Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the condolence motion before this chamber on the life of the Hon. Raymond Steele Hall and would like to associate myself with the remarks of the leaders in this place. There is no doubt Steele Hall was a legend of Australian and South Australian politics. His passing gives us a significant opportunity to reflect on the amazing contribution that he made not just to our state of South Australia but to our nation in an extensive political career by anybody's interpretation, 1959 to 1996, but, boy, what he packed into those 33 years! He served South Australians as the member for Gouger and for Goyder, as the South Australian Premier, as an Australian senator in this chamber, as well as the federal member for Boothby.

Today we won't just remember him as an impressive state and federal politician; we most importantly remember him as a very intelligent man, a man of deep conviction and principle and someone who epitomised the qualities of duty and integrity. His legacy will live on not only in the many people he influenced—and we've heard today the extraordinary influence that he had on your career, Senator Birmingham—but also in the communities that he diligently represented over so much time and the colleagues in the Liberal Party who he mentored and supported over his long career.

Mr Hall, like me, was raised in the country. After graduating from Balaclava High School, he worked on his family's wheat and sheep farm in South Australia's beautiful mid north. There seems no doubt that living and working in a rural community in his early life contributed significantly to his commitment to rural and regional South Australia throughout his entire political career. Steele Hall understood firsthand the importance of supporting our regions and our farmers and the benefit our rural and regional communities make to our state and our entire country. It was the opportunity of representing his home community, where he'd worked on the land and supported his family, that is said to have driven his passion to go into politics in the first place. It's a passion that has inspired many in South Australia's Liberal Party and within the community.

I have to say that it was, in fact, Mr Hall that first influenced my first connection to politics as a very young child. As outlined by Senator Birmingham, Steele Hall formed the splinter Liberal Movement, the LM, for which my uncle Jack Seekamp ran as a candidate when I was still in junior primary school. I remember being given stickers at the time that said, 'I've got the LM bug.' What kid at the age of seven or so is not excited about running around sticking stickers all over their bedroom, which is exactly what I did—much to my mother's disgust because when they were removed, most of the paint came with them as well. Little did I realise at the time, with Liberal campaign stickers stuck all over my bedroom, that one day I would go on to join and represent the same Liberal values that Mr Hall did.

There is no doubt that it is Mr Hall's principled approach to politics that will cement his legacy for a very long time to come. He stood by his convictions above all else—above popularity, party politics or political ambitions. For that, he will be remembered as a legend of the South Australian Liberal Party in its very many guises. For my home town of Renmark in the Riverland of South Australia, Steele Hall will be remembered for his foresight in opposing the Chowilla Dam in preference for water supply security from the Dartmouth Dam. At the time, many people in my home community were convinced about the great boon of the economic benefit of having a dam built on our doorstep. But Steele Hall took a longer-term perspective, supported by his good friend and colleague the then member for Chaffey, Peter Arnold, as well as my uncle Jack, which is probably the reason why he eventually stood as a candidate in Steele's newly formed party. All three men, and a handful of others—I say only a handful because many didn't support them—believed that the Chowilla Dam would have been an absolute environmental disaster. Who would have thought one of the first actions of environmental activism would actually have come from the Liberal Party!

The damming of the River Murray, of the Chowilla Creek and of the Monoman with a 5.5 kilometre wall would have flooded an area upstream of Renmark in excess of 1,370 square kilometres. They also realised that this water mass would have a huge impact on salinity levels downstream. Because of the huge water service and the shallowness of the dam, it would result in massive evaporation losses, which would have made the Chowilla dam a very inefficient water supply. Hindsight shows that the dam, if it had been built in my home town of Renmark, would no longer exist. Luckily common sense prevailed at the time, and the dam was never built.

Steele Hall's time as premier was defined by his preparedness to stand up for what he believed in, even when it meant that his time as the premier was to be compromised. His conviction was stronger than his personal self-interest. He always believed in what was right. But first and foremost, Steele Hall was a husband, father and a grandfather, and my sincere condolences go to you, Joan, and to your family. It is an amazing career and one that many South Australians and Australians will reflect on for a long time to come. Vale, Steele Hall.