WEBVTT - Conversations with Cornesy - Kevin Foley

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, everyone, Welcome to conversations. Now. Look, it's no exaggeration

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<v Speaker 1>to say that my next guest was at one time

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<v Speaker 1>the most powerful man, most powerful influential person in this state.

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<v Speaker 1>But he wasn't our premier. He had the role as

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<v Speaker 1>deputy premier or assistant premier I'm not sure what the

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<v Speaker 1>exact term is. And he was our state treasurer. Then

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<v Speaker 1>he retired thirteen fourteen years ago, maybe twelve years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>You probably recognized the voice one and only Kevin Foley.

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<v Speaker 1>How are you? Thank you?

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<v Speaker 2>Graham? Sorry I shouldn't have cut in. Bad habits come

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<v Speaker 2>back pretty quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>I've had the introduction sort of almost bad. You've been

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<v Speaker 1>very quiet. We haven't heard much of you.

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<v Speaker 2>Well I'm happy with that, you know. I think I've

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<v Speaker 2>burned up about three lifetimes of publicity and media, good,

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<v Speaker 2>bad and ugly, so I live a quiet life.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think it was an exaggeration to say at

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<v Speaker 1>one stage you're the most powerful person in the state.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm not sure whether Mike Grant has gone back

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<v Speaker 2>to it Italy. He spent six months in Italy and

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<v Speaker 2>months in Adelaide.

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<v Speaker 1>So what was.

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<v Speaker 2>Incredible with Mike? And I mean this sincerely and not

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<v Speaker 2>just a spin. Mike and I worked like a hand

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<v Speaker 2>and a glove, and you get power or you assume

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<v Speaker 2>power through the support of the premiere, and rarely did

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<v Speaker 2>we have a disagreement. And if I ever had to

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<v Speaker 2>exercise power, I did it with the backing support of

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<v Speaker 2>the premiere, because if you don't have that your power,

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<v Speaker 2>you might get away once with stepping out of the

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<v Speaker 2>which I did in the end with the Adelaide Oval.

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<v Speaker 2>But no, I had a lot of responsibility.

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<v Speaker 1>Sure we'll come to the Adelaide Oval, but did you

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<v Speaker 1>ever get a tap on the shoulder? Did ever ring

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<v Speaker 1>and say, keV, you've gone a bit too far here? Mate?

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<v Speaker 2>On a microand you met a couple of times, certainly

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<v Speaker 2>Adelaide Oval was one of them.

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<v Speaker 1>We can chat about that a bit later. But now

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<v Speaker 1>there were times.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, Mike and I spent eight years in opposition together.

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<v Speaker 2>We knew each other before I got into Parliament, but

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<v Speaker 2>not well. And then of course he was in. Mike

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<v Speaker 2>and I serve teen years in cabinet, nine as Deputy Premier,

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<v Speaker 2>police Minister, treasurer and a whole host of other portfolios.

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<v Speaker 1>But now there were times, Yeah, it's intriguing to me.

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<v Speaker 1>And maybe it only happens in Australia, perhaps over but

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<v Speaker 1>I'm in Australia. You're a young fellow who leaves school

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<v Speaker 1>at sixteen, and then I don't know, thirty or thirty

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<v Speaker 1>years later, you're assuming the responsibility of a state treasurer

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<v Speaker 1>and it's a deputy premier. Depinitey premier, deputy premier. How

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<v Speaker 1>little happened? I mean you left school at sixteen? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>Why, Well, I thought I was an expert and there

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<v Speaker 2>was nothing more that education could give me that I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't already have. I was a bit of a smart ass.

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<v Speaker 2>Were you that?

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<v Speaker 1>Did you have that most self confidence?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, what it was was I saw my report cards

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<v Speaker 2>would always you know, he could do better if he

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<v Speaker 2>tried harder, you know type of thing. And for those

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<v Speaker 2>listeners who think I'm being arrogant, that was sort of

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<v Speaker 2>a joke about me being thinking I was smarter.

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<v Speaker 1>Than I was.

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<v Speaker 2>But as an advert in the paper for a stock

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<v Speaker 2>records clerk for a company called A and I Hostral Steal,

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<v Speaker 2>a big steel distribution company that would supply the industrial

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<v Speaker 2>sector in South Australia. My dad was in that type

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<v Speaker 2>of business. Dad told me, or gave me one of

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<v Speaker 2>his ties, made me wear a tie, and I got

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<v Speaker 2>the job. And the person who hired me said, you

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<v Speaker 2>got the job because you're the only kid that walked

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<v Speaker 2>in with a pair of shoes on the restroom flip

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<v Speaker 2>flops or sandals. It was nineteen seventy six. You could

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<v Speaker 2>get a job pretty easily in those days. And I was,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I was a shit kicker when I went

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<v Speaker 2>into that office. I was the dog's body, didn't have

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<v Speaker 2>a seat, didn't have a chair. After two weeks of

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<v Speaker 2>having to be it's work at eight o'clock in the morning,

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen minute smoker, mid morning, thirty minutes for a lunch,

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<v Speaker 2>and I had to work till five point thirty. You

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<v Speaker 2>couldn't answer back, You couldn't be a smart alec had

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<v Speaker 2>to do what you ever told. At that point I

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<v Speaker 2>realized that I really wasn't very clever, and I went

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<v Speaker 2>scrambling back to the school to see and whether I

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<v Speaker 2>could be readmitted. I had stepped way out of my

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<v Speaker 2>comfort zone. I was faced with having to repeat the

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<v Speaker 2>year if I did come back or go back, and

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<v Speaker 2>I said, oh well, buck of that.

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<v Speaker 1>I to what school? Was it?

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<v Speaker 2>Royal Park High School. It was a school down It

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<v Speaker 2>was only open for about fifteen years.

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<v Speaker 1>I heard of Royal Park.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I changed its name to West Lakes, as it

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<v Speaker 2>all did. It's down a Nearport road end of It's

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<v Speaker 2>actually what is now called West Lakes was always Royal Park.

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<v Speaker 2>West or Royal Park used to be honest. But that

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<v Speaker 2>education I got working in steel for a still company

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<v Speaker 2>in an old traditional office, you know, the credit department,

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<v Speaker 2>the human services, the accounts, payable, accounts receivable in those days.

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<v Speaker 2>It was an old, traditional, pre computer, big office. And

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<v Speaker 2>I learned discipline. I learned to ask questions, don't you know,

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<v Speaker 2>try and.

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<v Speaker 1>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>Fudget, Don't ask the same question too many times, but

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<v Speaker 2>ask questions if you don't know something.

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<v Speaker 1>And discipline.

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<v Speaker 2>I learned a lot of discipline that was hammered into

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<v Speaker 2>me pretty quickly, and I excelled to be honest. I

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<v Speaker 2>enjoyed being a sales rep. I became a sales supervisor,

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<v Speaker 2>assistant product manager, so to speak. And I had this

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<v Speaker 2>corporate career and that's when I got a bit itchy

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<v Speaker 2>in the feet and politics seem quite interesting and I

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<v Speaker 2>got involved in the local party branch.

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<v Speaker 1>You mentioned your dad what was his background?

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<v Speaker 2>Dad Mum was from Tasmania. They both passed. Dad passed

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<v Speaker 2>a couple.

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<v Speaker 1>Of years ago, three years of four years ago now

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<v Speaker 1>ninety four, ninety four years of age. But Dad worked

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<v Speaker 1>in the steel industry.

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<v Speaker 2>Dad imported steel into Australia well for BP, in competition

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<v Speaker 2>to BHP, because back in the day BHP didn't supply

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<v Speaker 2>companies directly, only the big ones. They would use companies

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<v Speaker 2>like where I work to distribute steel like a wholesaler would.

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<v Speaker 2>And so Dad was importing steel.

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<v Speaker 1>And the hew would have gone about that.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, he started for a company called Golan and Company.

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<v Speaker 2>Back in the seventies, Graham, we had trading houses, Japanese

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<v Speaker 2>trading house style companies Marabini Mitsu. So if you wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to sell your wine or your timber or that overseas,

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<v Speaker 2>you went to these trading houses and that's where Dad worked.

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<v Speaker 2>And also if you wanted to bring in steel into

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<v Speaker 2>Australia you would go through a trading house. So Dad

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<v Speaker 2>bought steel in for Robert hill Ling hills Hoyst. Remember

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<v Speaker 2>mister ling hill Ling putting the close line up at

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<v Speaker 2>our house. We've got a freebe out of it and

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<v Speaker 2>that's where I let my cricket.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know where would the steel come from? Overseas? Korea, Japan,

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<v Speaker 1>China in those days. But that intrigues me, like your

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<v Speaker 1>dad would have been of an era where World War Two?

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<v Speaker 1>Did he live through? Dad? He serve?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he served for about ten days at the MCG

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<v Speaker 2>on a stretch of bed, you know, been on where

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<v Speaker 2>the troops.

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<v Speaker 1>Because that was as a holding center, wasn't it. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>the mcgah they acquired it for.

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<v Speaker 2>He would always tell me he spent more time at

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<v Speaker 2>the on the mcg pitched or field than you know,

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<v Speaker 2>half the AFL footballer. So he enlisted, yep, right at

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<v Speaker 2>the very end, at the end the Japanese War in

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<v Speaker 2>the Air Force. But he got a war service loan

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<v Speaker 2>out of eight weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>The point I'm making there is that there's some of

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<v Speaker 1>those World War two vets they were so anti anything

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<v Speaker 1>to do with the Japanese and that took them a

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<v Speaker 1>long time. And look, let's for instance, a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>them wouldn't buy a toy Toyota things like that. With

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<v Speaker 1>your dad's doing business.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, they Dad supplied fifty percent of Chrysler who

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<v Speaker 2>Mitsubishi later took over. But when it was Chrysler, Dad

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<v Speaker 2>was bringing steel in for that from Japan. He was

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<v Speaker 2>bringing pipe in from Japan and for a whole lot

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<v Speaker 2>of companies traveled there frequently. But Dad, the company he's

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<v Speaker 2>working for was embezzled at the top level and was

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<v Speaker 2>put into administration. My father bought the steel importing side

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<v Speaker 2>of that business from the receivers and tragically some years later,

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<v Speaker 2>and this is why I got into the Labor Party.

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<v Speaker 2>Malcolm Fraser was Prime Minister, and he's doing what Trump

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<v Speaker 2>is doing now. He massively increased tariffs and put my

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<v Speaker 2>dad family out of business and lost our family home.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's when I decided family. Yeah, I hated the libs.

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<v Speaker 1>Sounded sounded like you were quite wealthy for a while,

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<v Speaker 1>middle class, middle class asbestos home, big block, up seating,

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<v Speaker 1>dirt rode out the front, every fruit tree known to

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<v Speaker 1>mankind out the back. You know.

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<v Speaker 2>He used to shoot my slug gunner.

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<v Speaker 1>Hit the what a life.

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<v Speaker 2>I used to shoot the next door neighbors flying pigeon

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<v Speaker 2>their pigeons. He used to raise pigeons, And I shot

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<v Speaker 2>this slug aut this pigeon and it fell off the

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<v Speaker 2>roof of the neighbor's house on broken's neck, and.

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<v Speaker 1>The neighbor came around and my dad.

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<v Speaker 2>Came out, whacked me over the backside more times than

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<v Speaker 2>I could count, took my chop at my slug down

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<v Speaker 2>to the shed in the vice, broke it in half.

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<v Speaker 1>And that was it. That was it. Did you have

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<v Speaker 1>a sporting background when you're a kid? Well I did.

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<v Speaker 1>I played cricket.

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<v Speaker 2>I played school cricket, primary school, high school. Then I

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<v Speaker 2>played eighteen years out at what was then the West

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<v Speaker 2>Lakes Cricket Club previously Semaphore Park. I was a secretary,

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<v Speaker 2>treasurer and president for those eighteen years. I ran all

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<v Speaker 2>the running of the stage.

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<v Speaker 1>Like you're the type of person I realized early in

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<v Speaker 1>life he had to be in charge.

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<v Speaker 2>Well I did, because I was able to make sure.

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<v Speaker 2>I became captain of the B grade and we went

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<v Speaker 2>one season undefeated, top and my contribution was about zip.

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<v Speaker 2>But that was the price I wanted to extract for

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<v Speaker 2>doing all the you know, the fundraising and all the

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<v Speaker 2>gritty stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Kevin Foley's my guest is I loved delving into these

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<v Speaker 1>early years. I wonder which footy Teamy back for. I'll

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<v Speaker 1>come back and talk about that. But surely, folks, my

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<v Speaker 1>guest on conversations today is Kevin Foley, our former deputy

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<v Speaker 1>premier and had so many different portfolios, but if you

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<v Speaker 1>just tuned in, he's a young fellow. Growing up at

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<v Speaker 1>Royal Park.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we lived in Seaton, Brent Avenue, Seaton. It was

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<v Speaker 2>I remember dirt right out the front. I remember, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the the lawyer's truck would come around. Our former Port

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<v Speaker 2>Adelaide footballer. Some of the listeners will remember Zuker, Lloyd

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<v Speaker 2>Lloyd Zuker was driving the trucks. I remember that. And

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<v Speaker 2>but dirt roads, you know, kicked the footy out on

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<v Speaker 2>the road and the dirt and when it got picture

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<v Speaker 2>of minds, that was our where we kicked the foot

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<v Speaker 2>We had a big front yard, a big backyard in

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<v Speaker 2>those days, but very you know, like it was a

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<v Speaker 2>it was a five class home.

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<v Speaker 1>It was nothing and it was home.

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<v Speaker 2>But we always played cricket out the front yard. I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know why we did that, but I'd broken a

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<v Speaker 2>few windows in that I played football for school.

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<v Speaker 1>Or who at Royal Park High went on to play

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<v Speaker 1>for Port Adelaie. There would have been.

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<v Speaker 2>Someone someone, but you'd know one of the names, Ralph Hillman.

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<v Speaker 2>Does that name ring a bell?

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<v Speaker 1>Doesn't ring a bell?

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<v Speaker 2>He coached Henley, He coached a lot of the state

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<v Speaker 2>sides over the years. He was my history teacher, and

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<v Speaker 2>I was in the high school footy team. And I

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<v Speaker 2>remember we had to do a history exam one year

0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.400
<v Speaker 2>and Ralph was the coach and my teacher, and I

0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.840
<v Speaker 2>couldn't be bothered writing the paper. So I got my

0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.319
<v Speaker 2>friend and she gave me her paper and I copied

0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.360
<v Speaker 2>it word for word. She got a CEE and I

0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:49.560
<v Speaker 2>got an A. It was word for word the same.

0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.679
<v Speaker 2>That's you're a nasty footballer. You're admitting to plagiarism. Oh totally.

0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:57.680
<v Speaker 2>But I went on to play footy. I was pretty ordinary.

0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.040
<v Speaker 2>I played one a gray game aim for the West

0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:03.679
<v Speaker 2>Lakes Football Club on the bench, just because they were

0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:07.600
<v Speaker 2>one short. I played about thirty or forty games in

0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:09.720
<v Speaker 2>the B grade and maybe sixty or seventy in the

0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:15.160
<v Speaker 2>C grade. I was a terrific kick. I was a

0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.200
<v Speaker 2>good marker, good you know, I had good hands. I

0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:24.839
<v Speaker 2>was terrific, excelled at non competitive circle work because well,

0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:25.440
<v Speaker 2>I just.

0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.760
<v Speaker 1>Lacked one important ingredient. What was the courage?

0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:31.560
<v Speaker 2>I had no courage. So whenever the ball would come

0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.800
<v Speaker 2>and I was in a contestant, you know, a contested moment,

0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.200
<v Speaker 2>I shipped myself and.

0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:38.760
<v Speaker 1>I was allows in football. He said, your mum was

0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.559
<v Speaker 1>from Tasmania and tell us about your mom. How did

0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:42.000
<v Speaker 1>they meet?

0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.640
<v Speaker 2>Oh? Well look, mum had moved to Melbourne working for

0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:50.839
<v Speaker 2>TATSLS in Melbourne CBD and Dad met her there and

0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:53.080
<v Speaker 2>then day got a job here in Adelaide and they

0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:56.000
<v Speaker 2>came across to Adelaide. So from Melbourne Oridgely Yeah, yeah,

0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.000
<v Speaker 2>so he lived grew up in Hawthorne. Wow, so Glenn

0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.960
<v Speaker 2>Ferry Oval used to go to as a kid and

0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:06.679
<v Speaker 2>yeah he was a mad Hawthorne supporter and then he

0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:10.760
<v Speaker 2>became a mad Crow supporter, a mad Crow yeah yeah

0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.520
<v Speaker 2>later in life for it. Yeah, but local South Australian.

0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.440
<v Speaker 1>You know I got to bed No.

0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:20.080
<v Speaker 2>Well, of course the Crows got him, but you know,

0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:24.120
<v Speaker 2>you stole a lot of our decent potential support base

0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:28.600
<v Speaker 2>by getting such a head start, tried to break all

0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.120
<v Speaker 2>the rules and yeah, people like my father just drop

0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:37.000
<v Speaker 2>Dad actually barrack for Woodville or West Tyrans and Woodle

0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:40.240
<v Speaker 2>really before they merged. But I remember when my Dad

0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.040
<v Speaker 2>had dementia in the end when he passed at ninety four,

0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:47.160
<v Speaker 2>and I knew that he had zoned out completely because

0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:51.840
<v Speaker 2>he would always watch football, you know, the TV for sport, cricket, football, anything.

0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:54.400
<v Speaker 2>I walked into his room one day and it was

0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.480
<v Speaker 2>a Crows playing Hawthorne or something. He wasn't watching, so

0:13:58.600 --> 0:13:59.280
<v Speaker 2>he'd lost it all.

0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:01.280
<v Speaker 1>So it was sair. Dad was one of these people.

0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:02.200
<v Speaker 1>He loved his cricket.

0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:06.000
<v Speaker 2>He would turn the TV volume off or down to

0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.080
<v Speaker 2>zero and listened to it on the radio, you know,

0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.880
<v Speaker 2>one of those old timers, and he just I just

0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:14.520
<v Speaker 2>loved his sport. He was a passionate lawn bowler. He

0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.920
<v Speaker 2>established the West Lakes Bowling Club. But no in sport.

0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:24.680
<v Speaker 2>I've let my sons. I think it leaked a generation fairly.

0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.400
<v Speaker 2>You must have, you must have grown up, you must

0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.160
<v Speaker 2>have bear it for Oh yeah, yeah, yeah you have.

0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:31.120
<v Speaker 1>Did you have heroes?

0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.240
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, Eric Freeman, I had seventeen on my Duffel coat.

0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:41.200
<v Speaker 2>And when Fritzy got booted for Max James, I remember

0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:43.640
<v Speaker 2>because Max James was living down.

0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:44.280
<v Speaker 1>The street at that time.

0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.520
<v Speaker 2>It took me a while, but I ended up following Max,

0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:50.280
<v Speaker 2>who ran against me in Parliament once as an independent.

0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.560
<v Speaker 1>Years later, decades later, I didn't realize he's a great guy.

0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:58.520
<v Speaker 1>Max James and I really underrated. I don't think he

0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:00.080
<v Speaker 1>gets the accolade, no sort of.

0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.160
<v Speaker 2>It was a strong, solid South Melbourne.

0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:06.840
<v Speaker 1>I think from memory he is a local guy. But

0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:07.800
<v Speaker 1>he went to South Melbourne.

0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:08.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think it's Southeast.

0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:11.080
<v Speaker 1>I think it was Mount Camby. We was down that

0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.040
<v Speaker 1>way somewhere. I'm not only it's it doesn't get the

0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:15.960
<v Speaker 1>accolades that he should South Australia.

0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:18.200
<v Speaker 2>But I remember going as a football I remember Port

0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.040
<v Speaker 2>Adelaide playing North Adelaide. I don't know if it was

0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:22.920
<v Speaker 2>a Grand final or may it might have been a

0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:23.880
<v Speaker 2>Grand final, would have.

0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:24.560
<v Speaker 1>Been a Grand final.

0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:28.560
<v Speaker 2>In the back of Max he had a Manaro and

0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.360
<v Speaker 2>Brian Cunningham was in the front seat and I was

0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.600
<v Speaker 2>sitting next to Brian's then fiance and that or girlfriend.

0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:36.160
<v Speaker 1>I think it wasn't that.

0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.080
<v Speaker 2>And I got into the chained rooms and I liked

0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:41.760
<v Speaker 2>the circle. Oh yeah.

0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.520
<v Speaker 1>I always been a passionate for Port supporter always. So

0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.240
<v Speaker 1>your family loses their house.

0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.360
<v Speaker 2>How old were you then? By then I would have

0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:57.120
<v Speaker 2>been a late teens, early twenties, so what happened. It's

0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.600
<v Speaker 2>a bit of family history. It was by my dad's

0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:05.240
<v Speaker 2>business was sort of destroyed by Malcolm Fraser. The lifting

0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:07.480
<v Speaker 2>massive you know, like one hundred percent tariffs. It was

0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.440
<v Speaker 2>just terrible. And my I had a brother who's now

0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.360
<v Speaker 2>passed as well, half brother. Mum and dad foolishly also

0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:19.000
<v Speaker 2>went guarantee her on a hotel for him at Freeling, Okay.

0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:24.360
<v Speaker 2>And he was a drinker and a gambler, and what

0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:26.280
<v Speaker 2>was left went down.

0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:28.160
<v Speaker 1>Parents guarante her for.

0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.560
<v Speaker 2>The Yeah, it it was foolish.

0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.280
<v Speaker 1>I was just I don't know.

0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.040
<v Speaker 2>I wasn't aware of what was going on with my

0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.280
<v Speaker 2>brother and my parents, but yeah, it was.

0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:42.120
<v Speaker 1>It was a tough period. And did he recover? Did

0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:44.280
<v Speaker 1>they recover? Oh yeah, yeah he had.

0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.920
<v Speaker 2>In the end, he got enough to buy a retirement

0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.640
<v Speaker 2>village home and in one of the villages down at

0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.720
<v Speaker 2>north Haven actually and lived there and would come out

0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:57.680
<v Speaker 2>all the time and watch my oldest son Ryan, who

0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.400
<v Speaker 2>plays who's played around four different clubs. He's probably playing

0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.560
<v Speaker 2>close to three hundred games off and on through his career.

0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.399
<v Speaker 2>And my younger son Ben, and Ryan was a very

0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:10.080
<v Speaker 2>good tennis player, but Ben was exceptional tennis player. He'd

0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.960
<v Speaker 2>always come out and watch and he'd have his ear

0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:17.320
<v Speaker 2>piece in listening to the AFL whilst he watched my son. Yeah,

0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:21.320
<v Speaker 2>it was he was a good man. So how who

0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:25.879
<v Speaker 2>cruited you into the Labor Party? Well, I I just

0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:29.240
<v Speaker 2>I was aware of politics, probably because I was working

0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:31.760
<v Speaker 2>when a lot of my mates were doing apprenticeships or

0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, even I don't know if anyone went to university,

0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.600
<v Speaker 2>but you know, we'd be playing pinball down at the

0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.400
<v Speaker 2>local Delhi and I'd be reading the advertiser a bit

0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.560
<v Speaker 2>of a nerd, or the news. But I was into politics.

0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:44.240
<v Speaker 1>I liked it.

0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.720
<v Speaker 2>When my father was, you know, a phraser, did what

0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.520
<v Speaker 2>he did, I just took it. I was sort of

0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.760
<v Speaker 2>middle of the road and I said, Noah Hawk and

0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.960
<v Speaker 2>Keating got elected. For a young person, it was like,

0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:01.320
<v Speaker 2>just grab me. I wanted into me down in Port Adelote,

0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.879
<v Speaker 2>and I got an introduction through a friend's father and

0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:08.639
<v Speaker 2>Mick got me selling meat trays down at the Kolak

0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:13.880
<v Speaker 2>the following fortnight, the Thursday and Friday night and Mick

0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.400
<v Speaker 2>had to tell me, mate, take your bloody tie off

0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:19.760
<v Speaker 2>and your suit jacket. You're in the cola and the

0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.320
<v Speaker 2>Labor Party owned it in those days down in Port Adelaide,

0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.080
<v Speaker 2>and I raised thousands and twenty thirty forty grand over

0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:30.959
<v Speaker 2>three or four years for the local branch. So are

0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:35.480
<v Speaker 2>you volunteering or totally volunteering? I did all the You know,

0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.200
<v Speaker 2>there was no easy road and there is no easy

0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:39.399
<v Speaker 2>road into politics. You know, you don't just get picked

0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:43.240
<v Speaker 2>off the street and put in on occasionally Malcolm Turnbull does,

0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.680
<v Speaker 2>I guess, and there are people that that does happen to.

0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.840
<v Speaker 2>But I had to, Yeah, I had to strategically place

0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.520
<v Speaker 2>myself in a queue which I knew I could get

0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.240
<v Speaker 2>to the head of. In my local area can.

0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:00.439
<v Speaker 1>Become very ruthless. So did you have the Macavelian instinct

0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:02.800
<v Speaker 1>where it was you know there were no rules and

0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:04.800
<v Speaker 1>if you've got them away or stamp on your ground.

0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:07.800
<v Speaker 2>Richardson once said, you know whatever it takes it, I mean,

0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:11.800
<v Speaker 2>you know yourself grown. I mean politics is a brutal, brutal,

0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:15.600
<v Speaker 2>brutal game, and you've got a yes, you've got to

0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:18.520
<v Speaker 2>have a fixed skin, but you've also got to know

0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:20.640
<v Speaker 2>that you can't get your own way all the time.

0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.640
<v Speaker 2>That you've got to be able to, you know, cop

0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:27.200
<v Speaker 2>it and accept that you're not going to get your

0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:29.840
<v Speaker 2>way all the time, and some people can't do that.

0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:31.720
<v Speaker 2>It's the art of the compromise.

0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:37.040
<v Speaker 1>Your first attempt at standing you were defeated. Yeah, what

0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:37.800
<v Speaker 1>was that experience?

0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:39.320
<v Speaker 2>Like, Well, I thought I was going to win. I

0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.240
<v Speaker 2>do not just about every seat, but as a next

0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.600
<v Speaker 2>deputy premier in w A once told me there's a

0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:47.960
<v Speaker 2>lot of bloody liars out there in the electorates because

0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:49.879
<v Speaker 2>everyone said they liked me and I just took it.

0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:51.439
<v Speaker 1>They're going to vote for me. But you were standing

0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:53.400
<v Speaker 1>against an independent.

0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:56.439
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, normally Peter he was off the wharf and he

0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:00.920
<v Speaker 2>was the local independent and in the end norm supported

0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.359
<v Speaker 2>me when I ran when he retired in ninety three

0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:05.480
<v Speaker 2>and I went into parliament then and.

0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:06.399
<v Speaker 1>Then you were successful.

0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:09.520
<v Speaker 2>Well, we had two terms in opposition. I thought I'd

0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:10.800
<v Speaker 2>spent all my life in opposition.

0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:12.560
<v Speaker 1>Successful and being in.

0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:14.680
<v Speaker 2>Your second term, yeah, it was a very safe labor seat.

0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:17.320
<v Speaker 2>I think I took it from twenty six percent margin

0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:21.879
<v Speaker 2>down to about ten what time I exited. It was

0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:24.600
<v Speaker 2>very hard to do these jobs if you're not in.

0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:25.080
<v Speaker 1>A safe seat.

0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:26.680
<v Speaker 2>I have to be honest with you to be an

0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:27.640
<v Speaker 2>effective minister.

0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:30.800
<v Speaker 1>It's very ard. Kevin Foley is my guest, folks. His

0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:34.320
<v Speaker 1>political career is just starting so much more to come

0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:36.840
<v Speaker 1>back shortly. Welcome back, everybody who had just tuned in.

0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:40.960
<v Speaker 1>We're chatting with Kevin Foley, who had such a long, illustrious,

0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:45.360
<v Speaker 1>distinguished political career here in Adelaide. It's been quietly retired

0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:47.640
<v Speaker 1>these days. I haven't heard from him much. You've been

0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:49.720
<v Speaker 1>You have been pretty quiet, haven't you. Well.

0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:52.160
<v Speaker 2>I guess it's probably like you Graham, although you're never

0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:56.320
<v Speaker 2>quite I mean that in a nice way. I didn't

0:20:56.320 --> 0:21:02.080
<v Speaker 2>sound like it'd probably bit like when you gave up football.

0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:04.919
<v Speaker 2>You're able to go on to your coaching career, but

0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:07.920
<v Speaker 2>that at some point it's all over, it ends, and

0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:11.000
<v Speaker 2>it's it's a very hard adjustment. So in the early

0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:13.840
<v Speaker 2>days when I retired, I'd be on the phone ringing

0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:17.160
<v Speaker 2>up five double A or you know, with my opinion,

0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:21.440
<v Speaker 2>until I realized that my opinion doesn't matter, and why

0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:26.160
<v Speaker 2>am I bothering to subject the listeners to my opinion?

0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:28.000
<v Speaker 2>Now it was just a bit with the head.

0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:30.920
<v Speaker 1>I understand that there's this time drive off and driving

0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:32.960
<v Speaker 1>in the car when when the boys are talking and

0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:35.120
<v Speaker 1>I want to ring up there. But yeah, he got

0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:35.639
<v Speaker 1>to put yourself.

0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:39.800
<v Speaker 2>Did you ever ring your you know coaches that went

0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:41.600
<v Speaker 2>after you at the Crows, did you ever get the

0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:43.160
<v Speaker 2>urge to ring them and tell them.

0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:46.560
<v Speaker 1>How they should do their job? Grature this advice when

0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:49.439
<v Speaker 1>Nixy was going through the really tough time. So I

0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.239
<v Speaker 1>used to text some just words of encouragement. You've got

0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:58.040
<v Speaker 1>to persevere so that not everybody thinks it's it's a failure.

0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:01.879
<v Speaker 2>So I think I I've had a bit of trouble

0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:04.520
<v Speaker 2>with that. I sort of used to don't do it

0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:06.480
<v Speaker 2>very often now, but send to the odd message or

0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:11.159
<v Speaker 2>two to Malley, until I realized that he doesn't in politics.

0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:13.280
<v Speaker 1>He don't give a damn about the last lot. And

0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:17.240
<v Speaker 1>your job's done, gone behind buried, So we'll do it

0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:19.800
<v Speaker 1>our way. So you enter as a local member, did

0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:23.480
<v Speaker 1>you you? So you're in opposition for eight years, and

0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:26.040
<v Speaker 1>you know that was the Brown Olson years. So they

0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:30.920
<v Speaker 1>were just riven with, you know, tearing each other. Now

0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:34.120
<v Speaker 1>the Liberals eat there young. You know Dean Brown who

0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:36.399
<v Speaker 1>won the ninety three election with the biggest majority in

0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:39.160
<v Speaker 1>the state's history, bigger majority of Mike Graham would say

0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:42.040
<v Speaker 1>than league one you in Singapore, but he didn't see

0:22:42.040 --> 0:22:45.040
<v Speaker 1>out the full term. John Olsen rolled him after three

0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:45.760
<v Speaker 1>years and.

0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:48.480
<v Speaker 2>So for an opposition that was a bit of fun.

0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:51.520
<v Speaker 2>And you know, we nearly won the ninety seven election,

0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:54.160
<v Speaker 2>the one straight after the State Bank election, and then

0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:56.520
<v Speaker 2>scraped in in two thousand and two.

0:22:57.000 --> 0:22:58.879
<v Speaker 1>So what's it like you company, all of a sudden

0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:01.960
<v Speaker 1>you've gone from opposition to being in power. Do you

0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:04.800
<v Speaker 1>immediately have a portfolio? Yeah? Yeah.

0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:07.320
<v Speaker 2>What happens is you go to bed and all of

0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:09.760
<v Speaker 2>the things that you had done for the previous eight

0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:14.119
<v Speaker 2>years where you've just been you know, throwing everything plus

0:23:14.200 --> 0:23:17.320
<v Speaker 2>the kitchen sink at the opposition, and you're you know,

0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:22.560
<v Speaker 2>you've been really sometimes just really nasty and upsetting people

0:23:22.600 --> 0:23:26.440
<v Speaker 2>and maybe abusing and you know, all the horrid things

0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:28.800
<v Speaker 2>you had to do to help your way into You

0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:32.119
<v Speaker 2>have to do that, Yeah, because doesn't the public see

0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:33.639
<v Speaker 2>through that, don't you?

0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:33.920
<v Speaker 1>No?

0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.320
<v Speaker 2>Well, I don't think Peter Melanaskis has been Peter is

0:23:37.359 --> 0:23:41.000
<v Speaker 2>an exception because I was surprised when he won that

0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:43.400
<v Speaker 2>he ran largely a positive campaign.

0:23:43.520 --> 0:23:44.359
<v Speaker 1>That is not the norm.

0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:48.199
<v Speaker 2>The norm is is that governments don't lose, Sorry, oppositions

0:23:48.240 --> 0:23:52.240
<v Speaker 2>don't win government. Governments lose, so to get a government

0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:57.800
<v Speaker 2>to lose, you go very negative. And it worked for us.

0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:00.760
<v Speaker 2>But when you like the morning after you you've won

0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:03.000
<v Speaker 2>the elections, as if you walk through some sort of

0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:08.800
<v Speaker 2>car wash, and all of the nasty barnacles and horrible

0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:11.919
<v Speaker 2>nature that you have is just you're a saint. You know,

0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:13.920
<v Speaker 2>people who wouldn't talk to you across the street if

0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:16.439
<v Speaker 2>they saw you walking towards them, all of a suddenly

0:24:16.480 --> 0:24:17.199
<v Speaker 2>you're best friends.

0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:17.960
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:24:18.000 --> 0:24:20.040
<v Speaker 2>The very first call I got when I became treasurer

0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:24.280
<v Speaker 2>an urgent meeting request from Lee Wicker and Max Bashier.

0:24:24.920 --> 0:24:28.040
<v Speaker 2>Lee had my private number to lobby me because he

0:24:28.200 --> 0:24:30.040
<v Speaker 2>was about to do a deal with the South Adelaide

0:24:30.080 --> 0:24:32.440
<v Speaker 2>footy club to give him some obscene amount of money to.

0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:37.480
<v Speaker 1>Upgrade Solade no longer.

0:24:37.600 --> 0:24:40.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, did you give it to him? Not as much

0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:42.480
<v Speaker 2>as they wanted and a bit later than they wanted.

0:24:43.320 --> 0:24:44.720
<v Speaker 2>Had it been Port Adelaide that would have got it

0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:45.200
<v Speaker 2>the next day.

0:24:46.280 --> 0:24:49.520
<v Speaker 1>No, No, it was. We're very ethical. I mean, I

0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:55.480
<v Speaker 1>you did suffer by from criticism some boy. Sometimes your

0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:58.800
<v Speaker 1>behavior would anger people. But if you look back on

0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:01.760
<v Speaker 1>your record, I think there's a lot to be proud of.

0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:06.040
<v Speaker 1>So when you look back, one of the things that

0:25:06.160 --> 0:25:07.200
<v Speaker 1>satisfy you, well, the.

0:25:07.119 --> 0:25:10.200
<v Speaker 2>One that satisfied many of the most was what probably

0:25:11.080 --> 0:25:14.840
<v Speaker 2>you know, angered the majority of my colleagues. But labor

0:25:15.160 --> 0:25:18.240
<v Speaker 2>was in such a hole after the State Bank. We

0:25:18.280 --> 0:25:22.040
<v Speaker 2>had no financial credibility and we had to at least

0:25:22.040 --> 0:25:25.000
<v Speaker 2>get neutral in the public's mind on economics. So I

0:25:25.119 --> 0:25:28.440
<v Speaker 2>ran a very hard budget for nearly ten years. We've

0:25:28.480 --> 0:25:31.640
<v Speaker 2>got state debt down to three billion today it's probably

0:25:31.640 --> 0:25:33.080
<v Speaker 2>in excess of forty.

0:25:32.840 --> 0:25:36.760
<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure this question, and nobody's ever answered it satisfactorily.

0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:40.439
<v Speaker 1>When we have state debt of three billion dollars to

0:25:40.480 --> 0:25:41.720
<v Speaker 1>who do we owe that money?

0:25:42.000 --> 0:25:45.240
<v Speaker 2>We will have borrowed that money from well, we offer

0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:49.320
<v Speaker 2>we issue what we call bonds, where retail investors will

0:25:49.359 --> 0:25:53.040
<v Speaker 2>buy a bond. You know, you'll give me ten thousand

0:25:53.080 --> 0:25:55.800
<v Speaker 2>dollars for ten thousand dollars worth of bonds, which I

0:25:55.840 --> 0:25:58.520
<v Speaker 2>then pay you a return on that and in just

0:25:58.800 --> 0:26:01.760
<v Speaker 2>return on that, and we go to the foreign markets.

0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:05.879
<v Speaker 2>We go we'll borrow maybe from West pack or or

0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:08.400
<v Speaker 2>through some of these larger banks, to the global market.

0:26:08.480 --> 0:26:10.880
<v Speaker 2>What was the biggest amount of money you ever negotiated

0:26:10.920 --> 0:26:15.680
<v Speaker 2>to borrow our financing authority. Well, it would have been

0:26:17.600 --> 0:26:20.000
<v Speaker 2>somewhere between one and three billion at any given sea

0:26:20.240 --> 0:26:22.120
<v Speaker 2>negoti A lot of this stuff. It rolls over.

0:26:22.200 --> 0:26:24.199
<v Speaker 1>Some might be for five years, some might be for

0:26:24.240 --> 0:26:28.560
<v Speaker 1>twelve months, some might be ten, ten years. At one point.

0:26:28.320 --> 0:26:30.159
<v Speaker 2>There we paid all of our state budget dead off.

0:26:30.200 --> 0:26:32.080
<v Speaker 2>We had zero We actually had one hundred and seventy

0:26:32.400 --> 0:26:35.560
<v Speaker 2>a million in the bank. But those were days when.

0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:38.280
<v Speaker 1>You see some answer, whod I borrow it from? Well,

0:26:38.640 --> 0:26:42.040
<v Speaker 1>you said Westpac, or well, no, we would use a

0:26:42.040 --> 0:26:46.480
<v Speaker 1>lot of the major banks and advisory arms of these banks.

0:26:47.720 --> 0:26:49.760
<v Speaker 2>Borrow. So if I go to the global markets and

0:26:49.800 --> 0:26:52.520
<v Speaker 2>I've got a triple A credit rating, that's what's called

0:26:52.880 --> 0:26:56.399
<v Speaker 2>just about zero sovereign risk. That is that you know

0:26:56.720 --> 0:26:59.160
<v Speaker 2>people will lend you that money at a very cheap

0:26:59.240 --> 0:27:02.840
<v Speaker 2>rate relative to the other retail rates or wholesale rates.

0:27:02.840 --> 0:27:04.400
<v Speaker 1>I should say, but you'd.

0:27:04.200 --> 0:27:06.200
<v Speaker 2>Go to Forum, we'd go to Japan and the mirror

0:27:06.400 --> 0:27:09.840
<v Speaker 2>banks of Japan. So we've got to borrow from a bank.

0:27:09.960 --> 0:27:12.399
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, we borrowed a billion dollars. Let's say, let's I

0:27:12.400 --> 0:27:15.320
<v Speaker 1>borrowed a billion dollars from this mirror bank yep, okay,

0:27:15.680 --> 0:27:18.760
<v Speaker 1>how do I pay it back? What are my repayments

0:27:18.800 --> 0:27:21.040
<v Speaker 1>and what are the interest rates? Well, it depends on

0:27:21.080 --> 0:27:23.120
<v Speaker 1>the terms of the borrowing. It'll be for a term.

0:27:23.240 --> 0:27:24.080
<v Speaker 1>We'll give me an example.

0:27:24.160 --> 0:27:26.920
<v Speaker 2>Well, you would service the debt and then the principal.

0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:31.080
<v Speaker 2>You would either pay the principle down or at the

0:27:31.200 --> 0:27:33.520
<v Speaker 2>end of the term, so it's a ten year term,

0:27:34.520 --> 0:27:38.000
<v Speaker 2>you would refinance it for another ten years from the

0:27:38.000 --> 0:27:42.760
<v Speaker 2>same bank or another bank. You shop around and but

0:27:43.359 --> 0:27:45.320
<v Speaker 2>that was a different time and we had to get

0:27:45.320 --> 0:27:49.320
<v Speaker 2>our credentials and come the two thousand and six election,

0:27:49.440 --> 0:27:51.600
<v Speaker 2>we outpolled the Liberals on economics and.

0:27:51.520 --> 0:27:55.360
<v Speaker 1>Finance and we run. You know, we had a huge landslide.

0:27:55.680 --> 0:27:57.160
<v Speaker 1>So that was my best achievement.

0:27:57.160 --> 0:28:00.359
<v Speaker 2>People sort of talk Adelaide oval, but tech port you know,

0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:05.600
<v Speaker 2>the I micran and I kicked that off for seven

0:28:05.640 --> 0:28:08.439
<v Speaker 2>or eight nine years. It wouldn't be there today. We

0:28:08.440 --> 0:28:09.000
<v Speaker 2>wouldn't have.

0:28:08.960 --> 0:28:11.680
<v Speaker 1>The same to explain that. That's the well we.

0:28:11.680 --> 0:28:14.680
<v Speaker 2>First got to office, it was to build what's called

0:28:14.720 --> 0:28:20.879
<v Speaker 2>the Hobart Class three a warfare destroyer ships naval ships.

0:28:21.600 --> 0:28:23.919
<v Speaker 2>The Commonwealth government had built them somewhere in Australia. Who

0:28:23.960 --> 0:28:26.520
<v Speaker 2>chose to build them somewhere in Australia and the Australian

0:28:26.520 --> 0:28:30.639
<v Speaker 2>Submarine Corporation put a bid in and we wrote a

0:28:30.640 --> 0:28:33.399
<v Speaker 2>big check, initially about one hundred million. In the end

0:28:33.440 --> 0:28:36.040
<v Speaker 2>I think it was closer to five hundred million, out

0:28:36.040 --> 0:28:40.720
<v Speaker 2>of which Marshall Government in fact, from memory or whether

0:28:40.840 --> 0:28:44.680
<v Speaker 2>or currently call the Commonwealth bought those facilities. So we

0:28:44.720 --> 0:28:47.640
<v Speaker 2>recovered a lot of that money because the Commonwealth wanted

0:28:47.640 --> 0:28:50.440
<v Speaker 2>to wear in the assets. But we wouldn't have UCST today,

0:28:50.520 --> 0:28:54.160
<v Speaker 2>or the submarine projects or the now seven or six

0:28:54.280 --> 0:28:57.720
<v Speaker 2>or seven Hunter class naval vessels being built if we

0:28:57.760 --> 0:29:01.400
<v Speaker 2>hadn't Microran and I hadn't have built and operated and

0:29:02.160 --> 0:29:07.200
<v Speaker 2>upgraded that facility down at Osbourne. You know, Adelaide Hospital

0:29:07.720 --> 0:29:11.560
<v Speaker 2>topped a lot of criticism for that, but it was

0:29:11.600 --> 0:29:13.320
<v Speaker 2>the right decision at the right I think.

0:29:13.360 --> 0:29:17.560
<v Speaker 1>So we disappointed Marjorie our government wouldn't agree to having

0:29:17.560 --> 0:29:18.080
<v Speaker 1>her name on it.

0:29:18.160 --> 0:29:21.240
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was probably not the best decision making process

0:29:21.320 --> 0:29:21.880
<v Speaker 2>for all of us.

0:29:22.480 --> 0:29:27.160
<v Speaker 1>That was unfortunate. The problem was.

0:29:26.720 --> 0:29:29.720
<v Speaker 2>The Governor Marjorie just didn't like it because she was

0:29:29.760 --> 0:29:31.160
<v Speaker 2>getting criticism.

0:29:32.280 --> 0:29:35.480
<v Speaker 1>Radio. Did you ask your first? Did she asked? Was

0:29:35.760 --> 0:29:37.840
<v Speaker 1>she asked? I am not sure she was to be

0:29:37.880 --> 0:29:42.360
<v Speaker 1>perfectly frank, Well, look, I know you're dying to tell

0:29:42.400 --> 0:29:45.160
<v Speaker 1>me about the Adelaide Oval thing where you shafted the

0:29:45.200 --> 0:29:47.720
<v Speaker 1>sample and the crow shaft of the sandful and the crows.

0:29:48.720 --> 0:29:51.840
<v Speaker 1>You did absolutely back door. I got a statue of

0:29:51.880 --> 0:29:57.840
<v Speaker 1>view there at all. I've got a Deck Graham statue,

0:29:58.640 --> 0:30:01.480
<v Speaker 1>although I think the river front or riverside wherever that

0:30:01.760 --> 0:30:02.880
<v Speaker 1>name is couldn't.

0:30:05.400 --> 0:30:07.840
<v Speaker 2>Look. It was the right thing. We know, we have

0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:10.800
<v Speaker 2>never been a city big enough to hold to have

0:30:10.880 --> 0:30:15.120
<v Speaker 2>two world class stadiums. We're just not rich enough and

0:30:15.200 --> 0:30:19.440
<v Speaker 2>we're not population wise big enough. We had to consolidate.

0:30:21.120 --> 0:30:26.640
<v Speaker 2>The location of the Adelaide Oval was brilliant. Nobody supported me,

0:30:27.720 --> 0:30:30.959
<v Speaker 2>nobody really in my cabinet or caucus other than Pat Conlin.

0:30:31.040 --> 0:30:32.959
<v Speaker 2>And in the of course Mike ran in the end,

0:30:33.360 --> 0:30:34.200
<v Speaker 2>although he was, you.

0:30:34.160 --> 0:30:35.080
<v Speaker 1>Know, quite rightly.

0:30:35.320 --> 0:30:37.440
<v Speaker 2>He wanted to see all the ducks in the line

0:30:37.520 --> 0:30:41.160
<v Speaker 2>and tease and ies Donald and crossed. But I had

0:30:41.160 --> 0:30:44.040
<v Speaker 2>a caucus party room that was largely against me. The

0:30:44.120 --> 0:30:45.080
<v Speaker 2>Liberals were against me.

0:30:45.120 --> 0:30:46.120
<v Speaker 1>Why were they against it?

0:30:46.680 --> 0:30:51.320
<v Speaker 2>Because politics is they didn't want me spending money on sport,

0:30:51.600 --> 0:30:53.640
<v Speaker 2>on sport, and if we were going to spend money

0:30:53.680 --> 0:30:56.000
<v Speaker 2>on sport half a billion or more. It should be

0:30:56.040 --> 0:30:59.920
<v Speaker 2>at grassroots. Well you know you can walking tough gum

0:30:59.920 --> 0:31:03.520
<v Speaker 2>and government. But I had a big backlash from the

0:31:03.520 --> 0:31:04.800
<v Speaker 2>Crows in particular.

0:31:04.920 --> 0:31:05.280
<v Speaker 1>Of course.

0:31:05.360 --> 0:31:07.920
<v Speaker 2>I took phone calls left, right and center from you know,

0:31:08.080 --> 0:31:11.200
<v Speaker 2>people that you know very well, either close friends or

0:31:11.240 --> 0:31:13.400
<v Speaker 2>you've had run ins with it. It was you know,

0:31:13.480 --> 0:31:17.120
<v Speaker 2>I was barely finding a friend in Adelaide. Andrew Demetro

0:31:17.200 --> 0:31:19.320
<v Speaker 2>would ring me and just say, keep the faith, keep

0:31:19.360 --> 0:31:21.960
<v Speaker 2>the faith. We'll get there. So okay for you over

0:31:21.960 --> 0:31:24.600
<v Speaker 2>there in Melbourne. But as it turned out to the

0:31:24.600 --> 0:31:26.720
<v Speaker 2>same decision, didn't you.

0:31:28.320 --> 0:31:31.480
<v Speaker 1>Did well sampy the contract and had you spent the

0:31:31.480 --> 0:31:35.040
<v Speaker 1>money in Footy Park to upgrade which was promised and

0:31:35.080 --> 0:31:40.120
<v Speaker 1>then withdrawn I extended the railro line down so the

0:31:40.160 --> 0:31:43.120
<v Speaker 1>transport wasn't issue. We would still have a great.

0:31:43.200 --> 0:31:46.600
<v Speaker 2>And we wouldn't have this drama when you're still wanting

0:31:47.160 --> 0:31:49.200
<v Speaker 2>West Lakes rather than Adelaide.

0:31:49.920 --> 0:31:51.680
<v Speaker 1>At the time, it would have been a better decision.

0:31:51.840 --> 0:31:54.239
<v Speaker 1>It's been great now, Well there you go.

0:31:54.720 --> 0:31:59.000
<v Speaker 2>It was the right decision because you know, remember Port

0:31:59.040 --> 0:32:03.000
<v Speaker 2>Adelaide were broken, and don't blame the Crows, and I

0:32:03.040 --> 0:32:07.360
<v Speaker 2>sat with Mike Fitzpatrick as chairman and Andrew Demetrio in

0:32:07.400 --> 0:32:10.240
<v Speaker 2>the Sofa Tell Hotel in Melbourne and they made it

0:32:10.280 --> 0:32:14.760
<v Speaker 2>clear to me that they couldn't. They would just tear

0:32:14.840 --> 0:32:17.080
<v Speaker 2>up that contract with the Essay NFL and they'd play

0:32:17.520 --> 0:32:22.360
<v Speaker 2>games of Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval without the redevelopment

0:32:22.760 --> 0:32:25.640
<v Speaker 2>because they believed it would get a larger crowd. And

0:32:26.440 --> 0:32:29.120
<v Speaker 2>they had no intention, well they had every intention of

0:32:29.800 --> 0:32:32.360
<v Speaker 2>you know, sticking it right up the jumper of the

0:32:32.480 --> 0:32:35.920
<v Speaker 2>Essa NFL. But in the end it's been a savior

0:32:35.960 --> 0:32:40.280
<v Speaker 2>for Port Adelaide financially, it's been a big boom for

0:32:41.360 --> 0:32:44.440
<v Speaker 2>the Crows, and Sack has done pretty well out of

0:32:44.440 --> 0:32:47.080
<v Speaker 2>it as well, and it's lifted our city.

0:32:48.600 --> 0:32:53.720
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so right, I'm going to break Kevin Foley is

0:32:53.760 --> 0:32:56.719
<v Speaker 1>my guest. Folks, bake surely. Kevin Foley and I are

0:32:56.840 --> 0:33:00.880
<v Speaker 1>just arguing. When the microphones were turned off, you can't

0:33:00.960 --> 0:33:03.840
<v Speaker 1>see how he shafted the crows and the sandfill, but anyway,

0:33:03.840 --> 0:33:04.719
<v Speaker 1>we moved on Adelade.

0:33:04.720 --> 0:33:08.040
<v Speaker 2>I don't forget shafting the crows was just like you know,

0:33:08.440 --> 0:33:10.400
<v Speaker 2>when I was a kid at Christmas, I loved it.

0:33:11.320 --> 0:33:14.600
<v Speaker 1>There's many put Adelaide people in positions of power actually

0:33:15.360 --> 0:33:18.440
<v Speaker 1>and probably still are, so just quickly, I mean Adelaide

0:33:18.440 --> 0:33:24.080
<v Speaker 1>ovals and achievement. The submarine precinct is the Royal Adelaide.

0:33:23.640 --> 0:33:27.120
<v Speaker 2>Hospital Desalination Police. Mike and I had to make that call.

0:33:27.160 --> 0:33:27.560
<v Speaker 1>In the end.

0:33:27.640 --> 0:33:28.760
<v Speaker 2>Carleen maywater as well.

0:33:29.800 --> 0:33:32.200
<v Speaker 1>But I don't worry about surely that must increase the

0:33:32.280 --> 0:33:34.720
<v Speaker 1>concentration of salinity down there if.

0:33:34.680 --> 0:33:36.920
<v Speaker 2>You, oh, yeah, it's out there in the ocean floating

0:33:36.920 --> 0:33:40.640
<v Speaker 2>off somewhere. But we had that drought in o seven.

0:33:41.680 --> 0:33:43.920
<v Speaker 2>None of our reservoirs were connected at that point, so

0:33:43.960 --> 0:33:46.720
<v Speaker 2>you could have a full can Gorilla and an empty Barossa.

0:33:47.320 --> 0:33:50.360
<v Speaker 2>So we got those connected, but there's only one year

0:33:50.400 --> 0:33:54.120
<v Speaker 2>of water stock of water in those dams when they're full.

0:33:54.240 --> 0:33:57.640
<v Speaker 2>The Murray, we were sucking up sand from the Murray.

0:33:57.680 --> 0:34:00.920
<v Speaker 2>There was no water there and we had to make that.

0:34:01.240 --> 0:34:04.080
<v Speaker 2>There was no other decision that nobody around that table

0:34:04.160 --> 0:34:05.920
<v Speaker 2>could have or would have made a different decision than

0:34:05.920 --> 0:34:08.680
<v Speaker 2>what we did. And as it's turned out, okay, fifteen

0:34:08.760 --> 0:34:10.880
<v Speaker 2>years later. We always knew it would start raining the

0:34:10.880 --> 0:34:14.520
<v Speaker 2>minute it finished construction, but I only talked to the

0:34:14.560 --> 0:34:16.200
<v Speaker 2>head of SA Water a few weeks back, and it's

0:34:16.239 --> 0:34:18.080
<v Speaker 2>saying that it's pumping out a lot of water.

0:34:18.160 --> 0:34:21.719
<v Speaker 1>Now, can I maybe you don't know the answer that

0:34:22.040 --> 0:34:25.120
<v Speaker 1>it was a drought where there were all the reservoirs

0:34:25.160 --> 0:34:28.640
<v Speaker 1>were empty. Say how much of the state's water or

0:34:28.680 --> 0:34:31.320
<v Speaker 1>the city's water could that desalination plant supply.

0:34:31.640 --> 0:34:34.640
<v Speaker 2>It's a good question now it we get about I

0:34:34.640 --> 0:34:37.520
<v Speaker 2>think we get about ninety percent of our water, eighty

0:34:37.520 --> 0:34:41.440
<v Speaker 2>percent of our water from the Murray. It was down,

0:34:41.680 --> 0:34:44.719
<v Speaker 2>you know, it was very low in that drought. I

0:34:44.760 --> 0:34:48.120
<v Speaker 2>think she's got capacity probably to do fifty sixty percent

0:34:48.200 --> 0:34:48.520
<v Speaker 2>something like.

0:34:48.560 --> 0:34:51.279
<v Speaker 1>We'd have to have severe water water, wouldn't it. Yeah

0:34:51.440 --> 0:34:53.560
<v Speaker 1>enough to drink and yeah, maybe washing.

0:34:53.680 --> 0:34:56.360
<v Speaker 2>But it can pump out enough water that you wouldn't

0:34:56.760 --> 0:34:59.920
<v Speaker 2>unless it was the end of end of time or something.

0:35:00.800 --> 0:35:02.960
<v Speaker 1>There'd always be water coming in the Murray. At some point,

0:35:03.239 --> 0:35:07.760
<v Speaker 1>you had an illustrious career in different portfolios and clashed

0:35:07.800 --> 0:35:11.759
<v Speaker 1>with members of your own party and members of the

0:35:11.800 --> 0:35:15.959
<v Speaker 1>faith of them. The trade unions didn't like you that much.

0:35:16.400 --> 0:35:18.799
<v Speaker 2>It was funny in my early years, you know, I'd

0:35:18.840 --> 0:35:22.080
<v Speaker 2>go to an office of one hundred people and the

0:35:22.120 --> 0:35:24.120
<v Speaker 2>bosses all thought I was a commo because I was

0:35:24.120 --> 0:35:26.080
<v Speaker 2>in the Labor Party, and then I'd go to a

0:35:26.120 --> 0:35:28.680
<v Speaker 2>Labor party meeting in my suit and tie and they

0:35:28.760 --> 0:35:33.120
<v Speaker 2>all think I'm a fascist, Like it was funny days.

0:35:33.280 --> 0:35:37.399
<v Speaker 1>So the incomes were you shafted? I think you were

0:35:37.480 --> 0:35:40.200
<v Speaker 1>shaft the right fact, the right faction.

0:35:40.040 --> 0:35:43.080
<v Speaker 2>Or yeah, look both Mike and I. But I'll talk

0:35:43.120 --> 0:35:44.840
<v Speaker 2>for myself. Yeah I was tapped on the shoulder.

0:35:45.239 --> 0:35:45.600
<v Speaker 1>I don't know.

0:35:45.680 --> 0:35:48.440
<v Speaker 2>Did you play one season too many? Or did you

0:35:48.480 --> 0:35:50.520
<v Speaker 2>retire when you thought you had more and you just

0:35:50.640 --> 0:35:51.279
<v Speaker 2>faded out?

0:35:51.520 --> 0:35:54.920
<v Speaker 1>Just didn't tell you to just know. Well, I was

0:35:54.920 --> 0:35:55.960
<v Speaker 1>the coach I was playing.

0:35:56.840 --> 0:35:58.359
<v Speaker 2>You go, no wonder you played on?

0:35:59.840 --> 0:36:05.000
<v Speaker 1>Just thought of But how did that conversation?

0:36:05.560 --> 0:36:08.520
<v Speaker 2>Doc Farrell came in to me and that was appropriate

0:36:08.560 --> 0:36:11.840
<v Speaker 2>because it is probably a cricket It might be a

0:36:11.840 --> 0:36:16.080
<v Speaker 2>better analogy, but you know most cricketers at elite levels

0:36:16.440 --> 0:36:19.640
<v Speaker 2>they always think they can go another year or you know, coaja.

0:36:19.200 --> 0:36:21.759
<v Speaker 1>Now and tell me how the conversation went. He's a

0:36:21.840 --> 0:36:22.560
<v Speaker 1>very tactic.

0:36:23.480 --> 0:36:25.839
<v Speaker 2>I should have just been up fromt like that. But

0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:28.479
<v Speaker 2>I don't think it's a secret anywhere. It wasn't just done.

0:36:30.239 --> 0:36:33.920
<v Speaker 2>When we won our third election, I brought down what

0:36:33.960 --> 0:36:37.200
<v Speaker 2>I considered to be my best budget ever. It was

0:36:37.239 --> 0:36:40.239
<v Speaker 2>a shocker, like I was cutting because I wanted to

0:36:40.280 --> 0:36:42.880
<v Speaker 2>bring that what bit of debt we had and the

0:36:43.560 --> 0:36:45.440
<v Speaker 2>yearly I didn't want to run any deficit. So I

0:36:45.520 --> 0:36:49.840
<v Speaker 2>was cutting public servants. I was reducing superannuation benefits to

0:36:49.880 --> 0:36:50.640
<v Speaker 2>public servants.

0:36:50.680 --> 0:36:51.000
<v Speaker 1>I was.

0:36:51.480 --> 0:36:54.640
<v Speaker 2>I was doing some pretty ugly stuff and the union

0:36:54.680 --> 0:36:56.120
<v Speaker 2>because I want to do it in the first budget

0:36:56.160 --> 0:36:57.880
<v Speaker 2>and then you know, sweet and talk our way for

0:36:57.880 --> 0:36:58.960
<v Speaker 2>the next three years.

0:36:59.320 --> 0:37:03.080
<v Speaker 1>But I went far, and it was you know, a

0:37:03.160 --> 0:37:07.080
<v Speaker 1>pretty what was the step too far? Just the quantum

0:37:07.120 --> 0:37:08.839
<v Speaker 1>and the type of budget cuts I was.

0:37:09.520 --> 0:37:12.719
<v Speaker 2>I had put in the budget of public servants and yes,

0:37:12.880 --> 0:37:18.360
<v Speaker 2>and I also we got rid of permanency, so public

0:37:18.400 --> 0:37:21.560
<v Speaker 2>servants there was a mechanism by which, you know, you

0:37:21.560 --> 0:37:25.360
<v Speaker 2>could be sacked as a lengthy process, unlike most private

0:37:25.400 --> 0:37:27.719
<v Speaker 2>sector companies where you get sort of lined up and

0:37:27.719 --> 0:37:31.360
<v Speaker 2>a pullet through the head. The government. I got all

0:37:31.400 --> 0:37:33.560
<v Speaker 2>that in there. So the public sector against me, The

0:37:33.640 --> 0:37:37.640
<v Speaker 2>fieries were against me. I was walked into that convention

0:37:40.200 --> 0:37:42.680
<v Speaker 2>when I was given the word with six armed police

0:37:42.680 --> 0:37:48.359
<v Speaker 2>officers because it was six thousand angry unionists screaming at

0:37:48.400 --> 0:37:50.600
<v Speaker 2>Micrane and I. But at the end of the day,

0:37:50.760 --> 0:37:54.640
<v Speaker 2>I went too long in that job. I think if

0:37:54.719 --> 0:37:57.279
<v Speaker 2>I needed to be taken out where you were angry, Yeah,

0:37:57.280 --> 0:37:59.920
<v Speaker 2>of course I was, And you know I was probably

0:38:00.120 --> 0:38:00.759
<v Speaker 2>used a few people.

0:38:00.800 --> 0:38:03.080
<v Speaker 1>I think the current premier got a fair old ear

0:38:03.120 --> 0:38:09.480
<v Speaker 1>full for me as well. But had you moved to

0:38:09.520 --> 0:38:11.719
<v Speaker 1>the point of view, to the point where you thought

0:38:11.760 --> 0:38:15.800
<v Speaker 1>you were invulnerable, that you were bigger than the party.

0:38:15.800 --> 0:38:16.960
<v Speaker 2>I think it was a little bit of that, to

0:38:16.960 --> 0:38:20.239
<v Speaker 2>be honest, a lot of arrogance. Probably I didn't see

0:38:20.239 --> 0:38:23.360
<v Speaker 2>it coming because we'd only just won an election, third election,

0:38:24.600 --> 0:38:27.799
<v Speaker 2>but that was ten years, and not many politicians ever

0:38:27.840 --> 0:38:28.839
<v Speaker 2>get to serve ten years.

0:38:28.880 --> 0:38:29.600
<v Speaker 1>See Steve Brats.

0:38:29.640 --> 0:38:31.960
<v Speaker 2>I think I only did five years and voluntarily retired.

0:38:32.040 --> 0:38:36.399
<v Speaker 2>Jeff Gallup in WA. I reckon six years and you're

0:38:36.960 --> 0:38:39.520
<v Speaker 2>as treasurer, and see how long Stephen Mulligan stays in

0:38:39.560 --> 0:38:44.080
<v Speaker 2>the job. But they're very draining and you've lost your

0:38:44.160 --> 0:38:47.000
<v Speaker 2>rich There's nothing new I could do. I was bitter.

0:38:47.520 --> 0:38:50.080
<v Speaker 2>I was a bit twisted. I guess I was worn out.

0:38:50.320 --> 0:38:55.439
<v Speaker 2>I was tired. Everyone could see it except myself, and.

0:38:55.480 --> 0:38:58.080
<v Speaker 1>I had taken a toll in your personal life, your

0:38:58.080 --> 0:39:00.800
<v Speaker 1>marriage and relationships. Can you talk to that?

0:39:01.120 --> 0:39:04.080
<v Speaker 2>Oh, well, you know, my wife, Kathy, the mother of

0:39:04.120 --> 0:39:06.960
<v Speaker 2>our children's a beautiful person. She's a fantastic mother of

0:39:07.000 --> 0:39:09.560
<v Speaker 2>our children, our grandchildren. Now we've got four with a

0:39:09.600 --> 0:39:14.760
<v Speaker 2>fifth on the way. But we got married young, similar

0:39:14.760 --> 0:39:18.520
<v Speaker 2>stations in life, and we just grew apart and that

0:39:18.640 --> 0:39:22.279
<v Speaker 2>was a mutual decision. And it must be hard for

0:39:23.120 --> 0:39:26.480
<v Speaker 2>a politicians, whatever policy. So the wife of a policy

0:39:26.600 --> 0:39:28.720
<v Speaker 2>with such a high status. I was never a home

0:39:29.000 --> 0:39:32.240
<v Speaker 2>and you know, Kath had young kids and I wanted

0:39:32.239 --> 0:39:34.000
<v Speaker 2>her to come with me to functions, but we had

0:39:34.000 --> 0:39:37.239
<v Speaker 2>to get babysitters and it was very difficult. It's no

0:39:38.200 --> 0:39:41.000
<v Speaker 2>there's plenty of politicians who do it today and they

0:39:41.040 --> 0:39:44.600
<v Speaker 2>know what it's like. But being a public figure, you know,

0:39:44.640 --> 0:39:48.600
<v Speaker 2>I a fair bit of you know, salacious sort of

0:39:49.520 --> 0:39:52.040
<v Speaker 2>rumors and seeing having a coffee with a friend, you

0:39:52.040 --> 0:39:54.280
<v Speaker 2>know who was that woman and all of that nonsense.

0:39:54.880 --> 0:39:56.680
<v Speaker 2>So that sort of went off and I went a

0:39:56.719 --> 0:39:58.960
<v Speaker 2>little bit off track there, a bit single guy on

0:39:59.000 --> 0:40:01.960
<v Speaker 2>my own. We drank more than I should have after

0:40:02.000 --> 0:40:04.520
<v Speaker 2>work when I got home at midnight or something. That

0:40:04.640 --> 0:40:06.920
<v Speaker 2>was a period, not a long period, but eighteen months,

0:40:06.920 --> 0:40:10.920
<v Speaker 2>two years probably tops. But I am somebody who says

0:40:10.920 --> 0:40:14.160
<v Speaker 2>what is in my head, and I don't have a filter,

0:40:14.280 --> 0:40:19.160
<v Speaker 2>a very good filter. My sons remind me with the grandkids.

0:40:20.000 --> 0:40:22.520
<v Speaker 1>You know, like Dad, you haven't got a filter.

0:40:23.320 --> 0:40:27.400
<v Speaker 2>And I you know, I once accused South Australians at

0:40:27.400 --> 0:40:30.279
<v Speaker 2>a business lunch and for four hundred people that the

0:40:30.320 --> 0:40:32.640
<v Speaker 2>problem with South Australians were all a bunch of winges,

0:40:32.800 --> 0:40:36.200
<v Speaker 2>like you know we are we just winge in South Australia.

0:40:36.360 --> 0:40:36.680
<v Speaker 2>I thought.

0:40:36.760 --> 0:40:37.960
<v Speaker 1>Everyone laughed and clapped.

0:40:38.600 --> 0:40:40.600
<v Speaker 2>I get a phone call from Mike Ran about five

0:40:40.600 --> 0:40:43.520
<v Speaker 2>point thirty in the morning when he got the advertiser

0:40:43.560 --> 0:40:46.799
<v Speaker 2>off the front lawn. There I am on the front page.

0:40:47.400 --> 0:40:51.279
<v Speaker 2>You're all a bunch of wines, screams folly yeah. And

0:40:51.320 --> 0:40:53.799
<v Speaker 2>then when I got out of my show car in

0:40:53.800 --> 0:40:55.799
<v Speaker 2>front of the State Admin, some couple of young guys

0:40:55.800 --> 0:40:58.600
<v Speaker 2>went past at Afolia nothing but a winker, And I.

0:40:58.600 --> 0:41:03.640
<v Speaker 1>Said, rest my case. You went into the profession of

0:41:03.680 --> 0:41:06.680
<v Speaker 1>lobbying when you left. And he's strange enough you're working

0:41:06.719 --> 0:41:08.960
<v Speaker 1>with people who were you bitter end of it.

0:41:09.120 --> 0:41:11.839
<v Speaker 2>Oh look, I don't use the word lobbying. I think

0:41:11.840 --> 0:41:16.359
<v Speaker 2>that's a bit low rent strategic advisor. It's lobbying. Oh

0:41:16.400 --> 0:41:19.440
<v Speaker 2>you may call it that. Yes, Well, when I got

0:41:19.440 --> 0:41:21.800
<v Speaker 2>out of politics, I work with Alexander Downer, Nick Bolkis,

0:41:22.280 --> 0:41:24.680
<v Speaker 2>John Olsen joined us for a period and Ian Smith

0:41:24.960 --> 0:41:27.719
<v Speaker 2>a good friend and yeah, we looked after the interest

0:41:27.760 --> 0:41:30.359
<v Speaker 2>of a number of companies. When that dissolved, alex went

0:41:30.400 --> 0:41:34.280
<v Speaker 2>off to London as High Commissioner. As you know, Ian

0:41:35.200 --> 0:41:38.000
<v Speaker 2>did most of his business out of Melbourne. Then I

0:41:38.040 --> 0:41:39.880
<v Speaker 2>started just doing it myself and now I've just got

0:41:39.880 --> 0:41:41.200
<v Speaker 2>a couple of clients. I do quite a bit of

0:41:41.200 --> 0:41:43.719
<v Speaker 2>work with the Hick and Boffin group, Michael Hickenboffam.

0:41:43.280 --> 0:41:43.960
<v Speaker 1>Well, he could go on.

0:41:44.040 --> 0:41:47.680
<v Speaker 2>Michael terrific man, a terrific person. The family, his sister, Roof.

0:41:47.480 --> 0:41:50.319
<v Speaker 1>And his time have not done a conversation with him.

0:41:52.160 --> 0:41:59.440
<v Speaker 2>He's a very knowledgeable person. He reads a lot. He yeah,

0:41:59.480 --> 0:42:01.799
<v Speaker 2>he's and it's just back from the US where he

0:42:01.840 --> 0:42:05.000
<v Speaker 2>did some studies. He's a very smart person. Had a

0:42:05.040 --> 0:42:08.560
<v Speaker 2>really good blow. Who else are a couple of other

0:42:08.600 --> 0:42:11.280
<v Speaker 2>companies just that you wouldn't know the names.

0:42:11.520 --> 0:42:14.600
<v Speaker 1>It's been great catching up Kevin. That's thanks for sharing

0:42:14.640 --> 0:42:17.440
<v Speaker 1>those stories and those memories that you didn't tell us

0:42:17.440 --> 0:42:18.520
<v Speaker 1>the David Granger's story.

0:42:18.640 --> 0:42:21.839
<v Speaker 2>Oh well, double wicket competition. Whenever there was a naval

0:42:21.880 --> 0:42:22.520
<v Speaker 2>ship in, we.

0:42:22.520 --> 0:42:27.040
<v Speaker 1>Would have a two people would bat for two overs.

0:42:27.880 --> 0:42:30.160
<v Speaker 1>We'd invite the Navy. We'd play the Navy and we

0:42:30.200 --> 0:42:33.120
<v Speaker 1>get a couple of port Adelaid players out. Clifford comes

0:42:33.120 --> 0:42:36.200
<v Speaker 1>out with Granger on outside. You know.

0:42:36.239 --> 0:42:39.359
<v Speaker 2>We were running some raffles and drinks afterwards, a bit

0:42:39.360 --> 0:42:41.919
<v Speaker 2>of a fundraiser as well. The Navy would send down

0:42:41.960 --> 0:42:46.200
<v Speaker 2>twelve six lots of too and I had bought a

0:42:46.200 --> 0:42:51.080
<v Speaker 2>brand new Gray Nichols back, a absolute crack, cost me

0:42:51.120 --> 0:42:54.799
<v Speaker 2>a lot of money, hadn't used it. And where we

0:42:54.840 --> 0:42:57.280
<v Speaker 2>had our cricket gear up, you know, inside the fence.

0:42:57.320 --> 0:43:00.440
<v Speaker 2>I had my bat leaning up against the wall and

0:43:00.480 --> 0:43:02.560
<v Speaker 2>before I knew it, Granger's.

0:43:02.080 --> 0:43:02.600
<v Speaker 1>Pat it up.

0:43:02.640 --> 0:43:06.160
<v Speaker 2>He's grabbed me bloody back. I said, okay, I wanted

0:43:06.160 --> 0:43:07.080
<v Speaker 2>to be the first one to.

0:43:07.040 --> 0:43:10.840
<v Speaker 1>Get an edge, a red edge on the side of it.

0:43:10.840 --> 0:43:11.879
<v Speaker 2>I can get too many in the middle.

0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:14.640
<v Speaker 1>And so he's out there with my bat something that

0:43:14.680 --> 0:43:17.720
<v Speaker 1>living daylights out of the ball, out of the bat

0:43:17.840 --> 0:43:22.400
<v Speaker 1>and the ball, and then he gets bold and out

0:43:22.560 --> 0:43:25.200
<v Speaker 1>so that both of them were out, so they're.

0:43:25.080 --> 0:43:28.320
<v Speaker 2>Walking off and Granger has tossed in Anger.

0:43:28.360 --> 0:43:31.200
<v Speaker 1>He's tossed my bat one hundred.

0:43:30.920 --> 0:43:34.279
<v Speaker 2>Meters in the air, might be twenty ten. It's come

0:43:34.360 --> 0:43:37.480
<v Speaker 2>down on the handle and split it on you know

0:43:37.600 --> 0:43:39.759
<v Speaker 2>today it would be a four or five hundred dollars bat.

0:43:39.760 --> 0:43:42.799
<v Speaker 2>And then my brain I hadn't touched it. And I

0:43:42.920 --> 0:43:45.839
<v Speaker 2>was furious, because you may notice from time to time

0:43:45.880 --> 0:43:48.440
<v Speaker 2>I have a bit of a temper at times. And

0:43:48.440 --> 0:43:50.680
<v Speaker 2>I said, bug at this, and my mates looked at

0:43:50.719 --> 0:43:53.799
<v Speaker 2>me because I went out to have a crack at him,

0:43:53.840 --> 0:43:56.719
<v Speaker 2>not physically, but have a go with him. And I

0:43:56.800 --> 0:43:58.600
<v Speaker 2>just looked at him, and his eyes stared at me,

0:43:59.600 --> 0:44:00.760
<v Speaker 2>and he's, what's your problem?

0:44:00.800 --> 0:44:03.480
<v Speaker 1>Lad? I wasn't much older younger than them. Is what's

0:44:03.480 --> 0:44:04.080
<v Speaker 1>your problem? Lad?

0:44:04.160 --> 0:44:06.960
<v Speaker 2>Or he might have said, p R I pre course,

0:44:06.960 --> 0:44:10.120
<v Speaker 2>I don't know, but it was pretty aggressive. And again,

0:44:10.440 --> 0:44:13.560
<v Speaker 2>you know, like my football career, all of a sudden,

0:44:14.000 --> 0:44:17.080
<v Speaker 2>no courage. I said, oh that's okay, Dave, not a problem, mate.

0:44:17.120 --> 0:44:18.520
<v Speaker 2>I just came out here to pick up my bat

0:44:18.560 --> 0:44:21.839
<v Speaker 2>and my handle, and you know, I just buckled under

0:44:21.880 --> 0:44:23.400
<v Speaker 2>Granger and he never.

0:44:23.280 --> 0:44:25.319
<v Speaker 1>Apologized, and he never forgot it.

0:44:25.440 --> 0:44:27.640
<v Speaker 2>No no, so we both got Granger stories. I think

0:44:27.680 --> 0:44:32.160
<v Speaker 2>yours is a little bit more sensational, but over the days.

0:44:33.600 --> 0:44:37.000
<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much for coming mate. Thanks, thank you folks.