Talk:Dean Brown

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"Dean Brown's political career was marked by his rivalry with John Olsen, the two representing the moderate and conservative wings of the South Australian Liberal Party respectively."

This is a bold oversimplification. John Olsen was a LM person and not really conservative in any sense (his economics were wet, he was pro-choice on abortion, etc). He used the strength of the conservative voting block to get elected, but then also used the votes of Joan Hall (Wife of [Steele Hall]) to get elected.

This is an inappropriate introduction to the article. I'll leave this comment here for now, see if there's any discussion, and if there's not overhaul it later.

As the author of the original comment... I agree it's an oversimplification, and I agree it doesn't belong in the introduction. But I think it's broadly accurate (at least if I restrict it to his 2nd stint (1992-2005), which I should have done), and I've seen a number commentators use it. So the rivalry certainly needs to be mentioned: the behaviour of the SA Liberal party 1992-2006 makes little sense without it.
Are you sure Olsen was in the LM? And I've no idea how you could call Olsen's economics wet - he was very pro privatisation, this was even used against him in SA elections in the 80s. I wasn't aware of Olsen's opinion on abortion, but I do know Olsen (as Premier) made an apology to the Stolen Generation, so you could call him economic-dry-social-wet perhaps. As for Joan Hall - I think she was one of the "defectors" who tipped the balance and allowed Olsen to gain the leadership in '96, though I could be wrong. Perhaps their support bases weren't as simple as moderate vs conservative. I thought they were, but I'm willing to be corrected. p.s. remember to sign your comments. Rocksong 07:51, 29 April 2006 (UTC)