State Election

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:31): I rise today to take the opportunity to congratulate members of this chamber who successfully contested the March 2018 South Australian election. As a 16-year Labor government asking for an unprecedented fifth term, it was always going to be a hard task for Labor. We took a solid and strong track record to the election, one that any government that had seen four elections would be proud to hold. I sometimes wonder how the current government will feel after perhaps their own four years and they look back on our track record. I guess we are going to wait and see how that pans out for them.

After only 12 months in this place, I find I am commonly reminded in gibes and so on, often by members of the other place, that election to this place is somehow less democratic or less representative. I find such talk disappointing. It would not escape the attention of those seeking to get elected to this place that to be here you need vastly more votes than a 50 per cent plus one equation that we often see in the other place. This has certainly been shown statistically in the more than 3,000 counts that had to be performed and six weeks of waiting to appoint the final three positions here.

I am certain that, while the process may lack the same media attention as the lower house results we all watch unfold on the night on the excellent ABC coverage of the election, it was no less democratic sitting in the Electoral Commission with my fellow comrades as the computer spat out the results somewhat, I think, disappointingly—I think more pomp and ceremony might have been required, but that is just my view. I can assure you that I sat behind the Hon. Ms Scriven on the day and it was nerve-racking to say the least.

This election has again also shown us that, while the other place may form government per se, it is this place that keeps such a government in check by showing a more varied and representative selection of how the people voted. New members of this place will be proud to soon realise, as I have, that the hours of words and discussions held in this place can shape the lives of South Australians in a way that few in the other place seem to get around to recognising.

I am also certain that it has not escaped the attention of members in this place that this election has seen the addition of more women than men to this place, including, of course, three out of four from my own party. This is a welcome addition, in my opinion, and something that will better serve all honourable members in this place in the debates we will no doubt have over the next eight years, regardless of who is on the Treasury benches. As has already been noted by the Hon. Ms Scriven in her first speech, it places us in a disappointing contrast to the gender balance of the other place. I hope to see the pleasant trend of this election to this place continue in four years' time and, more broadly, across both places well into the future.

I would particularly like to congratulate all those in my party who successfully contested the election, including our newly elected deputy leader, shadow minister for industry and skills and shadow minister for forestry, the Hon. Clare Scriven. It is a pleasure to welcome her to this place and I know that she will serve the community of Mount Gambier and the South-East of South Australia well. People from the Mount just do not know how lucky they are to have a strong and committed member to fight in their corner, as she will.

I also congratulate the Hon. Emily Bourke on her successful election to this place. Emily is a hardworking campaigner who is dedicated, like many of my other colleagues in this place, to fighting for the rights of workers, health and education. The Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos will also be a great asset to this house with her experience of practising law to protect the rights, conditions and wellbeing of hardworking South Australians.

Along with my three newly elected Labor colleagues, congratulations must also be given to the Hon. Connie Bonaros, the Hon. Frank Pangallo and, of course, the Hon. Tammy Franks. Well done on your election and on making this place a continuing juxtaposition of democracy to the other place. I would also like to congratulate the Hon. David Ridgway—I think the honourable member for eating things, at this point—the Hon. Stephen Wade, the Hon. Terry Stephens and the Hon. Jing Lee.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Someone has to do it, Hon. Ms Lensink.