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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-11-17 Daily Xml
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Members

Valedictory

The SPEAKER: I call the minister to introduce the member for Schubert to make valedictory remarks to the house.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (16:06): I appreciate this opportunity to introduce the member for Schubert's valedictory speech. I understand that it is convention for a minister to do so and it gives me great pleasure, although with something of a heavy heart, to introduce the member for Schubert.

I have heard it said that there are few friends in politics and it is hard to find friends in politics. That certainly has not been my experience across a number of my colleagues, but particularly the member for Schubert. We were part of the class of 2014, elected in March 2014 at that state election. We entered shadow cabinet on the same day in January 2017 and cabinet on the same day in 2018. It has been wonderful to be able to walk alongside him as a friend and as a colleague, and I wish him all the best for the future. I introduce the member for Schubert's valedictory speech.

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (16:07): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your indulgence and thank you very much, Minister for Environment and Water. In the brief period that Iain Evans and I shared this place, he sagely advised me one night to make sure that I set myself a limit for the amount of time that I would spend in parliament. Too many in this place do not know when they have stayed past their time. I always imagined that I was settling in for 16 to 20 years in this most important of vocations, but life is not linear or predictable and after eight fulfilling years it is now past my time.

The job of every politician is to leave their patch better than they found it, and I am proud to say that Schubert is a much better place thanks to this government: from the many upgrades to schools, playgrounds, sporting infrastructure, roads and the Kroemer's Crossing roundabout to the fact that the Barossa will now get its new hospital, some 30 years after the idea was first mooted. I very much look forward to being there for its opening. The Barossa is also a much more diverse and resilient place, but credit for that lies very much with local businesses and the Barossa's enduring entrepreneurial spirit.

The Premier has often said that as ministers we do not know how long we are given in these positions, that these are not jobs for life and that we must make the most of every opportunity to get things done. This is something I very much took to heart, and I would like to think that I took every opportunity to undertake reform for better and sometimes for worse. To be able to deliver on John Rau's legacy of a new planning system was a great honour. The relative smoothness with which it is now running is a testament to the hundreds of dedicated people who helped achieve its true vision.

Reforming the local government sector was again a true labour of joy. To work with engaged and willing councils towards a common end and to see that bill passed after 2½ years of toil, even if rate capping did not make the final cut, is something of which I will always be proud. I am also proud of the most difficult reforms, the ones that did not succeed in their full form—changes to Service SA and bus timetable changes, as I watch my colleagues around me cringe.

It is easy in government to take credit for spending more taxpayers' money; announcing projects and cutting ribbons is easy. More difficult is trying to deliver better outcomes with less money. This is a proposition that private enterprise delivers on every single day but in government is made all the more hard because too often we focus on inputs instead of outputs. Outsourcing public transport is perhaps the best example of this, a service that is now being delivered better than before and saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. I know that some in this room disagree, but they are always arguing the inputs and never the outcomes.

As Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, the decisions that we make are always visible—again, for better or worse—but long-term project time frames mean that we are not always around to finish what we start. When it comes to something like the metropolitan coast path, for instance, we are all in fact opening projects first conceptualised by Minister Laidlaw 20 years ago.

In the same way that I opened projects initiated by Minister Mullighan, I would like to think that I, too, paid it forward to Minister Wingard and future ministers for years to come and, in the case of the South Road tunnels and the completion of the north-south corridor, paying it forward to ministers who may not even be in the parliament yet. The amount of work that has gone into getting that project to the right answer is a real credit to the department and to the government, and future generations will thank us for it.

The Public Service is one of this state's greatest assets. Being a minister exposed me to some of the most talented and dedicated people I have ever worked with. I will not name individuals here, and let the member for West Torrens write their names down on a partisan hit list, but I remain continually impressed by their dedication to their vocation. I genuinely believe that providing better structure, flexibility and accountability to the Public Service is the highest returning micro-economic reform we could undertake.

Good public servants are stuck in an all too often inert and risk-averse system, unable to achieve their full potential and in turn the state's full potential. The recent changes to ICAC legislation, I think, are a good step in this direction, but changes to the Public Sector Act are needed to further cement cultural change. Unfortunately, one of the few tools left to government for creating change and innovation are through budget savings tasks, necessity being the mother of all invention. These are blunt instruments that can throw the good out with the bad. Instead, we must create room for risk and creativity and accept the short-term failures that result as necessary for long-term positive improvement.

I want to take this last opportunity in parliament to honour a special person in the Barossa community. Ben Baker was my friend. He was the best of friends. When I first heard about Dr Ben when Amy and the kids went to see him for whatever ailment the girls had at the time, every time I heard this man's name spoken over the next six months it was always said in revered tones. I figured this man has to have been the second coming.

Once I met Ben in person, he did not disappoint. He was kind and generous, intelligent and funny, with a laugh I can hear in my head every single day. He was curious. It did not matter the topic. He wanted to know everything from how politics works inside and out right down to the fine details of road construction. We talked at length and we talked often, especially when it came to the progress of the Northern Connector.

Ben took his own life in March 2019. I only wish that our wideranging talks had extended to what was going on inside his own head. In serendipitous fashion, the Northern Connector was opened 12 months to the day after Ben left us and I was honoured to have his wife on hand to open it with me. There is much more to be said, but Ben is always in my heart and remains very much a part of why my path now leads away from this place.

The country members' allowance issue will always remain a seminal moment in my life. Within the space of two weeks I went from being a senior minister to imagining a life post politics. For my entire ministerial career, finding work-life balance was impossible, made all the more impossible for living over 80 kilometres from Adelaide. But on Thursday mornings of sitting weeks, where I did not have a cabinet subcommittee meeting, I—and sometimes my friend in this place—could get along to the 8am service at St Francis Cathedral. Half an hour of good Catholic guilt and I was always left feeling lighter. But whilst there I prayed for guidance to find a balance between the vocation that I enjoyed and owed my fidelity to and to the family that I loved. Little did I know that some pretty clear guidance was coming.

Many people have asked when I knew I wanted to quit politics. The truthful answer is that on 22 July 2020 at about 4pm, after a couple of difficult and pretty awful interviews, I returned to my office and received a phone call from Amy. She said that there was a journalist and photographer at the front of our house in Angaston—whilst I sat in my office here in parliament—and that she did not feel safe and so went out the back and took the kids to a friend's house until they left.

The next morning I got off the phone from my mother. Anybody who has met my mother knows that she is one of the kindest, least political and most generous of people there are. She said to me that there were TV cameras roaming the Central Market trying to find her to interview her at her place of work. In those moments I knew that, whilst I may be prepared to make sacrifices for my job, I could not continue to ask my family to do the same. The last 18 months have more than vindicated my decision, so much so that I do not regret the incident. It helped me understand what was important, and the smiling faces in the gallery today are more important than any job I will ever have.

Unfortunately, I have seen an erosion of the conventional norms of this place, even over the short period that I have been here. There are so many political incentives to drag the tone of debate lower, the perception that we can win votes that way, to advancing one's career in front of your colleagues, to getting even for some real or imagined wrong, to be seen as tough and strong and a good political performer in the eyes of the media. I myself have been guilty of these things on occasion.

All that stands against those incentives are the good nature of individual politicians and the norms and conventions of this place. As hard as it is, we need to uphold the norms of good behaviour and decency in the face of these incentives. It gives me great pleasure to be sitting here next to the member for Heysen, someone who I believe very much upholds those norms. We must believe and respect due process. We must resist the urge to find each other guilty until proven innocent. As seductive as these incentives are, we have a higher purpose, and that is to preserve our democracy and its institutions.

The latest Roy Morgan survey showed that only 7 per cent of the population regarded that we acted ethically and with honesty. The only professions lower were real estate agents and car salesmen. The Lowy Institute poll regularly shows that only half of 18 to 29 year olds think that democracy is the most preferable form of government to other forms. If we elected members are not trusted and respected, then this erodes trust in democracy itself. Our institutions may be robust but, as history and the present-day world show us, democracy is fragile and must continually be reinforced.

To finish, I need to thank a large number of people. I want to thank all the staff in my electorate office: to Carla, and to my godson Oscar, to Rheanne, Kaitlyn, Brendan and Courtney, the last of whom has been stuck with me for seven years and is basically now part of the family and I know is listening in a car in Perth somewhere, who all held down the fort for a sometimes occupied minister.

I also want to thank my ministerial office, led by one of the most capable people I have ever had the pleasure of working with in Sarah Taylor. Together with Franny, we spoke first thing every morning and last thing every night. I also thank Courtney, Cameron, Kim, George, Evan and David, who dealt with both the workload and my eccentricities with good humour, dedication and intelligence. I am extremely proud that over my time as both a minister and an MP we did not once have a staff member choose to leave our offices.

To the people of Schubert: Ivan Venning would often remark that Schubert was the best electorate in the country. I thought perhaps he was referring to the safeness of the seat or even the quality of the shiraz, but over time I came to understand that this meant the people—generous, industrious, entrepreneurial, Germanic (even if they do not always recognise it) and community minded. I wish Ashton Hurn every success as Schubert's future custodian.

The Barossa is good at what it does—some would say the best in the world, myself included. There is an exceptionalism that has developed that does not manifest as hubris but instead manifests in innovation and a drive to improve in collaboration and in sharing the best of what we have to offer. To represent an area like the Barossa has been the most enormous privilege. Of everywhere I have lived, the Barossa is the only place that has felt like home, something that will stay with me forever.

To the many business owners, entrepreneurs, industry bodies and engaged citizens I have dealt with, both as a minister and as an MP, your collective goodwill towards our state serves us well, and I look forward to becoming one of your number again, to be back in the trenches with you creating jobs and opportunities in what is the best place on earth.

To my colleagues, the Schubert SEC and the Liberal Party at large, thank you. This great party has the right policy prescription and remains the best vehicle to improve our state, and as much as we are the party of the individual, our collectivism will always be geared towards our shared beliefs and ideas, and as much as the people in our party come and go, the ideas remain as relevant and indispensable as ever.

To the staff here in Parliament House, you do yourselves a great credit every time I walk in this building, especially to those girls in the Blue Room whom I have to mention. Thank you for your daily doses of wisdom. I have thought and pondered on them often.

I would like to thank the Premier for the confidence he showed in me to allow me such great responsibility, especially for a kid still too young to grow a beard. For these opportunities I will always be grateful.

To my parliamentary colleagues, especially those of you who won the seats that helped us form government, I will always be in your debt. The friendships, good-natured debates and memories I will always hold fondly. For those friends I leave behind, I wish you every success. I will be observing keenly from the sidelines.

And lastly, to my friends and family, I am someone who has been extremely lucky in life, and I have worked hard to make myself as lucky as possible, so the events of July 2020 came as more of a shock than they otherwise would have. At the time, it affected my mental health much more profoundly than it might otherwise have. The very people I had been neglecting to undertake this heavy ministerial task were the same people who helped during that time. So to Barbara and Franz and the broader Knoll family, I am grateful for all that you have done. To my brothers, unfortunately for you, I am going to be around to annoy you a little bit more.

To my friends, too many to mention, especially my Angaston family, you have helped me to focus on what truly matters. To Cathy and Phil and the extended Heysen family, thank you for everything, and to the late nanna Dunstone, everything has now been put right.

To my three girls, Amy, Ruby and Macey, walking away in the end has been the easiest thing in the world. The love, fun and laughter in our house over the past 18 months has made my former work life a distant memory and is something that I will never give up. Thank you.

The SPEAKER: As is the custom, I will turn to any opposition members who wish to make remarks. The member for Lee.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (16:23): Thank you, Mr Speaker. It falls to me to offer some words on behalf of the opposition, and can I start by congratulating the member for Schubert on that very considered and heartfelt contribution to this place.

I have to say that it has been a great privilege and a great enjoyment for me personally to get to know the member for Schubert. Some of you were perhaps less than enthused at the member for Schubert's and my attempt at hosting the Mid Winter Ball. We have not been asked back, which I took as an indication that, unlike Ricky Gervais, perhaps we did not go hard enough, but I think that in the end we were not funny enough, despite our best efforts.

Through the course of preparing for that I got to know the member for Schubert well, and even outside of that I have always encountered the member for Schubert as somebody who is more than willing and happy to engage in a conversation, ask with genuine interest and concern how I, other parliamentary colleagues and our families are, and is very quick to descend into a conversation about how some particular issue or problem that confronts the community might be fixed and done not in a way of pushing a particular perspective or ideology but in a way that is of genuine care and concern. Without casting aspersions on the rest of my parliamentary colleagues, not all of us are like that.

I have always found the member for Schubert unfailingly genuine in his approach, both as a person and as a parliamentarian. He did come into this place, historically speaking, at a very young age and was considered from the outset not only a good performer but a senior member of his party room, and so it was when he became a minister.

I think he got the same counsel that I did: that your job as transport minister is to cut the ribbons on the projects that your predecessor started and to start the projects that your successor is going to get to deliver. I probably cannot say this, but I will try anyway. When the member for Schubert was given those portfolios, I thought, 'You poor bugger,' because not only did he have the workload that I had but it was much more, in fact, with the additional portfolios that he had.

But he should be pleased to know that both how he represented his community and how he conducted his responsibilities as a minister have meant that he has made a difference that people will recognise on an ongoing basis. Even aside from that, it is certainly my view that, moreover, members of parliament are looked back on after their times have concluded in this place as the people that they were, the manner in which they conducted themselves, and what they were like to deal with and to be around as parliamentary colleagues. I think I speak for everyone in this place when I say that in that regard we hold the member for Schubert in the highest esteem.

I know that I will miss him; I know that my colleagues on this side will miss him. He is tremendous company. He has continued, even today, to show himself to be a gifted parliamentary performer. He will be missed not just by members on his side of the chamber but by members on all sides of the chamber. I sincerely wish him and his family all the best for whatever lies ahead, in what will undeniably be a very bright future.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The SPEAKER: The Premier, on indulgence.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (16:27): I did not intend to make my 2021 valedictory remarks today, but I would like to take this opportunity to respond to the member for Schubert's valedictory speech.

I knew the member for Schubert well before he came to this place. He comes from an outstanding pedigree. The Knoll family is really one of the outstanding families of South Australia: a great employer, great product and, of course, I knew them through Family Business Australia. In fact, the member for Schubert always had a rising star.

One day I went to collect my new White Pages from the driveway and I looked at it: 'Oh, my goodness, it's Stephan Knoll.' He graced the front cover of the White Pages for a full 12 months—that is back when we were using the White Pages. So he really did come to this place with an extraordinary family business background, a manufacturing background, a marketing background, a community service background and, most importantly, he came with an extraordinary set of values which he has applied in this place every single day.

He came in in 2014. He very quickly proved himself to me to be of a calibre suitable to go into the shadow cabinet and, of course, into my first cabinet as the Premier of South Australia. He made remarks in the joint party room yesterday, and in this house today, which I think speak to his character—his character which is modest, despite his extraordinary talents—and that was his acknowledgement of every person who has got him to where he is.

I had quite a number of comments from his colleagues early this morning about his comments in the joint party room earlier this week, where he singled out those people who had helped him along the way, particularly those people who are in marginal seats who enable people in safe seats to form a government and therefore fulfil the full ambition of a member of parliament to contribute to really effecting change for the entire state.

In the member for Schubert's time in the cabinet he was extraordinarily diligent and thoughtful in his consideration. He did not look only at his own portfolio but genuinely contributed debate on virtually every single item that the cabinet considered. It showed me that not only was he across his own very complex set of briefs and responsibility but really wanted to contribute to a cabinet-led government. For that, I am very grateful. I know that his cabinet colleagues share those thoughts.

The member for Schubert has always been somebody who would take on whatever challenge he was asked to take on for the good of the party. After the victory in 2018, I met with the member for Schubert and asked him whether he would change his set of portfolios completely to take on the extraordinary set of portfolios of Planning, Transport, Local Government and Infrastructure. This was a mighty, mighty task. In addition to that, shortly thereafter I asked him to also be the Manager of Government Business.

I know that at that time he probably thought that that was a very weighty set of responsibilities. I probably erred by giving him so much, given his other responsibilities to a country electorate and to his family, but he took it on willingly. He took it on with a smile on his face and he applied himself to that extraordinary task. I thank him for that, but I also take responsibility that they were extraordinarily heavy tasks and that probably I erred in putting that very, very large set of portfolios on one person's shoulders, so I thank him for his service.

I think he can look back at his time in cabinet and as a member of parliament with great pride. He has so many legacy projects he will be able to point out to his children for the rest of their lives and his grandchildren's lives as the way he effected change here in South Australia. I have no doubt that the member for Schubert, if he stayed in this parliament, would be a future Premier of South Australia. He had all the attributes that I think would have ensured that he would have been not only a Premier of South Australia but a great Premier of South Australia.

However, he has chosen an alternative path. I am quite sure of one other thing, and that is that whatever he applies his incredible set of talents to he will be extraordinarily successful. To the member for Schubert, on behalf of the people of South Australia I thank him for his service to this parliament, to the cabinet and to the people of Schubert and I wish him all the very best for the future.

The SPEAKER: I believe it is the sentiment of the house that, although your path now leads away from us, member for Schubert, this will be a much, much lesser place without you.

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