Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1) 53 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Ministerial Statement Ministerial Statement Goss, Hon. W.k. Goss, Hon. W.K. The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:19): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement. Leave granted. The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Today we remember Wayne Keith Goss, former premier of Queensland from 1989 to 1996. Wayne Goss was one of the truly great leaders of the Australian Labor Party. He passed away at home last Monday after battling a series of brain tumours in recent years. Following the damaging Fitzgerald inquiry into longstanding police corruption in Queensland, Mr Goss led Labor to power in 1989, ending the party's 32 years in opposition. As a reforming premier, he was cast in a similar mould to another great leader we have lost recently. The Goss government abolished a deeply corrupt electoral gerrymander, lifted street march bans, abolished the notorious police special branch and instituted a series of law reforms, including following through with many of the recommendations of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. He appointed Queensland's first female minister and first female governor and decriminalised homosexuality. He protected Fraser Island and extended Queensland's national parks network. The Goss government invested in education and research and maintained close ties with the state's universities. His economic development record is sometimes under-recognised: he considered Queensland's jobs growth and business development during his two terms of government as one of his greatest achievements. In the brief time since his passing, Wayne Goss's reputation for integrity, tenacity, courage and great love for Queensland has been generously recognised by both political colleagues and foes. Like Gough Whitlam, he changed his political landscape completely, transforming Queensland from a corrupt national embarrassment of a state to an honest, respected and dynamic one. Wayne Goss died at his home on 10 November 2014 with his wife, Roisin, and children, Ryan and Caitlin, present. In his 1996 resignation announcement Wayne Goss said, with characteristic humility, 'Thank you Queensland. You've been good to me. I hope I've left you a better place.' There is no doubt that he achieved that goal. Vale Wayne Goss.