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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-24 Daily Xml
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TONKIN, DR D.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:27): Earlier this month I attended the 10th David Tonkin Memorial Dinner organised by the South Australian Young Liberal Movement, as it has been since its inception on 2 February 2001. The Young Liberals is, of course, an organisation of which I am proud to be a life member, and I am pleased that it is continuing to organise this important memorial dinner.

David Tonkin was premier of South Australia from 1979 to 1982. It was a government of short tenure but great achievement. Dr Tonkin was the first Australian premier to deliver statutory native title legislation through the APY lands. He ensured that the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine could proceed against strong opposition at the time, including from some of those who would now seek to take credit for the bounty that it delivers.

He delivered the O-Bahn transport system to the eastern and north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. He introduced random breath testing, which saves so many lives. He brought us the Adelaide International Airport, Adelaide's first international hotel, Technology Park and Australia's first ethnic affairs commission and many other great achievements during the tenure of his government.

Even prior to his premiership, David Tonkin had already made a remarkable contribution in this place such as would make any member proud. He was the driving force behind South Australia's 1975 groundbreaking sex discrimination legislation, a private members' bill that he fought long and hard for before the government of the day adopted it, allowing the bill to pass.

In the first David Tonkin Memorial Address, Jennifer Cashmore remembered 'the atmosphere and attitudes of the almost entirely male-dominated parliament…in 1977,' and remained 'in awe of David Tonkin's courage and political skills in his efforts to secure equal rights for women'. On the day that Australia's first female Prime Minister was sworn in by Australia's first female Governor-General, it is worth noting that these were very different times.

Subsequent to his parliamentary career, David Tonkin continued to work hard in public life as chair of the State Opera Company, as secretary-general of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and later as chairman of the South Australian Film Corporation. He gave much to South Australia. David Tonkin was a thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate and resourceful premier, and his was a life well lived.

Dr Tonkin passed away on 1 October 2000 and was appropriately eulogised in this place and elsewhere. I was vice president of the South Australian Young Liberals at the time and, in that role, approached the family to obtain their blessing to establish the David Tonkin Memorial Dinner, confirming Dr Tonkin's legacy as a thoughtful and compassionate leader through an annual keynote address that would focus our attention on the philosophical direction of this side of South Australian and, indeed, Australian politics.

The first address in 2001 was delivered by one of Dr Tonkin's senior ministers, the former member for the electorate that I now have the privilege to represent, the Hon. Jennifer Cashmore AM. In that speech, she reflected on the philosophical example set by Dr Tonkin, as well as earlier Liberal thinkers, and finished by calling on Young Liberals, in particular, 'to search out, with open minds and without prejudice, the knowledge which will determine policy responses to some of the issues' that particularly confront us in a new century, including the challenges of globalisation, new technology, the changing nature of families, and our relationship with our environment. I took that challenge seriously then, and it is one that is still applicable to every member of this house.

Since then, the 10 speakers who have delivered this address have all been significant figures in the South Australian and Australian body politic, and they have all made substantial contributions to the public debate through their constructive presentation of public policy from a Liberal perspective. For the record, I will list the speakers who followed on from Jennifer Cashmore's 2001 address. They are:

in 2002, the member for Bragg (Vickie Chapman), who also established the David Tonkin Memorial Scholarship, awarded every year to a bright student in Dr Tonkin's old electorate;

in 2003, former South Australian premier the Hon. Dean Brown;

in 2004, former senator Baden Teague;

in 2005, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett;

in 2006, former New South Wales premier Nick Greiner;

in 2007, the longest serving female federal cabinet minister in Australia's history, Amanda Vanstone;

in 2008, Malcolm Turnbull;

in 2009, Tony Abbott; and

in 2010, senator Nick Minchin.

Mrs Prue Tonkin has attended nearly every one of these dinners, along with other members of the Tonkin family, and, at the recent dinner at the Italian Centre, it was a great pleasure to see that she continues in fine form. Together, the Tonkins had three sons and three daughters, and members of that family continue to make a great contribution to South Australia. I am proud of my involvement in beginning this institution 10 years ago and I look forward to continuing to assist in honouring Dr Tonkin's legacy in the years ahead.

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