A video and half a quote from a Hindu Swami provided a preview of what voters can expect to be one of Premier Jay Weatherill’s key messages in the next six months.

Adelaide Oval, the Riverbank Precinct and the expanded Adelaide Convention Centre are coming together to provide a vibrant city, Weatherill said at Friday night’s annual Convention Centre stakeholders’ dinner.

Weatherill’s apparent discomfort with an illustrative quote from 19th Century Hindu philosopher Vivekananda drew raised eyebrows among the 500 guests who seemed as unsure of its origins as the Premier did of its pronunciation and context.

Weatherill’s main pitch was that the City of Adelaide was central to his government’s strategy.

“The truth is, not enough people spend enough time in our principal asset – our capital city,” he said.

“When I became Premier, I put the notion of our city at the centre of our thinking.

“I believe modern regions compete on the attractiveness of their capital cities.

“I wanted to shake up the city of Adelaide; creating a vibrant city to become one of our central strategic priorities for the prosperity of our state.

“I wanted a city that beats to the rhythm of a generation of ambitious, well educated South Australians at all times of the day and night.

“That’s why we took on the established interests to open up our city; to create small bars and small venues to take on that fantastic tradition of live music and to open up our laneways.”

Weatherill then sought to illustrate his view about the merging of new infrastructure projects on the River Torrens with this quote:   “As Swami Vivekananda put it: ‘as different streams having different sources all mingle their waters in the sea; the streams of Adelaide’s academic, cultural, sporting, social and working life will all mingle at the convention centre’.”

The quote came without explanation, nor how he interpreted it to be relevant to a convention centre development.

Swami Vivekananda was an international figure in Hinduism, bringing its philosophies and practices to the western world, most notably in an 1893 Chicago speech at the Parliament of the World’s Religions – an interfaith conference.

In that speech, he quoted from the Hindu deity Shiva: “as different streams having different sources all mingle their waters in the sea, so different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to God.”

Its context was one of international tolerance and universal acceptance.

For Weatherill to use it in the context of Adelaideans getting together for some fun at the convention centre was a little off key.

He had also wrongly attributed it to Vivekananda rather than its original source, Shiva.

Swami or no Swami, it was clear that the Premier expects the “vibrant city” theme to resonate with the young swinging voters of South Australia.

You’ll hear it again and again as each stage of the Adelaide Oval and Riverbank precinct developments  are rolled out.