Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the government to acknowledge the death of former senator, former member of the House and former premier of my home state of South Australia, Raymond Steele Hall, at the age of 95. At the outset I convey, on behalf of the government, our condolences to his family and friends and to his parliamentary colleagues who are mourning his passing. I particularly acknowledge Joan Hall, who is with us today.

Steele Hall was a giant of Liberal politics in South Australia. He was a man of principle, a man of intellect and a man of courage. All those associated with him are rightly very proud of his place in political history, but particularly in South Australian political history. Demonstrably this includes Senator Birmingham, who just delivered a very fitting tribute and to whom I extend my personal sympathies.

Steele Hall was born in 1928 in South Australia, in the mid-north. He was engaged in politics as a young man and secured election in 1959 as the state member for Gouger, centred on his home district, and entered the House of Assembly shortly after his 30th birthday. By 1966, political times in South Australia were changing. Steele was elected leader of the Liberal and Country League and therefore leader of the opposition at age 37.

He was described earlier as having a streak of independence. With Labor's Don Dunstan becoming Labor leader and Premier in 1967, a new generation of South Australians were at the helm, and our state entered a period of political and social reform. In 1968, Steele Hall became Premier. These historic reforms included the electoral changes to the so-called playmander, a system of malapportionment between country and city electoral districts that was especially detrimental to Labor. Steele Hall, then the youngest premier in state history, saw that the situation was untenable—and he acted. He acted not in his own political self-interest, he acted, frankly, not in the narrow interests of his party. Instead, he took a principled stance in the interests of democracy.

Through these electoral reforms he reinforced the enduring principle of one vote, one value that underpins electoral fairness. It was a principled stance which earned some enduring enmity from conservatives within his own party who opposed these changes. Ultimately, he was, if not the architect of, certainly a contributor to his own demise, with Don Dunstan regaining the premiership in 1970 and leading the state until 1979—a tenure in no small part due to these electoral reforms.

Premier Malinauskas, the current Premier of South Australia, reflected on this brave achievement and also on many key accomplishments, including: the development of important industries, such as the gas industry; improvement of Aboriginal rights; access to safe abortion services; and fluoride in Adelaide's water supply.

After his government's defeat, Steele Hall continued to lead the opposition until resigning as opposition leader in 1972 as a consequence of internal party dissent. Senator Birmingham has gone through that in a little more detail than I propose to. This was the catalyst for his founding of the Liberal Movement, the spearhead of liberalism, a movement that was a distinct political organisation first within and then cleaved from the Liberal and Country League and the conservative forces that opposed and undermined the policies Steele Hall had sought to advance.

Those who joined and followed Steele Hall sought to rebuild liberalism in South Australia. They saw being in government as a critical plank in this process and the necessity of securing the support of a broad section of the South Australian community in order to achieve this. This was counter to the attitudes and the practice of some in the Liberal and Country League. Steele Hall described some of the conservatives who opposed him as being 'bound tightly to the ambitions of a few individuals who will put party before state'. In contrast, the Liberal Movement sought to be pragmatic and dynamic, responding to prevailing attitudes of electors through emphasis on human values and the quality of contact between one and another, balancing personal freedom with the rights of others. It was idealistic, educated and democratic.

After continuing in the House of Assembly for a brief time fostering this nascent movement, Steele Hall resigned and successfully won election to the Senate. His arrival in this place as a Liberal Movement senator following the 1974 double dissolution election came at a pretty momentous time in Australian politics. As we all recall, the coalition did not recognise the legitimacy or mandate of the Whitlam government from the first time it won office in 1972.

Steele Hall, again, took a principled stance. He resiled from and chided the coalition over its position, stating, 'If they were to some day understand that they do not have a divine right to govern but that they have to earn it, they might return to this side of the House a lot more swiftly than they are likely to return at the moment.' He didn't think much of their arguments, going on to suggest they wouldn't stand the analysis of any secondary-school child in Australia.

It was a febrile atmosphere. The Senate was finely balanced, with Steele Hall at the fulcrum. Having again rejected the legislation that brought about the simultaneous dissolution, a joint sitting of the Senate and the House of Representatives occurred. It's poignant to consider that the Senate is considering this condolence motion a week after the 50th anniversary of this unique event in Australian political history.

Three of the bills before the joint sitting dealt with electoral matters. Steele Hall supported these bills, consistent with the part he had played as premier in improving unequal electoral arrangements in South Australia against the opposition of some in his own party. Yet again he put democracy ahead of party allegiance. He opened his remarks by saying, 'One the tragedies of the non-Labor side of politics in Australia is that it almost invariably stands against the extension of the franchise to its fullest.'

The following year, through a series of events, the coalition gained capacity to block supply in the Senate, actions that brought about the dismissal of the Whitlam government. Again, taking a principled stance, Steele Hall wanted no part of this tactic. Indeed, he called for the Senate to be a house of review, not a house of execution, and advocated for the removal of the Senate's power to block supply.

Political realities in South Australia saw the Liberal Movement and the Liberal and Country League come together in 1976. Steele Hall, who was not part of the negotiations, committed not to seek Liberal preselection for the Senate. As a consequence, in 1977, he resigned his place in the Senate to contest the now abolished House of Representatives division of Hawker. In recognition of how the roots of the Liberal Movement had taken hold elsewhere, he was replaced by a senator from the Australian Democrats. Not successful in his initial attempts to continue his political career in a third parliamentary chamber, Steele Hall achieved this aim in 1981, when he won a by-election in the division of Boothby, having defeated Alexander Downer for pre-selection. He was re-elected five times before his retirement.

It's difficult to express to this chamber how well regarded Steele Hall was through the South Australian community. He was regarded with deep respect and genuine affection by so many South Australians across the political spectrum and community. Although he briefly served as a shadow minister following the election of the Hawke government, the majority of Steele Hall's remaining time in parliament was on the backbench. However, he did not cease to be the courageous and independent thinker he had demonstrated himself to be. He was courageous, he was principled and he thought independently. Steele Hall was particularly sceptical about the leadership of John Howard, including Howard's call for a reduction of Asian immigration in 1988. He told the House of Representatives 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.

I remember how much his courage and that of other Liberal moderates meant to the Wong family at the time, and to so many like us.

Steele Hall's life and contribution to public life will be forever characterised by principle, courage and conviction. He didn't do that which was easy; he did that which was right. He was prepared to act, not in his immediate personal and party political interests but to protect and strengthen our democracy, which, when all is said and done, matters most. He put state and nation above party. These are qualities that are increasingly rare in today's public life. And his passing is a time for all of us to reflect on how we in public life conduct ourselves and on what we are here to do.

Once again on behalf of the government, I express my condolences following his passing to Joan Hall, to Steele Hall's family and his friends. Vale.