Green Party Filibuster - Heroic Defence of the Rights of Injured Workers

Greens MP Mark Parnell's oratory marathon - aimed at delaying a Bill he opposes - may well be the longest filibuster in a state parliament.

He can't claim an Australian record for filibustering - one senator spoke for more than 12 hours in 1918 - and his effort pales in comparison to some others overseas.

However South Australian parliamentary officials and MPs suggested that before Mr Parnell, the longest speech in the state's parliament was probably a mere three or four hours.

Speeches of three to four hours were also recalled in other states, with one eight-hour address delivered to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1897, although that included an overnight break.

Debating changes to the WorkCover workers' compensation scheme, Mr Parnell got to his feet in the SA Legislative Council yesterday morning and, except for breaks for lunch and dinner, held the floor until late last night.

He was followed by independent MP Ann Bressington, who spoke for five hours, before debate on the Bill was adjourned at 4am (4.30am AEST) today.

The pair had teamed up to stall a vote on the WorkCover changes, which would cut payments to some injured workers, and to get union and worker concerns on the public record.

In his monologue, Mr Parnell read the entire WorkCover Bill, presented his own analysis and then related the submissions from the union movement and stories from injured workers.

Suffering from little more than a sore neck for his efforts, he said today he could have gone on for another eight hours, but knew he was testing the limits of his parliamentary colleagues.

"Yes, I planned to speak for a long time. I didn't know how long it would be but in the end I cut it down,'' he said. 

"Had I gone through all the material that I could have, it would have been twice as long.

"But I knew I was pushing the boundaries of parliamentary convention.

"No-one goes for that long, it's not normally regarded as polite.''

Mr Parnell said he was not concerned with whether or not his speech was a record and would "not bother to find out''.

But the Parliamentary Library in Canberra said he had fallen well short of the longest speeches delivered at a federal level.

In the House of Representatives the record was held by Labor MP William "Jawbone'' Webster, who in 1909 spoke for 10 hours and 57 minutes.

In the Senate, Labor's Albert Gardiner held the floor for 12 hours and 40 minutes in 1918.

But even those were well short of the 24 hour and 18 minute filibuster by US Democrat Senator Strom Thurmond in 1957, while debating the Civil Rights Act.

Unions today hailed Mr Parnell's efforts as heroic and a staunch defence of the rights of injured workers.

Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith, while supporting the Government's Bill, also defended his right to speak.

But Premier Mike Rann was less than impressed, describing Mr Parnell's and Ms Bressington's speeches as time-wasting games.

"I think that it's totally shameful, what we saw last night,'' he said.

"They chose to play games, and I think that shows contempt for the state.''

Mr Parnell said he made no apologies for taking as long as he did.

"Yes, I'm sorry that it had to be late at night, but that's the parliamentary process,'' he said.