Isobel Redmond

Isobel Mary Redmond (born 8 April 1953) is an Australian former politician who served as the leader of the Opposition in South Australia and the leader of the South Australian Liberal Party from 2009 and 2013. She was the member of parliament (MP) for the electorate of Heysen from 2002 to 2018.

Redmond was born in Engadine and raised in Heathcote, completing her education in 1971. Redmond funded her education on her own while she worked as a clerk in the Crown Solicitor's Office and pursued law studies part time by taking night classes. After traveling around Australia and getting involved with the Australian Labor Party for some time, she relocated to Adelaide Hills in 1978 along with her husband. As a solicitor, she ran her own firm and opened up a private practice in Stirling after winning the lottery in the early 1990s. She had legal practice with regards to native title cases for the Mirning people. Redmond was also active in local councils, including serving as the president of the Rotary Club of Stirling.

In 2002, Redmond won a seat in the South Australian House of Assembly as the Liberal MP for Heysen by taking a majority vote after preferences were distributed and thereby succeeded David Wotton. In 2004, she joined Rob Kerin's shadow cabinet as shadow minister of Housing, Families and Communities, Ageing and Disability. In her capacity as shadow minister for these departments, she actively took part in formulating opposition policy on and participating in debate regarding disability services, care standards and heritage related issues. Following the electoral loss by the Liberal Party in 2006, she occupied important positions in the shadow ministry under both Iain Evans and Martin Hamilton-Smith as shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Justice, Arts and subsequently for Road Safety. As such, she participated in debates on law reform, rights of victims, criminal law and professional conduct in the legal sector. She also had a hand in debates on internal party leadership as well as introducing Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) reform measures and heritage protection legislation.

Redmond served as Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party from July 2009 to January 2013, following a party-room ballot in which she defeated Vickie Chapman. As leader, she led the Liberal Party at the 2010 South Australian state election and continued in the role of Opposition Leader following the election outcome. During her leadership, she held positions on issues including anti-corruption reform, public sector administration, infrastructure policy, and parliamentary procedures, and was involved in negotiations and debate surrounding the establishment of a state ICAC. She remained leader following an internal leadership challenge in 2012 but resigned in January 2013 due to ongoing internal party tensions, and continued as the member for Heysen until her retirement from parliament at the 2018 state election.

Redmond was born on 8 April 1953 in Engadine^[1] and grew up in Heathcote near Wollongong.^[2] She attended Heathcote High School, completing her secondary education in 1971.^[3] Redmond attended public schools and funded her own university studies,^[4] later becoming the first member of her family to attend university.^[5] In her youth, she owned a terrace house in Newtown, which was later purchased by Frank Sartor.^[4] At the age of 18 or 19, she travelled across Australia on a three-week bus trip and visited the Adelaide Hills for the first time, later deciding she wanted to live there.^[3][6] While studying law through night classes with the New South Wales Barristers Admission Board, she worked as a clerk in the Crown Solicitor's Office.^[3] In her twenties, Redmond briefly joined the Australian Labor Party but left after attending one meeting.^[5][6]

After relocating to the Adelaide Hills with her husband in 1978,^[3] Redmond established a legal practice and later opened her own office in Stirling in the early 1990s after winning A$25,000 on a scratch lottery ticket received from her parents at Christmas.^[6] During her legal career, she became involved in a native title claim for the Mirning people despite having no prior experience in the field. The work involved extensive travel across the Nullarbor Plain and engagement with Indigenous communities over several years.^[5] Redmond became involved in politics through local government and community advocacy in the Adelaide Hills. During the 1980s, she campaigned against redevelopment proposals for the main street of Aldgate.^[7] She served on the Stirling District Council from 1982 to 1987 and later worked as a self-employed solicitor for six years before entering parliament.^[6] Simultaneously, she was also the president of the Rotary Club of Stirling from 1999 to 2000.^[8]

Redmond was elected to the parliament of South Australia on 9 February 2002 to the seat of Heysen for the South Australian Liberal Party.^[9] Redmond obtained 8,042 votes in the primary voting, which marked a swing of -3.8%, giving her 8,699 votes after the allocation of preferences, or 55.7% of the two-party-preferred vote.^[10] She succeeded David Wotton following his retirement.^[6]

Redmond was appointed as Shadow Minister for Housing and Shadow Minister for Families and Communities in the shadow cabinet of Rob Kerin. This was on 1 April 2004. She also took up the portfolios of Shadow Minister for Ageing and Shadow Minister for Disability on 18 April.^[9] On 12 July, Redmond called for an independent inquiry headed by a retired judge or Queen's Counsel concerning a matter at the Strathmont Centre due to concerns over oversight and professional standards within disability care facilities.^[11] At the same time, she supported the proposed sale of Beechwood Garden in Stirling but argued for protection of the building's heritage value through legislation.^[12] On 18 September, following the Vini Ciccarello affair, Redmond said that improper behavior within the parliament would be taken seriously regardless of the gender of the person involved.^[13]

On 16 February 2005, Redmond called for stronger safeguards for vulnerable people in care after a worker dismissed for inappropriate conduct was later employed at another institution. She criticised deficiencies in employment screening procedures within the state's disability sector.^[14] On 28 April, Redmond called for a parliamentary inquiry into assault allegations involving Peter Lewis, stating that the member should be publicly identified if the claims were substantiated.^[15] During the same year, she introduced the Heritage (Beechwood Garden) Amendment Bill 2005.^[16] On 6 March 2006, Redmond completed her tenure as shadow ministers for Housing and Families and Communities, and took up portfolio as Shadow Minister for Justice and Shadow Attorney-General.^[9]

After the defeat of the Liberal Party in the 2006 South Australian state election, Kerin resigned as leader^[17] and was succeeded by Iain Evans.^[18] Redmond announced on 24 March that she would contest the party leadership following Hamilton-Smith's decision not to stand,^[19] contributing to internal leadership tensions and shadow cabinet resignations.^[20] She later criticised the proposed amendments to the DNA laws of South Australia on 7 June.^[21] Later that year, on 11 December, she drew criticism from Premier Mike Rann for participating in a rave as research on ecstasy usage with Sandra Kanck.^[22] Redmond brought up the issue regarding the lack of compensation provided to the alleged victim of sexual assault on 8 February 2007, calling for more transparency in the decision-making process because the Rann government was failing to sufficiently support victims of crime.^[23]

On 12 April 2007, Hamilton-Smith succeeded Evans as the party leader after defeating him in a very tight vote in the party room.^[24] It was later Redmond who tabled the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Bill 2008.^[25] She then became the Shadow Minister for the Arts on 26 January.^[9] On 13 February, she commented on the government's legislation concerning outlaw motorcycle gangs, which she believed to be overly punitive and politically motivated.^[26] Then on 23 May, she delayed her support towards national changes in the legal profession, urging for better protection of victims of fraud in law firm trust accounts.^[27] On 6 June, she called for more priority should be given towards compensation to victims of trust account theft rather than other legal reforms including establishing a government-backed guarantee scheme.^[28] On 16 December, she expressed concern that high legal costs could discourage members of the Stolen Generations from pursuing compensation claims.^[29] On 27 April 2009, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Road Safety.^[9]

From 4 to 8 July 2009, Redmond served briefly as Deputy Leader of the Opposition.^[9] After seven years in the House of Assembly,^[2] she was elected Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party with Steven Griffiths as deputy.^[30] Following the resignation of Hamilton-Smith, she won the contest against Vickie Chapman at a party room meeting on 8 July 2009, winning 13–9^[30] and becoming the first woman to lead a major political party in South Australia.^[31][32] Her appointment came after an era of turmoil within the ranks of the Liberals, characterised by friction between Hamilton-Smith and Chapman, resulting in further changes to the party's leadership.^[7] During that time, Redmond was viewed as an anti-politician who did not belong to any political factions. Senator Nick Minchin of the federal Liberal Party was also in favour of Redmond.^[33]

Redmond said on 9 July 2009 that the Rann government was not ready for her style of leadership and that she had ignored Labor's criticism about her stance in relation to the anti-bikie laws and law and order policies by referring to her record of voting in parliament.^[5] On 20 July, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs.^[9] On 24 August, Redmond distanced herself from the Liberal Party conference decision which advocated a motion for discussion about nuclear power because she believed that South Australia would not benefit from such a source of energy. Rather, she advocated taxation reform and water security.^[34] Four days later, she defended the fundraising practices of her party but supported future political donation caps and argued that reforms would only be possible with equal playing conditions for the large political parties.^[35] On 9 November, she confirmed that she was prepared for taser testing after undergoing a medical test and that she believed that tasers were efficient policing tools and that the government should have moved faster in providing police officers with tasers.^[36] On 18 November, she declared the Liberal initiative for redevelopment of the Royal Adelaide Hospital instead of a new building project.^[37]

On 21 October 2009, Redmond made a public endorsement of the expanded usage of tasers by South Australia Police and declared that she would allow herself to be tased in order to prove that the taser was less dangerous than a gun.^[38][39] In fulfillment of her promise, on 15 December, Redmond participated in the taser demonstration which took place in the Adelaide offices of South Australian Liberal Party. There were a doctor and other people watching as well. Former police constable George Hateley administered a five-second stun cycle from the taser to Redmond's lower back and buttocks. According to Hateley, the taser only made one's muscles rigid without necessarily knocking someone down or making him scream.^[40][41]

On 26 January 2010, Redmond endorsed Tony Abbott's call for a referendum to resolve issues surrounding the management of Murray–Darling basin on the grounds that it would improve national coordination in river management, despite objections from the Rann government over state interests.^[42] On 1 February, Redmond proposed reforms to tackle problems of inadequate supply of indigenous court interpreters in South Australia, on the grounds that such inadequacies would limit the ability of the indigenous community to access justice.^[43] On 10 February, Redmond announced plans to introduce recycled stormwater into drinking water supplies in Parafield, amid questions concerning the adequacy of consultations and science behind the proposal.^[44] On 22 February, Redmond promised to introduce an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in her first 100 days in office should she be elected, based on the grounds that a state-based ICAC was necessary to curb problems of corruption in the state, in reaction to Rann's response that government agencies already handled matters of corruption.^[45]

Redmond was the Liberal Party candidate for the role of premier during the 2010 South Australian state election. She ran in opposition to Rann by contrasting him in the way that she led in a more relaxed fashion compared to him. "Redmond Is Ready" was the campaign slogan adopted for her campaign.^[7] The race for victory was considered to be tight with predictions of the Liberals narrowly ahead on two-party preferred polls. However, Redmond felt that there were minimal chances of winning. In the course of the campaign, she chose not to talk about any accusations that Rann had faced concerning his alleged affair, while the Liberal Party focused on the weak policies of the labor administration.^[46] Redmond admits defeat on 24 March by stating that while the Liberal Party won the popular vote, they failed to have enough seats for a majority government.^[47]

After the state elections of 2010, Hamilton-Smith again took up the role of the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party,^[48] having beaten Iain Evans by a vote of 9–8 in a party room ballot, after Mitch Williams had been eliminated. Even though it was rumoured that there were differences within the party, Redmond retained her position as the Opposition Leader.^[49] On 7 April, she was appointed Shadow Minister for ICAC.^[9] In her speech dated 16 April, Redmond made a call for an expansion in the number of sitting days for the South Australian Parliament, citing the low number of sitting days as making it hard for the Legislative Assembly to monitor government performance.^[50] In her speech dated 27 May, Redmond tabled the ICAC (2010) Bill.^[51] On 3 August, Redmond said that the Liberal Party had not reached a firm conclusion about mining activities at Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, adding that the consultations were ongoing with relevant parties like the management and mine developers at the sanctuary.^[52] On 23 November, Redmond attacked the state government for marketing Cranfield University's presence in Adelaide, citing that the campus was inactive.^[53]

On 28 April 2011, Attorney-General John Rau launched plans for the creation of a new anti-corruption body, which came to be known as the Office of Public Integrity, which was designed as a one-stop shop for complaints prior to passing them to appropriate departments. Despite this, the Rann government continued its opposition to creating an ICAC, while Redmond claimed that this plan was inadequate.^[54] On 18 August, she requested that the process for selecting candidates for positions within the public sector and on company boards be more transparent and based on merit in light of the selection of Jane Lomax-Smith, who had previously served as a minister in the Labor government, as chairperson for the board of the South Australian Museum.^[55] On 15 November, Redmond requested a review of parliamentary travel allowances in order to ensure whether taxpayer money was being used appropriately for accompanying family members of politicians.^[56] On 8 December, she was appointed Shadow Minister for the Arts.^[9]

Redmond was under internal pressure in the Liberal Party due to the leak of her correspondence of 2006 where she threatened taking legal action in respect of a party levy on MPs' salaries.^[57] The sudden exit of Redmond from the state on 11 August without informing colleagues fueled speculations concerning problems and factions in the Liberal Party.^[58] She conceded to the existence of unrest internally but did not admit lacking majority support in her leadership position on the grounds that the criticisms were personal and politically motivated by destabilising the opposition after years of government.^[59] In response to criticisms about her proposal to reduce jobs in the public sector significantly, Redmond apologised on 14 September saying it was a mistake. She explained that there was no fixed target by the party in terms of reducing jobs and any such move would follow audits conducted by a commission.^[60] On 27 September, Hamilton-Smith refused to dismiss any future leadership challenge despite supporting the leadership team openly.^[61]

On 19 October 2012, Isobel Redmond was subjected to growing pressure from members of the South Australian Liberal Party due to concerns relating to her ability as a leader and manager of division within the party ranks. There were speculations of a possible change of guard among the ranks as dissatisfaction continued among members after disputes related to public service layoffs and Redmond’s non-participation in times of political turmoil.^[62] The conflict surrounding the issue escalated with a bid for leadership from Hamilton-Smith. Redmond contended that his challenge was detrimental to party unity despite favourable polls for the Liberals, which was supported by Deputy Leader Williams.^[63] Following the leadership vote, Redmond just barely kept the leadership position by beating Hamilton-Smith in the vote count of 13 to 12. Redmond called the vote as "a line in the sand", saying that the party would concentrate its efforts on the upcoming state election. Although Steven Marshall recognised that there were divisions within the ranks of the party, he promised to support Redmond. Hamilton-Smith took his defeat in stride, stating that the vote showed clarity regarding the party leadership.^[64] Following the leadership vote, Redmond conducted a shake-up of the shadow cabinet, ousting Hamilton-Smith and installing Marshall as the deputy Liberal leader.^[65]

The ICAC legislation was passed in South Australia on 29 November 2012 after many years of political impasse after Premier Jay Weatherill altered Labor Party policy to establish the commission. Redmond agreed to the formation of an ICAC, but took issue with the provisions for secrecy, stating that ICAC hearings should either be held in public or privately at the discretion of the commission and stating that too much secrecy would erode public trust.^[66] In the negotiations, the Weatherill government charged Redmond on 13 November with thwarting progress by rejecting amendments designed to break the impasse, and Attorney General Rau called opponents "ICAC saboteurs." Her party backed amendments from independent Ann Bressington over Family First Party amendments by Robert Brokenshire.^[67] On 24 November, the bill was temporarily delayed over disagreements regarding the nomination process for the ICAC Commissioner; however, negotiations eventually fell through and failed to break the impasse.^[68] Redmond was also appointed Shadow Minister for Road Safety on 6 November.^[9]

On 20 January 2013, Redmond proposed that the South Australian Education Department ought to be decentralised, reducing its bureaucracy and taking Victoria's lower ratio of bureaucrats per pupil as an example, while maintaining that the proposed cuts to the public sector were not arbitrary.^[69] On 30 January, she clarified her comments by pointing out that the policy of the Liberals was not about cutting down on staffing but was more about decentralization and giving schools more autonomy.^[70]

Redmond tendered her resignation as Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party on 31 January 2013 after being in office for over three years due to continuing doubts about her leadership and factional infighting within the party, insisting that she quit as leader in the best interests of the party before the upcoming state election. She declared that she would remain a member of the South Australian parliament as the representative of Heysen electorate.^[71] Redmond's resignation triggered speculations regarding whether the former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer could join the political scene in the state as a contender for the Liberal leadership position. However, Downer ruled out this possibility, although he did not exclude joining state politics in the future.^[72][73] Marshall, who succeeded her as leader, mentioned that he would consult Redmond for advice both during his time as leader and for the next election, considering her to be an experienced source of wisdom and promising to continue being an active backbencher.^[74]

Redmond held onto her position in the seat of Heysen in the South Australian State election in May 2014, winning 55.5% of the first preference vote (12,768 votes) and 61.0% on the two party preferred basis, which amounted to a 5.5% swing against the Liberal Party.^[6] It was reported in June 2014 by the Attorney-General Rau that there might be a case for misleading parliament in comments made by Redmond, where she referred to the Electoral Commissioner, Kay Mousley as "utterly corrupt." Rau asked the Speaker Michael Atkinson to consider whether there was any misuse of parliamentary privilege and if Redmond needed to be disciplined, with the possibility of making an apology and/or being suspended.^[75][76] Later that year, on 15 October, Redmond used her parliamentary privilege to make charges against the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Stephen Yarwood, calling him "unfit for office" and making similar charges that he made in a previous meeting. Yarwood denied those allegations and formally requested a right of reply.^[77]

In October 2015, Redmond opposed legislation supported by both the Weatherill and opposition governments that regulated the tattoo industry by preventing individuals associated with criminal organisations from owning or working in tattoo establishments. She argued that the bill risked criminalising individuals without proven wrongdoing and raised concerns regarding the rule of law and separation of powers. Despite her opposition, the legislation was passed by both the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council.^[78] On 19 November, Redmond introduced the Summary Offences (Drones) Amendment Bill 2015.^[79]

After a brief hiatus from politics, Redmond briefly re-entered political discussion on 22 February 2016 by questioning the proposed redevelopment of the Adelaide Parklands, suggesting that permitting private developers to build on part of the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site would result in the "privatisation" of public parklands and the subsequent loss of its status as public land. In response, she asked for clarification from the government and added that, should the need arise, she would consider introducing a private member's bill or initiating a public campaign against the development of the site. In response to Redmond's concerns, the government assured her that this was not a case of full privatisation since there were long-term lease arrangements for the site.^[80] On 11 December 2016, Marshall admitted that he could not offer Redmond a seat in the cabinet should his party come into power since it depended on whether she ran for the next election and other internal party factors.^[81]

On 18 January 2017, Redmond made it known that she would be retiring from her position in the parliament during the 2018 South Australian state election.^[82] This move came after earlier reports of what seemed like her contemplating her future in politics, which she denied initially. However, she stated that she has been thinking about retiring for some time now, and that it is the right time for her. According to Isobel Redmond, she will retire if she finds it impossible to cope with the challenges that come with being a member of parliament, such as working many hours per week even for a backbencher, especially when she turns 69 at the end of the term.^[83] Following her resignation, her Heysen seat was succeeded by Josh Teague.^[84]

Redmond on 30 April 2020 supported the candidacy of Greg Mackie in the election for the position of councilor in the City of Adelaide.^[85] A campaign was initiated by Redmond on 6 October 2023 against the move of Stirling Community Hospital to Mount Barker. She declared she will continue to fight for the hospital and is strongly opposed to such move. Redmond brought up her twenty-two year service with the board of the hospital and argues Stirling must continue to have a local hospital service.^[86]

In the District Court of Adelaide hearings concerning Troy Bell, Redmond was mentioned in relation to a phone conversation that she had with Bell in May 2016 in relation to matters arising out of an ICAC inquiry against Bell for the alleged improper use of money and other matters. Bell asked for some legal advice and for advice concerning the police investigation. She told Bell to talk to a lawyer, and said that he would have enough integrity for any scrutiny, and would probably be considered as an "honest bloke," and there would be no fear about his reputation as an elected official being put into question.^[87][88] Additionally, she joined Craniofacial Australia as a board member.^[89]

In June 2004, Redmond received a Paul Harris Fellowship for her exceptional contributions to the Stirling Rotary Club.^[90]

She is the spouse of James Lee Redmond, an American academic, since 1974^[1] and a mother of three.^[2]

• IsobelRedmond.com.au official website
• "Redmond, Isobel". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2022.