Published June 2024
I rise to support this motion and pass on my sincere condolences on the passing of former Premier Steele Hall and to pay tribute to his decades of public service, not only in this place but in the Australian Senate and the House of Representatives as well. I want to make a brief contribution today to acknowledge the legacy that Steele Hall leaves to our state, to our party and, of course, to his own family.
First, Steele Hall left an enormous contribution to our state. He was a Liberal Premier whose legacy should be celebrated and has been rightly celebrated today. His government, while only brief, contributed to enormous reforms during 1968 to 1970. We have heard about a lot of it today, from the Festival Centre, to the fluoridation of the water supply, to the Dartmouth Dam.
He is also being rightly recognised today for his reform of the House of Assembly electoral boundaries, despite those very reforms ultimately leading to the downfall of his government. He said in 2018 that the boundaries were 'totally undemocratic, totally wrong'. He said that he knew that he was sacrificing government, but it had to be done. It had to be done because it was the right thing to do.
When I reflect on these reforms, I am reminded of Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, which is a short volume of biographies of eight US senators who made brave, courageous moves because it was the right thing to do but always in circumstances where it was not in their personal or political interests. I think the story of Steele Hall is just that: our very own South Australian profile in courage that we should recognise today. He was undeniably a man of conviction, of principle and of intellect, and he will leave an extraordinary legacy. I might say he serves as a model, I think, for members in this house, particularly those like me who are relatively new to this house, on how we conduct ourselves and who we are here to serve.
Secondly, I want to briefly acknowledge Steele Hall's contribution to our party. Steele Hall was undeniably a stalwart of the Liberal Party. During my time in the party, he has always been somewhat revered as an elder statesman of sorts. I have been a member of the Liberal Party for half of my life, joining at age 16. As, I think, the youngest person contributing to this motion, I want to particularly acknowledge his involvement with and support of the Young Liberals here in South Australia.
Beginning in the 1950s and continuing right up to the 2010s, Steele has always extolled the virtues and the importance of the Young Liberals as the future of our party. When Steele as Premier brought an end to the Playmander in South Australia, the Young Liberals campaigned wholeheartedly in the public debate in favour of the reforms. When he pursued the modernisation of our party in the 1970s, it was the Young Liberals who were amongst some of his key allies leading the debate both internally and externally at that time.
Throughout the eighties and nineties, as the member for Boothby, Steele acted as a mentor to many who took an active interest in politics, including, I am sure, many of my own now SEC members, who I suspect joined the Liberal Party in no small part because of Steele Hall. They were proud to have him as a local federal member. This continued in his retirement. He supported a number of generation Y campaigns and campaigners, and he was a leading fundraiser for Young Liberal campaigns across the state.
Steele's final campaign, for the member for Morphett in 2018, which we heard about today, saw him standing at polling booths with Young Liberals who probably were not even born when Steele retired from parliament in 1996, but they had the opportunity to learn from him and to admire him. I am sure he was extremely pleased to see not only the election of the member for Morphett but the end of 16 years of Labor government at that time.
I think it was this longevity that made him such an admired figure amongst generations of Young Liberals. He was honoured with life membership of the Young Liberals, which I am told he was incredibly proud of. We thank him and acknowledge his service and contribution to so many Liberal Party members and parliamentarians and indeed in shaping the modern Liberal Party today.
Finally, I want to pass on my sincere condolences to all of Steele's family, in particular my constituent and my friend Joan Hall, Steele's beloved wife for over 40 years. I never really had the opportunity to get to know Steele, but I have had the absolute honour and privilege of knowing Joan. Joan was a very early supporter of mine when I sought preselection, and I continue to be very grateful for her support and advice, which I am sure is born in part from Steele's great political experience as well.
I pass on my condolences to you and to all of Steele's children and grandchildren, particularly my friend Ben, who I got to know very well during my time in London, and Alexia as well. You mourn a husband and a father, but we all celebrate today the legacy of a great man. Vale Steele Hall.
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