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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-09-28 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Cameron, Hon. T.G.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:00): By leave, I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of the Hon. Terry Gordon Cameron, former member of the Legislative Council, 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.

I rise to convey the sad news that the Hon. Terry Cameron MLC has passed away. The son of federal Labor senator Don Cameron, the nephew of federal Labor MP for Hindmarsh and Whitlam government minister Clyde Cameron, it was hardly any surprise that Terry chose to spend his life involved in the labour movement and in politics more broadly.

His path came via the Australian Workers' Union before becoming the state organiser for Labor, and then Terry had the challenging task of directing the Labor Party's campaign at the 1993 state election—a very, very difficult task indeed.

Subsequently, he began his parliamentary career, filling a term through a casual vacancy in the Legislative Council in 1994, following the resignation of the Hon. Chris Sumner, before being elected in his own right in 1997 and holding the shadow portfolios of small business and transport. Each and every member of that team had the considerable task, post the 1993 State Bank election, of rebuilding Labor, in many respects, from the ground up.

At various points in his career, Mr Cameron had moments of controversy, not least of which was crossing the floor in a decision that Terry himself acknowledged as the most difficult and painful of his life. Terry was renowned for his spirited oratory and particularly his often epic speeches, which regularly clocked in at an hour or even more. We recognise the contribution of Terry Cameron and his service to the parliament and the state, and we share our condolences with his family at this sad time.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:02): On behalf of the opposition, I rise to speak on this condolence motion for the Hon. Terry Cameron, a former member of the Legislative Council of South Australia for more than a decade in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While this was obviously before my time in Australia, it is a privilege to speak about Mr Cameron's contribution to our parliament and to our state.

The Cameron family's association with politics, as the Premier referred to, was strong and enduring. Terry Cameron's father was the late Labor senator Don Cameron, and his uncle was the late Clyde Cameron. With that sort of political pedigree, it is no surprise that Terry took a keen interest in politics from a young age, becoming a member of the Labor Party at just 14 years old.

Mr Cameron entered the South Australian parliament to fill a Labor Party vacancy in 1994. In his maiden speech on 7 March 1995, he described himself as growing up in a political and trade union family. In 1997, Mr Cameron was re-elected as a Labor candidate; however, both he and the Hon. Trevor Crothers MLC resigned from the Labor Party after they historically crossed the floor in 1998 to support the move by the government of the day and Premier John Olsen that would involve and allow the privatisation of ETSA.

At this time, he became an Independent MLC and formed SA First. This party held the balance of power in the Legislative Council, often cooperating across the political divide to pass legislation. As history shows, he was able to work across political boundaries, and he was clearly willing to make difficult decisions in politics, even if these decisions would ultimately lead to his unpopularity amongst some and potentially curtail the extent of his political career.

SA First was a centre-based political party, which at its peak was actually the third largest party in South Australia, with more than 500 members, clearly providing relevance and inspiration to a not insignificant group of South Australians. Mr Cameron was a significant contributor to the parliamentary process, asking many questions, contributing to many debates and even making speeches that lasted, on one occasion, for more than three hours.

We wish to acknowledge Mr Cameron's significant contribution to South Australia's parliament and our state's history over a 12-year period, when he served this state and our parliament. On behalf of the opposition, I would like to pass our condolences to his family. Vale, Terry Cameron.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:05): When I first joined the Labor Party, Terry Cameron was a giant in the Labor Party. He was state secretary after having been an organiser in the Australian Workers' Union. He was the head of what was then called the centre left faction. He and Mr John Quirke, who is in the gallery today, the member for Playford, were giants in the party at the time. Terry entered this parliament and he went on to do a couple of things, which I will talk about in a moment, but I want to reflect on the 1993 election campaign and his role.

It was obvious to everyone in 1993, especially those of us in Young Labor, that we were heading for the biggest beating of our political lives; in fact, we were fighting for our very existence as a political party. I remember on election night being reminded of how lucky we were when I heard on radio the then Treasurer, Frank Blevins, answering a question from an ABC journalist, who asked, 'Deputy Premier/Treasurer, isn't this a disaster? You have only won 10 seats.' He said, 'What are you talking about? It's a great result. We won 10 seats.'

To keep that party together, to take us to the election campaign, to be able to formulate a proposition to actually ask for four more years after what had been perpetrated on the people of this state by the Bannon government and the Arnold government, was difficult, but they did it and we saved the furniture. By saving the furniture, I am talking about a rump. That rump and that organisation that Terry, John and others built up are the foundations of what I believe is the most impressive political machine in Australia.

The Australian Labor Party is underestimated at people's peril. We stand on the shoulders of organisational giants who have taught us and taught us well: structure, campaigning techniques, organisation and, of course, recruitment—recruitment being about the future, and Terry was very good at that. We parted ways, unfortunately, in this chamber, which was a very sad occurrence for those of us in the labour movement, losing two of our own, two union organisers who left us to vote for the privatisation of ETSA. They had their own reasons, and they articulated them to the parliament. We disagreed with them at the time.

A lot of awful, awful things were said about each other. The party had its last public rift during that process, but out of that process came the grand coalition of consensus within the Labor Party that allowed us to have leaders like Mike Rann, Jay Weatherill and Peter Malinauskas. We owe a debt to people like Terry and John, and Don Farrell, Michael Atkinson, Mark Butler, Patrick Conlon and Penny Wong, for the work that they did to stabilise the party after that seismic break, to have the former head of the liquor trades union and the son of a beloved senator split from us in a very traumatic and difficult way.

I have in my office still a copy of the SA First constitution, which Terry personally wrote, having based it on all the improvements he always wanted to make to the South Australian Labor Party constitution. I can say that it is a very good document for a governing group within a political party. I would not be surprised if some of those aspects of that constitution have ended up in our final constitution that we now enjoy.

Obviously, Trevor died and Terry left and moved abroad. I would see him here occasionally when he would come in on non-sitting days. He kept up friendships. I think the split hurt him. I think he may have regretted it, but I do not know. We talked about it a couple of times. He thought he did what was in the best interests of the state. We disagreed.

One thing you can never not say about Terry is that he was an independent thinker. He thought for himself. It is the first quality of leadership. I have seen it in a number of leaders. I saw it in Mike Rann, I saw it in former Premier Weatherill and I see it in our current Premier. The ability to think independently and to act off your own instincts, Terry had that in spades and he did it exceptionally well.

We were not particularly close, but I do admire the work that he did. He was once a giant. Now he has left us, and I wish his family all the very best. I wish him God's forgiveness and love, and I hope that he is now with those loved ones that he cherished so much. Vale.

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