MATTERS OF INTEREST

LIBERAL PARTY

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (15:21): Previously, I have spoken about the failed Marshall plan—the treacherous overthrow that never was—featuring the members for Waite and Dunstan in October last year. It appears that plan may have been ever so slightly more sophisticated than the blundering incompetence that it first appeared. Following the coup attempt, the member for Dunstan refused to say how he voted. A number of Liberal Party members have quite openly discussed his potential motives for doing so—that he really did not want a leadership change. Rather, he preferred to continue to destabilise and wound the leader until she and the party became so damaged that he would have his own shot at captaining the Liberal yacht himself. We may never know how he voted, but the member for Dunstan was the major beneficiary of the vicious campaign to undermine but not defeat the member for Heysen.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Point of order.

The PRESIDENT: Point of order, the Hon. Mr Dawkins.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I think the member has been here long enough to know that the seat of Dunstan does not exist until after the election on 14 March next year.

The PRESIDENT: That is correct. The Hon. Mr Maher.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Now, the member for Norwood has formed his front bench. Dunstan is a much better name, but we will call it Norwood for now so as not to upset the delicate tendencies of the Hon. John Dawkins. Now, the member for Norwood has formed his front bench team—with a firm eye to the past and failed policies, including a number of former failed leaders and deputies (in some cases, the same people).

Amongst the old new faces in shadow cabinet is the Hon. Rob Lucas, who is now proudly in his fourth decade in this chamber. That is a very, very long time. The world was a very different place when a young, enthusiastic, non-cynical Hon. Rob Lucas started here in 1982. For example, way back then the median house price in Adelaide was under $43,000, police cars were light blue Kingswoods, the Adelaide Club was serving muscats at dawn, a smart phone was one that had been very nicely polished, and the fax machine had only been around for a few years—which is very lucky, because the Hon. Rob Lucas claiming, 'I've just received an anonymous telegram from Liberal Party HQ,' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Some of the newer members of the Liberal Party are surprised that the honourable member has nominated again—that he just cannot let go. They reckon he might have convinced himself that a Liberal opposition or a Liberal government just could not function without him being a part of it. I think it is fair to say that not everyone shares this view. Not everybody thinks the SA Liberal Party would spontaneously disintegrate or combust without his wisdom or longevity.

Some have commented that his increasingly bitter personal vendettas against journalists show it is time for him to give up and move on. An anonymous fax to Labor Party headquarters correctly points out that over 15 days to the end of last week the Hon. Rob Lucas harassed and criticised one particular journalist 17 separate times on Twitter, sometimes tweeting on the topic up to five times a day. Over the same period, there were three tweets about his portfolio responsibilities. It would seem he is five times more interested in harassing one sportswriter than he is in his portfolio.

The Hon. Rob Lucas is an avid Twitter user and has become infamous for blaming Labor for everything that goes wrong in the world on Twitter. The Twitter subject or hash tag 'tweetlikeRobLucas' ridicules his habit of making nonsense, over-the-top claims. In just two days in October last year there were 50 different satirical tweets, including some from journalists, mocking him. These tweets include gems such as:

SA Labor were positioned on the grassy knoll. tweetlikeRobLucas

I think we all know who's lurking in the washing machine when your socks go missing...It's SA Labor! tweetlikeRobLucas

SA Labor dismissed Bradman for 4 runs. tweetlikeRobLucas

There are dozens more mocking him if you look them up on Twitter. The Hon. Rob Lucas also has a lamentable habit of stating the bleeding obvious in this forum. A couple of months ago, the Hon. Rob Lucas tweeted:

A picture is worth a thousand words! TV vision-union bosses standing with clenched fists, singing 'solidarity forever' and supporting Labor!

Six minutes later, someone else tweeted:

THE UNIONS SUPPORT LABOR? Why are we just learning this? This explains so much! cantfoolroblucas

Yes, you have to get up pretty early to fool the Hon. Rob Lucas. He has figured out the link between the union movement and the Labor Party all by himself, and he put it on Twitter.

The current version of the Marshall plan seems to have delivered what he so prized—the leadership. But with failed, recycled and uninterested frontbenchers it is no wonder the media are now picking up that this Liberal yacht is bereft of any substance, any policies and is completely adrift at sea.

The PRESIDENT: Dare I call the Hon. Mr Lucas? The ball's in your court.