New Liberal Premier reflects on his career and the first 100 days since assuming office

ON the eve of his first 100 days in office, workaholic Premier Steven Marshall talks about his achievements so far, his family, and single life. Adam Langenberg reports.

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STEVEN Marshall wasn’t surrounded by the customary sea of family members on March 17 when his Liberal Party ended 16 years in the political wilderness.

His two children are living away from South Australia and his mother, Barbara, had been admitted to hospital three times in the six weeks leading up to election night and wasn’t there to see him feted by true believers at the Hackney Hotel.

South Australia’s 46th Premier doesn’t like to drag his family into the political spotlight but said his mother’s ill health was “nerve-racking” for the Marshall clan during the election campaign.

“She’s in remission at the moment,” he said. “But she was very sick during the election campaign.

“It was pretty nerve-racking for us but she’s pretty tough, she’s from the country.”

Mr Marshall says he’s changed little during his first 100 days in Parliament — he will have served 100 days as Premier on Tuesday — but reckons the public perception of him has shifted.

Steven Marshall in his office in the State Administration Centre. Picture: Dylan Coker

“It’s funny, because a lot of people in the supermarkets stop me now and say ‘you always look so happy’,” he said.

“I always think I’ve always been exactly the same. In Opposition, what gets reported often is your criticism of the issue of the day; in Government it’s completely the opposite.

“You do have a much better opportunity to project your personality and your ambition for the state. I think that’s why many more people are seeing me with a smile on my face, rather than a frown.”

Though he lives alone in Norwood, Mr Marshall laughs that there’s no time to get lonely in his new role as the state’s spruiker-in-chief.

He seeks advice from luminaries such as former prime minister John Howard but says there is not a list of people he leans on in tough times because he’s “not really a crisis guy”.

“I’m in a fortunate position where I can just dedicate literally every waking hour to this role, which is great,” he told the Sunday Mail.

Steven Marshall with his mother Barbara.

“It’s unfortunate neither of my children are living in SA at the moment.

“My daughter (Georgie) is having her gap year living in England working at a school in Exeter and my son (Charlie) is studying in Queensland, so I don’t even have kids at home.

“It’s sad on the one hand but it does provide me with the opportunity to just focus everything I can on the role I have.”

Single since he divorced from wife Sue, Mr Marshall says he isn’t squeezing dates in between key political engagements but “the day is still young”.

He points out that you don’t have to look too far back in the annals of history to find South Australia’s last single premier, Labor’s Mike Rann, married his second wife in 2006, four years into leading the state.

“So there’s still hope for me,” Mr Marshall jokes.

“I think it (being single) is an advantage because the role is … if you’re going to do this role, well, it’s a role that demands everything.”

Steven Marshall’s son Charlie and father Tony at his swearing-in ceremony at Government House. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Part of devoting everything to the role entails strict 5.15am wake-ups. He reads boxes of papers and briefing notes in the car, uses bushwalks to plot policies and brings potential investors in the state along to each event he attends as the minister responsible for the arts.

The former managing director of his family’s furniture business, Mr Marshall has long been renowned as one of Parliament’s workaholics.

He says the obsession about his job as Premier is nothing new but simply a transition from the five years he spent as Opposition Leader.

“We actually worked very long hours in Opposition and I think that means there wasn’t a big shock in coming into Government where we thought ‘Oh, all of a sudden this is 18 hours days, seven days a week’,” he said.

“That wasn’t a big shock because that’s really what we were doing in Opposition, or at least that’s what I was doing.” In Parliament, 50-year-old Mr Marshall bounds around like an excited puppy, the enthusiasm almost leaving him breathless.

Steven Marshall with his daughter Georgie in 2014.

It’s that same drive that means no one in his 14-member Cabinet is safe from countless emails and texts.

“It’s a little bit like time zones in Russia,” Mr Marshall said. “The sun is always shining on Russia and there’s always a Cabinet minister available and that means there’s always an opportunity for me to be texting them.”

He frequently chats with other early-riser ministerial colleagues David Pisoni, Stephan Knoll and Stephen Wade before 6am, while conversations with Treasurer Rob Lucas — whose penchant for American sports means his sleeping patterns are on the other side of the spectrum — often flow late into the night.

Mr Marshall has mostly tried to keep his head down during his first 100 days as Premier, implementing the Government’s promises by their 100-day deadline. He says it was a conscious decision to avoid chasing a headline a day.

But that doesn’t mean he has been immune from controversy. There have been delays in the tram extension project, sackings of senior public servants and a storm after he did not extend the term of popular Victims’ Rights Commissioner Michael O’Connell.

Steven Marshall congratulated by Liberal Party Deputy Leader and Attorney-General Vicki Chapman after winning the election in March.

But asked to identify the toughest day in the new job so far, Mr Marshall responds with a blank look.

“I genuinely have enjoyed every day; I can’t think of anything that’s stressful,” he said.

“There are lots of decisions which come every single day which some people might perceive as being difficult decisions to make. I just see them as an opportunity to make the right decisions.”