The State: Final day of Parliament for 2018 — Cheek, mischief and the final day of Jay Weatherill

Parliament’s final sitting of the year often takes on a last day of school type of vibe — there’s a bit more rattiness and cheek. But this week was also bittersweet for some as the sun finally set on former premier Jay Weatherill’s 16-year-old state politics career.

• Former premier quits: Jay Weatherill to retire from politics
• Jay Weatherill: The highs and lows
• Josh Frydenberg & ex premier: When Jay met Josh

Parliament’s final sitting of the year often takes on a last day of school type of vibe.

There’s a bit more rattiness and cheek than usual, and the people who are meant to be keeping the joint running in good order let a bit more mischief go than usual.

This Thursday had more nostalgia and magnanimity than is usual as MPs farewelled the grand old building for summer, and a past premier said goodbye to the place forever.

Former premier Jay Weatherill’s decision to pull the pin on a 16-year career, almost all of which was spent as a member of Cabinet, surprised no one.

It seemed destined to come — the only question had been around timing.

And it triggered speeches from political allies and rivals who reflected on the character and achievements of a man who, by sheer longevity if nothing else, made himself into one of the defining SA politicians of modern times.

But it also marks something of a graduation for Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas, who both delivered Mr Weatherill numbers needed to take charge of the party and succeeded him.

Mr Weatherill has, from all reports and observation, played a constructive role since losing the election.

He’s often seen passing notes down to the frontbench with suggestions on questions and tactics.

He’s never engaged in public sniping or undermining.

But, as even he noted on the way out, his sheer presence in the Caucus and SA public life can make it hard for the party to move on.

Mr Malinauskas inherited a party that only a few months ago was rejected by the people.

By definition, it has things to learn and must change.

But Mr Weatherill has a personal record to defend, and colleagues who credit him with elongating their time in power would be naturally shy about contradicting his opinion.

Mr Weatherill this week said it could be difficult for former leaders to know their place, and commonly “nobody knows what to do with them”.

“Former leaders do have difficulty, I think negotiating their role,” he said.

“Obviously I have got points of view, but if I share them, even with the Caucus, it creates a tension. You’ve got people who were loyal to me.

“Also, the party needs to reflect and decide whether it wants to adopt all the things we did or change direction.

“I don’t want to be a barrier to that. “

If there were any doubt about who now runs this party, formally or culturally, it is now passing into history.

This is Mr Malinauskas’ Labor.

The unanswered question is what he plans to do with it as Labor harbours genuine ambition of making Premier Steven Marshall and his Cabinet one-termers.

Valdman Cartoon. Former premier Jay Weatherill announces retirement from politics

Perhaps Mr Malinauskas’ biggest success so far has been the absence of a negative.

Labor has made a smooth transition of leaders after the election without public rancour.

It appears united and focused. There’s an energy and determination to bring down the Government that could easily have ebbed away in the aftermath of a historic loss.

And there have been some policy flips, including a reversal of Labor’s past opposition to open Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings and its support for payroll tax cuts.

In tone, Mr Malinauskas has been much more forceful over law and order than his predecessor ever was.

But there has not yet been a clear and dramatic break.

Labor has broadly kept the positions that it took to a losing election in the key areas of energy, education, health and industry support.

Mr Malinauskas’ speech to Labor’s annual convention this year foreshadowed a likely shift of priorities. He told the faithful that Labor was a party of minority, social and green issues but its primary mission must be growing and fairly sharing economic opportunity.

Next year will bring Labor the chance to explain what that means.

Immediately after taking the leadership Mr Malinauskas launched a listening tour as he and MPs were dispatched to hear from all parts of the state where they went wrong.

It’s both a genuine exercises seeking feedback, and a political tool that will help legitimise policy backflips to come.

South Australia State Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas opens the door for his former boss. Picture: Sam Wundke/AAP

Mr Malinauskas said he’d never felt “encumbered by Jay’s presence”, but his leadership “will always be carved in the mould that I see appropriate for the future of our party and the state”.

“Jay and I both have, obviously, a common set of values which draws us to the Labor Party,” he said. “But, naturally, different leaders conduct themselves in different ways.”

Indications are that Mr Malinauskas, the most influential figure in the party’s dominant Right faction, thinks Labor has important repair work to do on how it talks about and treats the business sector in SA. Mr Weatherill, of the Left, was prone to hyperbolic and antagonistic language about the “employer class”.

He appalled many with sudden disruptive moves like the bank tax or threatening to tear up the multibillion-dollar contract signed to build and run the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

In the battle over shop trading hours Mr Malinauskas conspicuously chose to paint himself as the defender of small business rather than workers at risk of exploitation from the bourgeois.

Labor won’t repudiate the Weatherill legacy, but appears to be readying to interpret it from a different angle, in search of the right track back to power.