Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian politician who was the 45th Premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill has represented the House of Assembly seat of Cheltenham as a member of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party since the 2002 election.
Labor was in government from 2002, with Weatherill leading the Labor government since a 2011 leadership change from Mike Rann. During 2013 it became the longest-serving state Labor government in South Australian history, and in addition went on to win a fourth four-year term at the 2014 election. The 16-year state Labor Government lost power at the 2018 election. On 18 March, the day after the election, Weatherill announced his decision to step down as Labor leader, but intends to remain in Parliament on the back-bench. Peter Malinauskas succeeded Weatherill as Labor leader on 9 April.
Video Jay Weatherill
Early life
Born in the western suburbs of Adelaide, he is the son of English-born former South Australian politician George Weatherill.
Weatherill completed his secondary education at Henley High School. He later studied at the University of Adelaide, graduating with degrees in law and economics. During his university days, he had a relationship with current Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Penny Wong.
Between 1987 and 1990, he worked for the Australian Workers' Union. In the early 1990s, he worked at the law firm Duncan Hannon with Patrick Conlon and Isobel Redmond. With fellow Adelaide lawyer Stephen Lieschke, he established industrial law firm Lieschke & Weatherill in 1995 where he practised law until his election to the House of Assembly seat of Cheltenham at the 2002 election when his party won government.
Maps Jay Weatherill
Political career
Weatherill defeated the incumbent Labor member Murray De Laine for Labor preselection in the electorate of Cheltenham at the 2002 election and went on to retain the seat for Labor. Weatherill is from the Labor Left faction. Upon election he immediately entered the cabinet of the Rann Government as Minister for Local Government, Government Enterprise, Urban Development and Planning, and Administrative Services. Later, Weatherill would hold portfolios such as Housing (2004-2008), Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (2006-2010), Early Childhood and Development (2008-2011), Environment and Conservation (2008-2010) and Education (2010-2011).
Following the 2010 election, Weatherill as a cabinet minister in the Mike Rann government, unsuccessfully challenged Kevin Foley for the position of Deputy Premier. Weatherill said the election day backlash against Labor made it evident that a fresh approach was needed; however he lost along factional lines.
Premier
In late July 2011, senior figures within Labor had indicated to Rann that both the left and right Labor factions had agreed to replace Rann with Weatherill as party leader. In early August 2011 Weatherill's attempts at contacting Rann on his trade mission to India had been met with silence leaving the party leadership in limbo until Rann's return to Australia. Weatherill refused to rule out challenging Rann in a caucus ballot if he did not stand down on his return to Australia. Rann eventually resigned at the behest of factional bosses, with Caucus endorsing Weatherill as his successor. Weatherill was then sworn in as the 45th Premier of South Australia on 21 October 2011.
First term
The 2012-2013 budget was Weatherill's first, with Jack Snelling as treasurer, and came with deep cuts aiming to achieve major savings. Some of this was though suspension of major works programs such as the electrification of the Gawler and Outer Harbor rail lines, and redevelopments of Modbury Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Notably, the AAA credit rating achieved under the Rann government was lost, downgraded to AA+ in October, a move foreshadowed by Snelling. Other actions during Weatherill's first 12 months included a deal to increase shopping hours on public holidays, supported by SDA secretary Peter Malinauskas and Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan, and Weatherill's support for a Greens-initiated gay marriage bill following the announcement of Tasmania's planned changes.
Weatherill introduced a conscience vote for the 2013 South Australian Gay Marriage bill in August 2012. However, the bill was frustrated by Labor's conservative Catholic right, as well as a lack of support by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and faced constitutional issues as expressed by the SA Liberal Party. The bill ultimately failed the lower house in July 2013 following Weatherill's planned conscience vote.
August 2012 also saw the announcement by BHP that the $20 billion Olympic Dam mine expansion would not go ahead, citing 'subdued commodity prices and higher capital costs'. However, the mine remains operational, employing 2500 people.
On 21 January 2013, Weatherill became Treasurer of South Australia and took other various portfolios following a cabinet reshuffle triggered by the resignation of two members of his ministry. The 2013-2014 budget saw revenue increase, in part due to the privatisation of SA Lotto to Tatts Group for $427 million, and of forests in the State's south-east to international company The Campbell Group for $670 million. However, Australia's surging dollar hit the manufacturing industry sector in SA, and growth in indicators such as retail sales and house prices fell. Despite this, the government included funding for the Gawler railway line up to Dry Creek, a number of measures supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, and promised a return to surplus by 2015-2016.
2014 election
The 2014 State election resulted in a hung parliament with 23 seats for Labor, 22 for the Liberals, and the balance of power resting with the two independents, Bob Such and Geoff Brock. After Such went on medical leave for a brain tumour without indicating his support, political commentators indicated that Brock would likely back Labor by reason of 'political stability'. Brock did back Labor, giving Labor 24 seats and as a result Weatherill formed a minority government - giving Labor a total four terms in government.
Second term
Weatherill joined with Liberal premiers proclaiming he would lead a national campaign against the then federal Abbott Government's 2014 federal budget. Former Liberal Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith then defected, becoming an independent and entered the Weatherill cabinet. Hieu Van Le was announced on 26 June 2014 as the next Governor of South Australia to replace Kevin Scarce. Following the death of Such, Labor won the 2014 Fisher by-election by five votes from a 7.3 percent two-party swing in a hotly contested three-cornered contest. Weatherill nonetheless kept Brock and Hamilton-Smith in cabinet, giving the government a 26 to 21 parliamentary majority.
In 2015, Weatherill initiated the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission to investigate opportunities and risks associated with expanding the state's involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle. The Commission was headed by former Governor Kevin Scarce and delivered its final report and recommendation to the Government of South Australia in May 2016.
In 2016, Weatherill supported calls for increasing the GST to 15%
In 2017, Weatherill announced a plan to reform South Australia's electricity supply, as a response to a number of blackouts that affected large numbers of South Australian residents and businesses in 2016. The most notable was the state-wide 2016 South Australian blackout. The plan included construction of a State Government-owned 250MW gas-fired power station, around 10 per cent of SA's peak demand, and grid connected utility scale battery storage (the Hornsdale Power Reserve) to support the grid during periods of peak demand.
2018 election
The record-16-year-incumbent SA Labor government was seeking a fifth four-year term at the 2018 election, but was defeated by the opposition SA Liberals, led by Steven Marshall. Though a major electoral redistribution in 2016 had seen four Labor seats become notionally Liberal, Labor retained a total of 19 seats at the election. The incoming Liberal government won a total of 25 seats, with crossbench independents holding 3 seats. Despite the outcome, there was actually a state-wide two-party-preferred swing away from the Liberals toward Labor of over 1%.
Four hours after the close of polls, at approximately 10pm ACDST, incumbent Premier Jay Weatherill telephoned Steven Marshall and conceded defeat. Weatherill subsequently publicly announced that he had conceded, saying, "I'm sorry I couldn't bring home another victory, but I do feel like one of those horses that has won four Melbourne Cups and I think the handicap has caught up with us on this occasion."
Peter Malinauskas became Leader of the Opposition and succeeded Weatherill who had resigned as Labor leader, with Susan Close as deputy, following a Labor caucus meeting on 9 April 2018.
Personal life
Weatherill is married to Melissa. They have two young daughters. He is a supporter of the Port Adelaide Football Club.
See also
- South Australian state election, 2018
- Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch)
- Cabinet of South Australia
- Weatherill Ministry
References
External links
- Parliamentary Profile: SA Parliament website
- Parliamentary Profile: SA Labor website
- Parliamentary Profile: SA Premier website
- Policies: sa.alp.org.au
- Policy archive: premier.sa.gov.au
- News archive: premier.sa.gov.au
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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