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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-06 Daily Xml
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LABOR PARTY LEADERSHIP

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (16:33): South Australia is on the cusp of a new government. The Rann Labor machine is worn out, its gears are broken and its driveshaft is no longer connected to the electorate. There is no chance of having it repaired. Rann and his ex-deputy Kevin Foley are too far gone to be fixed, so soon the Rann machine will be replaced. The question is: by whom: John Rau or Jay Weatherill? But the bigger question is: by what?

What are the secret deals, the lobbying and the backroom antics that have morally bankrupted Labor since the 2002 election? Nothing will change except the occupant of the Premier's suite. Labor in South Australia will be run by the rock hard ALP right, epitomised by Senator Don Farrell and former trolley boy and checkout operator, Peter Malinauskas, and former family values exponent, Michael Atkinson. This unholy trinity is preparing a secret succession plan, and South Australians have every reason to be very wary.

John Rau will be in this troika's debt if he becomes premier, and he will have to repay that debt with interest. John Rau was in the centre left before it imploded, then he joined the right. That put him at odds with another great Labor puppeteer, the former ALP senator Nick Bolkus, the man who arranges and organises those sleazy ALP fundraisers which demean not only the Labor name but also governance of this entire state. Members would remember that John Rau worked in the office of Nick Bolkus when Nick was in the Senate; and Patrick Conlon was also labouring away in that office. Patrick Conlon owes Nick Bolkus. He owes his seat in parliament, his ministry and his political soul—none of that will change. Nick Bolkus will still be organising Labor fundraisers.

Whoever sits in the Premier's office, he will still be there, shaking hands with the past and potential donors, introducing them to Mr Rau, Mr Conlon and Mr Weatherill. He will still be lobbying on behalf of his business clients and the same clients who make donations to the ALP—the same clients who have an advantage or who stand to gain advantage from decisions made by this next Labor government. It is not what good, honest government is about.

Within 100 days of the next election, a Redmond Liberal government will be on the way to having an independent commission against official crime and corruption in South Australia. It will break the nexus between donations and decisions. It will remove the perception that government decisions can be bought. We will not be selling self-indulgences because we should not forget that the Raus, the Weatherills and the Conlons sat in the caucus room while it stripped the state in a slash and burn sell of our public assets: Glenside, the South-East forests and the Lotteries Commission, to name just but three.

Where were John Rau and Jay Weatherill when the Port Adelaide boatsheds were bulldozed, when Labor decided to close the Parks Community Centre, when the Mount Barker development was approved, when water bills went up, electricity and registration fees climbed and when schools were closed and hospitals were shut? They sat there and supped at the caucus table, and they made a meal of it.

Nick Bolkus has much to lose and much to gain on who replaces Mike Rann. Bolkus still needs to raise the cash that Labor needs to fight an election but he also needs to keep his foot in the next premier's door—the door on behalf of his lobbying clients. Together with the SDA, the deal to oust Mike Rann is more about money and influence than it is about good governance.

A few weeks ago some Labor ministers and backbenchers reckoned they were rallying around Mike Rann. That is like the 7th Cavalry rallying around George Custer. It is not Mike Rann who has to go, it is this horrible Labor government.

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