming up to vote. He was well respected by his community and he was a great standard bearer for his side in the western suburbs because of his character, and it shines through.

I would like to personally wish Matt and his family all the very best for what he does next. He is held in high regard in the parliament by all sides, not just for his personal achievements in sport but for the way he carried himself when he was in this place, and that should echo. So congratulations on your service in this parliament and congratulations on what you do next. I am sure it will be a huge success.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (17:22): I rise perhaps on a slightly lighter note, and because Matt is so constantly and totally modest about his extraordinary achievements, I will put them on the record right at this moment. We had the joy of coming to the parliament together. In many of the same ways, Matt highlighted the extraordinary inspiration that was Steven Marshall in inspiring us as to what we could do and what we could bring in terms of a change, and it was a wonderful thing to come to government together.

Matt came to the parliament against a background of being the singular most successful Australian Paralympian, with 13 gold medals and 23 medals in total. He is the only person I can think of who, in all modesty, could reflect upon some of his favourite gold medals. That is something that I think he did without even thinking about that extraordinary context. In his final valedictory remarks in this place, that he drew parallels from high-level sporting achievement to what can be done in public service, including in the parliament, I think speaks to his commitment to that public service. I think we all, in South Australia, are the better for his having served these two terms, particularly those members of the community in Colton.

I want to pay tribute to you, Matt, and wish you, Lizzy, Macey and Fletcher (the author of that wonderful story) all the very best together over the years ahead.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta) (17:25): I was very struck by a lot of things Matt said today. It was a beautiful, humble, heartfelt and deeply intelligent speech from a beautiful, humble, heartfelt and deeply intelligent man who it has been a real privilege to serve with in this parliament. It is also a real privilege for me to have this opportunity to respond today, much as I had hoped—having announced my own retirement a bit over a year ago—that I would not have this opportunity: I had hoped that Matt would serve us for many years. As a South Australian, as a friend, I am grateful that I can now catch up with him without necessarily having to do so in this building.

I know this is absolutely the right decision for Matt and his family. He has always worked hard to prioritise family, and has always expressed his appreciation to his family and the role they played in his sporting career. However, ever since he has been in this parliament, and especially since the children have come along, it has been Lizzy, Fletcher and Macey who have been central to everything he has thought about. Now he will have more time to put that priority into practice every day of his life.

Whatever happens professionally next for Matt, after the wonderful trip he is going to have as the Deputy Chef de Mission for the Commonwealth Games team, where he is going to serve our country proudly once again, there are not too many jobs in the world that are available that would not enable you to spend more of your own self being present in the moment with your children and your family when you are with them. I know that Matt will enjoy that.

Matt and I were introduced by a mutual friend by the name of Priya Pavri, who studied law with Matt. Priya actually spoke to me earlier today and asked me to put on the record a couple of her thoughts about the sort of person Matt is. She wrote to me:

It's so special to make friends when you're young with people who you can think with, share ideas with, and debate different approaches with—and who share a drive to serve our local communities. It's even more special to see them go on to represent their local community with integrity—never stuck in the past but always continuing to listen and grow their ideas!

Matt is somebody who has served that community with integrity and who has made everybody who has supported him on that journey extremely proud along the way.

Matt's campaign manager in his first election in 2018 was a woman called Bec Lynas, who subsequently went on to serve this house in my office when I was leader of the house and Manager of Government Business. She organised the business of the house for two years and went on to be chief of staff to the Minister for Education during the pandemic.

Now, campaign managers and candidates, as the Premier well knows, can have a unique sort of relationship—sometimes that can be a very challenging relationship and sometimes it can be a positive. If you are wondering how Matt Cowdrey's relationship was with his campaign manager, it is typical of his character that his campaign manager also got in touch with me today asking me to share a few words. She said:

Matt: it was an absolute privilege to serve as your campaign manager in 2018 and work side by side with you to win back Colton. We took an 'all politics is local' approach, kept it simple, and that's exactly how you went on to serve—logical, no fuss, and always focused on making local issues relatable and achievable.

Watching you grow and flourish as a genuine, smart and hardworking local MP (all while becoming a dad and everything that comes with that) has been an absolute pleasure.

Matt's legacy to his community and to this state is significant. Some of it has been touched on, but it is typical of his modesty that he did not talk that much about the role he played.

In regard to Health, I had some insight into that story of the Western Hospital, because on the day the news broke that there were challenges at the Western Hospital I was supposed to be travelling to Kangaroo Island with Matt, and was looking forward to two hours of music and banter—all the things you expect on a road trip. Instead I got two hours of Matt on the phone to what seemed like dozens of local community people, health officials, businesses, people in the media working to build that campaign that was ultimately so important in protecting health services in the west.

Apart from that, he was a strong advocate for achievements like the return of cardiac services and the rebuild at The QEH. As Minister for Education during the term of the last government, you can imagine Matt had strong engagement at local schools and preschools and, as minister, I recall Matt would always be expecting the minister to pay due attention to those sites. He was a strong advocate in a reasonable way on behalf of his community, and they did very well by his service.

What is perhaps less well known is the significant role Matt played supporting my office in a working group developing a strategy for early learning, which ultimately formed part of a budget bid that was successful in 2021 to support parents and families and particularly developmentally vulnerable young people who were so in need of extra support. Matt's strategic insight into that role not only helped shape that policy, which was so well funded and has since been expanded on and continues to be supported by the current government according to that strategic intent, but was also critical to supporting me in getting the then Treasurer across the line and actually funding the program, which was no small feat.

In environment, sport, transport, infrastructure, and many more areas, Matt left a mark in his local community and in our state. Most importantly, Matt, from my point of view, I want to thank you for your friendship, your counsel and your advice. You are somebody of extraordinary integrity and purpose. At the age of 36, you are now about to embark on your fourth career. Any of the first three no doubt would have been satisfactory or mind-blowingly impressive to most people that we would ever like to meet. I have no doubt that you are going to make a profound impact in the years ahead and you are going to do us all proud. To Lizzy, Fletcher, Macey and you, Matt, I wish you all the very best.

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (17:31): I was elected only in 2022 at the last election and the member for Colton, from the very beginning of my first interaction with him, has always been incredibly kind and respectful and often very funny. I do not know if friendship is too far, but I have really appreciated his friendship since being elected. I do not know if anybody else feels this way, and I might be talking out of school, but, too late, I am halfway through the sentence. You know how sometimes you are standing at the lift in this building, and it has been a long day, and you just think, who am I going to be in the lift with because my patience is at a low level? When the lift doors open and it is Matt in there, I am so happy because I know that we are going to be able to talk about our families, and I know it is going to be lighthearted and it is going to be lovely and there is not going to be anything of here pulled into there.

You have always been so kind to me and you have always acted with such integrity. It has been a pleasure being on the Economic and Finance Committee with you. While I am very, very sad that I will not get to see you in these corridors anymore, it has been really, lovely to see how happy you have looked over the last few months. It is like a weight has lifted off, and you knowing that you are going to be able to spend more time with your family is really, really special. Thank you very much for being such a wonderful colleague/friend over the last few years, and all the very, very best for what is next.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (17:33): I would also like to pay tribute to the member for Colton and the work he has done for his community. Colton, of course, is the direct neighbour of the electorate that I represent, Morphett. In fact, with boundary changes that seem to happen every election, the most recent being that Glenelg North moved from Colton back to Morphett, there has been a real synergy between our two offices over the eight years that Matt has been the member for Colton and I have been the member for Morphett.

I first got to know Matt, of course, during the 2018 election. Like the member for Heysen, I was elected in 2018. Of course, I had seen Matt and knew of him as a Paralympic champion. Just getting to know him on the polling booths at pre-poll and just seeing how down to earth he is and how humble he is was a fantastic experience.

As soon as he was elected, we were sharing the coastline between Glenelg, Glenelg North, up to West Beach. The communities are very much interlinked, and I would oftentimes come across the community of Colton who were at Glenelg quite often shopping or at the surf clubs. They all spoke of Matt in the highest terms, and I just want to echo that not only was he respected in his community of Colton but he was certainly also respected in the community of Morphett.

As parliamentarians, we are there to represent our community, but you can see by Matt's contribution that it was more than just representing his direct community—it was about making sure that the overall western area was well supported. As you can see, with his passion for his future endeavours in terms of the Paralympic movement, it is more than that: it is making sure that South Australians are supported, and Australians are supported as well.

As he mentioned, his work with the Western Hospital has been really important for his community. Community hospitals are so important to a lot of the communities they are in. To see the passion that he has for the Western Hospital I think really sets up his community, but also sets up people in my electorate as well because many of them make use of the Western Hospital.

In terms of him talking about his family and how important they are, again the reason we go into politics is to make a better world not only for our family but also for other families. He has brought the experience of having a young family. The challenges that we all have as parliamentarians trying to represent so many families in our communities mean that our direct families have to make sacrifices. So to Matt, I wish you all the best. I am certain you will do just as well in your future career as you have done in your previous careers. To Lizzy, Fletch and Macey: enjoy having your dad back.

The SPEAKER (17:36): I would like to offer my congratulations to Matt and the recognition that, at 36 years of age, you have already put yourself on the world stage as Australia's most successful Paralympian and then served like a champion in your local area for your constituents, for sporting clubs and for community groups. I have not heard anyone have a bad word to say about the advocacy role that you have played for them in your time in here. I wish you all the very best for whatever the next chapters bring, because at 36 you have already achieved so much and I am sure you will continue to be a world-beater in whatever you do. Congratulations.