As South Australia’s new Premier was sworn in following Labor’s landslide victory over the weekend, Pxjmtzyweter Malinauskas claimed he was upstaged.
He became the 47th premier of the state after being sworn in by SA Governor Frances Adamson at a ceremony at Government House on Monday morning.
Alongside the now Premier, his deputy Susan Close – who will also take on the environment portfolio – and Treasurer Stephen Mullighan also took the oath.
The Premier is yet to make final appointments, but a swearing-in ceremony of his full cabinet will occur later this week.
Mr Malinauskas’ wife Annabel West and their three children watched the proceedings as they sat in the front row.
The state Labor leader said his well-behaved children “stole the show wherever we go”.
He told of how his son was playing with Mr Mulligan’s son on the grounds at Government House and they momentarily got lost, needing to be found with the help of security cameras.
“This is the biggest gated playground in our state and thankfully they were safe,” the Premier said.
“Being here with family to share such an important moment is something I’m really grateful for.”
Mr Malinauskas said his cabinet would comprise of many parents who had children of various ages, something that would “enhance” his government in their decision making.
“It gives us different lived experience as we navigate government and all the responsibilities involved,” he said.
“Having young children brings complexity in managing everything but it also means that sitting around the cabinet table, we’re going through the exact same thing that other South Australians are going through – trying to do school drops-offs and pick-ups, Saturday morning sport, all the balancing act of arranging babysitters.
“We’re living that experience too and that has informed our policy development and will inform our policy delivery in government.”
Speaking on breakfast radio, Mr Malinauskas said he hoped to form a majority government was but “humbled”and “taken aback” by the landslide result.
“I always believed we could win but … on a footy field, if you think you’re up, you've got to keep playing to win and we had that determination and that resolve.
“Twenty-six (winning seats) would have been a number I would have hoped for in my wildest dreams, so to be there is quite humbling.
“Twenty-eight does seem surreal.”
Mr Malinauskas will meet with Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier to discuss the state’s Covid-19 restrictions.
He said there was a discrepancy with SA’s mask wearing and close contact rules compared with the rest of the nation.
“As Premier, I have a duty or responsibility to scrutinise the decisions that have been made because they are having an impact on our state,” he said.
“We’re out of kilter with the rest of the nation, and there may be a very good reason for that, but if there is, the SA public need to know what it is.
“We do pay a price when we aren’t nationally consistent and I want to make sure that if we are going to have that approach that the price is worth paying.”
Steven Marshall arrived at Parliament House on Monday morning and formally resigned as premier.
He announced on Sunday that he would stand down as the state leader of the Liberal Party, saying he took “full responsibility for the defeat.
Mr Marshall said he did want to remain in parliament to serve as an MP for his local electorate of Dunstan.
However, he faces losing the seat while counting continues on Monday morning.
All weekend the votes between Mr Marshall and his Labor opponent Cressida O‘Hanlon remained close and both bounced around the 50 per cent mark.
But Ms O‘Hanlon remains ahead, 50.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent.
So far, the Labor Party have won 26 seats, the Liberal Party hold eight and four have been won by Independents.
Just 24 seats are needed to be won in order to form a majority government.
