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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-04 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Groom, Mr T.R.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:03): By leave, I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Mr Terence Robert Groom, former member of the House of Assembly and minister of the Crown, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious service and that, as a mark of respect to his memory, the sitting of the house be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

Terry Groom served the parliament and the people of South Australia for a total of 13 years. As a member of the House of Assembly, he represented the electorate of Morphett between 1977 and 1979 and then switched from the western to the eastern suburbs to represent Hartley between 1982 and 1993. His initial election to the house was hard earned. The result in Morphett was the closest in the state. It was not declared until more than a full week after the poll. The final margin after the distribution of preferences was a very slender 112 votes.

Terry Groom was magnanimous in his win. In his maiden speech to the house, he congratulated his Liberal and Australian Democrat opponents on their hard work during the campaign. He also revealed that the Liberal campaign in Morphett had been so intense that the party canvassed at his own front door knowing that he would not be home and asked his wife not to vote for him. Showing the humour for which he would be known across the parliament, he confided, 'Unlike members opposite, I do not know how my wife votes.'

In that maiden speech, Terry also showed he had a depth of knowledge across many issues. For example, despite being a city lawyer, he was able to explain to the house why hydatid disease is widespread in sheep and cattle and causes considerable loss to graziers in the meat industry. It was therefore not surprising that Terry was able to conclude his parliamentary career as the minister for primary industries.

During his ministerial service, he impressed members of my party with his dedication to the role and his willingness to listen. He had also served on the Joint Committee on Subordinate Legislation, the Public Accounts Committee, and as Chair of the Economic and Finance Committee. By the time Terry became a minister, he was an independent member of this house, having been unable to secure his party's support for an alternative seat following a redistribution that eroded his majority in Hartley. During his brief stint in cabinet, he showed his Labor colleagues what they had missed by not elevating him to cabinet long before.

After leaving parliament at the 1993 election, Terry continued to make important contributions to public service. At different times over the following 2½ decades, he served on the boards of the Repatriation General Hospital, the Motor Accident Commission, the Environment Protection Authority and the Parole Board and only ended his membership of the board of Renewal SA less than two years ago as he approached his mid-70s. His busy professional life also included being a lecturer in taxation law at the Adelaide and Panorama institutes of TAFE in their accountancy courses and, more recently, a consultant to the corporate and commercial team at Camatta Lempens law firm.

We thank Terry for his long life of public service and professional service and express our sincere condolences following his passing to his wife, Kay, and their children Anthony, Tristram and Zoe.

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): I rise to second the motion from the Premier and to honour the very substantial and significant contribution to the people of South Australia through the life of the late Terry Groom. Terry passed away suddenly last week, aged 76. On behalf of the parliamentary Labor Party, I would like to extend my sympathies to his immediate and extended family. They deserve to feel very proud of Terry's contribution to this state.

Terence Robert Groom will be remembered as a hardworking and devoted member of parliament who represented the interests of the people of Morphett and Hartley with diligence and integrity. Terry first ran for parliament in 1975 in the seat of Hanson and was defeated by a highly respected member of this place, Mr Heini Becker. He did not have to wait too long, though, before he had another shot at entering into state parliament when Premier Don Dunstan called an election in September 1977.

In the 1977 state election, Terry contested the newly created seat of Morphett and, as the Premier articulated, that result was incredibly close, coming down to just 112 votes. You do not win a seat the nature of Morphett by 112 votes unless you work incredibly hard. It was always going to be a difficult seat to hold and in the 1979 election Labor was facing the challenge of having won the past four elections and Don Dunstan had resigned earlier that year, not to mention the fact that of course Terry had such a slim margin.

As a result, Labor lost the 1979 election and lost the seat of Morphett with it. As yet, no doubt much to the relief of the current member, we have not yet been able to hold it since. To date, of course, Terry is the only Labor member to have held the seat of Morphett. That loss could not deter someone of Terry's nature, and in 1982 he ran for the seat of Hartley after the retirement of Des Corcoran. He went on to win that seat with a very impressive margin of 10 per cent. He was elected again in 1985, increasing his margin, and re-elected again in 1989.

During his significant 13-year career, Terry held a number of significant positions, including Chairperson of the Economic and Finance Committee and also a member of the Public Accounts Committee, and the Joint Committee on Subordinate Legislation. Following the 1991 redistribution, the seat of Hartley was made unwinnable in the lead-up to the 1993 state election, and Terry sought preselection for the seat of Napier. He was unsuccessful in that preselection and decided to leave the Labor Party.

While Terry could have retired from politics in 1991, which would have resulted in a by-election that almost certainly would have brought down a Labor government, it was something that he was not prepared to do. While Terry had left the Labor Party, it is also true that he never left the Labor cause. Terry always remained loyal to the cause of Labor and working men and women. In 1992, Premier Lynn Arnold appointed Terry as Minister for Primary Industries and Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs in that government.

Terry thrived in those portfolios, and after the 1993 state election he later said that these were the best two years of his political life. In that election, Terry unsuccessfully contested the seat of Napier as a Labor candidate, but while he served as an Independent between 1991 and 1993 and ran as an Independent in that election, Terry returned to the Labor family formally in the year 2000, and over the years he has provided valuable advice and support to premiers of this state, to ministers of this state and to countless MPs.

Former Premier Jay Weatherill, whose presence I acknowledge today, says that Terry was his mentor and certainly gave him the opportunity of his first job. In 2006, his advice and support were also given to Grace Portolesi, which undoubtedly helped Grace win that seat for Labor, and I, too, would like to acknowledge Grace being here today.

His continued support to Hartley campaigns continued right up until the most recent state election. That was on the back of Terry's profound connection with the Italian community, and that was demonstrated in a number of ways, including learning to speak Italian, and he was much loved by that community. He continued to attend Italian events well after he left parliament, and I certainly witnessed that myself. Terry loved the Italian people of South Australia. In paying tribute to Terry Groom, former Premier Mike Rann said that Terry was a tireless worker for and a strong friend of Adelaide's Italian community.

Terence Robert Groom was born in Adelaide on 28 November 1944. Before and after his parliamentary career, he had a varied working life, including practising law. He was admitted as a lawyer in 1972. He held a Master of Laws in corporate and commercial law, had an associate diploma in accounting and was a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants. He was a lecturer in taxation law at the Adelaide and Panorama institutes of TAFE in their accounting course. He served as a board member of the Repatriation Hospital, the Roseworthy Agricultural College Council, the Flinders University Council, the Motor Accident Commission and the Environment Protection Authority, and became the deputy presiding member of the Parole Board and Renewal SA.

A glimpse of Terry's first speech in 1977 showed him to be thoughtful and conscientious. The issues he raised in that speech were close to his heart and many of them are still relevant today. He spoke proudly about the Dunstan Labor government's unparalleled era of social progress and reform. He also spoke passionately about physical education and the quantity and quality of physical education programs offered to children in our schools. Healthy eating and encouraging greater participation in sport and recreation programs were passions for Terry.

After his 1993 election loss he spoke to then Advertiser journalist David Penberthy saying, 'This win is enough for the Liberals to win another four years, another four years and another four years after that.' I suspect he was not the only person to think that, and I think the few Labor MPs we had and many Labor members thought the same thing. Thankfully, this is one prediction that Terry had that did not entirely come true.

Terry's family can feel very proud of the many decades he worked to carry out the work of others in the name of others. Terry was committed to serving the community and was passionate about the issues that were important to South Australians. He was a man who stood firm to his beliefs and his conscience, and pursued whatever he believed was in the best interests of the state. Former Premier Mike Rann said that Terry's sense of mischief and humour lit up the corridors of parliament.

I extend my deepest sympathy to Terry's family, some of whom have joined us in the gallery today: to Kay, his partner, to his children, Anthony and Zoe, who are with us here today, his son Tristram from the United States, to Wayne his brother, who is also in the gallery, and to all his extended family, friends and former colleagues. Our thoughts are with them at this time.

It is fair to say that any person who has a familiarity with the machinations of politics in any major political party would well understand that getting preselected is a difficult task, but getting preselected after an election loss is almost unheard of. Terry, of course, managed to achieve that. Although I cannot attest to knowing Terry well personally, I did get a flavour of his passion, commitment and drive in the time that I have been leader.

Terry's advocacy in and around prominent issues of public policy throughout the course of calendar year 2019 was certainly of great benefit to me. His depth of knowledge in terms of taxation policy, mixed with the law, and the impact that would have on migrant communities in South Australia was instrumental in our arriving at some of the positions that we have recently.

Terry's extraordinary persuasiveness in numerous phone calls I had with him over the last couple of years made it feel like he was reaching out from the other end of the phone begging me to arrive at his point of view. That infectious persuasiveness was done with sincerity and was backed up by knowledge. It demonstrated to me how effective he could be at pursuing a career in this place which led to him having those multiple preselections in an unorthodox set of circumstances, going from the seat of Morphett to the seat of Hartley, as the Premier identified, and just narrowly missing out on preselection for the seat of Napier.

Terry's contribution will last for a long time through the legacy of the work and the mentorship that he provided other MPs. I mentioned Grace earlier and Jay Weatherill. To his family, you have every reason to be incredibly proud of Terry's contribution. We are very grateful to have you here today and we wish you all the very best in the coming months. Certainly, on this side of the house, we desperately hope that Terry lives on and rests in peace.

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