systemic mistreatment of elderly residents<\/a> at the Oakden Older Person Mental Health Facility in 2017.<\/p>\nThe inquiries generated more than 37,000 documents, totalling more than 300,000 pages.<\/p>\n
Mr Lander\u2019s report found maladministration by five public servants, and also laid out criticisms of senior ministers in then-Premier Jay Weatherill\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
The report described former Mental Health Minister Leesa Vlahos, who held the portfolio when a damning report from the state\u2019s chief psychiatrist was released in 2017, as \u201cdeliberately untruthful\u201d, belligerent and aggressive\u201d and \u201cgenerally unhelpful\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did not lead in addressing the crisis. She followed,\u201d Mr Lander said in his report.<\/p>\n
Ms Vlahos, then member for Taylor, had resigned as Labor\u2019s lead candidate on their upper house ticket just days before the ICAC report was released.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I expect no adverse finding, I am concerned that the timing of the release of this report could mean that my candidature could become a distraction at this most important time,\u201d she said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n
The publication of the ICAC report came less than a month before the 2018 state election, inopportune timing for the Weatherill government, which was defeated by the Steven Marshall-led Liberal Party to end a 16-year Labor government.<\/p>\n
Weatherill vs Frydenberg<\/p>\n
Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg got a less than warm welcome when he arrived in Adelaide in March 2017 to open a federally-funded virtual power plant.<\/p>\n
The Liberal MP found himself sat between Labor Premier Jay Weatherill and Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis, before taking part in an awkward live press conference where he was directly called out by Mr Weatherill over the Commonwealth’s energy policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cState governments, regardless of their political hue, need to take responsibility for ensuring the stability of the system,\u201d Mr Frydenberg said.<\/p>\n
Mr Frydenberg claimed he \u201cdidn\u2019t even know\u201d that Mr Weatherill was invited to the press conference, and deflected questions about whether his appearance in Adelaide was designed to one up Mr Weatherill\u2019s announcement of a half-a-billion dollar plan to secure SA\u2019s power supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to say it is a little galling to be standing here next to a man that\u2019s been standing up with his Prime Minister bagging South Australia at every step of the way over the last six months to be standing here on this occasion, him suggesting that we want to work together is a disgrace,\u201d Mr Weatherill said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way in which your government has treated our state, it is the most anti-South Australian government we have seen from a Commonwealth government in living memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Frydenberg later described a \u201cdesperate\u201d Mr Weatherill as trying to \u201ccrash-tackle\u201d the Commonwealth\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually think it reflects very poorly on the premier that he has to engage in this type of petty politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Vote Labor tomorrow\u2019 – Liberal Leader Steven Marshall<\/p>\n
Aiming to end 12 years of Labor domination, Liberal Leader Steven Marshall chose to visit a chocolate factory on his final day of campaigning ahead of the 2014 state election.<\/p>\n
In his press conference, Mr Marshall said he\u2019d enjoyed the campaign, before issuing his final plea to the people of South Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re only a few short hours now away from when the polls open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if people in South Australia want change, they want a better future, they want to grow our economy, then they need to vote Labor tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Marshall did not realise the mistake he\u2019d made, and pressed forward with his remarks, only realising when a reporter asked him about the slip of the tongue.<\/p>\n
Many in the electorate didn\u2019t take Mr Marshall\u2019s advice, and the Liberals polled nearly 92,000 more votes than Labor. <\/p>\n
However, the Libs fell short of the six seats needed to govern, with Mr Marshall having to wait another four years for his time in the top job.<\/p>\n
Kevin Foley<\/p>\n
It\u2019s rare that a politician, walking home alone in the streets of Adelaide\u2019s CBD, gets punched in the head, but that\u2019s exactly what happened to Kevin Foley. <\/p>\n
After a night out on the town, the then-deputy premier was king hit and left with facial injuries outside a Waymouth St night spot on November 28, 2010.<\/p>\n
The incident came less than 24 hours after a South Australian Labor conference in which Mr Foley and Premier Mike Rann were asked to step down.<\/p>\n
Mr Foley\u2019s attacker, Ante Grgich, was later arrested and given a suspended two-month jail term on condition of a one-year good behaviour bond.<\/p>\n
Grgich was also ordered by the court to pay Mr Foley $661.20 to replace his broken glasses and $80 for the former politician\u2019s \u201cvalued purple shirt\u201d.<\/p>\n
During his sentencing, deputy chief magistrate Andrew Cannon said Grgich had erroneously come to believe Mr Foley had harassed a young woman, and cited the law of self defence which allows one person to protect another, which Grgich thought he was doing.<\/p>\n
But, Grgich said to Mr Foley \u201cthat\u2019s for harassing young girls\u201d after struck him, leading Dr Cannon to say Grgich\u2019s actions \u201csuggests a degree of vigilante punishment rather than just necessary steps to protect a young woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six months after the initial assault, Mr Foley was attacked by a different person, when he was grabbed by the jaw and thrown against a toilet wall in an Adelaide restaurant in April 2011, two months after he resigned as Deputy Premier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is becoming really, really hard to do this job and be subjected to that type of attack,\u201d he told reporters following the second attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople either hate Kevin Foley or they love me. There\u2019s not much in between.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Foley retired from politics in December of 2011.<\/p>\n
John Olsen – Motorola Affair<\/p>\n
Liberal Premier John Olsen\u2019s tenure came undone in 2001, when he was found to have given \u201cmisleading, inaccurate and dishonest evidence\u201d to a judicial inquiry.<\/p>\n
In 1994, as the then industry minister under Dean Brown, Mr Olsen had negotiated a deal with US tech company Motorola to build a software centre in Adelaide.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the government was looking for an equipment supplier for the government radio network, and in a letter dated April 14 1994, Mr Olsen advised the company that the government intended to make Motorola the designated supplier, subject to establishing the software facility in Adelaide.<\/p>\n
Mr Olsen told the 1998 Cramond inquiry that Motorola had not accepted the offer, a statement later found to be misleading by the Clayton inquiry in 2001.<\/p>\n
Mr Clayton asserted that Mr Olsen had not pointed to any factual basis for his statements in 1998, and that everyone else knew the government had made a commitment to Motorola.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018To suggest now,as Mr Olsen has, that Motorola did not want a Software Centre Agreementthatwaslinkedtoaradio contract, is to suggest something which is different from the evidence given to Mr Cramond,\u201d Mr Clayton said in his report.<\/p>\n
Mr Olsen refuted Mr Clayton\u2019s assertion, but relented to pressure and resigned as Premier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I am guilty of anything it\u2019s about creating jobs; it\u2019s about bringing investment into this state,\u201d he said in his resignation speech.<\/p>\n
The scandal proved the death knell for the Liberal Party of the early 2000s.<\/p>\n
Mr Olsen\u2019s replacement Rob Kerin was defeated in the 2002 election, and the Liberals wouldn\u2019t return to government for 16 years.<\/p>\n
Mr Olsen later became Australian Consul-General in Los Angeles and New York, president of the Liberal Party at a state and federal level, and chairman of the Adelaide Crows.<\/p>\n
State Bank Collapse<\/p>\n
One of the most significant political events in South Australian history, the 1991 collapse of the State Bank of South Australia led to the downfall of John Bannon and his nine-year tenure as Premier.<\/p>\n
The implosion of the government-owned bank, which had only been formed seven years earlier lost the taxpayer $3.15bn in government-guaranteed loans and led to Mr Bannon, then also serving as Treasurer, initiating a Royal Commission.<\/p>\n
The Royal Commission later cleared Mr Bannon of any wrongdoing, but the damage to the government was done. <\/p>\n
Mr Bannon resigned as Premier in September 1992 and retired from politics at the 1993 election, where his party was handed the then-biggest electoral defeat in the state\u2019s history, winning only 11 seats to the Liberals\u2019 37.<\/p>\n
For more on the State Bank collapse and the reasons behind it, read this piece.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Australia may be considered by outsiders as a \u201cquiet\u201d place where not a lot happens, but 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![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/aac0e85b1266393a586f0bc68b94a040.jpeg\")
Troy Bell<\/p>\n