See where South Austalia’s former premiers are now as the countdown begins to the 2026 state election
He sorted through the last steelworks mess when Arrium plunged into administration and now he’s watching on as the Premier faces a similar challenge.
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It was Jay Weatherill who sorted through the last mess at Whyalla Steelworks when former owner Arrium was plunged into administration in April 2016.
Now Premier Peter Malinauskas faces a similar challenge after GFG’s OneSteel Manufacturing failed to pay its bills.
“The administration chose what they thought was the best solution … we gave it every chance of success and I’m sure that’s what the government is trying to do now,” former Premier Mr Weatherill said of selling the steelworks to GFG Liberty.
Now Mr Weatherill lives in Perth where he has successfully lobbied for better early childhood education nationally through Thrive by Five.
His next challenge coming through recently joining the Melbourne-based Susan McKinnon Foundation where he will be working to protect Australia’s democracy from threats of online misinformation and a new world order.
During his stint as Premier, Mr Weatherill not only faced down the last Whyalla meltdown, he also famously lured US President Donald Trump’s right-hand man Elon Musk to South Australia to open Tesla’s “big battery” for solar power storage.
The battery was meant to help stabilise the state’s energy system after two tornadoes shut down power across the state.
“He’s an introvert, he very much lives in his head, I said if he won the bid for the battery would he come to SA and open it and he said he would – he’s certainly a man of his word,” Mr Weatherill said of meeting Mr Musk.
Former Liberal Premier Steven Marshall who snatched victory from Mr Weatherill in 2018 to be the first Liberal premier many years, is grappling with his own version of global change after being appointed this year as president of the highly influential American Australian Association based in New York.
Known for his strong commitment to the arts, space and defence industries, Mr Marshall’s job in meeting key business leaders and negotiating the new Trump administration is a far cry from his SA leadership term dominated by daily Covid briefings.
Another former Premier Mike Rann returned home to Adelaide in 2023 with his wife Sasha Carruozzo after long lobbying for Australia on the world stage.
His Labor government led the Adelaide Oval redevelopment, Adelaide Convention Centre expansion, the River Torrens riverbank precinct redesign – and controversially built the Port Stanvac Desalination Plant that is now showing its worth during the current drought.
Mr Rann left SA in late 2012 after the Labor Gillard Government appointed him Australian High Commissioner to London, and then the Liberal Abbott Government made him Ambassador to Italy, San Marino, Albania and Libya.
“So after almost a decade living in the UK and Italy we returned to Adelaide and now live in an apartment in the city. We also spend part of the year at our cottage in Italy, not far from where Sasha’s family is from,” Mr Rann said.
He was appointed South Australian Film Corporation chair in 2023 – a serendipitous pick after his government funded creating the corporation’s Adelaide Studios production facilities headquarters in Glenside.
It was on Mr Rann’s last day as Premier in October, 2011, that he officially opened the new building.
A new portrait was recently unveiled at Parliament House to mark Dr Dean Brown’s stint as Liberal Premier starting in 1993 – a reign ended in 1996 when conservative Liberal rival John Olsen toppled him from the top job.
Mr Olsen is also a former chair of the American Australian Association like Mr Marshall, and has maintained one of the higher profiles for former premiers in football-mad SA – he holds the revered role as chairman of the Adelaide Football Club until 2027.
While former Labor Premier Lynn Arnold leads a more traditional kind of SA worship – he can be found at the stunning St Peter’s Cathedral overlooking the state’s Adelaide Oval and football mecca where he ministers to his flock as an ordained Anglican priest.
Current Premier Peter Malinauskas said he spoke with Mr Rann and Mr Weatherill from “time to time” and also enjoyed the chance to occasionally have contact with former Liberal Premiers saying each has “a different style and a different perspective”.
“This job is a rare privilege, but it doesn’t come with an instruction manual – so I’m always appreciative of the counsel of those who’ve done the job before,” he said.
WHERE ARE SA’s FORMER PREMIERS NOW
Steven Marshall
Liberal Premier: 2018 to 2022
South Australia’s 46th Premier led the state from 2018 until the Liberal Party was soundly beaten by the Labor Peter Malinaukas government in 2022.
Mr Marshall sat on the Liberal Party’s backbench until February last year, and is now president of the highly influential American Australian Association based in New York.
The former premier oversees programs including the high-profile G’Day USA events promoting Australian business – amid a new era of American leadership under President Donald Trump.
As Premier, Mr Marshall successfully led the state through the Covid-19 pandemic, and held concurrent positions as defence, space and cyber minister along with being minister for the arts, Aboriginal affairs and veterans’ affairs.
His focus was on developing future industries in the state and he helped build SA into a more global hub for investment in tech, space, defence, energy and film sectors – including establishing Lot Fourteen and the machine learning centre.
Jay Weatherill AO
Labor Premier: 2011 to 2018
In Jay Weatherill’s time as Labor Premier from 2011 until 2018 he continued to foster a growing renewable energy industry.
He lured the United States’ Elon Musk to visit SA to announce plans for the Tesla “big battery” to be built in the state to capture renewable energy and help stabilise the power network.
It was a tough time to lead. Mr Weatherill was Premier during the last crisis for Whyalla steelworks when its owner Arrium was placed in administration.
The Holden plant in Elizabeth was also closed by its US-based headquarters and BHP dropped its much-lauded plans to expand Olympic Dam under his watch.
However, the Weatherill government also oversaw the building of the new Adelaide Oval, its footbridge over the River Torrens, the tram network expansion, and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital build that opened in 2017.
The South Australian Health and Medical Research centre was opened, the biomedical precinct established and his government instigated the River Murray Royal Commission.
Mr Weatherill also helped secure the new French nuclear-submarine build to be centred in SA, a plan since scrapped by the Morrison government in favour of AUKUS, and changed rules to allow small bars to flourish.
For the past five years, Mr Weatherill has lived in Perth with his wife Melissa and two daughters leading the Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign that has successfully negotiated early learning reform nationally.
Now, Mr Weatherill has a new role with the Susan McKinnon Foundation to lead its democracy strategy, working alongside former New South Wales Liberal Premier Mike Baird.
He will focus on building programs to address threats to Australia’s democracy through misinformation, polarisation and declining trust in institutions, Mr Baird saying “we can’t be complacent and assume that Australia will continue to enjoy a strong democracy”.
Mike Rann
Labor Premier: 2002 to 2011
Mike Rann was Labor Premier until 2011 before spending more than a decade living overseas, returning to Adelaide in 2023 with his wife, Sasha Carruozzo.
He is now South Australian Film Corporation board chair – his government funded the Adelaide Studios production facilities in Glenside and Mr Rann opened the new building on his last day as Premier in October 2011.
His government also founded the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) and the AFF Investment Fund.
Mr Rann left SA in late 2012 after the Labor Gillard Government appointed him as Australian High Commissioner to London.
The Liberal Abbott Government then appointed him as Ambassador to Italy, San Marino, Albania and Libya, and as Australia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies in Rome.
He returned to London in 2016 to work in the private sector.
Mr Rann was chair of UK charity the Power of Nutrition that raised hundreds of millions of dollars for nutritional programs for infants in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Among its achievements, the Rann Labor government increased the state’s infrastructure spend that included rail electrification of Adelaide’s train lines, expansion of the Adelaide tram line, construction of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Other major projects included the Adelaide Oval redevelopment, expansion of the Adelaide Convention Centre, redesigning the River Torrens riverbank precinct, expanding mining and defence industries and the Port Stanvac Desalination Plant.
“It’s good to be back in Adelaide enjoying time with our family including four little grandsons aged five and under,” Mr Rann said.
“As I walk around the city it’s nice to see the end result of projects our government initiated such as the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, the upgraded Adelaide Oval, the trams and the big expansion of the Adelaide Convention Centre,” he said.
Mr Rann is chair of the Climate Group with its membership including 180 governments around the world and hundreds of international corporations committed to climate action, each year hosting Climate Week New York City.
“I am also a member of various boards and advisory boards and was delighted to succeed my friend, former Premier Dean Brown (Liberal) as Patron of the South Adelaide Football Club. The Panthers are at the heart of the southern suburbs.”
Rob Kerin
Liberal Premier: 2001 to 2002
Rob Kerin won the Liberal Party leadership from Dean Brown after John Olsen resigned as premier in October 2001, but was in the top job less than six months before the 2002 election.
Labor’s Mike Rann was declared election winner and Mr Kerin was opposition leader until the Liberals were soundly defeated in 2006. He stood down to make way for Iain Evans.
Since then, Mr Kerin has sat on a swath of boards particularly focused on primary industries and sport, and is still chair of the South Australian Football Commission, Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority, SA Rock Lobster Advisory Council and Regional Development SA.
Mr Kerin believes housing and water supply in the regions are among the greatest challenges facing the current government and wants the debate to focus on alternative builds.
He was the first executive chair of Primary Producers SA and led the board for eight years, and has been a long-time contributor to Variety SA raising money for disadvantaged children.
Mr Kerin still regrets seeing John Olsen pushed out of the Premier job around the Motorola affair saying it was “a bit of an injustice”.
He was also a Community Football League Director – his connection to grassroots football dates back to his playing days and being Crystal Brook Football Club president in the state’s Mid North.
John Olsen AO
Liberal Premier: 1996 to 2001
John Olsen is now wielding his sporting power as chairman of the Adelaide Football Club until 2027, this former conservative Liberal Premier took the top job from his party’s moderate leader Dean Brown in 1996.
The keen barefoot water skier and former businessman then led a government that privatised the state-owned Electricity Trust of South Australia and the state’s water supply, he secured the Tour Down Under and V8 supercar series.
Mr Olsen, who grew up in Kadina on Yorke Peninsula and was later Kadina Mayor, resigned as Premier over questions surrounding Motorola building a software centre in Adelaide – then went on to be Consul-General to Los Angeles and later, New York.
He is a former president of the SA division of the Liberal Party from 1976 to 1979 and again from 2017 to 2020, helping Steven Marshall get elected as Premier.
Mr Olsen was also chair of the SA National Football League from 2010 to 2020.
Mr Olsen is also a former chair of the American Australian Association, pioneering G-Day USA in 2004 to showcase the best of Australia, the program expanded to New York in 2007.
Steven Marshall was appointed as president of the same association based in New York earlier this year.
Dr Dean Brown AO
Liberal Premier: 1993 to 1996
A new portrait was recently unveiled at the state’s Parliament House of Dr Dean Brown, he was Premier from 1993, after a landslide win by the Liberal Party – to 1996, when his job was claimed by Liberal conservative rival John Olsen.
Since retiring from government in 2006, he has served on 15 boards including Hillgrove Resources, Foodbank SA, and the National Youth Mental Health Advisory Board, and worked for SA company Seeley International.
The former research scientists took over after the collapse of the State Bank, saying his government “had the task of rebuilding the state’s financial and economic position” including the bank and SGIC.
He championed cooperation over the Murray River to stop over use, initiated the use of treated waste water for SA horticulture and signed agreements for the Tour Down Under and new attraction Tasting Australia.
His government was the first to outsource its data processing, and built a “global information technology industry”, started construction of the Southern Expressway, and halved the number of councils in SA with mergers.
Now semi-retired he chairs the Capital Works Governance Committee for the Education Department.
He believed the toughest challenges facing the state now were ensuring the steelworks and Whyalla recovers and remain sustainable, lowering the cost of living, supporting agriculture and mining and broadening manufacturing industries.
Reverend Dr Lynn Arnold
Labor Premier: 1992 to 1993
Dr Lynn Arnold won the job as Labor Premier from 1992 following John Bannon’s resignation but his role was hampered by the political aftermath of the State Bank collapse under the former government’s watch.
The Arnold government was defeated in 1993 and he left parliament in 1994 to study a PhD in sociolinguistics at Adelaide University, later leading charity World Vision Australia as chief executive officer and then Anglicare SA.
He has since become an ordained priest in the Anglican Church, and ministers out of St Peter’s Cathedral, with a special focus on ministry to the City of Adelaide.
Dr Arnold also taught at St Barnabas College as Reader in Public Theology and Church History.
Dr Arnold was chair of the Don Dunstan Foundation for 10 years and is now Director and Patron of the Foundation. He is also an Ambassador for Reconciliation SA. He has served on a number of professional boards including the National Co-Chair for Anti-Poverty Week, Australian Foreign Minister’s Aid Advisory Council, and the Australian Council for Overseas Aid (now ACFID).
He describes his greatest achievements as establishing the Economic Development Board and “stabilising government at a very difficult time”.
“This included bringing two non-Labor MPs into my Cabinet – this was the first time since 1907 that a state Labor Cabinet had non-Labor members”.
Dr Arnold said knowing what the state does now he would have “put more effort into public and social housing”, believing among the toughest challenges facing the state was its ageing population and the cost of spending required on health.
Dr Arnold holds a PhD in Philosophy, a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education from the University of Adelaide.
He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Theology from Charles Sturt University and a diploma in Senior Company Administration from the Escuela Superior de la Alta Dirección de Empresas (ESADE) in Barcelona, Spain.
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