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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-12-05 Daily Xml
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Hall, Mr R.S.

Mr DULUK (Waite) (15:33): I rise today to speak about former premier Steele Hall and to celebrate 50 years since the Hall government was elected. In fact, last week Steele celebrated his 90th birthday. Mr Hall was a farmer from Owen prior to entering this house in 1959 as the member for Gouger. He remains the only Australian to serve as the Premier of a state as well as a member of three legislatures.

His parliamentary career exceeded 33 years, and for over 20 of those he sat on the opposition or crossbenches. After his election to this house in 1959, through a tough eight-way preselection for the blue ribbon seat of Gouger, Hall's streak of independence was soon noted in the young MP, most notably when, as a private member, he sponsored the Book Purchasers Protection Act 1963. In 1965, the then premier, Sir Thomas Playford, made the young Hall opposition whip.

On 17 April 1968, Hall became the youngest ever premier of South Australia, and in 1970 for a short period he served as both premier and treasurer. Under his leadership, reform was heavy on the agenda. Social welfare and reform in Indigenous affairs were central to the government’s more moderate approach to governance, often angering some members of the then Liberal Country League (LCL). Arguably, the most important reforms made by the Hall government were those of electoral reform.

The end of the Playmander electoral system saw the start of a more even redistribution of population within both rural and metropolitan House of Assembly seats. During the Playmander, the number of the seats in rural areas was as few as 5,000 people per seat, while safe suburban Labor seats often had more than 40,000 electors. Hall's government fell mainly thanks to the policy issues relating to the difficulties of minority rule, where the LCL and Labor both had 19 seats apiece.

Hall's move to reform the House of Assembly to a fairer model and the bipartisan approach to try to reform the Legislative Council were met with division, especially over the redistribution of House of Assembly seats. The nature of the Hall government hung entirely with the Speaker of the house, Independent Tom Stott. In relation to dealing with the water issues, Hall favoured the use of the Dartmouth Dam in Victoria, rather than continuing with the build of a new dam in Chowilla, which was started by Playford.

Tom Stott was the member for Ridley, which contained localities along the River Murray, including Lyrup, Loxton and Morgan. He was the member for that area. Originally, Hall and the LCL backed the plan to build the Chowilla Dam in return for confidence from Speaker Stott. When Hall decided to abandon the plan, Stott rescinded confidence and supply and sided with Labor, which had promised to stop the dam in his area. Inevitably, Hall lost the 1970 election on the back of this issue around water. Ironically, though, Labor decided against the Chowilla Dam after coming into office in 1970.

One tangible piece of Hall's legacy that remains today is the placement of the Festival Centre. While overseas, cabinet and city council decided on placing the Adelaide Festival Centre on the site of Carclew House. Upon return to Australia, Hall disagreed with that decision and decided that the Festival Centre should be placed on the site of the City Baths. Hall saw the sloping banks of the River Torrens as a natural choice for the home of the Adelaide Festival and the cultural heart of the city. While the Festival Centre is often incorrectly seen as Dunstan's legacy, it is Steele Hall we have to thank for this.

His premiership was short lived, but I think that as time passes we can see Hall as one of the great reformers in South Australian politics who, by his own decisions, essentially saw the demise of his government. Subsequently, Hall went on to form the breakaway Liberal Movement and represent South Australia in the Senate from 1974 to 1977, and he finally went back to the Liberal Party as the member for Boothby between 1981 and 1996. In the federal parliament, Hall was very much an Independent, which saw him sidelined for his independent streak in the federal party.

Hall's legacy as a leader and a reformist has helped shaped the modern Liberal Party in South Australia. His conviction to the Liberal Party and the Liberal Movement has been evergreen. Hall's fight for a fairer society and a fairer electoral system remains a lasting impression on our party and this wonderful state of South Australia.

Mr ODENWALDER: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

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