James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to absolutely commence by acknowledging the Hon. Joan Hall, who's with us today. It's a great honour to bestow on us for you, Joan, to come to Canberra and be here to witness a very important tribute to your late husband, the Hon. Steele Hall. I thank my colleague the member for Barker for bringing this motion to the chamber. It is very touching that we've got so many South Australian members of the House of Representatives here with us today for this debate from both sides of the chamber. Indeed, in the period since Steele's passing, it is a mark and a measure of the man that all sides of politics have had such tributes to pay to Steele Hall.

I note the points that the member for Barker made about his time as Premier and concur with them wholeheartedly, particularly the two matters that he singled out regarding electoral reform and the Dartmouth Dam. Indeed, it was the issue of the Dartmouth Dam that, of course, led to an early election in 1970, because the Independent member for the seat we now refer to as the Riverland, who held the balance of power in the House, wanted to see the Chowilla Dam built instead of Dartmouth. That was one of the many examples in Steele Hall's career where he put the right decision ahead of the easy decision. It would have been very easy for him to succumb to the politics and the parochialism of that. Instead, he was prepared to put the interests of South Australia at the fore.

In his career as Premier, whilst it was only for a couple of years, we can reflect on the achievements of those few years. A lot of people would say that it's not the time in government; it's what you do with that time that counts. Steele Hall's legacy from his time as Premier is very, very significant and substantial. He served in that very famous Senate that dealt with the challenging 1975 deferral of the budget. It would have been a remarkable time to serve in Old Parliament House, when the cut and thrust and tension of that moment was occurring. He was, of course, a participant in something that is one of the most famous chapters of federal politics, of Australian politics—the 1975 ultimate dismissal of the Whitlam government. His time in the Senate, not only specific to that but a range of other issues, in and of itself is quite fascinating. Then, of course, most importantly to all of us as members of the House of Representatives, he indeed served in our chamber from 1981 to 1996. As the member for Barker also pointed out, last week in Adelaide, former Prime Minister John Howard took the opportunity to reflect on the career of Steele Hall with the same types of descriptors that we've heard by everyone that has paid tribute to the life and the contribution to public life of Steele Hall, a man of great conviction, a man always prepared to put his values and his views and what he thought was the right way forward ahead of anything else, sometimes in very difficult circumstances and sometimes in ways that brought tension within his own political party, let alone the challenges that always befall us when we do things that we know are right against the zeitgeist in public life. But that was exactly who Steele Hall was and that's why he leaves such a spectacular legacy.

As the Member for Adelaide just indicated, indeed his memorial was held at the Festival Centre on the banks of the Torrens. It's been really important to reflect on that particular part of Steele Hall's legacy since his passing: that it was indeed his personal intervention that ensured that we have the beautiful Festival Theatre there on the banks of the River Torrens—one of the many things that Steele Hall leaves as a legacy for his service. In three chambers—quite remarkable—three very significant contributions were made that in and of themselves were significant. To what he did throughout his adult life in contributing to the people of South Australia and the people of Australia we pay deep tribute today.

Joan: to you, of course, our deepest condolences. We know it's been a very difficult few months for you and your family. Our heart goes out to you. Thank you so much for the way in which you've allowed all of us to celebrate Steele's life, celebrate his contribution and make sure that we've marked in an appropriate way the legacy of a great Australian. Vale, Steele Hall.

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