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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-13 Daily Xml
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Address in Reply

ADDRESS IN REPLY

Adjourned debate on motion for adoption (resumed on motion).

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (17:10): I rise to support the Address in Reply. Just before I begin, I formally congratulate the member for Flinders on a great speech. I knew his predecessors extremely well. I certainly know that he will contribute to the house.

Members interjecting:

Mr VENNING: Because I have been here a while. I would like to thank His Excellency the Governor Rear Admiral Scarce for his address upon the opening of the First Session of the 52nd Parliament. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to the Governor and Mrs Scarce for officially visiting the Barossa Valley, following an invitation from me after the opening of the last parliament. His Excellency and Mrs Scarce were made very welcome by Mayor Brian Hurn and myself and it was, indeed, refreshing that our Governor appreciates a good wine and, better still, that he knows the difference.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr VENNING: I did. Madam Speaker, I would like to officially congratulate you—as I did the other day—on becoming the first female speaker in this house. You must be immensely proud. I think you can certainly put it down in the family Bible as being something very special. I am sure that you will undertake your duties with a firm but fair hand. You were never shy, and I am sure that you will attack the task with confidence and fairness.

I would also like to congratulate the newly elected members of parliament who have all, but one, spoken. Most of you have now completed your maiden speech, and this is something that you will remember forever. I still remember my maiden speech, which was nearly 20 years ago in five weeks. I cannot believe it has been that long. It is a special occasion. I congratulate them all, because they have made brilliant speeches—excellent. There has been a lot of information and it has been fantastic.

I want to pay tribute to the retiring members of the parliament, particularly the Hon. Graham Gunn and Liz Penfold who, as a country member, has represented the people alongside me. I particularly want to pay tribute to the Hon. Graham Gunn. What a legend he was. He is certainly missed by me. I would also like to pay tribute to the magnificent candidates who just missed out, particularly Maria Kourtesis, who very narrowly missed out by the most minimum of margins, and also Cosie Costa, whom I assisted in Light. Even the member here would agree: he was a great candidate and extremely fair. He never personally attacked the opposition. He and his family ran a great campaign. He is a great guy and I wish him the best in the future, because we will see him back again—I certainly hope so.

I also want to pay tribute to Peta McCance in Mitchell—a surprise pack there, I have to say. She snuck through and very nearly won that seat. I just wish that a few more resources were there for her to get her over the line. She surprised us all with her capacity and also the quality of the campaign she put up. To my old mate, Joe Scalzi, and to Trish Draper—great campaigns but both narrowly missed out. There were so many others.

I also mentioned Terry Boylan up there in Port Pirie. It is very sad that his campaign came on a bit early when we lost the seat of Frome. That should not have happened. If that had not happened, I am sure that Terry would have been with us in this house now. It is unfortunate but that is the reality of politics.

I am honoured to be returned here for the sixth time. I thank the people of Schubert for the privilege of representing the best electorate in Australia, and it is; nobody will argue with that. It is the best result ever, with a 12 per cent swing, almost a two party preferred of 70 per cent. The minister will probably say, 'Well, it's time you left.' It is probably a good result on which to leave. But it is a fantastic result, the best I have ever had, and I have to thank so many people for that. I particularly want to thank my campaign team, arguably one of the most experienced in the field. In particular, I want to recognise and thank my campaign chairman, the wily Mr Peter Frazer—man of great experience and capacity—and his wife Anita. I will be forever thankful.

Another Liberal legend is Mrs Stephanie Martin, the Schubert president, who has been pivotal to our success. These people sacrifice so much for the cause.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr VENNING: I did it once. The member is right; so, I've come a long way.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr VENNING: Whatever. Vice-president Mark Grossman and his wife Jane are the most reliable workers you could ever ask for. Also Bob and Marj Ahrens of Ahrens Ltd, what fabulous supporters these people are in every way; great people. Also, my polling day supporters had over 100 people in the field. That is something that really gives you goosebumps. I am so pleased and proud of them; they did a fabulous job.

Some of them did eight hours on the poll nonstop. One particular lady—and it is dangerous to name anybody—whose name is Maureen Barber was quite unwell and not young, and she stood at the polling booth at Walker Flat all on her own on a cold and wintery day for eight hours—all day. It is a desolate polling booth. I called in there especially to see her. That is the sort of thing that inspires you—and what fabulous service. Thanks, Maureen and Lindsay.

My party, the Liberal Party, is the greatest party of all. Thanks so much for backing us in. The president, Sean Edwards, and director, Julian Sheezel, and the staff at the secretariat, thank you very much. My own staff—Helena, Susie, Sam and Sue—thank you very much. As a sitting member of parliament it is very difficult sometimes to run campaigns, because you still have to be the active member and you have so many commitments. You really do rely on your campaign workers to do the job for you. Can I say—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: What went wrong in Forreston?

Mr VENNING: Forreston? Nothing, I don't believe. I won all my booths.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: You struggled at Forreston.

Mr VENNING: I must have only got 60 per cent of Forreston, I don't know. I want to particularly thank my leader, Isobel Redmond. I have been around a while and I have worked with a lot of leaders, some are inspiring and some are just jolly hard workers. Can I say about this leader that she has everything. She took us from a situation that was pretty hopeless, and at one stage we looked like winning this, and we should have won it. In fact, we knew the Labor Party had the shredders working.

If things were a little different we would be there. She had you on the run well and truly. History will show that it was unlucky that she did not. What a fantastic performer. The people of South Australia were drawn to her, as are her colleagues. We really do appreciate her skills. Izzy cannot be stereotyped. She is herself, she is strong, she is intelligent, and she is capable. I have every confidence that she will lead the Liberals to victory in 2014. Most importantly, I want to thank my wife of 41 years for the fantastic support she has given me.

Members interjecting:

Mr VENNING: She said, yes I know. Kay, you married a farmer. She has done a fantastic job in the support she has given me. Yes, she will get the farmer back shortly, and I promise that I will then repay the favours that she has done for me for all these years. As I say, it is only a few weeks before it is 20 years, and I am amazed at how quickly that time has gone. I will return to being my wonderful partner's chauffeur, bowling mate and to walking the dog, all those things that do not happen when you are in this job. I pay the highest tribute to her and my family.

Mr Goldsworthy: Your wife you mean, not your partner.

Mr VENNING: Well, she's a wife and a partner; they are all the same idea. In the few minutes I have left I will comment on a few matters that the Governor touched upon in his address. In the first minute or so of his address the Governor said:

It [the government] has committed itself to reconnecting and re-engaging with the state through ongoing consultation and by listening to South Australians' concerns and aspirations.

If that is the case, will the Rann Labor government rethink its decision to do away with the Royal Adelaide Hospital and continue building the new rail yards hospital? The people of South Australia have sent a message.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr VENNING: It won us the seat of Adelaide. That was the single biggest issue. More than half the people did not vote for you, so how can you say, 'We're going to continue building this hospital'? I just cannot believe that you have not got the message. Will the Rann Labor government hold its plans to demolish and sell off parts of Glenside for a film hub instead of using it as a mental health facility? What about the call from many South Australians to implement a state based ICAC? Does the Rann Labor government remain resolute in its view that we do not need one?

Despite the state Liberal team winning 52 per cent of the vote on 20 March, Labor won the right to govern. Does this give it a mandate to implement its policies when most South Australians reject it? Where is the fairness? Fifty per cent-plus in my book means you won, but not here. The Governor refers to a government that wants to reconnect and listen to South Australia's concerns and aspirations.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Please listen to the member in silence.

Mr VENNING: If this is true, then the issues I have just mentioned should be revisited by the government and policies altered according to what most South Australians want. How about a good dose of bipartisanship here? You have four years before you have to face another poll. Why not even do a little bit of horse trading or something? I firmly believe that at least half of the polices put forward—at least half of them—were and are the right polices.

For the sake of the state, for the sake of our resources and for the sake of the future, you ought to give a little ground and say, 'Okay; we'll do a deal. Yes, we will build the hospital where you want it, but we will build the stadium our way.' I am sure there is an area where some trading could be done. It is bipartisan to make the right decision. You can change your mind, and you are allowed to change your mind. However, I am not confident you will.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I also congratulate you on your attaining this office. I certainly never thought I would be serving in a parliament with a female leader, let alone having two. Throughout the whole political system we now have ladies in prominent positions and doing a very good job.

I am not confident the government will change any of these policies, and it will continue over the next four years as it has done for the past eight years. It is an arrogant government that does not listen to the people.

The issue of the dodgy how-to-vote cards distributed on polling day has left many South Australians extremely angry—

Members interjecting:

Mr VENNING: Shh! Don't wind him up—and untrusting of the Rann Labor government; a government that went into the election campaign championing that it was all about trust, yet it allowed Labor supporters to masquerade as another party and hand out dodgy how-to-vote cards. It beggars belief.

For the Attorney-General to announce that the Rann government will introduce legislation to stop dodgy how-to-vote cards at state elections when they were the ones guilty of this in the most recent election is absolute hypocrisy; it is a joke. 'Do as I say and not as I do' seems to be the motto the Rann Labor government is adhering to. It is a standing joke. You set out to deceive. There is nothing else for it. Call it trickery or whatever you like, but you set out to deceive, which is not honest.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: I take a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The member for Schubert is using the second person 'you' and accusing 'us' on the government side, to whom he is addressing these remarks, of deceit, and I take umbrage and ask him to withdraw.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is—

Mr Goldsworthy interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me, member for Kavel. I think you will find it is my time, not your time. The member for Croydon does have a point, pedantic although it may be. Perhaps, member for Schubert, you could observe it as you continue your reflections.

Mr VENNING: I will keep to the script, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That's the way.

Mr VENNING: The government certainly does not seem to have any credibility at all when it sets out to deceive. What sort of standards are we setting here? What sort of message are we sending to people? No wonder we as MPs are seen as lower than used car salesmen. What is the excuse for doing it? It was designed to deceive voters, and that is just plain wrong. This is the third election of the last six where we got a wrong result. A party getting more than half of the vote did not win. It says that something is wrong. We need to put some surety into the system.

There are other systems in the world that allow you to get the right result. The German system is but one where you have a top-up system. So, a party getting 50 per cent plus one gets to govern.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr VENNING: Just because we are not tricky; just because we are not dishonest enough to run these dodgy marginal seat campaigns, and that is what they are. It is not just dodgy T-shirts; what about all the fake phone calls that went around? I heard about some of the stories that went around and some of the letters that were written. My word!

I think it is time that we in this state looked at random ballot papers. Members may have heard of the Robson Rotation system used in Tasmania: every ballot paper can be different; they are randomly selected. It would put an end to how-to-vote cards, and the member for Croydon would have to agree with that. It would put an end to that. There are no two ballot papers necessarily the same, they are all random. So, you actually have to pick up the card, read it and understand where your candidate of choice is, rather than just follow a how-to-vote card. I think it is time that we looked at this.

I also think that it is time that we looked at optional preferential voting, as they have in Queensland. It works and it works well. I am a firm believer in the two party system. The only way you are going to protect that is to put optional preferential voting in there. Nobody disagrees; I am pleased.

The Governor refers in his address to health remaining as a core priority for this government. That is something that I seriously question. Prior to the 20 March election, the state Liberal team committed to building a new hospital in the Barossa Valley. Unfortunately, we were not successful, so our plan will not come to fruition at least in the next four years. I might be wrong, and I would be very pleased to be wrong.

However, what I found most surprising was that following the announcement of our commitment the Rann government did not match it or put forward an alternative—no; it remained totally silent and said nothing, despite commissioning a business case into a new facility. I have assured my constituents that I will continue to advocate and lobby on their behalf for a new health facility in the region, but with the Rann Labor government determined to forge ahead with the rail yards hospital, the country health budget will be sucked dry for years and years to come. So, I am not confident that a new facility will come to fruition under this government.

I turn now to water. Despite recently having some good rains, the issue of water security needs to be addressed to ensure that we have a supply for the future. I was surprised that it was mentioned in the latter part of the Governor's address. Water impacts upon everyone and, given the Governor's remarks about our state's projected population, our water supplies for the future must be secured now.

Yes, South Australia's desalination plant will be up and running at some stage, but we must make the most of what Mother Nature provides us with by harvesting stormwater to a drinkable standard. It is safe and environmentally friendly. The Rann Labor government has dismissed the idea based upon safety concerns, but the experience of Salisbury council demonstrates that it can be done safely.

Mining is mentioned in the Governor's address. The fact that there is quadruple the number of mines operating now in the state than there was years ago, now that Kevin Rudd has announced that he intends to tax the nation's resources companies 40 per cent of their profits, this will start to steadily decline as companies move offshore to mine elsewhere, where they are not slugged with such an exorbitant tax.

It is rather hypocritical when you hear the government, particularly the Premier beating his chest and being the champion of the mining industry, because I was around at the time and the Liberals were championing the mining industry. Premier Rann was in this place, I think as a staffer at the time, and Labor opposed it all the way. We would not have Roxby Downs today if it was not for Normie Foster crossing the floor and then getting banished from the Labor Party for many years.

The Governor referred to planned upgrades to transport networks and proposed infrastructure projects to be undertaken by the Rann Labor government. As is so often the case with a city-centric government, not one of the major projects or upgrades described is in a rural or regional area. As the member for Flinders said a few moments ago, 80 per cent of the state's exports come from rural South Australia, yet not one of the major projects or upgrades described is in a rural or regional area.

Time and again this government has shown complete disregard for country people, concentrating on the CBD and the inner metropolitan areas. One of the biggest issues in country areas is transport, yet the Rann Labor government has done nothing to improve services in my electorate and I am sure that the same could be said for my colleagues who represent country areas too.

Right now there are renewed efforts to get the wine train back on track. The train is owned by Mr John Geber of Chateau Tanunda who bought it outright. The rails are there, it is just a matter of getting permission to run, but nothing happens. There has been a campaign of almost five years, to get that train back on track. I congratulate John Geber on having the foresight and courage to take the risk of buying the train outright and saving it from the scrappers. Now we just have to get it back on the rails.

I have spoken ad nauseam in this house over the last few years about trialling a passenger rail service to the Barossa. This has repeatedly been refused but what about at least extending the Metroticket bus service to the Barossa? That would be a big help. A little money towards transport in country areas to assist community passenger networks—whose volunteers do a fantastic job providing for country people—or implementing a Metroticket in new country regions would go a long way. It would be a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of a tramline extension to the Entertainment Centre.

I look forward to some vigorous debate in this house during the next four years on many different topics. I would like to initiate and engage in debate on nuclear power and GM foods. The time has come to debate and discuss these somewhat contentious issues. South Australia has energy problems. We need more power: to desalinate water, run electric trains and electric cars, and for mining operations. We need to shut down our dirty power stations, particularly the one at Port Augusta, which will run out of coal in 10 to 20 years anyway.

So, what is the answer? Is it the wind turbines? People in the city love them. We have them all around our property but they are not the answer and we do not like living with them. Why don't we put wind turbines across Mount Lofty? We don't because you wouldn't want to see them up there, would you? It is all right for country people to have to look at these things all day and every day. They are great for a few months but after they have been there six months or so with their red, flashing lights at night, you yearn for your lovely skyline again; you really do. So you are not going to put them across Mount Lofty because you do not want them there. It is all right to lump them among country people who value their skyline as much as you do here in Adelaide, but that is okay. They are not the answer. They are high maintenance and when there is no wind they do not work.

Mr Goldsworthy: When there's too much wind they don't work.

Mr VENNING: When there is too much wind or when it is too hot they shut them down. So they are not the answer. Are photovoltaic systems the answer? No, they do not work at night. Surprise, surprise! They are not the answer. So what can be relied upon to provide our base power? We all know the answer, but we don't even discuss or debate it here. The member for Newland, Tom Kenyon, raised the matter here in his maiden speech four years ago and got howled down. How ridiculous to have the world's greatest resources to generate power and not use them.

We get ourselves in a lather about the damage nuclear energy would do to the environment. Today, in France, 52 per cent of the power is nuclear generated. There is nothing wrong with France's clean, green image; not with the fine wines they make. It is high time that in the next four years we at least engage in debate in this place and look at whether it is viable to have at least one nuclear power station in Australia. If we have to have one, let's have it here in South Australia.

The GM (genetically modified) food debate has to be ramped up. We are the only state in Australia that does not allow GM canola to be farmed. What is the result? We do not grow canola on our farm. We cannot compete against GM canola grown in Canada and the other states, so we just do not grow it. It is crazy. Are we the only state that has it right?

There is no real economic resistance in the world market to Canadian GM canola. In fact, its disease resistance and the fewer chemicals used make this food source a lot healthier. We have to have more debate on the GM food issue. I want to see the scientists speak out about it. We will not cross our food products with exotic animals and things such as that; that is not on. It was a decision of this parliament that we do not have GM foods and it is up to us to change it.

We will have a problem feeding our population. The food debate is ramping up. We are importing more of our food, much of which comes from subsidised developing countries that do not have similar food standards in place. As we heard on the radio this morning, pork imports are causing problems for our pork producers and driving down prices to below the cost of production. Labelling laws certainly need to be upgraded so consumers can easily identify imported product.

Food security will be a big issue, and I intend to spend a fair bit of time in the next four years discussing this issue because we might suddenly find ourselves running out of food. We are becoming reliant on countries such as China. Vegetables from China are grown without the food standards that we impose on our growers here. As another member said, we cannot eat iron ore, coal, aluminium or gold.

If we become reliant on overseas countries for our basic foods, especially dairy products and vegetables, particularly Chinese products, what will happen if it suddenly stops (because it is not the most stable political regime)? Today we see piggeries closing down, even with cheaper grain available for feed. Many dairies in South Australia have gone, and the floodplains of the Lower Murray are now a wasteland. I am very concerned about this issue, and I will spend a lot of time in the next four years discussing food security. I know, too, that Senator Nick Xenophon is also talking about food labelling laws.

Every government that is elected will address red tape. In relation to cutting bureaucracy delays and slashing paperwork, well, today it has never been worse. We even see police officers being mentioned in the paper saying they spend too much time on paperwork at the expense of time on the beat.

I understand a controversy occurred in Clare—and I will be speaking to the member for Frome about it—because I got a phone call the other day and could not believe the facts. The police are great people. I do not like to see internal hiccups such as have been reported to me, and we should do all we can to assist them in carrying out the great work they do—and that is not locking them into offices to wade through piles of paper.

An article in The Advertiser by our colleague Alexander Downer also referred to problems getting approval for a house development. It took me six months to get approval for a new brick front fence for my house at West Beach. The council wanted detail about the wind forces and storm damage—all this just for a fence. I could not believe it; it was madness. It is just a brick fence. It took my son in Evandale six months to get approval for a house. He agreed with everything the council wanted, but as soon as he got the green light the officer would change and it would stop again. This goes around and around and is still going on.

Finally, today being 13 May, farmers are going through a tough time. We are not getting any rain. Many farmers have planted their crops. What the locusts have not eaten, in many cases the mice have eaten. It is an extremely frustrating time, with grain prices particularly poor and fluctuations in the Australian dollar. There is no single desk to protect them any more, no thanks to this parliament. They are going through some pretty difficult times. I have to say that the banks are pretty anxious, too, because it is a pretty anxious time. All I can say is that I hope, before we come back to this house in another 10 days' time, that we have a decent rain across the state—that we get an opening rain—because the optimum time for sowing across the state is the second or third week in May, and we are there now.

I look forward to the next four years, madam. I look forward to your speakership. I again thank all my colleagues for their contributions and support, particularly in the last few days when I have had a rocky time of it, but we are on with it now.

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr VENNING: I am an honest trader. Thank you very much, and I wish the house all the best for the four years.

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (17:40): I am pleased to make a contribution to the Address in Reply and I join all members in congratulating and thanking the Governor on his speech at the official opening of the parliament. I also extend my sincere congratulations to all the newly elected members on both sides of the house—and on the crossbenches, I might add—but, in particular, to the six new members elected on this side of the house—the members for Stuart, Chaffey, Morialta, Norwood, Adelaide and Flinders. As my colleagues have already stated, they are outstanding people from diverse backgrounds and they will bring real quality to and benefit this parliament absolutely.

I want to talk for a while about the election results, particularly in the state scene but also in the local scene in the electorate of Kavel. The state election result was 51.6 per cent of the two party preferred vote in favour of the Liberal Party of Australia (SA Division). That is a clear indication from the South Australian voting public that it supported a Liberal government over the ALP. Hence, the government, even though it won the majority of seats, did not win the majority state vote. That is absolutely clear. So it has no mandate to build an expensive and unnecessary hospital down at the railway yards and it has no mandate to redevelop the Adelaide Oval. We have seen the Treasurer here today in real strife over that proposed redevelopment. He is all over the place but he says, 'We have got a clear vision for what is going on.' Well, if that is what a clear vision is, I hate to think what working through a process is. So the government has no mandate for those infrastructure projects.

The opinion of the voters was reflected in Adelaide. We have an outstanding member for Adelaide. She ran an outstanding campaign, but those were clearly some of the key issues that resonated with the voters in Adelaide that saw the Hon. Jane Lomax-Smith defeated and Ms Rachel Sanderson elected as the member for Adelaide—that is, the new hospital build in the railway yards and the redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval, with all the problems that will to arise from that.

Cost blowouts on the Adelaide Oval redevelopment are clearly evident and cost blowouts on the new RAH are clearly evident. This government cannot control expenditure. It is the same old Labor government: it cannot control its expenditure. It has a defined income stream and it knows that, but for the last eight years it has not managed its budget. It cannot control its budget—hence, the problem that we have with the budget and the $750 million worth of savings that have to be found somewhere.

I want to talk about some of the shonky tactics that we saw during the election campaign, and the member for Schubert highlighted some of those shonky tactics. We saw it start before the campaign proper commenced with those dirty tactics cards that I would imagine—I cannot say for sure—the member for Croydon had something to do with. They went out and they wanted a reply back to the Leader of the Opposition. However, they had the address of the Labor Party headquarters on them.

We are still waiting for those replies; so, you know, if you have the courage of your convictions and if you want to run a dirty campaign, at least have the honesty to return them to the Leader of the Opposition as per your public communication with her. Have some guts and send them back to us, but I will not hold my breath on that because we know how you operate. I also want to talk about the shonky how-to-vote cards handed out in some of the seats.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: Well, if you talk to him, Robert Brokenshire has quite a different view on that and the complete difference between those two practices. The shonky how-to-vote cards, I understand, appeared in the electorates of Light, Mawson, Morialta and in a number of other electorates. I congratulate the member for Newland and the member for Bright—and there were probably one or two others—who resisted that tactic. They had the good sense, honesty, dignity and integrity to refuse them.

The member for Mawson said, 'Oh, well, I didn't really know what was going on. It was done by central office.' If a sitting member of parliament cannot control their campaign, it has really got to present big questions on how they run their show. It has to raise big questions. So, for the member for Mawson, when he was publicly challenged on this issue, to say, 'Well, I didn't really have any idea about it,' and the fact that the Premier himself claimed ignorance of the fact that these shonky how-to-vote cards were distributed in those electorates actually beggars belief.

The member for Mawson won on the back of these shonky how-to-vote cards. He said, 'Oh, I'm sorry. I apologise for the use of them.' What a hollow apology that is: 'I've won, but I'm sorry that I used dirty tactics to win.' What sort of integrity does that exhibit to his constituency and to the state? Very, very little. I want also to touch on the issue of the troubles that we see within the ALP at the moment. The member for West Torrens can come in here and bang on about his perception about what is happening within our ranks, but what did we see after the election? We saw the Minister for Education challenge the Deputy Premier for his position.

There must be some real unrest within the ALP parliamentary party. There must be some real unrest within the Labor ranks for Jay to challenge Kevin. Publicly they kissed and made up, but I can tell members that is not where it will finish. That is only scene one of the saga that is about to unfold over the next few months, the next couple of years.

We saw the illustrious member for Light jump factions. It is my perception and interpretation that the reason the member for Light left the left faction was that he did not get what he wanted; he was not rewarded for retaining his seat. Biggles got rewarded: he got a parliamentary secretary's job, but what did poor old Tony get? Zip; nothing! So, he is completely dark on the people he supposed supported him, and he has jumped ship. Not a word! The silence is deafening. I reckon I have hit a chord there.

We see the Minister for Transport. What is going on with Patrick? He has jettisoned himself out of the left. My take on that is that the Minister for Education has taken control of the left faction. Patrick is no longer the boss of the left. Jay has done the job; Patrick is out there in the wilderness, supposedly unaligned. That also takes me to the point of what the member for Mawson will do now that his mentor, his sponsor, is no longer in the left faction. I think Biggles' boat has been cast adrift from the mothership as well. It will be very interesting. Here we go; here is the Minister for Transport himself! It will be very interesting to see how the ALP machinations work themselves out over the next few months. I think I have spent enough time on the ALP issues. I do not want to waste all my time—

Members interjecting:

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: Don't tempt me, Jack. You wind me up and encourage me, and it is difficult to restrain myself. I want to talk about the local results in Kavel. I place on the public record my sincere thanks for the confidence the electors of Kavel have placed in me again for a third term in this place. The result was very pleasing: I am humbled by the result, with a primary vote of 55.6 per cent, which converted to a two-party preferred vote of 65.8 per cent.

The member for Croydon raised the issue of the Nairne polling result. Mick, I did not win on primary votes. It was, I think, 49.4 per cent. I have said this publicly: the ALP has been strong in the 'hot spot' of Nairne for some time. There was only one other booth that I did not win on primary votes, and that was Mount Barker central. That was 0.1 per cent, which is probably about three votes. If I had been able to get enough time to knock on another three or four doors, I may have got a 50 per cent primary vote at Mount Barker central.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: You raised the issue, so I am responding to you, Mick.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: You raised the issue, mate, so I am responding. I know you are a scholar of election results booth by booth, electorate by electorate, state by state and probably nation by nation.

I will also mention that this is the first time in a long time that the ALP actually ran a campaign. The candidate actually ran a fairly serious, hard campaign. I understand he did not have much money; I think he probably put in a fair bit of his own money into his campaign. He had T-shirts and hats and all the rigmarole that goes with it. He had those questionable corflutes up at polling booths on election day. So, the ALP for the first time in a long time actually ran a campaign, but unfortunately for the poor old beleaguered candidate he actually got a worse vote than when you ran dead in the elections of 2002 and 2006. Poor old Johnny Fulbrook, he put a big effort in, but unfortunately his vote went backwards.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: What would we expect running against a star like you?

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: I know it has taken you a while to come to that conclusion, Pat, but I see you finally understand the reality of the situation. I want to thank everybody involved in supporting me over the past eight years, particularly leading up to and into the election campaign period: my state electorate committee, the local branch structure and the central SEC committee. I have two very loyal, dedicated and supportive staff members and a really fantastic group of volunteers. I also thank my family: my wife, my children, my parents, and my sister, who came over from Melbourne to help out. Without that support it would have been impossible for me to be in this place now representing the good people of Kavel.

As I said at the beginning of my remarks, I thank my constituents for placing their trust in me to continue representing them to the best of my ability. I made a commitment when I first came into this place that it is an honour and a privilege to represent the electorate of Kavel, as all members understand in their respective electorates. I made a commitment that I would do the job to the utmost of my ability and I want to continue to honour that commitment and make that commitment again. I will work as hard as possible to represent the electors of Kavel. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

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