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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
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Condolence

Bass, Mr Rodney Piers (Sam)

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:15): I move:

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

I rise on behalf of Liberal members to speak to this condolence motion. Sam Bass was elected in December 1993. He was one of that very significant number of Liberal members elected to the House of Assembly—there were 37 in total, out of a total of 47—on the back of the State Bank disaster of the early 1990s. He achieved about a 15 per cent swing in his electorate of Florey, as it was then known. I think it was about a 2 per cent or 3 per cent marginal seat, going into the 1993 election. He achieved a 15 per cent swing and ended up with a 12 per cent margin on the back of that particular electoral result.

Sam's background was unusual for the Liberal Party at the time. It indicated accurately the broad church that the Liberal Party represents. I understand he might have been, or probably was, the first serving police officer to have been elected to the South Australian parliament. Certainly, I suspect he was the first ever union secretary, or previously union secretary, to be elected as a Liberal member of parliament. He was a Police Association secretary for about five years or so, as I understand it. He had had a colourful and illustrious policing career in terms of taking on the bikies and various other unsavoury elements.

Obviously, one would assume he was popular with enough police officers to have been elected as union secretary of the Police Association at that particular time. That was not a typical background for a Liberal member of parliament. It perhaps might have been a more typical background, other than the police officer bit but as a union secretary, to have been elected as a member of the Australian Labor Party. As I am speaking, I am trying to think of former police officers who might have represented the Labor Party.

Honourable members: Lee Odenwalder.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Lee Odenwalder, of course. There have not been that many elected to the South Australian parliament, representing any political parties, frankly, when you think about it, compared to many other professions. I do not know what that says about police officers. Maybe they are too smart and sensible to put themselves up for parliamentary office but they have certainly been very small in number compared to other professions in terms of being elected to the South Australian parliament.

Sam Bass, as I said, had a colourful career and history. He certainly ran a colourful campaign. His maiden speech acknowledges the work of a former Legislative Council colleague in the Hon. John Burdett, who had been his parliamentary pair in that area. He traced the history of the electorate of Florey and its predecessor electorates such as the big electorate of Molly Byrne, a very famous hardworking Labor member for Tea Tree Gully, I think the seat was, in that particular area who had been swept out in an earlier election.

Sam won that particular election in a non-typical way, and he served in the parliament in a very Sam Bass way as well. I think he has been variously described as colourful and larger than life. I can assure you that, as I recounted to some of my colleagues over a long macchiato in the parliamentary bar earlier today, most of the stories I recall of Sam Bass I cannot actually recount on the public record, as tempting and delicious as they might be. He was, in the truest sense of the word, a very colourful character.

Given his background, I guess it is not surprising. He called a spade a spade, and he did not leave you wondering what his opinion or view was or what his opinion of your particular view on a particular topic happened to be. He was quite outspoken. Soon after 1993 were quite turbulent times for the Liberal Party with the ongoing division and disunity that was endemic at that particular stage within the Liberal organisation. As I said, Sam's capacity to call a spade a spade and speak bluntly to people was pretty evident.

I think perhaps there were some members of parliament who had been used to going about their business in a quiet sort of way, free of criticism. Sam Bass would front them and point-blank tell them what he thought of what they might have done or said in relation to a particular issue. As I said, the best stories in relation to Sam Bass at that particular time do not bear public recounting. Certainly, he worked assiduously on the committees. He was on the Economic and Finance Committee. He unashamedly behaved in a very independent manner.

He crossed the floor on a number of occasions. The media articles recall the fact that perhaps history does not treat him kindly, perhaps due to the time he crossed the floor on the legislation to ban smoking in restaurants. He and Heini Becker felt strongly about the nature of the laws that minister Michael Armitage, the minister for health at the time, had brought in under the Liberal government to commence what has now been a 20-year program, under Liberal governments initially and then Labor governments, to further restrict the capacity for smokers to smoke in various places.

In that first particular case, he and Heini Becker crossed the floor to express a strongly contrary view to the view the government was pushing. I saw the numbers in the house. I cannot remember now whether the Labor Party voted for or against it or whether it was a conscience vote, but it was most unusual. It was an overwhelming majority in support of the government legislation. Clearly, there were two Liberal members on the other side of the chamber, but it looked like there must have been a few Labor members on the other side of the chamber as well. Knowing some of the Labor members at the time, that is perhaps not surprising.

He had defeated a Labor MP, Bob Gregory, someone who I am sure Labor members on the other side of the house would either know of or would have known personally over the years. He, too, was a colourful character, so it was a good old battle between Bob Gregory and Sam Bass in 1993. Of course, that battle continued in the period leading up to 1997. This was Peter Duncan territory and Frances Bedford territory. If there was one thing that Peter Duncan did relatively well—if I can say so from the vantage point of a political opponent—he knew how to engage in hand-to-hand combat in terms of political campaigning.

It was one of the first occasions when we saw the use of strongly aggressive negative campaigning tactics in relation to parliamentary entitlements. Sam Bass had travelled overseas on a trip, I think it was, and I do not know in modern terms if he would rival some members who have travelled extensively on parliamentary entitlements but, nevertheless, there was this extremely colourful postcard supposedly from Sam Bass, I think lounging on a—what do you call those things you lounge on?

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: A banana lounge.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: A banana lounge, yes—lounging on a banana lounge, somewhere, I suspect, in sunny climes overseas, saying, 'Wish you were here. Sam Bass.'

An honourable member: He was drinking cocktails.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Drinking cocktails, I suspect, and probably with some indication of how much money had been expended at taxpayers' expense for his travel entitlement. It, together with a number of other particularly successful campaign techniques, led to Sam losing the seat four years later, in October 1997. He was one of a significant number of members elected in 1993 in that landslide of 37 to 10 who were unsuccessful in being re-elected in 1997.

To be fair, for a period of time I had a little bit of contact with Sam after that, but in recent years I did not have any contact at all to be honest. Sam went to the West Coast and did a bit of work for Graham Gunn, a colleague of ours in the House of Assembly. I think he continued—and the Hon. John Dawkins who might speak in a moment may know a little more detail of his recent travels, but I think he lived and worked for many years on the West Coast. I know the member for Flinders, Peter Treloar, is speaking on the condolence motion in the House of Assembly, so he has obviously had an ongoing connection with Sam and the West Coast.

In terms of his parliamentary record, Sam had very strong views in relation to gun laws, policing obviously, law and order issues, and the parliamentary record shows he was not fearful in expressing his frank views in relation to that particular area of public policy. I should acknowledge also that on his parliamentary record, he was parliamentary secretary to the minister for industrial affairs in the period March to December 1996, and also parliamentary secretary to the minister for recreation, sport and racing for that same period of time.

With that, on behalf of Liberal members, I acknowledge Sam's public service, and his service to his local community, firstly in the electorate of Florey and then in latter years on the West Coast; and I pass on our condolences to his family and his friends.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): On behalf of the Labor opposition, I rise to speak to and lend my support to the condolence motion for Mr Sam Bass, the member for Florey from 11 December 1993 through until 10 October 1997. Our thoughts and best wishes are with Mr Bass's friends and family at what is, no doubt, a difficult time.

As has been mentioned, Mr Bass won the seat of Florey from the Hon. Robert Gregory, the minister for correctional services, minister for labour relations and occupational health and safety, and minister for state services. It is no small feat to win a seat from a sitting member, let alone a sitting minister, or to win a seat like Florey, which had for a long time been a relatively strong Labor seat and, as the Hon. Rob Lucas pointed out, with the campaigning cunning of the forces of Peter Duncan operating in the area over a long time—but it was actually quite a feat to win that seat from Robert Gregory.

Prior to joining the parliament, Mr Bass was a police officer, a detective sergeant, spending, I understand, 33 years in the force before becoming a parliamentarian. I have heard he conducted his career with some enthusiasm and gusto as a member of the police and, by all accounts from other members of parliament and, as the Hon. Rob Lucas pointed out, there are probably some stories that are not fit or do not bear putting on the parliamentary record, but certainly I have heard accounts from members of this parliament of stories about his time in the police force and the gusto with which he discharged his duties there.

Mr Bass, as has been pointed out, was also with the SA Police Association, in fact the secretary of that association, that union, and president, I am informed, of the Speedway Control Council. He occasionally, in sticking up for what he believed, broke ranks with his party and his government, as has been discussed, in relation to smoking bans and also in relation to things like proposed changes on firearm sales.

Mr Bass worked hard in his electorate and was a supporter of services to his electorate, and supported with enthusiasm things likes the O-Bahn and Modbury Hospital. He also opposed things he believed would cause some harm. I am informed, for example, the instant scratchie vending machines was one area which he thought would cause harm and he opposed it.

Mr Bass was a significant contributor to parliament, and was parliamentary secretary to the minister for industrial relations and parliamentary secretary to the minister for recreation, sport and racing, in respect of industrial affairs and racing, as well as, I am told, the acting Speaker of the other place from time to time. Once again, on behalf of the Labor opposition, I extend our thoughts and best wishes to Mr Bass's loved ones and commend this motion to the chamber.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (14:31): I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the Leader of the Government. I have some very vivid memories of Sam Bass. I did not have the privilege of serving in this parliament with him, because he lost his seat the day I was elected. However, I knew him pretty well for a long period. I first met him through some links I had with members of the Elizabeth CIB. As has been mentioned, he was a detective sergeant and, as many members of the CIB could be described, a character of the day. He has been described as frank and forthright and, as I think the Leader of the Government said, he never left you in much doubt on what he thought.

I also remember his role as the secretary of PASA (Police Association of South Australia), and he was emphatic in his support for police officers in general and their role and the support that they needed. He was ahead of his time. He was particularly concerned about mental health issues for police officers who had to witness some pretty horrific circumstances as part of their work.

I do recall vividly one day at a function him telling me that he was going to join the Liberal Party and was going to stand against Bob Gregory. At that stage, I suppose, the full facts about the State Bank had not quite come to light, so I, like others, wondered how he would go unseating a sitting minister. However, as we have heard, he had a very large swing and became the member for Florey.

When I was preselected to come into this place in February 1997, I suppose I had had quite a lot of activity in the north-eastern suburbs in the employ of then Senator Nick Minchin, but had also been involved in the campaign for Makin, when those great traits of Peter Duncan, the former member for Makin, did not serve him as well as they served other people. I had been campaign manager for Trish Draper when she beat Peter Duncan, and had had a lot to do with the north-eastern suburbs.

For that reason the Liberal Party allocated me as a candidate to not only Florey but also Wright and Playford. I did quite a bit in Wright and Playford, but Sam's attitude was, 'Well, if you want to come in the office and lick stamps, you can do that, but it's all under control, don't need any help from you, I'm good, I'm going to win the seat again.'

I am not sure whether it was a CPA trip or it might have been as an acting presiding member, but he went away on a trip to Vanuatu or somewhere like that. Before that campaign came to fruition, there was another postcard I think to do with guns, which was equally as effective—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: An AK-47.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: An AK-47—I take the interjection from the Hon. Mr Hunter. Just before that all came to light I travelled with Sam down to the Royal Showgrounds. We were allocated together to the Liberal Party stand at the Show. He told me with great delight his thoughts about what he wanted to do with the rest of his parliamentary career. I think he had some ambitions to sit in the big chair in the House of Assembly.

Soon after that there was the very active Labor Party campaign against him, a campaign that was also associated with people who did not profess to be part of the Labor Party but had some strong links, one would suspect. One particular person, whose name escapes me—the Hon. Mr Hunter might help me later—drove around in the same sort of car that the Leader of the Government used to drive around in, a VW beetle.

Like the leader, after Sam lost his seat I did not have a lot of contact with him for a while. I was aware that he went over to the West Coast and he did work for Graham Gunn for a period. However, I bumped into Sam in Adelaide a couple of times. The last time I saw Sam I was in Ceduna with the Natural Resources Committee. We were staying in Ceduna and we bumped into Sam. He was there in his capacity as an ambulance training officer. He was very positive about the role he was playing, which was consistent with his earlier work of supporting emergency services workers. He proceeded to tell me all about the work he was doing within the Ambulance Service and for ambulance volunteers.

Sam was one of the most colourful characters to be in this parliament. Not everybody loved Sam Bass, but you never died wondering what he thought about an issue. As I said, I have some very vivid memories of his service not only to this parliament but to his community, as well as to his original profession, which was the police service of this state. I extend my sympathy to Sam's family.

The PRESIDENT: I join honourable members in expressing my condolences to Mr Bass's family and honouring his service. I ask honourable members to stand in their places and carry the motion in silence.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

Sitting suspended from 14:39 to 14:51.

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