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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-13 Daily Xml
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Country Cabinet

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:40): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about his attendance at the country cabinet held at Mount Barker last month?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:40): I thank the honourable member for his question.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in country areas, which stands in stark contrast to the former government.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The honourable member is always out in the country.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: If he doesn't like their coffee, he won't go there.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The honourable member has affogatos in all parts of this state. He is a very regular visitor to country South Australia and contributes to this government's understanding of country South Australia, which unfortunately the previous government lacked when they scrapped holding country cabinet—

The Hon. E.S. Bourke interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —shamefully scrapped holding country cabinet. As part of a government which actually holds country cabinets, in contrast to those opposite, who scrapped them, I had the pleasure of attending, along with most of the rest of the cabinet—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —the Mount Barker government's most—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —the Mount Barker area's country cabinet.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Attorney-General will be heard in silence.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The reintroduction of country cabinet was reflected in a huge turnout, with nearly 600 Adelaide Hills residents at a community forum and barbecue hosted at the Mount Barker school on a cold wintry night. The community was able to ask directly of the government a range of questions—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —and I have to say that the questions asked at the Mount Barker community cabinet were to the point and to the correct and relevant portfolio holder, in stark contrast to what we see here day after day after day.

Outside the community forum there was a range of activities that each minister took part in and meetings that ministers took part in. I have to say it was a distinct pleasure to meet with many community groups and many members of the community. It was a particular pleasure to visit Littlehampton Primary School, as part of the Mount Barker community cabinet, where I attended a number of years of primary school before moving to Mount Gambier. It was a pleasure to be shown around the school by principal Barb Jenkins and the students, seeing their bush tucker programs and the Aboriginal education area in the school's resource centre.

It was also valuable to attend at the Mount Barker Magistrates Court to meet with Magistrate Greg Fisher at the courthouse as well as the registry and Sheriff's Officers and talk about the work they do in the community and the challenges that are faced in the justice system in the Adelaide Hills and Mount Barker area.

It was also a pleasure to attend a roundtable lunch with members of the legal profession, including solicitors from Matthews Lawyers and representatives from Tindall Gask Bentley in Mount Barker, Peter Fisher Lawyers, Mead Robson Steele and von Doussas. The growing population of Mount Barker is certainly well served by the legal community and I am sure this will continue to grow into the future.

I also had the opportunity to meet with members of the central Hills justices of the peace association and was able to thank them for the work that JPs perform in their vital service with the community and for the efficient functioning of our legal system. There were many decades of cumulative service of the JPs in the Hills area.

It was a great pleasure also to have a look at some of the best the Hills had to offer in terms of country bakeries. I think I counted six sausage rolls during my time in the Hills over a couple of afternoons—a sausage roll every couple of hours.

I would like to particularly pay tribute to the local member in the area, the Hon. Dan Cregan, and his staff, who were instrumental in helping many of us set up meetings and having the most productive country cabinet we could have in the Adelaide Hills. It is certainly no wonder he is so respected and is voted in by the members of the Hills community, given his keen local connections. I think at every meeting I had, members of the local community were singing the praises of the Hon. Dan Cregan.

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