Members

Valedictory

Debate resumed.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (16:58): Mr Speaker, I rise to talk about you, mate.

The SPEAKER: I wanted to sit you down.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Today, you have announced that you are depriving the parliament of one of its most unique characters. Anybody and everybody who works in this place at some point or another would have had the privilege of getting to enjoy Leon's company because it is some of the best in the parliament. When Leon is in the zone, cracking a few jokes, telling stories, it is good fun—particularly if there is a frothy or a McLaren Vale shiraz involved at the same time.

There are a number of stories that are worthy of recounting and Leon has referred to a few himself, but there are a couple of things I want to touch on. First, I want to touch on policy. Leon's contribution to public policy in South Australia has been profound, particularly in the context of our tourism sector. Our tourism sector exploded under your leadership and we can talk about what that means to the economy and the big numbers, but what strikes me is that at every part of the deliberations and efforts that you made there was always in the back of your mind a thought for the mums and dads who work in small enterprises that are littered throughout the hospitality and tourism sectors in the state of South Australia. That genuine and sincere, authentic interest in people and their stories and their lives is what has resonated in what would be the tens of thousands of interactions that you have had with your constituents and other random South Australians over a sustained period of time.

That policy is enduring and the legacy is substantial. When we formed government and established the major events advisory committee it was a no-brainer to deploy your black book or your Rolodex, or whatever you want to call it, of contacts around the world. It is amazing how often Leon's name comes up when you are travelling to other parts of the world, on occasions in the strangest of places. It is a policy that has served the government exceedingly well.

But then there are the other moments. I remember watching a night game of Big Bash cricket early on. I was watching the telly and the Strikers were playing and there were sixes going over the boundary and so forth. This six goes over the boundary—and there was a promotion at the time for trying to catch it in the crowd—and I could not believe it; I am watching the telly and I was thinking 'What?' because only Leon Bignell could find himself to be a member of parliament in the right place at the exact right moment to stick his big mitt out and land a catch and then be able to handle it with all the confidence and adulation that someone should be able to carry when they land a six coming into the crowd.

The only reason I share this story is that it is just a little bit of a summation of Leon. He just knows where to be and when and somehow the ball always ends up coming his way and he carries himself in a way that benefits good luck. People say there is good luck, but people make their own luck. Leon just has this uncanny ability to understand how to maximise every opportunity that comes about. That is not through, as I described it, an uncanny ability; it is through an instinct or an impulse to make the most of every interaction because you never know where it is going to lead.

When you are with Leon, particularly in his own community—and his passion for that is well-known and well established—you see it in the interactions that he has with thousands of people. Thinking about Kangaroo Island, I will never forget when the final redistribution report was handed down in 2017, in advance of the 2018 election. I remember exactly where we were. We were in cabinet, at an off-site community cabinet in Marion, and we were in this sort of makeshift room crammed up; it was too small for the meeting and it was hot. There was a degree of anxiousness in the room because this report was going to come down. We knew that a big redistribution was on the cards, and for many of us it is seen as a moment that can seal your fate, or be a moment of deliverance for a degree of confidence going into the next election.

So the report comes down and we are in cabinet and people are looking at their phones, getting messages from their EOs or whoever, trying to work out what is happening to their boundaries. I was in a panic-stricken moment worrying about Croydon. Meanwhile, Leon's electorate was completely spliced, carved up. New communities were being put into Mawson to turn Mawson into a completely different seat to the one that he was elected to in 2006. In fact, the only part of Mawson that was still there was McLaren Vale, and, when you think about it, the hardest part of Mawson for Labor in 2006 ended up basically being the only part of Mawson in 2018.

Some people responded to the redistribution by trying to work out how they could change seats. That is the truth of it, and I can think of a few examples—none here. But then Leon in that cabinet room in an instant, in the way that only he can, just said, 'This is fantastic.' Everyone was like, 'What?' He goes, 'This is fantastic. I have just picked up five pubs, 20 bakeries, a bunch of surf lifesaving clubs and so forth.' He just saw the positive and he said, 'No, I'm going to make it happen.'

Almost everybody thought he was deluded. Kangaroo Island was put into Mawson, which was territory that was perceived to be rolled gold conservative territory with 3,000-odd voters who would never vote Labor no matter what, and Leon just got on with work. He did not complain, he did not whinge and he did not come up with extraordinary asks of the government to make electoral commitments, he just got out there and talked to people. He talked to people in their communities, listening to their issues that had never been otherwise heard before.

I think people gravitated towards Leon as a human being because he was genuinely interested in what they had to say. You cannot fake that. You cannot manufacture it. It has to be sincere because people have the best BS radar out there. They know when you are listening or not. They know if you are sort of looking over their shoulder for the next person to interact with. When Leon is talking to someone, he is all in and he actually cares about it. If you do that enough, what Leon has taught us is that votes can change and then, in turn, you can deliver for your community.

The fact that at the last election every single booth on the island voted for Leon is a testament to him as a character and as an individual. A few years ago that was an utterly incomprehensible political outcome. But it is not the electoral outcome that I want people to focus on, it is an appreciation of the person who sits behind it and the work they put in to achieve it on behalf of that community.

That tenacity and that enduring effort, sustained over 20 years of public service, is something to behold, because the truth is you have never had an easy election. You have never had an easy set of boundaries. It has always been difficult. So to be able to do that for as long as you have speaks to a stamina and a sustained commitment that few other people in this place can lay claim to, and it is worthy of recognition.

I hope that the member for Mawson just takes a bit of a breather after March next year. I know we keep working through to March. I hope he takes a bit of a breather with a bit of pride about the list of policy achievements that he contributed to. There is the protection of McLaren Vale, there is what you have done in tourism, there is the work you have done on KI, particularly post the bushfires, and everything else. We mentioned the Main South Road.

Only you could have delivered those things, and you can take a lot of comfort and pride in it, but I just hope you take a moment of respite. Then, after that respite has concluded, quickly turn your mind to what is next, because in my mind someone with your ability and commitment has something to offer the people of South Australia or the people of this country in the future, or your community or whatever it is that you choose to do.

On behalf of the parliamentary Labor Party and various iterations of the parliamentary Labor Party across five different parliaments, I want to say thank you for what you have done for us. You reflected on what the party has done for you, as I knew you would, but there is what you have done for us. You have given us the opportunity to be in government, to occupy the Treasury benches, to try to make a difference for the people we care about. You have provided those opportunities to us.

Marginal seat members who contribute, who go out there and win the votes—and we have a number of people who are doing that in this parliament—and provide the opportunity for particularly people on the front bench to serve in government is the rarest privilege of all and we owe it to efforts like yours. If you could replicate 47 Leon Bignells—heaven forbid—there would be 47 of you in the parliament. This is an opportunity for me, on behalf of the parliamentary Labor Party and various iterations of it prior, just to say thank you for what you have done for the party.

You have shown us that every vote is winnable and you have shown us how to translate that support into outcomes for people, which is everything we are about. So, to you, Karen, Conor and everybody else who has contributed to your efforts, we praise you and we thank you and we wish you all the very best for your future endeavours.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (17:10): I would like to just make a few comments about our relationship over the course of time. My first understanding of who you were was coming into this place in 2010. There was a huge uproar on this side of the house to our understanding that you rebranded yourself. You came into your second term. You branded yourself as putting your family first, you changed the colour scheme of your election material, and I thought it was a brainchild. I thought you did an outstanding job. The Premier has talked about the things that you did and were able to do through your course of time over your 20-year period.

That was my introduction to you. You are the ever-effervescent, competent kind of person, always bubbling around, always just terrorising the corridors with your positivity. Seeing your gorgeous wife, Karen—I knew her in a former life—and watching Conor come through this place as a young whippersnapper and he has definitely grown into a man from what we knew in those early days. While I do not know Conor as well, I knew Karen reasonably well and she is a beautiful person and you are a very lucky man to have Karen.

What I would say is that, over the course of time, getting to know you I got to know you best on a parliamentary select committee, the grain handling committee. I think the member for Hammond was part of that. The member for now Stuart was the chair of that committee. My goodness, didn't we have some fun, touring the state. First and foremost we entered almost every hotel in country South Australia and we were judging the best schnitzel. In the course of doing that I think we named Keith—I did—as having the best schnitzel in South Australia.

The trip that really opened my eyes to how you could really spread your wings and show your true form was our trip to Perth. We went over there to study the grain bulk handling situation over there. David Pegram was the secretary at the time and David spent a lot of his time worrying about where Leon was and just exactly what Leon was going to do next. I vividly remember that Leon looked at me while we were out, after our day's proceedings, and he said, 'Let's get out and go somewhere.' So we went to a concert out on the outskirts of Perth. I forget the name of the band but it was a lot of fun. We had a lot of laughs but not as many laughs as David had when he had to come back and explain the alcohol bill to the Clerk. That was extraordinary. I remember that the secretary of agriculture in Western Australia said, 'We'll pick up the tab for the food, and you pick up the tab for the alcohol.' We certainly did that.

It was a great committee. You were a lot of fun and we did a lot of things that probably conventional parliamentary committees would not do, all aboveboard, but it was a lot of fun and you were probably one of the head instigators in achieving that. Also, I listened to the Premier talking about you being a person of the people, having a beer, going to the bakery, and that is something that I remember about you.

I think we formed a semi-warm friendship. I called in to your house a couple of times. I knew where you lived. I called in to say g'day. I had not seen you for a while. I think you were sick for a period of time. That was the type of relationship we had. Admittedly, sometimes it was love, sometimes it was hate, but there was always an element of respect. I always called you minister for fun and travel, and I think it was fair enough. You did extensive travel, and, as the Premier said, if there were 47 Leon Bignells, the Treasurer's budget would not be big enough. To be fair, you were a good minister. You excelled, particularly in tourism, particularly in sport.

I know ag was a grind. You responded to me in many favourable ways. We had a terrible hailstorm that came through the Riverland. You had just hopped off a plane and you came straight up and tended to the people that had been absolutely smashed, and I thank you for that. They are some of the memorable moments. During sport, Marg Ralston, a beautiful lady, was very kind to me, always very stern, but always had a guiding word. I thank you, Marg.

The Kangaroo Island bushfires were devastating. It almost burned an island to the ground. As the local member, you spent a lot of time there. I remember calling in to your office during a time when there was a lot of hardship, a lot of uncertainty, and the fires were still smouldering. I had been there for a week. Sadly, I have a close family farm and a lot of friends over there. So, I loaded up my vehicle with beer, and I went over there to just get around and hand out a few cartons of beer. Sadly, I spent most of the week shooting sheep.

The reason that I was doing that was because a lot of those landowners, livestock owners, were in paralysis, they were not handling things too well. I thought that if they are not handling this too well, the local member would be doing it pretty tough too. I remember calling into your office and you had head in hand and you were doing it pretty tough at that time. That is something that I felt that, as an MP leaning out and reaching out to the sitting MP, it was the only noble thing I could have done. I am quite proud that I showed a level of compassion and respect for you going through a very tough time.

In closing, you are the Speaker without a tie. I guess that is the way it is. That was your trademark coming in to the grand chair, and that is the way you roll, and I respect that. Over time, you have been a character of this place. The penny dropped when David Penberthy on radio one morning said that he heard there was a rumour that a veteran MP was going to retire. I thought, Kouts is never going to retire, so I thought it was going to be you. I sent him a little text message and said that it would be you and, lo and behold, today I was proven right. Congratulations on a stellar career. Thank you for putting some entertainment into the building and thank you for being a good MP.

The SPEAKER: Thank you very much. The Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (17:18): I will be the last speaker on your valedictory because the government has business to get on with. I just want to say this: I am an observer of politics. Antony Green in the ABC studios at the last election—we were off camera—came over to the console, where there was me, Rory McClaren and the former deputy premier talking about the results, and he said, 'Pound for pound, best local member in the country, best local member I've ever encountered, best marginal seat member I've ever seen.' To hear someone like Antony Green say that about you is everything you need to know about your career. That is high praise indeed.

I want to say thank you very much for your service to the Labor Party and your service to the people of Mawson. Thank you for your support for me personally. It has always been there. I have always been able to rely on you and I thank you for it. I wish you all the very best for what is going to be happening next in your career. I am sure it will be exciting. Every now and then send us a message, and I will get you over for that pork dinner eventually in Bignell Street, Richmond.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (17:20): I will try to be quick because there is a lot being said about your stellar career. I was one of 10 of us who came in here in 2006 after a raft of elections. I think the member for Light, Tony Piccolo, and I are still running at the next election and we will see what happens there.

One thing I will say is you are one of those characters in the house who is very fair and very friendly. One time, you were the agriculture minister and I was the agriculture parliamentary shadow secretary and we had a fairly solid debate during the committee phase and then immediately after that finished, we were out having a coffee together. That is how it should be. I will never forget that.

Talking about the trips: you came to me and said, 'I am going to do a trip up through the Outback and would you like to come along?' I thought, 'This is great.' David Ridgway was the actual shadow agriculture minister and I said to David, 'What do you think?' He said, 'Go along; that's good.' We had a fantastic time flying around Leigh Creek, Oodnadatta and Lyndhurst. You were very fair: you gave me the opportunity to speak to the farmers and station owners.

I remember one night in Leigh Creek, we were holed up in a room, I think Ruth was there—I do not want to name too many staff—and we just had a few light refreshments, and that is how it should be: out having a bipartisan trip around the bush.

In closing, I want to say a couple of things about the Viterra select committee that I instigated in 2010-11. Tim, the member for Chaffey, mentioned the schnitzels. We turned up in Pinnaroo one night—he knows what is coming—which was in my electorate and I had not warned the pub that we were going to need a certain number of schnitzels for dinner. We were going to be one short so the member for Chaffey and I took the hit and we had half a schnitzel each. Some people argue you only need half a schnitzel.

We have already talked about fine dining and fine wines. Three of us went on a trip to Canada: you, Leon, Geoff Brock and I. We had a dinner one night and I was getting some stressful comments from the committee staff that one bottle of wine blew the whole dinner budget out of the window. But that is what it was. You are the salesman for the parliament. It was very enjoyable and it has been a pleasure to serve with you.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, everyone, for those kind words.