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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-04 Daily Xml
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Motions

Centofanti, Hon. N.J.

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. R.I. Lucas:

That this council welcomes the Hon. N.J. Centofanti, elected by an Assembly of Members of both houses on 7 April 2020 to replace the Hon. A.L. McLachlan (resigned).

(Continued from 2 June 2020)

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:52): I am delighted to rise today to support the motion to welcome the Hon. Dr Centofanti to this chamber. I counted recently and there have been about 55 different members of this chamber that I have served with in my time here, and I am delighted that the Hon. Dr Centofanti is the latest one. I am particularly pleased about that because when she first became very much involved in the Liberal Party's volunteer section and the administration of it on the state executive, I encouraged her to run for the Legislative Council Liberal preselection in 2013.

She was selected at No. 5 on our ticket. Sadly, that meant that she was not elected at that stage, but she was not that far away; however, she subsequently had three children. I remember that even though she was at No. 5—and we certainly had not had a No. 5 elected, I think, sir, since you were first elected to this place—the Hon. Dr Centofanti worked very hard as a candidate in the lead-up to the 2014 election, and was a very willing participant in the regional tours of South Australia that I organised for members of the Legislative Council and candidates in different parts of South Australia. She also took on a very active role (I think I had three marginal seats in that campaign) as campaign manager in the seat of Florey, with the then candidate Damian Wyld, who is now the Deputy Mayor of the City of Tea Tree Gully.

The association with members of the Dawkins and Andrew families, which of course was the honourable member's maiden name, goes back a very long way to the very early days of the Riverland community and irrigation community, which the honourable member talked about in her maiden speech. My mother's family, the Wilkinsons, were on soldier settler blocks around the Berri area, originally between Berri and Glossop, and my mother's family were then out in the area very close to Martin's Bend, with which the honourable member would be very familiar.

So there were strong connections, largely because of the Methodist Church but also because I think many of those pioneers in the irrigation industry relied very much on their ability to run ideas past each other. I know there was that connection way back many years ago—probably at least eight decades ago. There was also, on the Dawkins side, my father and the honourable member's grandfather, Jack, who she mentioned the other day, who were great friends within the old Liberal and Country League.

We heard about Mr Jack Andrew's efforts in the seat of Ridley many years ago. They were great friends and colleagues within the Liberal and Country League but also within the Methodist Church. I think they were both on the state and federal bodies of the Methodist Church and had similar clashes at times, being from the farming/conservative side of the Methodist Church; there were always elements, as they remain today, within the Uniting Church whose political views were far afield from their views.

But there was a great regard by my father for Jack Andrew, and my mother and the honourable member's grandmother, Mavis, were great friends until their high ages. I remember very much taking my mother up to Waikerie on one of my trips to the Riverland and leaving her for the day with Mavis, and I think much commentary was made in my absence, probably. So there were great affiliations there.

I had the privilege to work for the honourable member's Uncle Neil, who of course we all know as the Hon. Neil Andrew, who became the speaker of the House of Representatives. I worked for him in a part-time capacity for the best part of a decade while still farming, some of which was in the Commonwealth Bank building, but from the very late eighties he was the first member for Wakefield to have an electorate office in the electorate in Gawler. I still have a close association with Neil today on many issues on which we share a keen interest.

Then, there is his brother Stuart, who is the Hon. Dr Centofanti's father, as she referred to the other day. Stuart is one of the great characters I have dealt with not only in my parliamentary career but well before that. I always enjoyed his company. I could tell a number of stories about Stuart, but I should not do that. We have not always agreed on everything. I think his views on certain matters to do with the Murray-Darling Basin are probably a bit different to mine, but I think we have always shared a mutual respect. I know that he and Sue are very proud that their daughter is now a part of this great institution of the Legislative Council.

I have a stud sheep breeding background. British breed or Australian breed sheep probably require more management, particularly when they are lambing, than many other breeds. Some of that aspect has been bred out by selective breeding. I did a bit of that before I gave up my active farming, but certainly with that aspect of breeding, particularly Dorset sheep, the assistance of veterinarians was enormously important. We had a great association with the veterinary practice in Gawler, which was originally established by the Hon. Dr Bruce Eastick.

I think it is great to have that profession again represented in this parliament. We have had a number of veterinarians in the parliament over the years, but I think that until you came in we lacked one. I have great memories of working with some very good veterinarians. I think it is a group that adds to the professional background that we have in the parliament. It is vital that we have as broad a brush of backgrounds in this building as we can.

I know the honourable member has shared my passion for suicide prevention and working in mental health generally. The minister talked today about support for clinicians and self-care for health professionals. I think the veterinary industry is one that is particularly forgotten about at times. I know the honourable member will support me in saying that we need to do more to support people in that industry because it is one where largely it is working alone. It is working long hours and in difficult circumstances. So I am very happy to work with her in relation to more work we can do with the Australian Veterinary Association. I had some discussions with those people last year at the valedictory celebrations of veterinary students at the Roseworthy campus.

There is another thing that the honourable member and I share. She was the chair of the Rural and Regional Council of the Liberal Party. As she said in her maiden speech, she was also the federal chairman for the Liberal Party in that capacity. We share the fact that we chaired that body. I actually did not chair the Rural and Regional Council because the name was changed basically the moment that I gave up the chairmanship. The decision was made to change it. It was the Rural Council in those days. I am delighted that another chair of that body has come to this parliament because it has been a very important one in the development of policy within and beyond the Liberal Party over a very long time.

We share a passion for small rural communities. I think, having recently been in places like Peterborough and with the district councils of Mount Remarkable, Orroroo Carrieton and the Flinders Ranges, and some others, we have a very large proportion in South Australia of those smaller communities. I think we have a far greater proportion of those communities than some other states. Of course, Winkie is one that I am well aware of. The honourable member mentioned the Croatian hall, and I have been to some events in that facility over the years, so I was not surprised to learn that it was a polling booth.

We also share a passion for, I think, country community sport, including football, of course. My wife, Sheila, will ensure that I say Australian Rules Football, because she is a passionate supporter of another code that likes to think that they are the original football. We will leave that for another day. The honourable member is a passionate supporter and volunteer for the Berri Football Club—the Demons, I believe; red and blue. I barrack for another red and blue team called the Redlegs, but the Demons are at Berri. I know that the Hon. Tammy Franks has a connection to the Berri Demons.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I think I have invoked some discussion there about the Berri Demons.

The PRESIDENT: Order! Interjections are out of order.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: That is very appropriate, because I did note the other day that the Hon. Dr Centofanti put a post on Facebook about what would have been the 10-year celebration of the Berri premiership in 2010. I think the Hon. Tammy Franks' son might have been a ruckman in that team.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Again, interjections are out of order.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I am passionate about country football in particular, I suppose, because I played a fair bit of it—not very well, but I played a fair bit of it—and my joints and bones are suffering for it today. It is a very valuable part of community. I think the people who experience the associations with people that develop out of those groups come to this place with a greater aspect of what makes South Australia such a great place to be, to live in and to represent the people across the state.

With those words, I am delighted to welcome the Hon. Dr Centofanti to this place. I know she has already hit the ground running and is very active on a range of committees, at least a couple of which she has replaced me on. I wish her all the best and I will always be very keen to support her in her work in this place. With those words, I support the motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. D.G.E. Hood.

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