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Departing SA Liberal Iain Evans takes final swipe at parliamentary colleagues

A former South Australian Liberal leader and government minister, Iain Evans, has taken a swipe at parliamentary colleagues in his farewell speech after 21 years in State Parliament.

The politician is ending a 46-year Evans family link with SA politics; his father, Stan Evans, was also a member of the Parliament.

Mr Evans used his farewell to criticise Liberal colleague and deputy party leader Vickie Chapman, and a former colleague, Martin Hamilton-Smith, who switched parliamentary teams this year, leaving the Liberals to take up a Labor Government ministry.

SA has long seen rivalry between the Evans and Chapman families on the conservative side of politics.

Asked about his parting jibes, Mr Evans defended them.

"What I did was explain to the new colleagues in the Parliament that team work, discipline and unity is the formula to win government, and I gave some examples where people had made errors in the past which had caused some difficulties for the party," he said.

"The message to my colleagues is very simple, they are within reach of something very special, that is a chance to win government [so] work hard, remain united and be disciplined, that's their best chance."

Evans spoke of bitter political divisions

Mr Evans conceded he needed to take a share of responsibility for the state Liberals having been out of power for so long, with Labor now in its fourth consecutive four-year term.

"Look, I take my share of the responsibility, as do the other 20 to 25 members of the Parliament over the years. The reality is that some political parties do have difficulties," he said.

Mr Evans cited federal Labor woes as he spoke of political division.

"You could look at the Hawke-Keating era, where they were bitterly divided, you could look at Rudd-Gillard, they had their difficulties, it happens sometimes in politics," he said.

Mr Evans said, at the age of 55, he was not retiring.

"I'm not retiring, I'm just exiting politics. Tomorrow I start with a new company involved in exports in the meat industry," he said.

The by-election in Mr Evans' seat of Davenport is expected to be held in the new year while another by-election, in Fisher, will be held in early December.