HOUSING SA RENTAL INCREASES

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:56): My question is again to the Premier. How can the people of South Australia trust the government when it promised, prior to the March 2010 election, that it would not increase Housing Trust rents for pensioners?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Federal/State Relations, Minister for Defence Industries) (14:56): The government has made no secret—

Mr Williams: Yes, you did; you promised.

The SPEAKER: Order! Do you want the question answered or not?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: It is no secret that this government faced an incredibly difficult budgetary position—

Mr Williams: It is no secret that you made a mess of it for eight years.

The SPEAKER: Deputy leader!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: AAA; I would not suggest it is a mess.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Not by 'finches' he said. It's Fitch's, not finches; they are colourful little birdies. How can I ever take you lot seriously?

Mr Williams: Fitch's.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Oh, you're now saying Fitch's.

The SPEAKER: Treasurer, get back to the question and stop responding to interjections.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Madam Speaker, Fitch's is not a rating agency that is considered in the same league as Standard and Poor's and Moody's. That is why, to the best of my understanding, the last Liberal treasurer, Rob Lucas, did not subscribe to them either—although they are in Barcelona, so it has been tempting.

As we know, this government put in place a Sustainable Budget Commission process. The detailed work of that commission in identifying savings did not start until after the state election.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: We were up-front about it.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Do you think I can get an answer in, Madam Speaker? Honestly, this lot—

Mr Williams: Come on; bring it on.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Just be quiet and I will give you an answer.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Deputy leader, it is time you were quiet.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Madam Speaker, the deputy leader is impugning that I am telling the parliament a lie. I ask him to apologise and withdraw.

The SPEAKER: I can understand where the Treasurer is coming from, but I cannot say that I interpret it in that way. However, I will listen very carefully to what the deputy leader says—and in fact he can shut up, because I have heard enough of him this afternoon.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What I said—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —was that the substantive work of identifying savings measures did not start until after the election.

Mr Marshall: Why's that? Why didn't you start earlier?

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Norwood!

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Norwood!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I was up-front, and I said that—

Mrs Redmond: After the election.

The SPEAKER: There seems very little point in your answering this, Treasurer; the other side doesn't seem to be listening.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Maybe a couple of them should go for a walk. The work done prior to the election, as I said, was work that identified and advised the government on the appropriate timing for this budget, the amount of time they believed would be necessary to undertake the identification of savings and a number of other process matters that we needed to take into account.

The identification of savings was work that was undertaken post the election, so any suggestion that we either knew of these savings or had a plan for these savings before the election is absolutely untrue. We only had a plan when we received the information in a considered form from the Sustainable Budget Commission in the lead-up to the budget. It was only then that we were made aware of what savings they had identified. But, Madam Speaker—

Ms Chapman: Too gutless to tell the people.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Too gutless to tell the people.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Bragg!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Well, is the member for Bragg saying that we should not build the Marion pool?

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Are you saying we shouldn't build the Marion pool?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I tell you what, Vickie—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —you have made such a success of your political career, I stand in awe of you. You have gone down the totem pole. You have just been sliding, sliding, sliding, getting further and further away from your ambition to be the first female premier of this state. You really are a sad case. I feel sorry for you.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I feel pity for you.

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will get back to answering the question.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: As I have said repeatedly, we are a government that can govern for the good of South Australia because we are able to make the hard decisions to keep our AAA credit rating—something the Liberal Party failed to do in eight long years of incompetent government.

The SPEAKER: It is always the sign of a poor question time when the media disappear, and I hope you are taking note of that. The member for Davenport.