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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-22 Daily Xml
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Condolence

RODDA, HON. W.A.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:17): With the leave of the council I move:

That the Legislative Council expresses its deep regret at the recent death of the Mr William Allan Rodda, former minister of the Crown and member of the House of Assembly; places on record its appreciation of his distinguished and meritorious public service; and as a mark of respect to his memory the sitting of the council be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

It is with sadness that I inform this chamber that Allan Rodda, a former minister in the Hall and Tonkin governments, passed away on 27 May this year aged 92. As a member of parliament and a minister he worked selflessly and devotedly for the betterment of South Australia.

Mr Rodda left parliament in 1985 choosing not to contest that year's state election. That was four years before I was elected to the House of Assembly so our time in this parliament did not coincide but, of course, I am well aware of Mr Rodda's service in this place as the member for Victoria, based in the state's South-East, and I recall his presence even after his retirement from parliament during his occasional visits to this place.

Allan entered parliament in 1965 at the same election that ended the long tenure of Sir Thomas Playford and the ascension of Frank Walsh as Labor premier of this state. After five years on the opposition benches, he received his first ministerial appointment, serving as minister of works and minister of marine for three months before plunging back into opposition for a further nine years.

Mr Rodda then served as chief secretary, minister of fisheries and minister of marine in the Tonkin government, resigning from the ministry in 1982. Chief secretary is not a cabinet position we adopt in this day and age but, simply put, that portfolio was responsible for, among many other things, police and prisons.

William Allan Rodda was born in Tumby Bay on Eyre Peninsula in 1917 but spent most of his adult life in the South-East. After serving as a bomber pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War, Allan moved to Penola initially to take up a role as an administrator of the soldier settlement scheme. He later farmed land near Naracoorte, raising sheep.

From there he was elected as a member of the Liberal Country League to represent the people of the seat of Victoria, now broadly what we call the electorate of MacKillop. In this role he championed the causes of rural communities, particularly his constituents in the state's South-East. His first parliamentary appointments were as government whip in the other place and the parliamentary under secretary assisting the premier during Steele Hall's premiership.

I think it would be fair to say that Mr Rodda's ministerial career was distinguished but not without controversy. That is not surprising given his contentious portfolio responsibilities as chief secretary. His time as a minister coincided with an inquiry into erecting lights at what was then known as Football Park (a very controversial topic in this city 30 years ago), a royal commission into the prison system and an inquiry into allegations of police corruption.

Mr Rodda left parliament after 20 years' service as the last of the 'Playfords'—that generation of Liberal and Country League MPs elected while Sir Thomas was still the leader. In his final remarks to parliament before the 1985 election, Mr Rodda said that he was not so much retiring but going straight off to action in another capacity. He remarked that, when he really retired, we would be saying sad things about him, and so today we are fulfilling that prediction.

On behalf of all members on this side of the council, I extend my condolences to Allan's surviving children, Bruce and Pauline, his grandchildren, family and friends.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): I rise to make some comments in relation to the condolence motion for Mr William Allan Rodda. As the Leader of the Government said, he was born in Tumby Bay in the early part of last century and he did have distinguished service in the Air Force and bomber command. I was privileged to be at his funeral recently where I learned a lot more about his very early days in Tumby Bay and certainly his distinguished service in bomber command. You often do not know much about the early life of people when you see them in their official capacity, and while I knew Allan Rodda as my local member, which I will touch on later, I knew nothing of his distinguished service during the Second World War.

Mr Rodda was very much in touch with issues in the South-East when he moved to take up a position, as the Leader of the Government said, coordinating the soldier settlement scheme. He particularly loved the South-East of South Australia and regarded it as having great productivity potential. He dedicated much of his maiden speech to professing the great opportunities that would arise from the agricultural industry in the South-East.

At the March 1965 election, he was elected to the seat of Victoria which, as the Leader of the Government indicated, we now know as MacKillop, and its boundaries by and large have not changed all that much over those many years. In 1968 and 1969 he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the premier and the government whip respectively. His first ministerial posting was in 1970 as the minister of works and minster of marine. However, they were short-lived as the Liberals lost government at the 1970 election.

It was not until 1979 that he had a three year opportunity to be the minister for fisheries and marine. Although that portfolio did not tend to be embroiled in controversy, Allan Rodda got his fair share of time in the limelight by virtue of his posting as chief secretary. He was responsible for the South Australian police throughout his time as chief secretary, and throughout that time there was a great deal of speculation about corruption within the police and the controversial beginnings of the South Australian random breath testing scheme.

One of Mr Rodda's legacies was his deliverance of a long-awaited piece of legislation in the Correctional Services Bill and, although he was criticised at the time because parts of the legislation reflected Labor policy, it exemplified Rodda's dedication to the wellbeing of South Australians rather than politics. Mr Rodda did not always make the most politically tactical decisions and admitted himself that he was not a 'cut and thrust' politician. In general, he did not have much time for sneaky tactics in politics. His health, family and friends were always his top priorities.

I remember Allan Rodda very fondly as my local member of parliament. In fact, he was at the very first branch meeting that I went to (the AGM of the Bordertown branch of the Liberal Party) and encouraged me to join the party, which of course I subsequently did.

I remember that, at the 1983 AGM of that particular branch, I was asked to stand for president. I said that I did not think it would be appropriate because I would shortly be going on a 10 month overseas trip to the United Kingdom. Mr Rodda said that he thought it would be quite appropriate, given that our branch met only once every 12 months and that I would be back well in time for the next AGM.

He said that I should be encouraged and supported by the branch to take on that position as we needed, in his words, good young people to take on this role. I guess some people might say that it is his fault that I am here today. Certainly, he was very well regarded in all the communities in the South-East. In particular, I remember my parents commenting on his wonderful capacity to remember people's names.

In the little town of Wolseley, which some of you would know and have visited and others have not—only a handful of people live there today—we had a community function called the Wolseley Carnival, which was held in November, and Allan Rodda and Martin Cameron probably took it in turns to attend. As a small boy, I do remember them coming to that community fair.

Allan Rodda would always remember people's names, and he greeted them in a friendly, warm and fond way. As I have said, my parents commented on how Allan Rodda never ever forgot someone's name. I think that is a mark of how the man embraced the South-East and all the communities and people he represented. He certainly took them to heart, and he served the South-East, in particular the electorate of MacKillop, with distinction.

I offer my condolences to his family—Bruce Rodda, who most of us within the party know well, his other children, his grandchildren and grandchildren. I am sure he will be sadly missed.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (14:27): I wish to associate myself with the motion and with the comments of the Leader of the Government and the Leader of the Opposition, but I want to express a few personal thoughts in relation to Mr William Allan Rodda CBE.

As my colleagues have said, Mr Rodda spent 20 years in the other chamber. He served a very large segment of the South-East of this state, in the then seat of Victoria. His term of office in the parliament almost coincided with that of my father. They were great friends, and his late wife, Madge, was also a great companion of my mother.

I also remember him as a very positive gentleman, who was a great encourager of young whippersnappers like me at the time, who thought about going into politics. He encouraged me greatly when I was the chairman of the Liberal Party's Rural Council, as it was then, and also when I sought to gain preselection to come into this place.

I was privileged to attend Mr Rodda's funeral, and I noted on that day and prior to it the great respect paid by both the Metropolitan Fire Service and the United Firefighters Union in both the notices placed in the death notices and the placement of a fire unit outside Centennial Park Cemetery on the day of the funeral. I commend those bodies for that, because it has been some 28 years since Mr Rodda had responsibility for the Metropolitan Fire Service and for those employees who were in the UFU. So, for those bodies to remember him so fondly is something that stands him and his memory in very good stead.

I extend my sincere condolences to his son Bruce, who I had a lot to do with a number years ago. As my leader said, Bruce is well known to many people in the Liberal Party. I also extend my condolences to the rest of the Rodda family. I support the motion.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:30): I rise to support the motion. My first vague recollections of Mr Allan Rodda was as a younger person in Mount Gambier. Having been raised in Mount Gambier it was always strange—and it must have been the late 1960s, early 1970s—that we had a member for Victoria in South Australia. As someone who did not understand much about politics, I could not quite work it out.

I then met Allan during a period in the 1970s when I was working with the Liberal Party and Allan was in state parliament, and for a brief period of three years our parliamentary careers crossed over as he was concluding his career and I and other newer members such as Di Laidlaw and Peter Dunn were starting our careers in the Legislative Council.

Allan Rodda to everyone who knew him—and both leaders referred indirectly to this—in current parlance was not an adversarial politician. He was not someone who enjoyed the cut and thrust of politics. In all my time knowing him, it was hard to find anyone who did not like Allan Rodda as a person, even during the controversial years to which previous speakers have referred, in particular when it was getting intense in relation to the prisons policy and the correctional services policy and there were major issues in relation to the escape of prisoners and various other controversial aspects in his administration of that portfolio.

I know that members of the then Labor opposition who, while they went about their task as an opposition is required to do, never enjoyed the task of having to attack Allan Rodda. I should say there were more favourite targets of oppositions. In recent years both Liberal and Labor oppositions have relished getting their teeth into various ministers (if I can put it that way) but, in relation to Allan Rodda, I know from discussions with Labor members at the time that they did not enjoy the task of having to attack Allan Rodda in either the parliament or the public arena because he was a thoroughly decent, thoroughly likeable, hardworking politician and person, as the leaders have attested to in their earlier contributions.

As other Liberal members have highlighted, over the years I have had a bit to do with Bruce, his son, who was actively engaged in the Liberal Party organisation. I pass on my condolences to him and other members of the Rodda family. I am pleased in the public arena to acknowledge the work he undertook not only for the Liberal Party but also for the people of South Australia over many years.

The PRESIDENT (14:34): I also rise to support the motion. Being a South-East lad at heart, I knew Allan reasonably well although I knew Bruce a lot better. I had the privilege of a couple of interesting trips with Bruce a few years ago. I remember my father putting the highest praise on Allan Rodda that could be bestowed on someone from the Liberal Party. I remember dad saying that Allan Rodda was a 'damned good bloke for a Liberal'. That was high praise coming from my father. I agree with everything that speakers have had to say about Allan. Allan was known throughout the South-East as a good, all-round bloke, someone who would take on, and try to sort out, problems for people from all walks of life. He was highly regarded in the South-East, and he turned that seat, which was a very safe Liberal seat, into a safer one while he was there.

My condolences go to Bruce especially, his family, and Allan's extended family, especially the grandchildren.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.


[Sitting suspended from 14:36 to 14:52]


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