South Australian Premier Mike Rann has praised his Treasurer Kevin Foley for having the courage to speak out about his battle with depression.
Mr Rann said his deputy has displayed incredible openness.
"Kevin Foley has shown real courage in talking about his depression, and how he has dealt with it while successfully doing a difficult job," Mr Rann said.
Mr Foley revealed his battle with depression on Tuesday but also outlined his determination to continue in his key government roles.
He rejected suggestions his revelations were some sort of rebranding of his tough-guy image.
"Somebody said this is about softening myself up for a tilt at the leadership," he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
"I reckon this is a pretty bizarre way to re-position or rebrand yourself if you had ambitions to be premier.
"This is something that I never wanted to reveal, it's something I had no intention of revealing."
Mr Foley's resolve to continue in politics was backed by beyondblue chairman and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett who said many high-profile people continued to perform well while suffering from depression.
"Everyone is different," he said.
"There are many senior people today across many professions that hold down very, very important jobs who effectively discharge their responsibilities.
"It depends on the individual, it depends on the severity of the illness."
Mr Kennett said politics could be a "lonely business" and a depressive illness and relationship issues could make it more so.
"But it doesn't necessarily affect the quality of the work that you do," he said.
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