FIVEaa News Director
Matthew Pantelis reports

Our Westminster style of Government has served the British Commonwealth, of which Australia is a part, extremely well for centuries.

It has given us stable government, changes in leadership without bloodshed and a fair, democratic way to exercise our preference of direction.

But it has many quirks.

Unwritten conventions, parliamentary standing orders and the opportunities which come with warming the treasury benches underline much of how the system operates day to day.

One of those opportunities is the proroguing of Parliament.

This basically allows the government of the day to write a speech of its intentions for the Governor to read to a joint sitting of both houses, coming together in a crammed Upper House.

There’s a lot of pomp and ceremony, with, in Adelaide, North Terrace closed off for several hours around lunchtime, with bands and police grays lined up outside to welcome the Governor’s arrival.

New Premier Jay Weatherill is considering the symbolic measure to underline his ascension to the top job and the fact his government is now in charge.

But such a day costs money, at the minimum in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Along with the pomp outside requiring traffic control, there’s invitations to be sent out, Parliamentary and Speaker’s dining rooms prepared to feed invited guests at taxpayers expense, security, and everything else that goes with a party.

There’s also the disruption caused to thousands of people with the city gridlocked. That equates to hours of lost productivity, not to mention the carbon emissions.

For many South Australian’s, the overall cost of this day is the equivalent to a year’s income.

Understandably for a politician, Mr Weatherill wants to underline the message the Rann Government is over and a new government is in place, but he could, and has been doing, exactly the same with a series of speeches and announcements.

He’s already had a cabinet reshuffle with new ministers in place and has held a series of media conferences to announce new measures and initiatives.

Democracy costs money. Elections cost millions. Proroguing parliament is relatively minor in the scheme of things. But for most South Australians, the change in leadership has happened and the polls already record it is welcome. To underline it in symbolism is unnecessary and a sign Mr Weatherill has learned well how to manage electorate perceptions from his former boss.