Business leader Nigel McBride initiated the Tom Kenyon/Martin Hamilton-Smith alliance that evolved into yesterday’s political bombshell, InDaily can reveal.
Hamilton-Smith yesterday agreed to serve the Weatherill Government as Minister for Investment and Trade, Defence Industries and Veterans’ Affairs after a deal brokered by Labor’s former trade minister Tom Kenyon.
The Kenyon approach preceded Labor’s deal with Port Pirie Independent Geoff Brock and has its roots in conversations between Kenyon and Business SA chief executive Nigel McBride in April last year.
“I was the guy who initiated the bipartisanship during preparations for a trade mission to the Middle East last April,” McBride told InDaily today.
“I asked Tom to take Martin along in his role as shadow trade minister because Martin is regarded as an elder statesman in that part of the world due to his business contacts there and his service with the UN peacekeeping force before he came to politics.
“Tom agreed and I recall the impact it had when Tom got up at various meetings and presentations and was able to introduce the Opposition spokesman on trade as someone who was side-by-side in his commitment to South Australia. It was very powerful and very well received.
“After that it became a regular thing with Martin and Tom taking trade delegations to various countries and making a joint pitch.”
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After the March 2014 state election Kenyon opted to take time out and sit on the backbench to give more time to his young family.
The bipartisanship concept, however, continued.
Last week, almost unnoticed, Hamilton-Smith went to China with Labor’s new Trade Minister Susan Close.
McBride said the concept again worked well.
“I spoke to Susan last night and she said that it had been her first trip to China and having Martin there had been an enormous help.”
The head of South Australia’s largest business lobby group, McBride says that while he understands the political reactions to the Hamilton-Smith decision, the state’s business community won’t be indulging in any criticism.
“On the political side of things, will Martin’s decision threaten his ideals? I don’t think so. In fact I believe it reinforces it because he has a seat at the table of government and speaks now as an Independent Liberal.
“In business we don’t have the time or luxury to ruminate on what might have been at the last election.
“We don’t have the time to ponder two party preferred numbers and marginal seat results; we can’t spend the next three and a half years wondering about political ‘what-ifs’.
“We want to work closely with the government of the day to achieve a more competitive business base in SA and to create new export markets.
“In that context, we will work closely with Martin, with the Premier and anyone else who understands that we need to boost our economy.”
McBride said he had no regrets about planting the seeds of a political alliance that sparked yesterday’s almost unprecedented move.
“I represent the business community and we have two clear priorities – one is to make the South Australian business environment more cost competitive, the other is develop new markets.
“We started to see the benefits of the alliance last year and we’ll see more I’m sure.
“I’ll leave the internal politics of it to those that have those responsibilities.”
