Time to walk the walk

Life changed quite dramatically for Ben Hood 12 months ago when he replaced retiring former Health Minister Stephen Wade in South Australia’s Legislative Council.

Officially sworn in on March 7, 2023, Mr Hood hit the ground running and has not stopped since, elevated to the role of Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional South Australia and subsequently clocking up the kilometres as he visited all corners of the state.

“I have really enjoyed the privilege of being in this role,” he said. “I joined council because I love Mount Gambier and wanted to advocate for this city and now I am getting to do that at state level for all of regional South Australia.

“If I can play a small part in solving issues for regional South Australia then I have done my job.”

While the past 12 months have been all about listening, the next 12 months will see Mr Hood tackling one his favoured aspects of being in the halls of power.

“This year is where all the work we’ve done in listening to the people of South Australia will bear fruit in forming policy,” he said. “That’s a really exciting space for me and something I’ve really been looking forward to – to play a role, really strong role, in developing policy for an alternative government.”

Housing, health, education and industry loom as the cornerstones of policy development as the Liberal Party looks to come up with a blueprint it will then communicate to the people of South Australia in the lead up to the 2026 election.

And Mr Hood will ensure regional South Australia, including his two local electorates, has a prominent place in that blueprint.

“Mount Gambier and Mackillop and two important regions of South Australia in fact I would argue they are the more important region in South Australia in terms of how productive this region from an economic point of view,” he said.

“We’ve got to get better at supporting our regions and building our regions and grow the economic complexity of the state.”

Unsurprisingly Mr Hood’s canvassing of regional South Australians has seen cost of living loom large as an issue, with a focus on the price of groceries, while health ranked a close second.

“The health system at state level is under severe pressure and regionally it is a case of regional people not being able to get the services that they need because the workforce isn’t there,” he said. “The Limestone Coast is a prime example that when something does go really wrong you have to travel so far.”

Energy security was also a recurring theme with road infrastructure consistently part of the conversation as well.

“There is a lot of talk about ensuring cars are road worthy and not enough talk about making sure our roads are car worthy,” Mr Hood said. “In some instances the road infrastructure is crumbling around us.”

Mr Hood will also keep advocating for issues close to the heart of his home region.

He has been at the coalface of the radiation services campaign for the Limestone Coast and is committed to continuing to push that cause.

“That’s something the government could do – it could’ve happened already,” Mr Hood said.

And that is just one of many issues where Mr Hood will collaborate with local representatives to achieve outcomes for this region and regional SA more broadly.

“The whole state is my patch,” he said. “I enjoy working with Troy (Bell) and Nick (McBride) and Clare (Scriven). I know at the end of the day that we are all in it for the same reasons – we just sometimes choose different ways to get there. It’s a positive for the Limestone Coast to have four representatives in parliament.”

The new role was always going to see a change in the family dynamic for wife Elle and their children but as a family, the Hoods had some experience in living with a husband and father who spent significant time on the road.

“They were used to me being away with George the Farmer,” Mr Hood said. “But this is obviously much more regular – I head up Monday of sitting week and return on Friday or Thursday night if I am lucky. I am getting used to living out of suitcase and living in a motel room. It is tough being away from Elle and the kids but the bottom line is, it is a real privilege to be able to do this job.”

Of course, there is one member of the family he sees more often – sister and Labor Member for Adelaide Lucy Hood.

“Lucy and I try to have regular lunches every sitting week but there have been fewer and fewer as I become a louder and louder critic of the government – I’m a persistent thorn in their side,” Mr Hood said. “A good opposition holds a government to account.”