Adjournment Debate

Valedictories

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (17:09): Just before I speak to the motion and say nice things about everybody, as I understand it we still have to receive the final message from the House of Assembly in terms of establishing a conference of managers on prisoner voting or electoral voting—whatever that bill was called. Then, when that is finished, I think that is the end of proceedings, although there may well be another issue that the Hon. Ms Franks has raised with me, which I was blissfully unaware of, and I will leave it to her capable devices to sort out. To assist the Hon. Ms Franks, I have raised it with the Hon. Michelle Lensink, who evidently knows something about it.

The Hon. T.A. Franks interjecting:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: No, I have spoken to her. I have moved the motion, which is the traditional adjournment motion, which allows us to speak generally. Can I, firstly, on behalf government members, Mr President, thank you for your magnificent performance in terms of the—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: Hear, hear! Resplendent!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Resplendent, as my colleague says in terms of both your dress, your impeccable attitude and the way you have picked up and highlighted some of the rhetorical flourishes of some members—not just the Hon. Mr Pangallo but some of the rest of us. We have all either enjoyed or endured your presidency, depending on your particular perspective or the particular point in time. We thank you, anyway, for your generally good humour in terms of your position. Nevertheless, we do indeed respect the office of the President and, indeed, your capacity as the President this year.

I also thank the clerks, table staff and others who assist us all in the chamber. There has been a momentous shift in recent years with the moving on to other challenges of the former Clerk, Jan Davis. We are delighted that the new Clerk, Black Rod and other staff have continued the fine traditions established by previous clerks and staff. They continue to provide excellent service to all of us, old and new, in terms of the work that we do in the chamber.

I thank all other honourable members in this chamber for their generally good graces in terms of handling the occasional differences of opinion we might have in the chamber on a particular bill or an issue. I thank the Leader of the Opposition and others from the Labor Party. I thank the members of the crossbench, both old and new—for the new members, their first experience in terms of sitting in the red chair. In some cases, such as with the Hon. Ms Bonaros they have previously observed from afar, but it is different when you actually sit in the red chair. The Hon. Mr Pangallo, rather than sticking his foot through doors with cameras, has been sitting in the red chair and having to put his point of view on a whole variety of issues, which he has not been afraid to do.

There are a number of new members in the chamber, in the Labor Party and on the crossbenches, who have enjoyed their first taste of sitting in the Legislative Council. I hope that all of the members have enjoyed their first experience of the Legislative Council. I think we are a much more convivial chamber than that other place. We generally operate in good humour. I think there are lessons that we can learn from our first experiences together. I think there are important conventions that have generally held us in pretty good stead and I would hope, as we settle down and work together cooperatively over the coming years, that we can see the value of some of the conventions of the chamber in terms of our understanding of how we can best work together.

Certainly, from the government's viewpoint—I speak on behalf of the government—we accept the fact that we will have, on occasions, vigorous differences on matters of policy, but I think there is nothing that should prevent us from generally operating in reasonable humour or in good humour, indeed, in terms of handling our differences, accepting that we do differ on issues, but we should be able to work together cooperatively in the interests of the people of South Australia.

More often than not the legislation that goes through this place is, by and large, agreed by both houses of parliament. No government has controlled a majority in this chamber since 1979, or whatever it was.

The Hon. M.C. Parnell: Earlier than that.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I beg your pardon?

The Hon. M.C. Parnell: The early seventies.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Since 1979, the crossbenchers have always held that balance of power whether it be with a single member, as it was originally, and on occasions up to as many as seven or eight people were sitting on the crossbench. We are now well represented by a reasonable number of five members of the crossbench.

The Hon. M.C. Parnell: Too few.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Some might say too few, some might say too many, but perhaps that is just about right. The reality is that for legislation to pass we require some combination of crossbenchers and at least one of the major parties. In a lot of instances, all of us are in furious agreement in one way or another in terms of the legislation that goes through the council, and I think that is to the benefit of the people of South Australia. There is significant agreement on lots of pieces of legislation that go through the Legislative Council, so I thank honourable members. As I said, on behalf of government members, we offer the hand of friendship in terms of willingness to work together in terms of the productive use of our time in the Legislative Council over the coming years.

I also thank all the other staff in Parliament House: the hardworking Hansard staff, the catering staff, maintenance staff, all the caretakers, etc., who look after us in Parliament House, even though those terrible people—including your good self, Mr President—have now refused to accept the official currency of the nation in the Members' Bar, which I think is just a travesty and something that should be worked on in the future. I am sure there are improvements we should be able to make in terms of the operations of the parliament.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Are we going to stop you opening your purse?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I keep stealing the children's pocket money and I have nowhere to spend it when I come into Parliament House anymore. No-one will take my money. All the other staff in parliament work hard to make our life as efficient and as easy as possible in some cases. The PNSG staff are such an important part of the work that we do in this modern age in terms of trying to keep our computers and other devices operating in some sort of reasonable fashion, assisting us to update our passwords and all those sorts of exciting things that occur.

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: Assisting with junk email inboxes.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Exactly, finding junk email inboxes, and all those sorts of exciting things that occur. On behalf of government members, can I thank all the other staff in Parliament House.

Finally, I thank in particular the two whips: the Hon. Mr Stephens and the Hon. Mr Hunter, and whoever whips on behalf of the crossbenchers—he or she, whoever that person is. It is a difficult part of the proceedings of the chamber in terms of trying to organise the processes. I think the planning meeting that we have instituted at 4.30 on a Monday afternoon has been a very important initiative in terms of trying to manage the processes of the council, but that in and of itself is never enough. The job of the whips is important in terms of trying to work out what we need to do and when, and who needs to speak and when. We do not always get it right, and then sometimes there is the occasional hiccup. However, I think we are all indebted to the work that the whips do and, on behalf of all members, I thank the honourable members for that.

In concluding on behalf of government members, Mr President, can I wish not only yourself but all members and staff a happy, holy and healthy Christmas season. Whatever it is that you do, I hope that you do it with your nearest and dearest, your loved ones and occasionally, perhaps, even the ones you hate. There might be a family occasion where you might have an uncle or aunty who is not in good odour, or whatever it is, but Christmas time is a wonderful time to get together and to enjoy the friendship of family and friends. I do hope that all members get to enjoy that over the Christmas-New Year period, and we come back in February to work together collectively.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (17:19): I rise to support the motion and, unusually, to attach myself to many of the comments that the Hon. Rob Lucas has made in this chamber. It pains me greatly to do so. I would first like to start by thanking you, Mr President, for the way in which you have presided over us, stopped us asking questions when you thought it was too much and, occasionally, brought ministers back on track, which is no mean feat and is a rarely done thing. Thank you for how you have conducted yourself and how you have allowed us to conduct ourselves in this chamber.

I would like to thank Chris Schwarz, the Clerk, for a big step up into a very difficult role and for providing frank and fearless advice to anyone who comes and seeks your counsel. To Guy Dickson, the Usher of the Black Road and Deputy Clerk, thank you for your help and work. To Leslie, Anthony and Emma for all the work they do contributing to not just the running of the council itself, but the committee system and making sure that it runs and operates effectively and efficiently. We have had a number of committees this year that have turned into more like a circus performance than a committee, so your patience has been greatly appreciated.

To Kate and Todd for everything they do to keep the place running, and also—probably as important if not more than most—to super Mario and his team, Karen and Charles, for making sure that we have what we actually need in front of us at all times. Thank you for the work that you do. The Leader of the Government mentioned the work of the whips. The Hon. Ian Hunter and the Hon. Terry Stephens share a number of common traits: efficiency, effectiveness and an ability to intimidate, which is exactly what whips ought to do. I think that is why, more often than not, we have kept relatively well on track, and the fluidity of the proceedings of the Legislative Council have kept reasonably close to what we have said we are going to do.

To Hansard staff, who have an incredibly difficult job to do as it is hard to get everything down that everybody says all the time. You do very, very well with what is done. To the catering staff who keep people very well fed, some of us more well fed than others. To the Leader of Government, the Hon. Rob Lucas, who I think it is fair to say has mellowed a little bit in his new position in government, but I think his colleague the Hon. Stephen Wade may have taken on some of that unnecessary aggression that used to be present there. It has been a reasonably effective year in how the chamber has worked.

I would particularly like to note the new members who have joined us—on my side, the Hon. Clare Scriven, the Hon. Emily Bourke and the Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos—it is awesome to have a fresh crop of fierce, smart women serving alongside us on this side of the chamber. I think you have all made this parliament a much better place for your presence. To the new SA-Best crew, the Hon. Connie Bonaros and the Hon. Frank Pangallo, it is good to have the representatives of a group that started in 1997, I think was when this group was first elected to parliament, and some 20 years later is still being represented in some form in this chamber. However, as an aside, I think we should all ban Frank from seeking leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question—not once has it been brief.

Generally, I would like to thank all members of this chamber. We agree on things much more often than we disagree. When we disagree, we disagree quite firmly, but we have passed more legislation than we have failed to pass, and I think most people have at most stages appreciated the camaraderie and the friendship of their colleagues, not just on their own side but across the chamber. With that, I commend the motion to the house and wish everyone a happy couple of months doing the hard work out in our electorates, which covers 47 times the amount of voters than those in the lower house have to deal with. I wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (17:24): I will briefly associate myself with the comments of both the Leader of the Government and the Leader of the Opposition, just to show that love is in the air. I will not go through the same exhaustive list of people to thank, because we know who they are. They work for the parliament, they work for us in our offices, they work across the road in PNSG and down the road in parliamentary counsel and up above us in Hansard. You always risk leaving people out when you start going through the list, but I think the Hon. Kyam Maher and the Leader of the Government have named most of them.

I want to say two quick things. The first is that it has been good to get to know the new members. There is not a lot of turnover from election to election; possibly a bit more this last time around than there has been in the past. It has been good to meet some new colleagues and learn what floats your boat and learn to work with you. That has been a good thing.

The final thing I will say is to give a shout out to a former President of the Legislative Council, whom I will call Mr X—but you may know him as the Hon. John Gazzola—who sent me a text message saying that he was escaping the heat. He was watching the cricket, but he was streaming question time live and he was keeping his fluids up, which is sage advice on such a hot day. I know we do not normally do cheerios in parliament, but just in case the Hon. John Gazzola is still streaming parliament, I send him my best wishes. I wish everyone a pleasant and enjoyable break, and we will be back doing this again in February.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (17:26): First of all, Mr President, I would like to thank you for the way you have presided over the chamber this year. I would like to thank all the chamber staff who have assisted and the Hansard staff, and I recognise the cooperation of the members of the government, the opposition and the crossbenches. I, too, would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a bright and prosperous new year.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (17:26): I, too, would like to associate myself with the comments of the Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition and other members in particular. I also thank you for your stellar performance in your role as our President. I will name them, because I know the Hon. Terry Stephens just loves my long speeches. I would like to thank our Clerk, Chris; our Black Rod and Deputy Clerk, Guy; our clerk assistants and parliamentary officers Leslie, Anthony and Emma; our secretary to the Clerk, Kate; Todd; 'Super Mario', as the Hon. Kyam Maher has named him now; Karen and Charles; and the team at parliamentary counsel especially, led by the exceptional Aimee Travers.

To all the wonderful people at Hansard, thank you. I am sorry for all the ridiculously difficult to read scribbles that I often provide you with. To the catering team, I can honestly say that for the first time I have enjoyed some exceptionally tasty vegetarian food in this place. I think young Sam has been predominantly responsible for that, and I have enjoyed it way too much.

To our library staff, led by John Weste and Peta, we are really thrilled that you are still here. To the team over at PNSG, I would like to thank you for your patience. I thank our committee staff, finance, building attendants, security personnel and James, who lets me in every single day because I can never find my pass—I probably should not be admitting to that. To everybody who makes this place operate, thank you for making the endless hours we spend in this place, particularly the hours we spend away from our families, as easy, as comfortable and as pleasant as possible.

To our SA-Best team—to Pat, Sean, Amanda, Fotina, Adrienne, Evan, Marley and Joe, who is no longer with us—thank you. Without question, this year has been one of the worst for me personally—an extremely challenging year—but you have all made what I thought would be those impossible days, including today, possible. You have all gone above and beyond in every conceivable way, and I am immensely grateful for your words of counsel and your friendship, and I am so proud of all the work that we have done together. I know this is just the beginning for us all.

To my colleague the Hon. Frank Pangallo, thank you for everything. Thank you for your friendship, your loyalty, your support—your unwavering support—and for carrying what can only be described as a very heavy load when we came into this place earlier this year.

When I came here I said very clearly that I was not here to make friends, I was here to get a job done, a job we had been elected to do, as best I could. I know at times we have all had our differences and we do not always see eye to eye on issues, and this has been particularly clear this week and last, but that is the beauty, I suppose, of this chamber and this place in particular. I am extremely pleased that I can say that along the way I have come to form some very genuinely welcome friendships, which I think will no doubt stand the test of time. I have been pleasantly surprised, and I genuinely thank all honourable members for that and for welcoming me as a new member to this place so warmly.

I am often asked—and I think most of us are when we are new to this place—how we are enjoying the new gig. My response to date has always been the same. I tell everybody that I like it every other day. On the days in between, I would much prefer to scream and shout or go back to my job as an adviser because, as the Hon. Rob Lucas pointed out, it is very different sitting on the red benches, but I am immensely happy that I am here and immensely happy that I am here with a wonderful group of people. I wish all of you and your families in particular a very merry Christmas and safe and happy holidays.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:31): I will not go through the same names thanking them, as my honourable colleague has, but I will single out some, beginning with you, Mr President. I thank you for your indulgence and patience, and the effective management of this chamber with so many dissenting voices and, of course, my brief explanations, which I will endeavour to try to keep down next year.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: Don't make promises you can't keep.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: No, I will keep that one; I will time them. To the staff in here: we are very fortunate in Parliament House. I am new to all this, and I have just come to realise and appreciate the wonderful professional staff who work in Parliament House, who work here in this chamber with us, from the Clerk, the Usher of the Black Rod, Leslie, Emma, Anthony, Mario, Charles and Karen—their work is exceptional. The great thing is that they do it diligently, and it is always done on time and there are no issues. They have been absolutely fantastic, and I really appreciate it. Also, the work they have done on the committees: it is incredible how they make it look so smooth and they make the transition so easy for all that.

It has been a short year for us as elected members, but from my point of view it really has been an invigorating challenge and a pleasure to serve. As Connie Bonaros says, we are often asked, 'How are you going?' and, 'What do you think of your new job?' I can honestly say that I absolutely love coming to work every single day at this place because of the enormous challenges it provides to us and the work we do to make life better for South Australians.

They ask me whether I miss TV and journalism and stuff, and I say, 'No, I don't.' I only wish I had taken up this path when I was much younger. I am thoroughly enjoying this, and also engaging with constituents and the members in this house, both on the government side, the other crossbenchers and, of course, the Leader of the Opposition and the opposition members in this place, who we have come to know and like to call our friends. We certainly have a very collaborative spirit. I have come to appreciate a lot of the work and interests that they have and their personal interests as well, which they like to prosecute.

Finally, I would just like to single out the Leader of the Government here, the Hon. Robert Lucas, who is really an old hand here in parliament. He is renowned for his quick, witty, cutting tongue and has a great deal of zeal with his bills. But what I would like to thank the Hon. Treasurer for is actually introducing me to a new word this year. It is a word that I had never discovered before until he raised it in the house. It is perineum. I had to look it up immediately the moment he mentioned it. When I looked it up, I know where to look: it is where the sun doesn't shine. So well done, the Hon. Treasurer.

I thank the Hon. Kyam Maher for his advice and cooperation with us and his lively interjections. As I have said before, it has been a very collaborative spirit here in this chamber. Along with the others here, the crossbenchers, the Greens and the Hon. Mr Darley, we thank you all for your efforts in 2018. It has been a short year, but I certainly am looking forward to 2019. I am learning as I am going, and I hope to be a better member and a better representative for South Australia next year. In doing so, I wish you all the best for 2019 and a happy and merry Christmas as well.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Franks, we are waiting for a couple of messages, so we have plenty of time for expressions of love and compassion.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:36): I rise, despite my voice, noting that in the spirit of collaboration I believe we have a message with regard to the joint house committee to consider the Social Workers Registration Bill. For me, that is something that absolutely exemplifies the spirit of this place and of this parliament. When we work together, we can achieve great things for South Australians and, I would hope, for our country.

As I eagerly await someone entering the chamber with a manila folder—more than I ever have before, I must say—I reflect and certainly associate myself with the comments previously made in this place about respect for democracy, about respect for diversity of views and about how it is not just the MPs who sit in this chamber that make democracy work but all of the people who keep the wheels turning, whether they be parliamentary staff, the catering staff, the people who keep our computers working and secure, PNSG, those in the library, and those who assist us with the research to make sure we get our facts straight. Certainly, on the point of those who teach us new words in this place, I would add that any woman who has ever had a baby already knows the word perineum.

I thank you, Mr President, in particular. I think you do have a tough job in this place and you have done it admirably this year. Certainly, sitting on the crossbenches, with the contests and the jousting that goes across from the government to the opposition, and the opposition to the government, we sometimes do feel a little in the crossfire, but I do respect that you value each of us equally in this place.

We all have that diversity of opinion, and we all have the right to participate in the democracy as members of this place. I thank you for your respect for the crossbench in particular but also the patience that you have had to show, which you have shown in every single movement of your face each and every question time. My only advice to you, Mr President, is do not play poker, because you make a far better President than you ever would as a poker player.

I look eagerly to see if that folder was perhaps the manila folder we are waiting for. I note that in the other place they are currently making valedictories and paying tribute to the current member for Cheltenham, the former Premier, Jay Weatherill. I also wish to add my respect for the leadership shown by Premier Weatherill, whether that be for the raft of rainbow reforms the Weatherill government led, or standing up in tough times for real climate action and for renewables, which he has done, often in the face of quite strong media and political backlash.

However, to my mind he has always been a leader who did not just float with the wind, did not stick his finger up and see which way the wind was blowing that day, but he stood for what was right for our state, for our planet and for our people in terms of standing against inequality. I think those values will be his legacy. It is a sad day in this place when we lose any member of parliament, but certainly to see a former premier step down I think is a sad day. His speech this morning—and while it would be unparliamentary of me, I think, to reflect upon that speech necessarily—showed his great commitment to decency, civility and democracy.

This place is a very intimate chamber. That is certainly something my former boss and former senator, Natasha Stott Despoja, first remarked on when I showed her around this chamber: that this is a very intimate place. We have our duels and debates, and our diversity and our agreements and our achievements, but we all have to come back in here to this very small chamber, and we do so without throwing chairs, without throwing punches, and I think that is something that we should be rightly proud of in South Australia.

I am hoping that is the manila folder that I am waiting for, Mr President, and I am hoping your poker face will give me an indication. With those few words, I am going to sit down now so that I can have another last word.

The PRESIDENT: Does any other honourable member have a contribution on this motion? We have one message which has to be read.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (17:42): In closing the debate briefly, I should have, and did not, thank all of my personal staff in my ministerial office. I want to thank a particular individual, someone who we know affectionately as Crazy Dave Siow, who served with me in opposition when I was on those lonely offices on the second floor, which other members are getting used to at this stage.

Members will be familiar with the work of Crazy Dave in recent times. He has been the liaison person with crossbenchers and government and opposition members in terms of organising briefings and the proceedings of parliament. He is moving on to a very significant promotion on the other side, in the real world, and I would like to publicly acknowledge all the work he did for me and the Liberal Party in opposition, and for me and my office in government. I thank him for all of that and certainly wish him well in his future endeavours in the significant new role that he will commence just prior to Christmas.

The PRESIDENT (17:43): Before I put the motion, I thank honourable members for their kind words regarding myself. I join honourable members in their thanks to all the staff. I would particularly like to thank the Clerk, who has given me great assistance in my year as President, and also the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, as well as all other staff of the Legislative Council.

As a member of the JPSC, I thank all those other departments within the parliament that make this place work, I also single out catering and, in particular, Hansard and the Library. I thank honourable members for their patience and forbearance and their kind acceptance of my many rulings. You have not protested too much. I especially thank the whips for shouldering most of the organisation of the work of the parliament. I wish every member and our staff a safe and happy Christmas.