In baseball, three strikes will end a batter’s innings.
In South Australian politics, it appears the same principle holds true — even if it takes some time for the crucial pitch to fly over home plate.
In July last year, the strikes were building up on Transport, Infrastructure, Planning and Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll.
His department’s contentious plans to change to bus timetables had been poorly sold and poorly received by the public. Strike one.
He then became embroiled in the Country Members Accommodation Allowance saga, which saw him repay more than $29,000 in claims.
His inability to detail, before the cameras, what expenses he incurred while staying at his parents’ house in Adelaide made painful viewing. Strike two.
He then quit the ministry before announcing he would quit politics altogether at the 2022 election, which surprised many at the time considering Mr Knoll’s age.
But we now know where the third strike was coming from, and Mr Knoll knew it was coming too.
At the time Mr Knoll quit the ministry, Ombudsman Wayne Lines was less than a fortnight from signing off on his investigation into Mr Knoll’s attempt to sack members of the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority Board.
The investigation was sparked by a referral by no less an authority than the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.
Mr Knoll had received a provisional report into the matter back in April 2020.
Mr Lines’s ultimate finding was that then-minister Mr Knoll committed misconduct in public administration under a section of the ICAC Act.
Mr Knoll challenged the finding in court, delaying the release of the report until now.
In a statement, Mr Knoll said it was a minor procedural mistake that was fixed straightaway, and the report also found he acted swiftly once the error was detected.
Some in political circles have suggested Mr Knoll could have survived one of the aforementioned strikes. Maybe even two of them. But all three…
ABC News
)There’s little doubt Stephan Knoll was a talented politician in a hurry — a rising star of the Liberal right — whom many had flagged for high office in future state governments.
In the first state Liberal ministry since 2002, Mr Knoll landed four significant portfolios. A sizable lift, even for the most accomplished politician, let alone a freshman minister.
There are some well-placed people within Liberal ranks who have quietly mused loading up Mr Knoll like that was a deliberate move by the dominant moderate faction to test him.
He was big on ambition, but would he sink or swim with a workload so heavy?
Mr Knoll’s resignation, and the lack of a replacement in the ministry from the party’s right, provided further fuel for the factional fire which continues to burn within the SA Liberals — a blaze which flared up again in recent weeks with the right’s recruitment drive within Pentecostal churches.
While the faction will be left without a potential leader for future battles, it is increasingly clear why it was game over for Mr Knoll.
