HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-29 Daily Xml
Contents
Xml

Condolence

Leggett, Mr S.R.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:14): I was Stewart Leggett's constituent, and I can profess that I never voted for him, sir, but I knew in 1993 that he was going to do something no other Liberal could, and that is win a seat that should have been Labor.

He was a gentleman. He was a lovely individual. He had the conviction of his Christian faith which he brought into the parliament which, in my opinion, was very admirable. He was someone I was preparing to contest against in the 1997 election. I was destined to run against Stewart as the Labor candidate, until my mentor and teacher, the honourable former member for Spence and Croydon, Mr Atkinson, decided to put me into the seat of Peake, which was alongside Hanson, and I am very grateful for it.

Stewart never forgot his Christian values throughout his entire life. He voted in the best interests of his Christian faith the entire time he was in this parliament, and it is something that gives me strength as a Christian in this parliament to know that there are people like him who, despite potentially being a more moderate being of the Liberal Party, have maintained their strong religious convictions.

He kept teaching throughout his entire life, which I thought was an exceptional trait of his. He also remained close to his former parliamentary colleagues, who are here today. I see the former member for Hartley, the 'Lion of Hartley', Mr Joe Scalzi, Mr Ivan Venning, and Ms Joan Hall, a very good friend of mine who was here and, of course, Michael Atkinson.

Stewart had to make some tough decisions in this place. He had to decide in a leadership contest between a man who had won 37 seats at a state election, still the largest ever majority obtained by any individual leader in this state's history, who was removed from office within a short period of time—and Stewart had to make a decision, and he made a tough one. He voted for John Olsen rather than Dean Brown. Naturally, he would have been aligned with Dean. I suspect what Stewart did was vote with his conscience.

I do not know what was going on internally within the Liberal Party when he made that decision. It would have been very difficult for him, and I suspect he probably regretted it afterwards because it probably cost him his seat. However, he never compromised on who he was and what he stood for, and for that he deserves our thanks.

For those of us in the western suburbs who were served by him, he deserves our gratitude and thanks. He put his name forward to serve the people he lived amongst, and for that we are eternally grateful. I hope he finds comfort in the arms of our Lord and Saviour, and I hope finally he is at home at rest in peace.

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (14:18): I also rise to remember Stewart. I did not have an awful lot to do with Stewart but certainly had the opportunity when he was working at Happy FM in his voluntary capacity to be interviewed by him a couple of times. Happy FM is a fantastic community radio station. Ken Burgess (Happy Ken Burgess as he was normally known) was very much the founder of that station, and to have Stewart there alongside Ken and the others—June Taylor and others who have been through that station—made it a fantastic community asset. Stewart certainly added that value in his delivery.

I very much remember being first elected to parliament back in about 2018, when my eldest daughter would have only been about 13 or 14, and she made a comment about Happy FM. I think it was actually just after I did an interview with Stewart that she said, 'Happy FM is ABC radio for old people.' She said that very affectionately just because it operates on a slightly slower motion than the ABC. But it has that dedication to the community, trying to find out those local issues that are confronting the local community. Stewart did a wonderful job in that role and I very much thank him for his involvement in the Victor Harbor community where he chose to retire. Vale to Stewart and we remember these important people in our lives.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta) (14:19): My engagement with Stewart was also slight, but I guess it was a sign of the passing of time as I joined the Young Liberals in early 1996 and Stewart finished his parliamentary service in late 1997, shortly after I had joined the Young Liberal executive. In the comments that came through from the Premier, the opposition leader, the member for West Torrens and the member for Finniss was this sense of Stewart as a gentleman, and I think that is to be lauded, encouraged and held up as a standard to which we should all seek to aspire.

We are joined by Joan Hall, Joe Scalzi, Ivan Venning, Mick Atkinson and Baden Teague. For a member of parliament who served in this house 30 years ago to have five former colleagues coming to the condolence motion is no small thing and a sign of the regard in which he was held. I think it was his character and the way he disposed himself and comported himself in this place that has contributed to that, even though there is no-one left here who served with him.

I was reflecting with Joan earlier on the interactions I had with him after that. I did some brief work with Joan during the time when Stewart Leggett was serving the Liberal government in another fashion and I interacted with him a couple of times. As a man of faith, education, community, sport, church and radio, that contribution to the whole of what life has to offer was very, very strong and is also to be lauded. I am sure that his daughter, Sarah, his grandchildren and, of course, Jackie, can be very proud of that continued service, and that continued character.

On the way in I asked Joan what were the key things that she thought were worthy of reflection and she highlighted the two things, in addition to a number of those that have been said already. First was his lifelong passion as an educator. As a former education minister I saw for myself, from the teachers and the school leaders that I engaged with, the passion that they feel to ensure that the next generation are supported to become all that they can be, and that was certainly something that was evident in Stewart's life. Secondly, and I think very, very importantly—and not enough understood in this place—was the importance of the Adelaide Crows in the firmament of this state! He was a passionate supporter and they have lost a fan as well. Vale to Stewart Leggett and condolences to his family.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

Sitting suspended from 14:25 to 14:35.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT