Industry leader joins Hamilton-Smith
John Chapman, until recently the head of the Motor Trades Association, has joined Martin Hamilton-Smith’s office as chief-of-staff.
Chapman, a former chief-of-staff to Liberal Premier John Olsen, is the latest cross-party recruit to the Weatherill Government which pulled off a huge political shock last week by attracting former Liberal leader Hamilton-Smith to join the cabinet.
Chapman resigned as the MTA’s chief executive in January this year, after the MTA executive committee decided to “take a new direction”.
A Government spokesman confirmed the appointment to InDaily this morning.
“Being a former chief of staff to Olsen as Premier, Mr Chapman will bring a wealth of experience to Government, not to mention a great understanding of the small business community,” the spokesman said.
Chapman led the MTA for eight years, during which time he led an aggressive campaign against the State Government’s deal with Business SA and the Shoppies union to introduce two half-day public holidays.
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The public holidays were part of the union’s price to allow shops to open in the city on most public holidays.
Chapman has also been a trenchant critic of WorkCover, which the Government is planning to overhaul this year.
Last year, he said the part public holidays showed that Labor “simply do not understand business”.
Hamilton-Smith has been given the key industry portfolios of Investment and Trade and Defence Industries, with Premier Jay Weatherill indicating he wants to build stronger ties between his Government and the business community.
The appointment comes a day after Hamilton-Smith met with his own coterie of business supporters – a group called the “Waite Industry Leaders Club”.
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The group was formed by Hamilton-Smith over a year ago to raise funds for his re-election, and is organised by Denise Rowe, a former Liberal Party fundraiser.
The group met last night for the first time following Hamilton-Smith’s defection, at Hutt Street’s Naval and Military Club.
Before the meeting, Hamilton-Smith told InDaily his support from the business community remained strong – and his loss to the Liberals would leave a hole in the party’s fundraising efforts.
“I have raised a lot of funds for the Liberal Party over the years using my business connections,” he said. “I’m having informal discussions with them (the Waite Industry Leaders’ Club) to explain my decision.”
He said that the group had donated to him personally in the past, and he had passed this money to the Liberal Party to support his campaign and those of several other Liberal candidates.
He expected those donations to continue to flow, and he would be holding discussions with the Electoral Commission to better understand his reporting and other obligations as an independent.
Hamilton-Smith said he had been heartened by the support he had received from business and other supporters following his decision to join the Labor Cabinet as an Independent Liberal.
“I have had a mass of people come in with nothing but support,” he said.
Some of these people were Liberal supporters who had “like me” become “exasperated and disappointed” by the party’s repeated failure to win elections.
“They now welcome that there’s a Liberal in the Cabinet room,” he said.
“I will be putting businesses’ case at the Cabinet table, and the Premier is keen for that to happen. He’s told me he’s heard the message of the election and is keen to build those bridges.”
After his first full week in the Cabinet, Hamilton-Smith praised Premier Jay Weatherill.
“He’s very impressive,” he said. “I have got to know him a lot better over the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been impressed by his leadership method and style.”
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