Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes:

(a) the death of the late Steele Hall on 10 June 2024, aged 95 years;

(b) that Steele Hall is the only Australian to have served as Premier of a state, as well as a Member of three houses of parliament; and

(c) that Steele Hall served as the 36th Premier of South Australia from 1968 to 1970, also served in the Commonwealth Parliament as a Senator for South Australia from 1974 to 1977, and was the federal Member for the electoral division of Boothby from 1981 to 1996; and

(2) acknowledges the service of Steele Hall across four decades and three houses of parliament to the Australian and South Australian people.

Friends, I stand here today to pay tribute to a remarkable Australian. Steele Hall was the 36th Premier of South Australia, serving in that role between 1968 and 1970, after which he entered federal parliament as a senator for South Australia, serving in that role between 1974 and 1977. Then, remarkably, he was the member for Boothby between the years of 1981 and 1996. Steele Hall is the only Australian to have served as a premier of a state as well as a member of three legislatures. Sadly, on 10 June this year, Steele Hall died at the age of 95, having lived an extraordinary life, leaving a profound political legacy.

Steele was born in 1928 in Balaklava, a country town in the mid-north of South Australia. He was educated there and worked on his family's 800-acre sheep and wheat farm at Owen, a 20-minute drive out of Balaklava. In 1959, at the age of 31, Steele was elected on behalf of the Liberal and Country League as the member for Gouger. He was a member of the then Playford government and quickly gained a reputation for his independent thinking and his shoot-from-the-hip style—something which, of course, resonates with me. In spite of this—or perhaps because of it—and because of his forthrightness, he rose through the ranks of the party. Following Playford's loss in 1965, Steele was endorsed by Sir Thomas Playford as his successor. After just two years in opposition, Steele returned the Liberal and Country League to government in 1968.

Steele Hall was a conviction politician before we knew what that term meant—a man of courage and integrity. Necessarily, many of the positions that Steele adopted weren't popular and, indeed, some in his own party from time to time disagreed with Steele, but it was that courage that I admired. Now, I could wax lyrical about some of Steele Hall's key accomplishments as premier, include the development of important industries such as the gas industry in South Australia, the improvement of Aboriginal rights and the fluoridation of the Adelaide water supply, but there are two things that stand out for me. Firstly, he is remembered for having reformed the electoral system in South Australia to better reflect the principle of 'one vote, one value'. Inequitable electoral boundaries, commonly known as the playmander, had greatly advantaged the Liberal and Country League over previous decades. Steele's introduction of electoral reforms jeopardised his own prospects of retaining the premiership, but nonetheless he was committed to the principle of democratic electoral fairness and to working for the greater good of the South Australian economy. It goes without saying that the introduction of these reforms was a major reason for his defeat in 1970.

The second issue, of course, was his support for the proposal of the Dartmouth Dam—a decision which was ultimately right, albeit unpopular at the time. It typified Steele's unrelenting pursuit of the state and national interest. Two years later, after many combative episodes within the Liberal and Country League, headstrong Steele splintered from the party, set up the Liberal Movement and was elected to the Senate under that standard in 1974. He then quit the Senate three years later to unsuccessfully contest the federal lower house seat of Hawker, but by 1981 he was back in the Liberal ranks, returning as the member for Boothby in Adelaide's south, holding that seat through to 1996. I acknowledge the current member for Boothby has joined us today.

At a Liberal Party function in Adelaide just last week, the Hon. John Howard, while reflecting on the life of Steele Hall, described him as 'reformative and transformative'. That, friends, is high praise from the greatest living Liberal. His political life and legacy was anything but lacklustre. His contribution to South Australia was enormous, his capacity for debate legendary, his intellect and competitive energy unrivalled. His close friend and former political adviser, Sir Lynton Crosby AO, describes Steele as a 'principled maverick, a man from the plains, a farmer, a politician and, above all, a man of integrity and strength—plain speaking, plain values'. Oh, for some of those plain-speaking, strong values today in this place, a place he is familiar with.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to his wife, Joan, who is here today, herself a former member of the South Australian Parliament, serving as the member for Coles and subsequently Morialta and as Minister for Youth and Employment and Minister for Tourism; and to Steele's six children and grandchildren. Thank you, Steele, for your services to South Australia and to the nation. Vale, Steele Hall.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

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

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to congratulate the member for Barker for moving this motion about a very great Australian. As members may be aware, a state memorial service to celebrate the life of Mr Steele Hall was held on 1 July at the Adelaide Festival Centre, hosted by the government of SA. The state memorial service honoured Mr Hall's life and his contribution to South Australian politics. His leadership showed a determination to do what he recognised to be in the best interests of South Australians, and he leaves behind a reputation for integrity and for political courage. By introducing landmark legislation that changed the way voters were weighted during the elections, he reformed the state's electoral system. Other significant reforms and actions under his leadership were in areas including abortion access, Aboriginal affairs, the state's natural gas industry and his opposition to a dam at Chowilla in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Switching from state politics to federal politics in 1974, Mr Hall was elected to the Senate, where he served until 1977, and was the member for Boothby in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996. With a parliamentary career spanning more than 33 years, Mr Hall was the only Australian to serve as premier of a state as well as a member of three legislatures and was the leader of two political parties, one of which he founded. It's fitting that Mr Hall's state memorial service was held at the Adelaide Festival Centre. It is almost impossible to imagine Adelaide without this iconic building, which was the first of its kind in Australia and finished almost six months earlier than the Sydney Opera House.

When potential sites for Adelaide's top-tier performance venue were first discussed in the mid-sixties, discussion centred around the location in North Adelaide at the old Bonython family estate, Carclew, on Montefiore Hill. However, the then Premier, Steele Hall, made an official visit to the UK during which he visited the Royal Festival Hall on the banks of the Thames. I'm told that, at this moment, Premier Hall envisaged a world-class riverfront theatre with breathtaking views of Adelaide's waterfront vista. By the time Premier Hall left office, a new site had been selected at the former Adelaide Baths on the banks of the River Torrens, with the then incoming government of Don Dunstan continuing the project, which resulted in the magnificent Adelaide Festival Centre site as we see it today. The view from the festival centre, down the sloping lawns of Elder Park, across the river to Adelaide Oval and St Peter's Cathedral is now forever part of the proud remains of a legacy that Steele Hall left to South Australians, who he served diligently and with distinction.

In 1988, we saw his courage in crossing the floor to vote against his own party leader who proposed to make race a determinant in migrant intake. Mr Hall found this to be personally repugnant and dangerously corrosive to Australian society.

After Mr Hall retired as member for Boothby ahead of the 1996 election, a journalist asked him to sum up his time in politics. He replied, perhaps with a hint of well-earned pride:

I do not have a record which is wimpish or weak—

a pointed statement.

Mr Hall is survived by his beautiful wife, Joan Hall, who's here with us today and who also served in the state parliament as the member for Coles, now Morialta. To Joan, her six children and six grandchildren, our heartfelt condolences go out to the family. May he rest in peace.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Link to 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.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to honour the memory of Raymond Steele Hall, known as Steele, a giant of Liberal politics in South Australia who served his community at state and federal levels for some 33 years. I'd like to thank the member for Barker for moving this motion and I'd like to acknowledge the Hon. Joan Hall here today. Mr Hall was born in Balaklava in the state's mid-north in 1928. He attended local schools and worked on his family's property when he left school. He was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly, serving as the Member for Gouger from 1959 to 1973 and the Member for Goyder from 1973 to 1974. He was the 36th Premier of South Australia from 1968 to 1970 and he went on to serve as a federal senator from 1974 to 1977 and as the member for Boothby from 1981 to 1996. There surely aren't many individuals who've served in so many ways at state and federal levels.

Mr Hall is known as a man of principle, committed to doing what he felt was the right thing even when that meant he would pay a personal and political cost. He is particularly remembered for ending the so-called playmander, an inequitable electoral system which meant that the votes of people living in Adelaide—two-thirds of the South Australian population—were worth less than the votes of those living in the country. By expanding the number of seats in the House of Assembly, albeit not quite to equity, he knew that he was effectively handing government to the Labor Party, which had attracted 52 per cent of the vote at the previous election. The changes he brought in reinforced the democratic principle of 'one vote, one value', something that I think we cherish in this country.

Mr Hall was also responsible for a number of pieces of legislation, including improvements to social welfare, Aboriginal affairs, abortion regulation and advancing fluoridation of the South Australian water supply. He worked with the subsequent Dunstan state Labor government to introduce adult suffrage and for proportional representation for the South Australia Legislative Council. Mr Hall won a federal Senate seat at the double dissolution election of 1974, triggering a by-election in Goyder, and subsequently worked with the Whitlam government again on electoral reform. Despite being against the Whitlam government, he voted against the blocking of supply, saying that the Senate should be a house of review, not a house of execution.

Mr Hall resigned from the Senate in November 1977 to run unsuccessfully for the federal seat of Hawker. Then he won the seat of Boothby in 1981, having beaten Alexander Downer for the preselection. He mostly served as a backbencher in the federal government, although he served as shadow state minister in the Peacock opposition in 1983. He again demonstrated his principled stance in the federal realm when he and two other Liberal members crossed the floor against opposition leader John Howard's motion to use race as a criteria for selecting immigrants, voting with the Labor government. He stated at the time:

The question has quickly descended from a discussion about the future migrant intake to one about the level of internal racial tolerance. The simple fact is that public opinion is easily led on racial issues. It is now time to unite the community on the race issue before it flares into an ugly reproach for us all.

Mr Hall passed on 10 June 2024 at the age of 95. He is survived by his wife, Joan, herself a former state member of parliament, and six children. I offer them my sincere condolences.

I will finish by quoting another South Australia Liberal Premier, John Olsen. John Olsen said of Mr Hall:

His principles were always unimpeachable. He was a politician that had courage of his convictions and followed through on them, even though he put at risk his government and his premiership.

That was the hallmark of the way in which he operated—always a principle, applying integrity and certainly courage in politics. Mrs Hall, this is truly a life well lived, and Mr Hall's outstanding service to the community is to be much admired. May he rest in peace.

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barker for bringing this motion forward. From the outset, I recognise Joan Hall in the chamber, as my colleagues have done. Welcome, Joan. I extend Teresa's and my condolences to your family.

As we've heard, Steele was born in Balaklava in 1928. He worked on the family farm in Owen, nowadays the wonderful electorate of Grey. He was elected to the seat of Gouger in 1959 and became Leader of the Opposition in 1965 following the retirement of Sir Thomas Playford on the eve of the election in 1965, which was subsequently lost to the Labor party. He was elected Premier in 1968, which was a wonderful turnaround for the Liberal Party. He distinguished himself as a statesman as opposed to a political animal when he undertook the reforms of the electoral system, removing the previous bias that allowed much lower populations in country seats, knowing full well it was likely to lead to defeat at the next election. That's a man who was prepared to sacrifice power on a matter of principle and fairness. In and of itself, that alone is a very telling story of Steele Hall.

The reforms were not the only reason Steele Hall lost the 1970 election. His term as premier was cut short by the loss of support of the Independent, Tommy Stott, over the proposed Chowilla Dam. If ever there was a good reason not to have too many Independents in this place, perhaps that's it. But Steele Hall recognised Chowilla for the environmental disaster that it would have been. It would have salted up the bottom end of the Murray. And despite good evidence being available to all, Chowilla was supported by the opposition leader, Don Dunstan, in a tub-thumping, state's right platform in the 1970 election, a position he then abandoned in government.

I didn't come from a political family, but, in 1970, I started to take an interest. It always seemed an incredible injustice that someone could campaign for something in an election and then turn around and do something else as soon as the election was won. That's another example of Steele Hall standing against the mob for what was right, which exemplified his strength and conviction. It is in retrospect that Steele Hall should be appreciated as a visionary. He was the Premier who identified the banks of the Torrens as a place to build the festival centre and set the wheels in motion to build it.

He legislated the Metropolitan Adelaide transport study, a plan which included a north-south freeway corridor through Adelaide, and under his government the electorally painful work of land acquisition was largely completed. Sadly, the election spelt the end of that project, and later the land was sold off. What a folly. The estimated cost of land acquisition and construction for the entire proposal was $574,000,000 in 1968, which equates to about $7 billion today in 2024. Following tens of billions spent on another half a dozen or so sections of the north-south corridor, we are now spending another $15 billion to complete the final 15 kilometres of the same pathway—$1½ billion a kilometre.

Steele Hall's time as premier was all too short. Following the almost inevitable loss in the 1970 election, support for Steele within his party fell away until eventually he left the Liberal Party and formed the Liberal Movement, for which he won a three-year term in the Senate in the 1974 double dissolution, which was in turn truncated by the 1975 dismissal election, in which he was narrowly returned. These were tumultuous years, and Steele was not always the favourite of his former Liberal colleagues. In 1977 he resigned his Senate seat to contest the seat of Hawker, which he narrowly lost. However, following the narrow loss in the 1975 state election, the conservative forces set about bringing the Liberal Party back together, and in 1981 Steele contested Boothby for the Liberal Party, won it and held it for the subsequent 15 years before he retired.

In total he served 33 years in three different houses of parliament: the House of Assembly, the Senate and, of course, the House of Representatives—a remarkable contribution to public life by a remarkable man, sometimes a maverick, certainly a visionary, always a man sure of his judgement and a conviction politician. The world is a far poorer place for his passing, but we are much better for his presence.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin by acknowledging Joan Hall, who is with us tonight, whom I have known for many, many years and whom I have the utmost respect for. A state funeral was held on 1 July at the Adelaide Festival Centre to honour the life of Raymond Steele Hall, better known as Steele, a name that befitted his character. It was a well-deserved farewell to an outstanding South Australian who had served in the state and federal parliaments and, uniquely, had served in the South Australian House of Assembly, including as SA Premier and in both the federal Senate and the house of Representatives. It was just as fitting, as others have already said, that the service was held in Adelaide Festival Centre, an Adelaide CBD landmark that graces the picturesque River Torrens precinct, that puts Adelaide on the global performing arts stage and that Steele Hall had delivered as SA Premier.

He did that during an era of progressive policy battles between himself and Don Dunstan, both of whom were strong debaters, both with visionary and transformative policies for South Australia. Perhaps their most robust encounter—and I can well remember it—was their disagreement over whether South Australia would be best served by the Dartmouth Dam or the dam at Chowilla in South Australia, just outside of Renmark. As others have quite rightly pointed out, ultimately the Dartmouth Dam is where it is.

When I reflect on Steele Hall, I think of a man of conviction, integrity and courage: conviction to stand up for what he believed in, integrity to do what was right and courage to stand up to powerful critics even within his own political party to the point of crossing the floor in federal parliament and ending the pro-Liberal South Australian electoral boundary gerrymander, which undoubtedly cost him the 1970 election. His achievements are many and, although the following examples are just a sample, they highlight the social and moral justice that drove Steele Hall.

Steele Hall supported the lowering of the voting age from 21 years to 18 years. As a senator, he was critical of the blocking of supply to the Whitlam government. He founded the South Australian Liberal Movement, which became a progressive arm for South Australian Liberal voters between 1973 and 1976. He spoke out against racism and cuts to social welfare. He supported journalistic freedom. He took a stand for Indigenous Australians. These are all issues which are still so important today, and yet way back then in the 1970s and 1980s, when perhaps it took courage to take a stand on them, Steele Hall did that. In so many respects, he was ahead of his time on the issues that he fought so hard for.

Having entered parliament at the young age of 31 years, Steele Hall had served as a parliamentarian for 33 years at the time of his retirement in 1996. However, he was never too far away from the political fray, with his wife, Joan, serving in the state parliament between 1993 and 2006. I last saw Steele Hall at the 40th anniversary dinner of the Para Hills Community Club in the Makin electorate, which, as South Australian Premier 40 years earlier, Steele had opened. I still have the photographs of him doing that back in my office. On the night, both Steele and Joan were clearly the drawcard for the evening dinner. They came into the room, and I think everyone was so happy to see the both of them there joining with us.

To you, Joan, and to your whole family, I say thank you for the service that Steele gave our nation—not just our state, our nation. He did make a difference to our country, as others have quite rightly pointed out. To you and the family, I extend my sincere losses at his passing. I'm sorry I couldn't get to the funeral; I would have liked to. Once again, my condolences.

Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the token New South Welsh person in this debate, I wanted to join others in honouring a great South Australian and to acknowledge the presence of Joan Hall here in the House today. South Australia has played an outsized role in this parliament. It's produced some of our greatest characters and our greatest contributors since Federation, and Steele Hall was one of those people.

As many members of the House know, I'm something of a Constitution nerd, and I first encountered Steele Hall because he is the great academic example of why we can never properly cater for anything in the Constitution. In 1977, we codified the way in which you replace senators when casual vacancies occur. That assumes that somebody from one party who might retire is replaced by somebody from the same party. Almost as soon as that had happened, Steele himself left the parliament, but his party had ceased to exist, and so a new convention was made. I think other speakers have covered many of his other great contributions, but I wanted to add that, and I wanted to add my condolences to Joan and all those who admired a great Australian.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will made an order of the day for the next sitting.