Former South Australian Liberal premier Steele Hall honoured with state memorial service

Steele Hall has been remembered at his state memorial service as a leader who chose not to take any easy options.

South Australian former premiers Steele Hall, Dean Brown, David Tonkin, Don Dunstan, John Bannon and Des Corcoran.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has remembered former South Australian Liberal premier Steele Hall as a leader of “conviction and courage” as 300 mourners gathered at his state memorial on Monday afternoon.

Mr Malinauskas said Mr Hall was a leader of “conviction and courage”, highlighting his decision to “level the electoral playing field for our state, enabling a permanent, legitimate, contest of ideas”.

“Steele Hall chose not to take any easy options, particularly if it was at the expense of doing what was right,” he said.

Mr Hall was premier from 1968-70, a South Australian Senator from 1974-77 and federal Boothby MP from 1981-1996.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas speaks during the state memorial service to celebrate the life of Steele Hall. Picture: NewsWire / David Mariuz

The memorial service was held at the Adelaide Festival Centre, recognising Mr Hall’s selection of the site in 1968 for the arts complex, which officially opened in 1973.

Mr Hall, who died on June 10 aged 95, has been remembered as “a legend of South Australian politics”.

Mr Malinauskas said it was “right and fitting” that Mr Hall’s life was being celebrated in the Adelaide Festival Centre.

“A house of progress, that Steele Hall built,” he said.

Former Liberal leader Dean Brown arriving at the memorial service. Picture: NewsWire / David Mariuz

Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Senate Simon Birmingham also attended. Picture: NewsWire / David Mariuz

Renowned campaign strategist and former Liberal Party federal director Sir Lynton Crosby, a friend of Mr Hall’s for five decades, said Mr Hall “believed in things and had the courage to do what he knew to be right, putting principle before party or self”.

“A man from the plains, a farmer, a politician. Above all, a man of integrity and strength,” he said.

“Plain-speaking. Plain values. A liberal but never, ever, a woke warrior.

“A dogged egalitarian who refused the title Honourable when he achieved high office.”

Sir Lynton said it would be easy to forget the significance of changes driven by Mr Hall, because many generations had passed since he was Premier.

“Steele drove change. Often against considerable opposition despite the infallible logic of what he sought when we consider it today,” he said.

Steele Hall at the press conference which followed his election as leader of the Liberal and Country League on July 13, 1966.

Steele Hall playing with four of his six children, Michael, 6, Kathleen, 8, June, 4, and Mary, 11.

Hotel magnate Peter Hurley, a former Australian Hotels Association state and national president, said he often arranged to sit next to Mr Hall and official and social dinners.

“He was my walking, talking, truth-telling, misinformation-free, absolutely accurate and uncensored, modern political history, encyclopaedia,” he said.

“In the vernacular of rural Australia, I was getting my political history lessons straight from the horse’s mouth.

“ … our wonderful nation would be an even better place if more of the political class had the integrity, the courage and selflessness of Raymond Steele Hall.”

Festival Centre chief executive officer Douglas Gautier said it was an honour that the Hall family chose the complex for the memorial service.

“It is very fitting, because Steele chose this important site for the Festival Centre and championed it fearlessly,” he said.

“It was a joint effort, Steele’s vision, which (Labor premier) Don Dunstan then carried through. True bipartisanship for the lasting benefit of our community.

“ … Steele knew that this site, which has brought people together for cultural events for thousands of years, was the right place to continue that legacy into the future. Where arts and culture flourish, so do understanding and tolerance.”

Former Advertiser deputy editor and columnist Rex Jory was master of ceremonies.

Former SA politician Premier Steele Hall.

Mr Hall, the father of six children, was married to Joan – a former state Liberal MP and minister – for more than 45 years.

Mr Hall was first elected to the House of Assembly as the Liberal and Country League (LCL) member for Gouger, a former seat covering Balaklava, at the 1959 state election.

He became leader of the party following the retirement of Sir Thomas Playford in July, 1966 and led the Liberals to victory at the 1968 election.

During his time as premier, Mr Hall abolished the ‘Playmander’, which favoured the Liberals by giving rural seats disproportionate electoral power.

The reform put him at a disadvantage when an early election was called in 1970, and the Liberals lost government to Labor.

Premier Steele Hall running along the beach at Henley Beach after a swim, in April, 1970.

Liberal and Country League leader Steele Hall when he announced he had been asked by the SA Governor to form a government, on April 16, 1968.

In 2021, a portrait was unveiled at the Festival Centre recognising Mr Hall for in 1968 choosing the site from 64 that were in contention and overruling plans for North Adelaide’s Carclew to be the base for a future Festival Hall.

According to the Festival Centre’s website, the Adelaide Festival of Arts started to outgrow the city’s existing venues and Mr Hall, as the Liberal premier, “saw the sloping banks of the River Torrens as a natural choice for the home of the Adelaide Festival and the cultural heart of the city”.

Following a trip to London, he walked along the Thames Embankment and saw the Royal Festival Theatre overlooking the river.

“When I came back Cabinet and the Adelaide City Council had approved a site in North Adelaide – the old Carclew property – for the theatre. I walked from the weir to the zoo and decided the theatre should be on the site of the old City Baths, where it stands today. We overturned the decision of the Cabinet and the Council,” he said in 2018.