Daniel Wills: John Rau shunned the limelight for policy work and left a legacy

Often to the frustration of colleagues, John Rau avoided self-promotion to spend time on policy work — and will leave a substantial legacy, writes Daniel Wills.

Former Attorney-General John Rau answers a question in Parliament.

• Former Attorney-General John Rau quits politics

John Rau was that rare breed of politician who believed that results speak for themselves.

Often to the frustration and bemusement of colleagues, he avoided the limelight and self-promotion to spend time on grinding policy work which will leave a substantial legacy.

While he’ll rightly claim significant reforms in his primary portfolio as Attorney-General, his work in planning and liquor licencing have literally shaped the future of the city of Adelaide and will continue to do so.

The rapid expansion of small bars in the CBD, which are now taken for granted as part of Adelaide’s new vibrancy, flowed from changes ushered in under his watch and against an organised campaign from entrenched interests that feared new competition.

As planning minister, Mr Rau oversaw a revolution that unshackled city developers and allowed them to test new heights as caps on urban sprawl were also brought in to forever protect valuable agricultural land in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale.

He also delivered major reforms to the WorkCover regime that brought down costs for businesses, and which was noteworthy for how little public controversy it created given the scale of the changes.

Mr Rau’s opportunity came relatively late into his political career. After being elected in 2002 he spent eight years on the backbench, which were spent methodically working through the great works of Western literature, before being elevated to Cabinet.

From there, he was quickly being spoken of as the Right faction’s nominee to replace former premier Mike Rann as his long run came to an end.

He was outmanoeuvred in Labor’s internal competition by the Left’s Jay Weatherill in 2011, but didn’t grieve for long before getting straight back to work on a reform agenda.

And he became one of the safest and most trusted sets of hands for the man who beat him to the top job. Mr Rau was overloaded with an absurd number of portfolios and asked to handle the toughest legislative work in areas as diverse as child protection and justice.

Mr Rau’s political career often seemed accidental. He appeared allergic to its expectations of spin, simplification and misdirection. And as Mr Rau leaves State Parliament, few like him remain.