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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-28 Daily Xml
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Motions

Wade, The Hon. S.G.

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. N.J. Centofanti:

That this council—

1. Notes the recent retirement of the Hon. Stephen Wade MLC after 16 years of service to the people and Parliament of South Australia;

2. Recognises his leadership as Minister for Health and Wellbeing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic; and

3. Wishes him well in his retirement from parliament and the years ahead.

(Continued from 30 August 2023.)

The Hon. C. BONAROS (16:52): I rise to speak briefly on behalf of SA-Best on this motion, celebrating the retirement of a 16-year veteran and gentleman of this place, the Hon. Stephen Wade. We have all spoken of the Hon. Mr Wade's time as health minister for the short time that the Liberal Party were in government, between 2018 and 2022, and before that he was shadow attorney. We would all have to agree that, if you want someone to be obsessed with their portfolios, then Stephen was absolutely your man for the job. At no time, though, did we see his level of commitment to his work greater than when he was health minister.

Some would say—I would say—that he inherited a complete and utter health basket case, and what is undoubtedly true is that it was a hell of a job that few of us would envy, on top of which he served the people of South Australia diligently through its most challenging time, the COVID pandemic. Yet, behind the scenes, I know that Stephen never missed a call from me, and I am sure he never missed a call from anybody in this place when we contacted him to help on individual cases, on matters that people had brought to us.

I cannot count the number of times during that pandemic and outside of it when I would send Stephen a text message or ring him and ask him to help with an issue that had been brought to my attention, and each and every time he personally made the effort to look into those matters and address them as Minister for Health. I am extremely grateful for that, and I am sure I speak for many of us when I say how grateful we are that he showed that level of commitment not just to the people he helped but also to us.

As we know, during the pandemic, his face was splashed all over the news with his trustworthy colleague Professor Nicola Spurrier on an almost daily basis, and he did not miss a beat, basically, during that whole thing. I think the funniest moment I had with him one day was in the lift when he told me, 'It's like being a pig in mud,' when we had all these Aqium stations erected all over Parliament House, because we both had a fondness for Aqium that certainly predated any COVID outbreak in this jurisdiction. We had some laughs when that was the case.

Of course, that is not the only legacy that Stephen leaves behind. I think it is also worth mentioning the role that he played in terms of the establishment of the suicide prevention register, mental health issues and the abortion debate, the role he undertook in that and the way he conducted himself during that debate. I personally worked closely with Stephen on the Donor Conception Register at the time he was here. I am extremely grateful for the support and the commitment he gave to that. I am also, by the same token, extremely grateful that we are now seeing another bill that is going to come from this government to follow on from the work he did while he was health minister.

What I loved most, though, about our colleague was his ability to leave things in this chamber. In here, he was ruthless in the way he conducted himself in terms of trying to get a point across. Talk about screaming matches; we saw some of those involving Stephen. But what you always knew was that, if you bumped into him three minutes later in the corridor, you would not know anything had happened. I remember one occasion in particular—I remember what it was, too, but I am not going to say—when he was standing right here in my face, and we were exchanging words. I can tell you it was a challenge.

Then the bells suspended, and we left the chamber. We walked down to the cars together, and we were having a laugh about something. That literally happened within the course of five minutes. He did not take things outside of this chamber, but he certainly defended his position with the conviction that he did in here. I was always grateful for that. I think I was grateful, like many of us, for the kind gestures that he made, the text messages, the cards. He is a good man, and when I say 'gentleman' I mean that in every respect of the word.

I am sad, but not surprised in the slightest, that he left in the way he did. In short, on behalf of SA-Best, I want to wish Stephen well in the continuation of his journey. I think the fact that he left in the way he did speaks volumes about the humble and good man that he is. Above all, though, and despite being able to provide so much more politically, I am glad he made the decision to head off into the sunset and enjoy life outside of this place, to smell the roses and spend time with his loved ones and family. I wish him and his family well into the future.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (16:58): I also rise to recognise the significant contribution of Stephen Wade to this place. I obviously only had a short opportunity to work with him, having joined the parliament myself in 2021, but I did have a huge respect for his work ethic and service to the people of South Australia. I want to reflect on some of the contributions that he made.

Stephen Wade moved to Adelaide in 1974, a graduate in law and economics at Adelaide University. He had a professional career before entering politics: a corporate governance consultant and parliamentary adviser, a former chair of the board of Julia Farr Services and a member of the board of SA Dental Service. It was in 2006 that he filled a casual vacancy following the retirement of the Hon. Angus Redford.

Often when one reflects on the contributions of members of parliament, they look back at their first speeches, and I think there are some words from the Hon. Stephen Wade that are worth revisiting. He talked at length about the importance of the separation between church and state. He believed that religious values and principles should be brought to politics but that there should be a separation between the church and the state, an important distinction, I believe, still today. He also said on leadership, and I quote from that speech:

I believe that parliamentarians who merely follow populist trends do the people a disservice and dishonour the leadership role that parliamentarians should exercise in our community.

He said:

Leadership can bring out the best in people…leaders should try to show the way to help bring out the best in the community they serve. Leaders should not just parrot community sentiment.

Very wise words when they were said by Mr Wade back in 2006, and very important words, I think, for us to reflect on in this chamber today.

I want to briefly reflect on Mr Wade's significant work in dealing with the pandemic. It was really a once-in-a-century event. It is hard to imagine a more challenging series of circumstances that could confront a health minister. I know that Mr Wade worked tirelessly during that pandemic to provide the best leadership he could in terms of responding to that crisis.

When I first joined the parliament, I observed the work that he was doing on the assisted dying legislation. He played an integral role in getting that through the parliament, working closely with the Hon. Kyam Maher and others who had been advocating for that reform. I think it is fair to say that Mr Wade played a critical role in trying to get that through, and that has been a life-changing reform in terms of helping many South Australians.

With that, I conclude my remarks and I wish he and his wife, Tracey, and their family all the best for the next chapter of their lives together.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (17:01): I stand to speak briefly about the Hon. Stephen Wade and to acknowledge his achievements and qualities. The Hon. Stephen Wade served in the Legislative Council from May 2006 until he announced his retirement in January 2023. As honourable members would know, he held various shadow ministry portfolios during his first 10 years in this place before becoming Minister for Health and Wellbeing during the Liberal government from 2018 to 2022.

Since I entered parliament in May 2014, Stephen's modest and respectful manner was something I remembered him for. When he was the Minister for Health, I had reason to approach him for assistance and I found him to be very friendly and always willing to ask his staff to assist me. One issue involved a banh mi food poisoning outbreak from one of the banh mi stores, which received wide coverage from the media.

I visited many of Adelaide's banh mi stores to offer my support. I was told the media coverage had resulted in more than a 30 per cent reduction in trade. I also learned that the outbreak was more likely caused by the chicken eggs used to make the banh mi butter rather than hygiene practices. As honourable members would be aware, eggs are very often the cause of salmonella outbreaks if not handled correctly.

I discussed this issue with Stephen, looking at how we could help reduce the impact this was having on small family businesses. Keeping in mind that this outbreak came from one business, I did not want SA Health to impose restrictions that completely decimated the banh mi industry without considering all possible causes. It was good of Stephen to offer to work with me and the Vietnamese business community to assist them to overcome the effects of the salmonella outbreak. It was certainly a helpful and gracious offer.

Many honourable members would be aware of my interest in and advocacy for the pharmacy industry as well as my association with the Vietnamese community working in this sector. Stephen was always happy to listen and respond to the issues I raised with him, and I valued his input.

COVID was a difficult time for us all; however, it was an especially challenging time for health ministers across all jurisdictions. I would like to acknowledge the Hon. Stephen Wade's work as South Australia's health minister in keeping our community safe. As we all know, it was a busy period that challenged our health system in a way that we had not experienced before.

His leadership in working closely with many stakeholders, including the health department in collaboration with Nicola Spurrier, Grant Stevens and the then Premier, the Hon. Steven Marshall MP, is to be commended. Stephen Wade also shared many ministerial councils during this time. He will no doubt be noted in South Australia's history as the health minister who successfully guided our state through a COVID pandemic that we knew little about and that had swept all over the world.

Everyone in this place will be aware of Stephen's leadership and approachability. These qualities earned the respect of members from all sides of politics. Stephen Wade's 17-year, dedicated service to the South Australian community is certainly worthy of acknowledgement. Now that he is out of parliament, he can have more time with his family. As many honourable members know, our families are often neglected due to the nature of our work and service. I wish the Hon. Stephen Wade and his family good health and happiness for the future.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:06): I rise with some sadness because I had a great fondness for the former honourable Stephen Wade, who will continue to be honourable. Every departure from this place has an impact. It is a very intimate chamber of 22 of us, and when one person goes it shifts the balance in different ways every time.

Certainly, reflecting on not having had Stephen Wade here now for some months and finally getting to the point where we conclude the speeches in his valedictory, and not having him here to hear them because he does not wish to be lauded by us, really does sum up Stephen Wade. I have not heard the words 'deja vu all over again' for some months, but I am sure I will again, sometime when I catch up with Stephen.

One of the first bills I ever worked with Stephen on as a crossbencher—a new Greens elected crossbencher in 2010-2011—was the South Australian Public Health Bill. He and I were negotiating with the then minister John Hill's office to ensure human rights were placed in that South Australian Public Health Bill in case of what we thought was the unlikely event of a pandemic. Certainly, as we debated the bill we thought perhaps some small-scale outbreaks but certainly not a global pandemic.

I am pleased to say that in that debate Stephen and I bonded quite a lot on some of the things people have already reflected on—that is, the nature of Stephen Wade's politics as a moderate, as a liberal, as somebody who believed in the rule of law, in human rights and in the separation of church and state, even though he was a man of faith, of informed debate and of respect for democracy.

It was at that point in the debate that there were some sticking points about ensuring human rights if people were to be detained or incarcerated under said 'did not think it was going to happen' pandemic, and he and I were standing firm against the then Labor government's attempt not to have such provisions to allow people to have respect for the full breadth of those human rights. I remember the minister's adviser ringing me and saying, 'What on earth are you doing? You're a Green; you're meant to be a communist' and me informing the minister's adviser that the Cold War was now over and one could have economic, social and civil and political rights, and they no longer needed to be arbitrarily divided.

Stephen held positions in this place, as has been mentioned: shadow attorney-general, shadow health and then health minister. One of the roles that does not go down in the formal CV is that he was also the self-appointed whip of the crossbench. Right from the first day I was here he would try to whip us. We were not necessarily willing, but we went along with it regardless.

Sometimes we let Stephen believe that he really was our whip, but he did so because he wished to have a conciliatory approach to the debate in this place. I have to say that the cross-party whipping meetings are probably some testament, although they came from a suggestion from crossbench members themselves, but it goes a long way, I think, to the culture that Stephen brought to this place.

He was passionate about human rights, as I have mentioned, and certainly he and I shared a commitment to the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, and he lived that commitment as well to Aboriginal people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice. He was the person, when I put up a stolen generations reparations tribunal bill, who saw a way forward and created a path by referring that to a parliamentary committee.

I will admit, and only the former Clerk used to know this and Stephen Wade and myself, we did not actually have the ability to refer that to a parliamentary committee, except nobody checked the standing orders and so they believed us, but the outcome was great. Technically, we needed both houses of parliament to make that referral, but nobody looked at the fine print, and that is one of the things that Stephen did know. He knew to look at the fine print and then perhaps to ignore it when the cause was worth it.

He was incredibly supportive of myself and Kelly Vincent over many years. We worked with him on issues of disability and child protection and general progress around things like gender-affirming health care. He was somebody, I think, who fits into what politicians like to call in the lexicon doctors' wives—the moral middle class—except, of course, Stephen is a doctor's husband. He believed in human rights. He did not see that his religion should be used to divide people but rather to lift people up and to unite people.

He was also very instrumental in the decriminalisation of abortion in this state after 50 years of having the medical profession and pregnant people at risk of criminalisation, and so I pay tribute to him for his leadership. He was the right person at the right place to be health minister because in that aforementioned public health debate he also strongly advocated, as did I, for a Chief Public Health Officer standing alone as a separate position to the Chief Health Officer—20/20 hindsight shows that that was, again, the right decision. We were fortunate to have a Chief Public Health Officer in place once we encountered that pandemic.

At the time of the pandemic, many of us were thrown into turmoil in our personal and professional lives right across the state and, of course, the globe. I remember speaking to Stephen in the early days about the workload, the excessive stress of having people's lives in the balance. I do remember a debate in this place where hanging over us was the potential of mass graves and mass deaths had we not trod a path that was in the end the one that kept South Australians safe and alive. He said to me at the time, 'No, I don't feel the stress, I don't feel the pressure, I don't feel a burden because I have purpose.'

Stephen always had purpose. He will be very much missed by myself and I think this place. I hope to see more people like Stephen Wade come into this place, and that there be that deja vu all over again.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:14): I wish to add my appreciation and commend the Hon. Stephen Wade. As a parliamentarian, I have only known Stephen since 2018. A lot of complimentary words have been said about Stephen today and they are all very much deserved.

When the Liberals came into office in 2018, Stephen inherited what you could only say was a poisoned chalice. The health system was left in a bloated mess through Labor's Transforming Health disaster. I think I often said to him, 'Stephen, you really have the hardest job in government,' because that is what health really is. It became doubly hard for him because he had to steer the state through the most difficult time in its history, and that was the COVID-19 pandemic.

I know that the Hon. Robert Simms called it a once-in-a-century pandemic or health crisis. I think it was more than that. If you look back through history I do not think we have had one individual event that actually affected the entire world. It actually affected every living human person on earth when it struck, that is how significant that event was. It virtually shut down the world and we were all entrapped in our own country.

He had to work through those challenges because, let's face it, these were challenges that were unheard of. We had not seen or experienced anything like that. Everything was a whole learning curve for everybody who was involved, from the Premier at the time, Steven Marshall, through to the police commissioner, Nicola Spurrier and others who were involved—even members in this place. This was a whole new experience that we had to go through, and right at the forefront was the health, the security and the safety of South Australians.

As an event, I think it was a global catastrophe that was probably in my lifetime the biggest news event that I have ever had to go through. As health minister, Stephen had to make some difficult and controversial decisions. History will probably be a judge of them; however, they had to be made. They were tough decisions and I think he made those decisions with alacrity and professionalism, never wavering from what he thought was in the best interests of South Australians. The Liberals and Steven Marshall were fortunate to have someone with the exceptional work ethic of Stephen Wade in their ranks.

From a personal point of view, I always had a very cordial and professional relationship with him. I found him to be a real decent, honest and principled person. As my colleague mentioned, you could fire him up in debate or during question time, but he would always greet you with a smile afterwards and was always quite warm.

He responded positively, sometimes with some annoyance, to the long questions that I would often throw at him, but he would always provide accurate answers where they were required. If he took them on notice, I would always be assured that I would get an accurate response and a timely response from him. My correspondence was always promptly addressed and when I advocated for constituents who had poor outcomes from the health system, or needed assistance particularly during COVID, Stephen and his staff—and staff at SA Health—were very quick to help.

I am just thinking about what the Hon. Tammy Franks and the Hon. Tung Ngo said. My office had to take a lot of calls from people who were impacted by COVID in one way or the other and I am thinking about the many calls that his office would have had to take from others and the pressure that office would have been under.

I would like to particularly thank Stephen for really moving mountains when one of my constituents, who had to travel from overseas to come to see his dying mother during COVID, had been locked out by the lockdowns at the border. He could not make it from Queensland into South Australia, and time was critical for him to be able to see his mum before she died. Stephen certainly worked exceptionally hard to try to assist that family to be reunited during a time of grief. That is the sort of person that he was. He would help where he possibly could.

I know, from what I have heard here, that he served this parliament with distinction. He should be proud of his contributions, including one that has not been mentioned here. I know we have heard about the other reforms that he helped move through this place, but one in particular that I was pretty passionate about was the establishment of the office for ageing and wellbeing, and his advocacy for it. He was quite passionate about meeting the challenges of the aged-care sector.

Finally, and quite ironically, I am always going to remember Stephen for one thing, and that is that he gave me my first and only dose of COVID while we exchanged greetings one day on the steps of Parliament House—but it was a mild case. In closing, I would like to wish Stephen, Tracey and the family all the very best and really thank him for his long and dedicated service to making South Australia a better and a safer place.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (17:21): It gives me great pleasure to rise to speak briefly to this motion and to wish our former colleague the Hon. Stephen Wade the very best in his retirement. As many members have said, Stephen was actually a decent human.

On his election to this place in 2006, the Hon. Stephen Wade referred to himself as a fortunate member in being appointed to this place to fill a casual vacancy whilst, earlier in the year, many of his colleagues, many members of his party room, had lost their seats at the election. When the Hon. Stephen Wade took that opportunity to come into this place, he shared his views about the necessity, when speaking in this place, of the separation between church and state. He set out his desire to be a member of the Legislative Council who would truly serve every corner of South Australia and not just be an echo chamber for public opinion. I think that vision for what he would do certainly rang true throughout his time in this place.

The Hon. Stephen Wade held countless shadow portfolios during his time in opposition, particularly in important social policy areas and as shadow attorney-general in this parliament for a number of years. Throughout all of his time, he was a fierce advocate for health, for people living with a disability, for men, for older South Australians and for many other causes.

I do not think many would at all envy the position the Hon. Stephen Wade had to hold as the Minister for Health during the early and uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when none of us were really sure about what was happening in the world and how the world would look. He should be commended for stepping up to the plate and leading this state through what was an unparalleled difficult time.

I want to reflect on, as others have, the Hon. Stephen Wade's willingness to personally help out people during the COVID pandemic. I know that I rang the Hon. Stephen Wade a number of times when I had issues or concerns raised with me by members of the Aboriginal community during COVID: people who faced isolation and could not get back to country and people who were in communities who were under federal biosecurity lockdowns. Every time I personally called the Hon. Stephen Wade he would deal with it and have someone get back to me. It was a great credit to his personal humanity and his desire to see individuals looked after.

Whilst we have not always been on the same page on everything, as honourable members have mentioned, I had a huge amount of respect for the Hon. Stephen Wade during his contributions on the voluntary assisted dying debate in this parliament during our last term. I distinctly remember one of the Hon. Stephen Wade's early contributions to the debate where he said:

While my Christian faith teaches me that euthanasia is not an option for me, in a pluralist society other people will hold differing views and should have the freedom to live their lives according to their values and their moral codes…

I think that speaks volumes of the sorts of values the Hon. Stephen Wade brought to this place and during that debate, having the health minister on the other side of the chamber, as we were passing difficult and technical legislation, almost riding shotgun in being able to help the passage of it. I and many other South Australians will forever be grateful to the Hon. Stephen Wade.

The Hon. Stephen Wade almost always wore his heart on his sleeve. You did not have to guess what he was feeling or what his emotions were. I would have loved to have played poker against the Hon. Stephen Wade—you could have made a lot of money very quickly, I suspect.

One of my favourite contributions was early in the time when we were in opposition and the Liberal Party were in government. The Hon. Stephen Wade, as health minister, had a bill to establish local health networks. While the bill was still going through the parliament, they had advertised for positions to be filled on local health networks, so as an enthusiastic new Leader of the Opposition in this place I had given notice of a privileges motion for taking the chamber for granted because the bill had not passed.

I can remember that evening and the next morning going around to all the crossbenchers and asking, 'Come on, will you support this?' and quite justifiably they said, 'No, Kyam. Pull your head in. That's a tiny technical little thing. Of course, we won't be supporting that against Stephen Wade. We quite like Stephen Wade.'

I remember the next day, knowing that I had absolutely no support whatsoever for this motion, getting up and saying something along the lines of, 'I think the minister has learnt his lesson, so I won't be proceeding with this motion.' Then we went to the next item on the agenda and the former President, the Hon. Andrew McLachlan, when the Hon. Stephen Wade got up, obviously having spent a long time getting ready to give a defence of this motion, did not allow him to proceed. He very perceptively called me gutless, in very colourful language, for not proceeding with the motion.

I had a great exchange with the Hon. Stephen Wade on the night he announced his retirement when he feigned he could not remember the contribution whatsoever. I want to thank the Hon. Stephen Wade for his contribution, his service to this state, and wish him and his family all the very best in the next stage of their lives.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (17:27): I will be very brief. I just want to thank all the honourable members who have contributed to this very important motion: the Hon. Jing Lee, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, the Hon. Ben Hood, the Hon. Dennis Hood, the Hon. Heidi Girolamo, the Hon. Laura Henderson, the Hon. Tammy Franks, the Hon. Robert Simms, the Hon. Tung Ngo, the Hon. Connie Bonaros, the Hon. Frank Pangallo and the Hon. Kyam Maher.

The Hon. Stephen Wade was an exceptional member of this chamber, one who will be incredibly missed. He made an outstanding contribution not only to this parliament but to the health and wellbeing of this state during the term of the Marshall Liberal government and obviously during the term of that once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. We wish him and his wife, Tracey, all the best in their life after parliament, one which, I am sure, will be full of community, connection, the pursuit of new skills and the occasional bush walk. With those words, I commend the motion to the chamber.

Motion carried.

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