New name emerges in hunt for Rob Lucas’s replacement
In this week’s Off the Record, a new Treasurer candidate emerges, Marshall meets SA royalty and Adelaide Council’s social issues boil over.
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Chapman for Treasurer?
Speculation about who might replace Rob Lucas as Treasurer, should the Liberals win the next election, has centred on a gaggle of male ministers.
But don’t rule out Deputy Premier Vickie Chapman as the successor, once Lucas retires from politics in March next year.
Chapman sits on the Budget Cabinet Committee, which meets fortnightly, along with the more widely tipped successors: John Gardner (Education Minister), David Speirs (Environment and Water) and Dan van Holst Pellekaan (Energy and Mining).
It has been thought that Chapman’s substantial agenda for social change would consume her efforts.
But her impressive parliamentary performance last week – stonewalling Labor questions targeting embattled Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson – was as adroit as the wily veteran Lucas.
This prompted senior Liberal sources to remind Off the Record that Chapman, who was a barrister before entering parliament in 2002, was a leading contender to take over the treasury.
It’s an observation that, doubtless, will excite her Labor opponents, who will seize upon it as further evidence of their long-running suggestion that Ms Chapman covets Premier Steven Marshall’s job.
Fight Club
Two Adelaide City councillors who prompted an unreleased report into a toxic culture inside Adelaide Town Hall are showing no signs of settling down.
North Adelaide residents Phillip Martin and Anne Moran kicked off the month by turning up at a business round table being hosted by Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor.
The pair upset Verschoor by ignoring a request forelected members to stay away so discussions were not tainted by politics.
A week later, Martin was involved in a public confrontation with the councillor who sought the report into tensions between elected members and council management, Deputy Lord Mayor Mary Couros.
The North Adelaide restaurant owner took offence when Martin took photographs of her during a community briefing on the former Le Cornu site development
Last Monday, Martin took a veiled swipe at Couros and other members of the Team Adelaide faction, when a photograph appeared on Verschoor’s Facebook page showing them celebrating the Lunar New Year at Chinatown.
Martin sent a group email around to staff and other elected members saying: “Happy Year of the Ox to Team Adelaide and all other Councillors and Directors!”
Moran joined in, telling the same recipients it was “a shame all councillors weren’t included”.
Martin, it turns out, was at the event but didn’t meet up with Verschoor, Couros, Frank Knoll, Alexander Hyde, Simon Hou and Arman Abrahimzadeh.
Knolljoined the email exchange, telling Martin and Moran the group photograph was a “spur of the moment” decision when a festive Chinese dragon appeared on the scene.
Knoll suggested elected members needed “to consider that if we wish to improve the level of respectful discourse it needs to start with the tempering of inflammatory language and communications which only heightens emotions”.
It was wishful thinking.
On Tuesday night, during an important workshop to discuss the council’s parlous financial state, Martin had a crack at Couros while she was chairing the meeting.
He demanded to know where, in the council’s standing orders, did it state he had to look at the presiding member when he asked questions.
Moran, meanwhile, had sent out invitations asking all of her 11 colleagues to join her for a home-cooked supper after the meeting ended.
Couros was among those who declined, telling Moran she wanted to get home to her adult children who work in hospitality.
Moran responded by saying all she was “trying to do is to get the reasonable and sane people on this unhappy council to at least get to know each other”.
“Some will never do that but I just thought you may have wanted to,” she said.
Couros said she was happy to arrange a dinner “that fits with everyone’s schedule and family commitments”.
With only Verschoor and Martin, Knoll, Robert Simms and Greg Mackie taking up Moran’s offer of clam chowder, it is difficult to see a Kumbaya moment happening any time soon.
Flagging interest
It was a day of celebration for Adelaide’s Vietnamese community, but not everyone shared the joy. Indeed, the unveiling of a memorial to Adelaide’s Vietnamese boat people could have created something of an international incident.
On the Thursday before the February 7 ceremony, organiser’s received a letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs’s SA director Liz Day warning against any flying of the South Vietnamese Co Vang flag.
The current Communist rulers of Vietnam aren’t too keen on the flag of their old wartime enemy. That enemy, of course, that was supported by Australia during the Vietnam War. The war and the communist take over also being the reason so many Vietnamese people fled the country to come to Australia.
Day also wrote letters to Premier Steven Marshall and Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas, who wore a South Vietnamese flag pin on the day, as well as Labor MP Tung Ngo, who fled Vietnam at the age of nine and a was driving force behind the memorial.
“For your information as one of the event organisers, I would like to bring to your attention
Commonwealth flag protocols that stipulate only official flags recognised by Australia should be flown in conjunction with the Australian National Flag,’’ Day wrote to Ngo.
“The Australian Government does not recognise the Co Vang flag.
“The Australian Government is committed to strengthening ties with Vietnam. We also respect the desire of the Adelaide Vietnamese community to express its views and hope that the Vietnamese Boat People Monument unveiling ceremony on Sunday 7 February will approach these matters sensitively.’’
DFAT said the letter was part of “longstanding practice’’ when the Co Vang flag was flown.
Ngo ignored the letter and the flag flew beside the Australian flag.
The MP wrote back to Day a couple of weeks later.
“The flying of the “co Vang’ flag is important to Australian Vietnamese. It acknowledges the historic fact that a democracy and Australian ally was violently overthrown in 1975 and that 521 Australian servicemen died trying to preserve that democracy,’’ Ngo wrote. “It remembers the departure of millions of people from their homeland, a majority of whom perished in the event.’’
Day’s boss is, of course, DFAT chief Frances Adamson. Adamson was in these pages a couple of weeks ago as she has been tipped to become South Australia’s next governor, replacing Hieu Van Le. Another of the Vietnamese boat people.
A spokesperson for the Vietnamese Embassy wasn’t too happy either and said “we are of the view it does no good to the bilateral relationship’’.
Kicking goals
Sitting before the phalanx of cameras, a polo-wearing Premier Steven Marshall gave a picture of calm confidence as he received the state’s first coronavirus vaccine at 8.21am on Monday.
Maybe it was partly in the knowledge the Royal Adelaide Hospital nurse quietly preparing to jab his left arm was part of South Australian royalty?
Minutes earlier the mad Port Adelaide fan Premier was chatting with Ben Cahill in a pre-screening room, and was asked if he was any relation to legendary Magpies family.
Turns out the nurse, 44, is a relative of 4x premiership player, and 10x SANFL trophy winning coach John “Jack” Cahill, 80.
“I already knew I was in good hands but when I realised those hands were part of the legendary Cahill family my mind was put completely at ease,” the Power-loving Premier told Off The Record.
Watching was fellow polo-wearing Health Minister Stephen Wade – an equally passionate Crows supporter – who would also get his jab from Cahill, who is the nurse lead for Central Adelaide Local Health Network that manages the RAH, a major vaccine hub.
With his tongue firmly in his cheek, Wade joked that upon overhearing he was part of the legendary Port family “it was then that I decided to keep my Crows allegiance to myself until after my vaccination”.
“I have met Ben before at another hospital and I was struck by his exceptional ability to engage his patients and his clinical skill, which made the vaccination feel like a pin prick,” he said.
For his part, Cahill said he was “really proud to be part of such a well-co-ordinated vaccination program”.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to vaccine the Premier,” he said.
“I hope seeing it provided reassurance to other South Australians that the vaccine is safe and something we should all do to protect our family and community.
“I received lots of messages from people who want to be vaccinated when it’s their turn.”
Matt’s back
Former Hindmarsh MP Matt Williams on Saturday will be installed as the German Honorary Consul in South Australia, taking over from fellow former federal Liberal James Porter.
Williams, who held the western Adelaide seat from 2013-16, was a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, an adviser to the Federal Trade and Investment Minister and has studied and worked in Germany.
Porter, who held the southeast seat of Barker from 1975 to 1990, retired as honorary consul after 27 years of service.
Statuesque
Premier Steven Marshall had a rare audience this week. He along with Governor Hieu Van Le and renowned local artist Robert Hannaford had a chat, via video link from Windsor Castle, with Queen Elizabeth II.
Hannaford’s statue of Queen Liz was unveiled last year and sits in the gardens of Government House. Hannaford had even persuaded Australia’s monarch to pose fore him before creating the statue.
Originally published as New name emerges in hunt for Rob Lucas’s replacement
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