SA election: Peter Malinauskas-mania puts new leader in a premier position
South Australian politics is witnessing a localised rerun of what the late, great Matt Price dubbed Kevmania, the surging public affection for Kevin Rudd after the 2007 federal poll.
South Australian politics is witnessing a localised rerun of what the late Matt Price dubbed Kevmania, the surging public affection for Kevin Rudd after the 2007 federal poll.
The difference with Mali-mania is it might actually last, with new SA Premier Peter Malinauskas showing no tendency for expletive-laden outbursts or manic temper tantrums, and commanding the respect and loyalty of a united caucus without a single plotter in the ranks.
On his first official day as Premier, 42-year-old Malinauskas was sworn in at Government House in a ceremony that descended into a chaotic family affair as his three young children got lost in the gardens and had to be located via CCTV.
As was the case for much of his family-oriented campaign, Malinauskas attended the ceremony with wife Bel – whom he excruciatingly forgot to thank in his victory speech on Saturday night – and their three children Eliza, 1, Jack, 4, and Sophie, 6.
At one point, Malinauskas held his son Jack aloft and then tipped him upside down on his head.
“This is the biggest gated playground in our state,” he joked after his children vanished into the garden.
In one of the swiftest election results in SA history, Malinauskas was confirmed elected just after 8.30pm on Saturday when Steven Marshall telephone to concede defeat.
His swearing-in on Monday formalised a remarkable turnaround in Labor’s fortunes, returning to office just four years after the Liberals were elected in 2018 after a marathon 16-year period of ALP rule.
Malinauskas on Monday said the size of the win was humbling and surprising but vowed he would not let it go to his head.
His first act as Premier was to contact Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and chief medical officer Nicola Spurrier to request an explanation as to why SA has stricter Covid rules than other states, involving mandatory mask use and 10-day isolation periods for close contacts.
He said business was particularly agitated with the close contact rules, which were harming productivity by up-ending rosters.
He also said he wanted an explanation as to why close contacts were defined in SA as people who had been near positive cases for 15 minutes, as opposed to four hours in the rest of Australia.
His inquiries about those issues were telling, given his predecessor faced strong criticism for being too hands-off about the management of Covid rules.
“I’ll be scrutinising why that’s in place,” Malinauskas said. “I am the new leader, I have an opportunity as Premier now to fully examine all of the reasons why the policy settings are what they are.
“My preference is to make sure we are doing the right thing by everybody in the interest of the state. I’ve always said if I became premier, I would follow the health advice, I’d back in the health advice … I also said that I would thoroughly scrutinise all of that advice and the decisions being made and that’s what I intend to do.
After his swearing-in, Malinauskas walked up North Terrace to visit frontline medical staff at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, a symbolic gesture reflecting the central focus of public health in Labor’s campaign.
“I’m here with our doctors, nurses, ambos, cleaners, healthcare workers and staff in the hospital because I want to thank them for everything they do,” he said in a social media post accompanied by selfies with RAH staff.
His most important duty for the day was getting himself out of the poop with his wife.
“What happened was when writing the speech, I honestly had it in there to thank Annabel and the kids,” he told Seven’s Sunrise.
“She said ‘When it comes to me, don’t get all mushy and start crying’ because this has happened previously, so in my speech I get to mum and dad and mention them and then I felt the lump in my throat and was like ‘Here we go’.
“When we got in the car together afterwards, it dawned on me. I thought I’d come back to Annabel and the kids, except I didn’t come back.
“I’m absolutely brewing about it. I’m kicking myself.”
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