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The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (18:27): I rise to support the motion and, acknowledging the time of the day, I will be brief, but I will also make an appropriate acknowledgement of the service of my two colleagues both within this chamber and outside. It is interesting that the Hon. Caroline Schaefer's father and my father served together in this place, but I do not think that I met Caroline until after my father had retired and her father continued on a few years after that.
[Sitting extended beyond 18:30 on motion of Hon. P. Holloway]
The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Despite the fact that our fathers served together for a long period of time, I do not believe that I met Caroline until after my father had retired. We met when we both served on the executive of the rural council of the Liberal Party. Caroline might correct me, but I would say that that was in the early 1980s. I became aware of her commitment to Eyre Peninsula and, particularly through local government on the District Council of Kimba, her work as the person in charge of the census on Eyre Peninsula and her work with the then cooperative bulk handling, which has had a number of identities and name changes in the time since. Of course, I also learnt of the high regard in which she was held around this state for her abilities as a judge and participant in equestrian events and at shows around South Australia.
In the parliament, when I came here she was a great help to me. I was the new boy and she was the government whip, and I was very grateful for her guidance. We heard from other members about the work she did with the food industry and in particular the food for the future council and the issues group that was associated with it and her chairmanship of that body. Can I say that the regional development issues group, which was developed some time later and which I chaired, was modelled entirely on the food for the future issues group and modelled by the Hon. Rob Kerin on the work that was done under the leadership of the Hon. Caroline Schaefer.
I acknowledge the work that Caroline did both as a member, albeit for a period which we on this side would like to have been much longer, and also as shadow minister in the area of primary industries right across the gambit which that portfolio covers. She also had the portfolio, at least in opposition, of regional affairs, and I know Caroline had great mirth in going around a number of regional areas and having a bit of a laugh about the title that the Hon. Rob Kerin had given to that portfolio—and I will not go into anything more about that, but I think she still has a bit of a laugh about that from time to time.
What is clear is Caroline's passion for regional communities, and I think she demonstrates that in this council on every occasion that we have listened to her speak. I think that will always continue, and long may she do that, because it is something that I believe in, I hope as strongly as she does. Another thing I must say is that, in the time that I have been here, the Hon. Mrs Schaefer and I seem to have alternated on a number of what we in our party call 'pairing relationships' with seats that the party does not hold, so a number of those have been with me and gone to Caroline and come back or vice versa, so we share that aspect as well.
I do value the fact that the friendship I have had with Caroline has been a strong one, and that has been the case despite the fact that there are a couple of conscience issues on which I know she does not agree with me, and I think she probably frowns at what the hell Dawkins is doing, but that has never got in the way of our friendship, and I will always appreciate that. I extend my sincere best wishes to Caroline and to Roy, who has also become a friend to Helena and me. I extend my best wishes to both of you on your retirement and in the years to come, and obviously we look forward to seeing as much of you as we can around the state.
The Hon. Robert Lawson I first met, I believe, in about 1992 when he was running around South Australia, as we do in the Liberal Party, on a Legislative Council preselection going to see candidates all over South Australia. At that stage I was working part time at the Gawler office of the then member for Wakefield, the Hon. Neil Andrew, and that is where Robert came to see me, after hours, I believe it was, and we had quite a chat about his ambitions. It does not seem that long ago, but a bit of water has gone under the bridge since then. I had previously been aware of Robert's eminent legal career and I was obviously well aware of his role in relation to the many issues in relation to the State Bank collapse.
Robert became a minister very shortly after I came to this place. As the Hon. Michelle Lensink said, his abilities as a minister saw him given more and more varied responsibilities over time. One of the early responsibilities he had was for the HAC scheme. I remember that one of the first things I did as the member responsible for the Riverland was to go up to Barmera with Robert for the launch of the community transport scheme in the old Barmera council chambers. I think that was one of the first things he did as minister for the ageing.
For the past eight years Robert's personal assistant and my personal assistant have shared an office, and he has had the unfortunate experience of having to dodge my larger and clumsier frame as we go in and out of our assistants' offices.
I remember the debate we had in this chamber when I moved, successfully, to legalise surrogacy. I think anybody who has moved a private members' bill knows the experience you have to go through if there is some complexity to the bill when you do not have the luxury that a minister has of having an adviser next to you, and I know that colleagues here will attest to that. The Hon. Robert Lawson asked me one or two ticklish questions that day, and I think he had many more in his head, and I will always appreciate the fact that he left most of them on his desk, because I would have struggled significantly with that.
I will say, and I think this was alluded to earlier, that the Hon. Mr Lawson will go down as one of the great disappearers of this parliament. The Whip's job is to make sure that people are here at the right time, and only yesterday I knew that Robert was here and then all of a sudden he was not. He did come back fairly quickly, but he has an ability to vanish, which has probably been helpful to him at times. I would like to extend my best wishes to Delysia, Robert and the family for the future.
Before concluding, I think it is appropriate to mention the staff of my two colleagues. I think all of us here would agree that the work we do is assisted greatly by our staff. I think it is important to put on the record that Mrs Francesca French, I believe, has worked for the Hon. Caroline Schaefer for her entire career, and I think that is a tribute to both Caroline and Francesca. I also understand that Mrs Raelene Zanetti has worked for the Hon. Mr Lawson for all but about the first 10 months of his career. I think that is a tribute to both of my parliamentary colleagues and to their very loyal, dedicated, hard working staff, and best wishes to all of them in the future.
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