MEMBERS' CONTRIBUTION

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. D.W. Ridgway:

That this council recognises the contribution of the Hon. Caroline Schaefer and the Hon. Robert Lawson to the parliament and the community of South Australia.

(Continued from 28 October 2009. Page 3743.)

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (19:51): I rise tonight to speak to the motion recognising the contribution of the Hon. Caroline Schaefer and the Hon. Robert Lawson to the South Australian parliament and to the state. As members are well aware, those two members of our team are retiring at the next election, and I thought it would be appropriate to start congratulatory remarks the week before our last sitting week, because we know that private member's business gets clogged up. We will be here particularly late tonight, I suspect, and probably the last Wednesday of sitting and, on the Thursday night, we often have long valedictories. So, I thought tonight was an appropriate time to outline just a few of the highlights of their careers and then, I hope, other members will make some contributions. Anything that has not been said, I will be able to say by way of summing up at the end so that I get the final say.

Caroline Schaefer was elected to the state parliament on 1 August 1993 to fill a casual vacancy left by Dr Bob Ritson. She faced a general election four months later, on 11 December, and was elected in her own right. Since then, she has been actively involved on a great number of committees and councils both within the parliament and other organisations relevant to her special interests.

In one of the highlights of her career, Caroline was the first and, so far, only woman in South Australia to be appointed minister for primary industries, albeit for a very short time—from 4 December 2001 to 5 March 2002—prior to the election that saw Labor form government in 2002.

Caroline's particular interests are in agri-business and the food industry, and she is especially proud of her involvement in the Premier's Food for the Future Council and the leadership of the Food for the Future issues group which, for the first time, brought together various government departments and commercial business leaders, working to nurture new businesses and increase South Australia's exports, with great success.

The Food for the Future program that she convened was the most entrepreneurial, innovative and successful program for the term of the previous government. It enabled a number of food businesses to develop well beyond their previous capabilities. Many achieved export status, and Caroline was actively involved in the development of that strategy.

Caroline was instrumental in the preparation and initiation of the first aquaculture act, being heavily involved in the formation and passing of the original legislation, which was considered at the time to be the most comprehensive of its type in the world. She was also closely involved with the preparation of the Fisheries Management Act prior to the change of government.

I will mention some of the highlights of how Caroline has served in this parliament. She served as shadow minister for primary industries and regional affairs from 2002 to 2007. She was the government whip in the Legislative Council from 1996 to 2001; the convener of the Premier's Food for the Future Council from 1998 to 2001; chair of the education policy review committee from 1998 to 2000; the South Australian representative of the federal department of transport black spot committee from 1997 to 2000; and she was on the select committee for the penal system of South Australia in 1993.

Of course, there was always the Printing Committee that nearly everyone in this chamber served on at some point. There was also the Select Committee on the Redevelopment of the Marineland Complex and Related Matters, she was chair of the Select Committee on Altering the Time Zone for South Australia, there was the Select Committee on Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education in South Australia, the Environment, Resources and Development Standing Committee of the parliament, the Joint Committee on South Australia's Living Resources, the Select Committee on the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation (Board Procedures, Rent, etc.) Amendment Bill and Coverage of the Principal Act, and the Joint Parliamentary Service Committee.

Caroline was presiding member of the Social Development Standing Committee. She was a member of the Statutory Authorities Review Committee, the Natural Resources Management Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, and was chair, of course, of the committee that reported today, the Select Committee on Families SA. Caroline was a member of the Select Committee on SA Water, the Select Committee on the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill 1997, the Select Committee on the Conduct of PIRSA in Fishing of Mud Cockles and Marine Scalefish and Lakes and Coorong Pipi Fisheries.

Caroline was a member of the South Australian Farmers Federation Rural and Regional Task Force, ex-chairperson of the Rural Reference Group, and ex-chairperson of the Eyre Peninsula Regional Strategy Task Force. She was also involved with some trade delegations, and led the South Australian trade delegation to Hofex in Hong Kong in 1999 and was a participant in 1997. One can see that Caroline has had a particular interest in rural and regional South Australia, and as a member of parliament has served that sector of our community extremely well.

On a personal note, Caroline has been a great friend and supporter of mine, and is someone who gave me a certain amount of advice early in my parliamentary career—in fact, she still continues to give me advice today. However, I think one of Caroline's great qualities is that she continues to work tirelessly for the Liberal Party. I think the Labor Party calls them duty members; we call them paired members, and Caroline has done a significant amount of work with her paired seats over the years. Often when members reach this time in their career they may not work as hard, but Caroline still busily supports her paired candidates and paired electorates in the lead up to the 2010 election.

I will not say more about Caroline at this stage; I wanted to outline that and then, as I said, allow members to make their comments, and then I will add some other comments by way of summing up at the end before we vote on the motion.

I now move to the Hon. Robert Lawson. Robert was born in Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, and in December 1993 was elected to the Legislative Council in the South Australian parliament. He graduated in arts and law from Adelaide University, and until his election to parliament practised law, first as a partner in a large Adelaide firm of solicitors and then as a barrister at the independent Bar. He was appointed queen's counsel in 1988, and is a former president of the South Australian Bar Association.

Robert was a member of the RAAF Specialist Reserve and, upon entering parliament, retired with the rank of Wing Commander. Upon entering parliament in February 1994 he was made presiding member of the Legislative Review Committee and was later parliamentary secretary for information technology to premier Dean Brown .

He served in a number of portfolios in the Olsen Liberal government between 1997 and 2001, including minister for disability services, minister for the ageing, minister for administrative and information services, and minister for workplace relations. He was appointed attorney-general, minister for justice and minister for consumer affairs in the Kerin government. From 2002 to 2006 he was deputy opposition leader in the Legislative Council. He has held several shadow ministerial positions in the Liberal opposition, including shadow attorney-general, shadow minister for justice, shadow minister for Aboriginal affairs, and shadow minister for veterans' affairs. He was also the Liberal Party spokesperson on parliamentary reform.

Although invited to continue on the opposition front bench after the 2006 election, he declined on the ground that he did not propose to continue in parliament after the expiration of his term and would not be able to serve in the Liberal government to be formed after March 2010.

On a personal note, I found it a bit daunting when I first came into this place, not knowing Robert before I was elected. As I indicated, he is a queen's counsel and a particularly well-educated man who is very intelligent and provides quite a deal of intellectual grunt to a lot of the debates in this place. I found it a little daunting because I was just a humble farmer from the South-East and I thought that he and I may not have much in common.

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan: You both live in the eastern suburbs.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: In fact, we live in the same street and, on a very personal note, he takes an interest when I am not at home to make sure my newspapers are not left on my front lawn and that everything is well looked after. So, he does look after me extremely well. I had no knowledge that the Hon. Robert Lawson lived in my street, but thank God he lives there and not you, Bernard Finnigan; it is a much nicer street for it. Certainly, in this place, I have found Robert to be extremely supportive and, when I have needed advice on a range of technical and legal matters, he has been very happy to offer that assistance and we have formed a great friendship.

On that note, I wish Caroline and Robert all the very best in their retirement. They will be sadly missed. Whatever the election result is—of course, we expect to be sitting on the other side of the chamber—it will be a lesser place in one respect because Caroline and Robert will not be here. They both have been here all of my parliamentary career and it will be strange not to have them here. With those few words, I commend the motion to the chamber.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (20:02): I rise to support the motion. It is a sad time for members of the Liberal Party to be in the second last week of—

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan: It is such a good example they're setting.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: There is no doubt about it. This is a motion to acknowledge the contribution of two of our members and all we are hearing from the Hon. Mr Finnigan is childish, puerile sniping at two respected members.

The PRESIDENT: Perhaps the Hon. Mr Lucas ought to stick to the motion, as well.

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan interjecting:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: He just thinks he is the president already, Mr President, and we are supporting you.

The PRESIDENT: Is that right? God help me!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Well, we are supporting you for the moment, anyway!

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Exactly; yes—until the next best offer comes along. If I could return to the motion from these puerile interjections of the Hon. Mr Finnigan, I will do what the motion suggests, and that is acknowledge the contribution of the Hons Caroline Schaefer and Robert Lawson.

As I endeavoured to say, it is a sad moment for many of us within the Liberal Party to be potentially in the second last week, if the government does not accept the invitation to sit again in February next year as outlined in the Family First bill which is before the parliament at the moment. This is the second last week of sitting and, as the Hon. Mr Ridgway has indicated, this is an opportunity for some of us who wish to acknowledge the contribution of our friends and colleagues to do so. I do not intend (and I am sure my colleagues will not, either) to repeat the detailed summary of the contributions that the members have made both in a parliamentary sense in their ministerial careers and a Liberal Party sense as well.

First, I acknowledge the Hon. Caroline Schaefer. She entered the Legislative Council a few months before the Hon. Robert Lawson. They were among the members who entered the parliament in the landslide of 1993—some 15 or 16 years ago. It will be sad in another respect from our party's viewpoint that, again, we will be losing the contribution of those members who came in at that time both in this chamber and the House of Assembly. The Hon. Caroline Schaefer has been an outstanding contributor, not just to the party, as I think the Hon. Mr Ridgway pointed out, but she has been an outstanding contributor to the various communities—in particular, country communities, but not only those communities—that she has represented during her period in the parliament.

So, I join with my leader in acknowledging her contribution to the Liberal Party. I also acknowledge her outstanding contribution to the West Coast community originally and, in recent years, the broader country community but, in particular, the Mid North community. There are various other community groups which she represented.

There was her tremendous work, as the Hon. Mr Ridgway outlined, in terms of the Food for the Future program or campaign in which she and other colleagues were involved. I am sure that she would be the first to acknowledge the Hon. Rob Kerin and a number of others who were actively engaged in that, as well. However, we, her colleagues, acknowledge her driving influence in a lot of the work that was undertaken by the former government.

Caroline was the driving force, in many respects, behind that; not always the person up front prosecuting the final case or, indeed, attracting the final publicity on behalf of the party and herself but she was an invaluable contributor to the work that the former government, and others associated with it, did in that particular area of interest to her. There are many other areas of interest, and I am sure that other members will acknowledge the various areas of interest that Caroline has had and she will probably touch on some of those, as well, but I just wanted to acknowledge the contribution she made to the broader community.

As the Hon. Mr Ridgway indicated, Caroline has been a longstanding friend to many of us. I do not exactly remember when I first met Caroline but it was many years ago—and perhaps too many to acknowledge. Over the past 15 years or so in the parliament she has been a close friend and a tremendously loyal colleague, in the first instance giving frank and fearless advice, but also participating fearlessly in party room discussions. Ultimately, irrespective of her personal views on a particular issue, she supported the party's position publicly and in the community.

Good parties and good governments are built on that sort of contribution and that sort of loyalty. Today's occasion allows some of us to acknowledge publicly, possibly for the first and last time, that sort of loyalty and that sort of contribution to the party.

The other outstanding attribute which many of us have seen in Caroline (and about which we have talked and many will talk about, I am sure) is her frank and fearless advice and her willingness to honestly and strongly put her point of view whether or not it happened to be popular or whether or not it happened to be part of prevailing opinion.

Over the years there have been a number of committees and a number of discussions—many interminable discussions within our own party, let alone some of the discussions and debates we have had in this parliament—about whether we stay where we are or whether we go to Eastern Standard Time or, indeed, whether we move to Central Standard Time. That is an ongoing debate, and the Hon. Caroline Schafer's views have not changed at all on that particular issue and she continues to put her case, and put her case forcefully.

In all of those contributions, the outstanding attribute I want to acknowledge publicly tonight is an attribute that good members of parliament, irrespective of their political persuasion, have and that is bucket loads of common sense. Life experience, a particular perspective, the way she was 'brung up'—whatever it is—the Hon. Caroline Schaefer arrived at this stage of her life and her career in this parliament with bucket loads of common sense.

Obviously, those within our party saw it much more frequently in the many debates we had on a range of issues but I am sure that other members, in the period of time that they have worked with the Hon. Caroline Schaefer, whether it be on committees or in the chamber, would also have seen that outstanding attribute of Caroline's.

It is with a touch of sadness that we acknowledge Caroline's contribution, but we know that she has a number of irons in the fire in relation to the future and that is for her to discuss and talk about. However, we know that whatever she eventually chooses to do and in whatever order she chooses to do it, she will again make an outstanding contribution in the next stage of her life.

In relation to the Hon. Robert Lawson, as I think the Hon. David Ridgway indicated, new members who come into the parliament and indeed all of us stand in awe, if I can put it that way, of the intellectual grunt in the package of the Hon. Robert Lawson. I think it is a sad day as well in speaking about the Hon. Robert Lawson in that I suspect, certainly from our party's viewpoint, that we are unlikely ever again to attract the calibre of the candidate that the Hon. Robert Lawson was in 1993—a man at the top of his game in terms of legal contribution.

He is acknowledged on all sides of politics now but also on all sides of the legal fraternity back in the eighties and the nineties as an outstanding legal mind involved in many of the big cases and, obviously, involved in the State Bank royal commissions and then the various other legal cases that related to the State Bank in that tumultuous period of the early 1990s. For the Liberal Party at that particular time, through his willingness to contribute to public office, to be able to attract an outstanding legal mind and contributor like Rob Lawson QC into the parliament was a great boost for the party but I think also a great boost for the parliament as an institution.

As I said, now is not the time to discuss the reasons why, possibly, in the year 2009, parliamentary service is less attractive although I am sure that our colleague the Hon. Mr Wortley may well be able to inform us why it is less attractive these days than it was back in the 1990s. That is something to be regretted because I think the parliament has been a richer and more capable institution through the contribution of people like the Hon. Rob Lawson.

Certainly from our viewpoint, speaking as colleagues and friends of Rob's, we were able to have the outstanding legal intellect available virtually on tap, although he did sometimes say that the quality of the legal advice was worth what you paid for it and if we were not prepared to pay, he was not prepared to advise—but that was a throwaway line.

Inevitably, all of us, whether it be on the legislation that was before us or various issues that were being raised, sought legal advice from the Hon. Rob Lawson and he was unfailingly courteous, I suppose, in terms of not only having to undertake all his own work but also providing advice to various leaders and colleagues over the years in relation to all sorts of legal issues when people would pop in at his door and say, 'Hey, what do you think about this particular issue?'

The final point that I want to note in relation to the Hon. Rob Lawson's contribution is that I look on the Hon. Rob Lawson as an outstanding legislator. As I look back over the history of my time observing and being involved in parliament, there are fewer than a handful of people that I would personally categorise as outstanding legislators, and in that fewer than a handful, certainly I and, I suspect, many others in this chamber, would acknowledge that the Hon. Rob Lawson has been and continues to be an outstanding legislator.

You have only to look at the committee stages and the many bills in which he was either involved or had active engagement to know that it was not infrequently that he picked up drafting errors and was able to ask the appropriate question which led to government ministers—and, to be quite frank, it was government ministers of both sides because, in his early days, it was a Liberal government—and their advisers of all persuasions to see the sense of the question that was being asked and the need to get further advice and to seek amendment to the legislation that was before us.

Again as a personal view, obviously the parliamentary process is a combination of the bearpit of politics in terms of the government that is there wants to stay there and the opposition wants to get into government, and the Independents and crossbenchers are desperate either to be re-elected or to have others elected in their stead representing their particular parties or interests. That is an obvious and essential part of the work of the parliament.

However, the other essential part of the work of the parliament is the humdrum of the quality of the legislation that goes through this chamber, and 95 per cent of it is agreed by all parties. In relation to the quality, if there is not a political issue in it, sometimes it is only the outstanding legislators who have the willingness, the time and the commitment to look at it and to try to ensure that it is doing what it is intended to do and will not create grief to the various parts of the community that might be impacted by the legislation of whatever government happens to be endeavouring to pass it.

I think, from that viewpoint, in losing the contribution of the Hon. Rob Lawson, this chamber loses an important participant in terms of its legislative process, and the challenge remains to those who replace the Hon. Mr Lawson and the rest of us each in our small way (because not one of us will be able to replace the contribution that he has made in terms of the legislative process) to try to take up a little of the load that people like the Hon. Mr Lawson have undertaken in the past.

In concluding my remarks in relation to the Hon. Mr Lawson, I also thank him for his frank advice always. I have always respected both the legal and political advice that Rob has given me over the years. We discuss a whole range of things in relation to the impact on legislation, in particular a shared interest in terms of the electoral process and the parliament as an institution, and any of the pieces of legislation that might impact on the operations of the parliament. Certainly personally I will miss being able to continue that sort of discussion with the Hon. Mr Lawson after the next election. I also thank him for his friendship and his loyalty to me during the period when we worked together in both government and our period in opposition.

With that, I am delighted to be able to support the remarks of the Hon. Mr Ridgway and to acknowledge the contribution of both the Hon. Caroline Schaefer and the Hon. Robert Lawson.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (20:18): I thank the Hon. David Ridgway for moving the motion that gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to two of our finer members who are not dying but moving on from this place. I do not intend to make this speech something that you would say at a wake, but obviously we are quite respectful of the service they have both given to the Liberal Party and, indeed, this parliament.

The Hon. Robert Lawson, I think, is one of those rare people who have made a considerable financial sacrifice by gracing us with his presence, and we are certainly richer for the experience. I know that, as a new member of parliament, I was very fortunate to have his shoulder to lean on, and certainly he helped me through the learning process of becoming a legislative councillor. I did not come into this place thinking that I knew everything, and I still do not. I am very pleased that I have had people such as the Hon. Robert Lawson to help guide me through.

One of the good things that I will share with members is that the decisions which are made and which affect the people of this state quite often, I am sure, are made in the Labor caucus room and the Liberal party room in terms of how we approach a particular issue. I can tell members opposite that the Hon. Robert Lawson always adds a fair bit of calm and common sense to any debate we have about any issue within our party room, and I am sure that we make better decisions as a group because of that. I will not repeat all the fine details about the Hon. Robert Lawson's service, given that that has been done. However, I will share with members my experiences sitting next to the Hon. Robert Lawson.

What members would not realise is that this very proper man has an incredibly witty sense of humour. He gets me most of the time when I am not quite ready for it, and at times it is very hard to contain the laughter. As we all know in this place, if you can have a sense of humour it certainly helps during some of the long, dry debates and some of the late hours. That keeps us all going. He has an incredibly good sense of humour. He does not get it right all the time. One of the jokes he told me today was just a shocker. I really did feel for his poor, long-serving wife, Delysia, who I suspect will have more time with him now.

I was going to wish her all the best in Robert's retirement, because she has a fair bit to deal with, I would have said. In all seriousness, I wish Robert and Delysia all the very best, and I hope they have a long and happy retirement. I thank the Hon. Robert Lawson for his friendship and his service. The Hon. Caroline Schaefer and I go back about 16 or 17 years now. I was a naive young fellow who wanted to make a difference, and I put up my hand to stand for the state seat of Giles in 1993 against the very formidable Hon. Frank Blevins. I was informed that my paired member was the Hon. Caroline Schaefer. I had no idea what a 'paired member' was, but I was very happy to take any assistance I could get.

I was very fortunate because, again, I had a good, honest, decent and reliable person who was hard working and who calmed me down and helped me run what was a pretty reasonable campaign at the time under difficult circumstances, given that the seat of Giles, and certainly Whyalla, has always been a very safe Labor seat.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: You nearly won it.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: There are no prizes for second, as we know, but that was nothing to do with the effort put in by the Hon. Caroline Schaefer. One of the great privileges in life sometimes is that, out of adversity, you come across really good things. Whilst I was disappointed not to win the seat (and I was probably never going to win the seat), I was lucky enough to have the friendship—which I have maintained—with the Hon. Caroline Schaefer. Roy Schaefer is certainly a driving force in that partnership.

Roy would say that he is the brains behind the operation but, to be fair, the Hon. Caroline Schaefer carries herself very well in all company. She has an incredible work ethic. Again, like the Hon. Robert Lawson, she is absolutely straight down the line in the party room. There are no games. She always says exactly what she means and always, I think, taking account of the best interests of the people of South Australia. I am sure that, again, we come to better decisions because of her common sense and no messing-around attitude.

Again, I am lucky that I have a friend in this place who has a great sense of humour. We laugh during the good times and try to laugh during the ordinary times as well, because, as we all know, you do not win every issue in this place. We constantly pick ourselves up and operate as a team. The Hon. Caroline Schaefer is very much a part of that and a terrific person to be around. Again, selflessly, she has been extremely helpful to me—always with the door open, always happy to give good advice and always happy to give me advice that sometimes she knows I will not particularly like. She does not soften it but gives it to me, anyway, and I am sure I do a better job because of that.

With those few words, I thank the Hon. Caroline Schaefer for her friendship, her service to the parliament, and her service to the Liberal Party (which has been exemplary), and I hope that the Hon. Caroline Schaeffer and Roy Schaeffer have a long, happy and very liquid retirement—because they are making some fantastic wine. My colleagues on the opposite benches should be lucky enough to be able to purchase some occasionally, because it is absolutely magnificent. I commend the motion to the council and thank those who have made a contribution to date. Well done!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (20:25): These occasions are normally reserved for members posthumously, so it is a privilege for us to be able to let our honourable colleagues know what we really think about them while they are still here to interject and rebut us if they so choose.

My leader (Hon. David Ridgway) has provided the catalogue of all the committees, including the printing committee and other luminary areas in which both those these esteemed colleagues have served. I would like to talk more personally. I have obviously known Robert Lawson for a fair while, having worked with him when the Liberals held the government benches and he was a minister. He was a very thorough minister, and I think the fact that he was such a safe pair of hands meant that additional portfolios kept being added to the list—from disabilities and ageing (which is when I joined him) to a whole range of others and, ultimately, in the Kerin government, being appointed Attorney-General. I think it should be acknowledged that he made a very fine Attorney-General, and it is very unfortunate that he did not get to serve longer in that role because he is very well regarded by the legal community and would have made a great contribution in that regard.

Working for someone who is very thorough is not always good for their staff, however—and I acknowledge his long-serving personal assistant, Raelene Zanetti, who is in the gallery—because it means that we are often called on to rewrite letters for the 17th time. Robert would receive drafts from his department which were never good enough, and the ones that we would draft were never good enough, and the wording had to be precise, exact and accurate, right down to the line.

There would also be a number of occasions when I would accompany Robert to community functions when he had some very dry and brittle speech written on his behalf which he would almost literally throw out the window on the way to the function because it really did not express anything that would be of interest to the listeners. Since I have been here, he has been a great mentor to me; he is very loyal, his understanding of matters is very thorough, and I have always appreciated his advice and the great trust that I can place in his opinion.

Caroline is a member whom I have come to know much better while I have been a member and, while she often describes herself as a conservative country lady, as if that is to be some self-deprecating label, I think Rob Lucas described it very well, that is, that she has bucket loads of commonsense. We worked very closely together in particular during my previous stint with the environment portfolio and, when she said to me that she would be happy to take on some bills if I was overworked, I was completely delighted. With her primary industry background and experiences as former minister for agriculture, food and fisheries, Caroline had a very good understanding of areas such as animal welfare and the marine parks legislation. She handled those matters in good faith with all parties concerned and did a very good job in terms of seeking amendments that have greatly improved that legislation.

We have joked from time to time that we would form our own faction for people who actually read their briefing papers, and I will not reflect upon any particular members and name anyone who might not belong to that faction, but I have always found Caroline to be a very well-considered member who applies herself, is trustworthy in relation to everything you say, and will do things in good faith.

Both members have made an outstanding contribution. We all have relied heavily on them in our service, particularly those of us who have entered the parliament as newer members. We appreciate that they have been great custodians of the legislation of this parliament rather than choose the option of point scoring from time to time. We wish them both well. They and their spouses, Delysia and Roy, deserve a long and healthy retirement. We will miss their contribution.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.