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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-18 Daily Xml
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Australian Labor Party State Convention

Mr GEE (Napier) (17:08): I want to talk about the ALP State Convention on the weekend. I have to say, as the outgoing state president—

Members interjecting:

Mr GEE: I know, it is sad for everyone—it was probably the most united I have ever known the ALP to be. In terms of so-called factions and faceless men, I saw everybody make enormous effort to reach compromise positions which everyone could live with.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Not in one particular case.

Mr GEE: Well, I have to say that is the most unified I have ever seen the ALP. Also, on Sunday I was at a sod-turning ceremony in Munno Para for a new Woolworths which will see some thousand jobs—300 in the construction, 300 ongoing, with some additional specialty shops, and a further 400 which will come through with the introduction of Big W, as well as some other specialty shops. There has been a lot of sod turning in that area lately. We have a new Uniting Church happening and also we have new supermarkets coming with ALDI, so it is good news for the north.

One thing I would like to spend a fair bit of time talking about, perhaps not today but in a future grieve, is the latest enterprise agreement. This is the last of the enterprise agreements that will occur at General Motors Holden, and it will also be their closure agreement, but that is for another day.

There are a number of things I want to talk about that came out of the convention. These are achievements of our current government that I have to say are very important:

the increased investment in regional South Australia, plus investment in Nyrstar;

a $26 million upgrade of the Mount Gambier hospital;

a new Mount Gambier ambulance station;

improved dental clinics at Murray Bridge and Port Lincoln;

the most significant return-to-work reforms in 25 years;

changes to the CTP lifetime support and work-related compensation for our CFS volunteers;

six new wards at Lyell McEwin Hospital and a new rehab ward at Modbury Hospital, along with progress on the new Royal Adelaide Hospital;

electrification of the Seaford rail line, with passengers enjoying a quieter, smoother and more environmentally friendly ride. The government has also delivered expanded park-and-rides at Mount Barker and Smithfield;

increased investment in South Australia through tourism, conferences, sport and mining; and

two new special schools, plus two new children's centres. South Australia now has 41; in 2002, when Labor came to power, there were none, so this is a good example of where you can see how much unity there is in the Labor group.

I know we have finished with condolences, but I never spoke on the condolence motion for Gough Whitlam. I would like to say that, for me, no single man has done more for the cause of Indigenous people, women and the disadvantaged than Gough Whitlam. Gough stands alongside Bob Hawke and Paul Keating as one of the great Labor legends.

Unlike Bob and Paul, Gough totally changed the nation: the progressive Australia of 1975 was nothing like the conservative Australia of 1972. The start of universal health care; more funding to schools, not less; free tertiary education, not university degrees costing up to $100,000; and a Racial Discrimination Act are a small number of the hundreds of reforms introduced by Gough Whitlam. A legend and a reformer, he will forever be remembered.


At 17:12 the house adjourned until Wednesday 19 November 2014 at 11:00.

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