SUPPLY BILL 2012

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 27 March 2012.)

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:52): I rise to continue my remarks in relation to the Supply Bill. The River Murray is very much front and centre in our thoughts at the moment, and it is certainly always front and centre of mine, especially in regard to what has happened in recent times as a result of overallocation and drought. One thing we see in regard to this is the government making such a big call on what they want to see. They are talking about the 4,000 gigalitres that they want in the plan, instead of the 2,750 gigalitres that has been put in the plan.

Why hasn't the government sent any staff to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to put South Australia's case in regard to this plan? I think this is a vital opportunity that has been missed by the government. They could have sent one or two staff along who could have taken the South Australian message directly to Canberra to make sure that the thoughts of South Australia were front and centre, especially because rivers die from the mouth up—and that is my concern. I am stunned that that did not happen. I find that disappointing, especially considering the amount of passion all politicians have in regard to this debate.

I want to reiterate comments I have made here previously in regard to the two milk factories at Murray Bridge and Jervois. Tony Esposito from United Dairy Power—and I think I mentioned this the other day—indicated that after months of lobbying by me, Mayor Allan Arbon and Brenton Lewis from Regional Development Australia, we have been unable to secure any funding or relief for United Dairy Power to help make these two factories viable. Well, we can see this come at a huge cost to the region, especially in terms of jobs.

I want to talk about the proposed amalgamations of schools that is going on as well. It is a target by the government to allegedly save $6 million by asking many schools across the state to amalgamate. There are two in my area, the Murray Bridge North School and the Murray Bridge North Junior Primary School, that are on the same campus and they operate very well under their management structures and teams. They believe they will be worse off if they are asked to amalgamate.

That is certainly the way it is going, certainly the way this government is headed under Premier Jay Weatherill and minister Grace Portolesi, and that is another disappointment. Again, here we have regional students who will potentially lose the benefits of education funding, inasmuch as funding drives the outcomes you can get; if you have the appropriate funding in place you can get the appropriate education outcomes.

I spoke earlier in my speech about mental health and the funding cuts in services provided to the One Voice Network as well as Our Wellbeing Place. These are services that keep people out of detention and supply valuable mental health appraisals and services so that people can enjoy better wellbeing. It is disappointing that that money has been pulled. As I indicated in my speech earlier today, Our Wellbeing Place, under the coordination of Ann Marie Garrett, was having visits by 7,500 people a year. That is an incredible amount of people, but now the centre has been left without a coordinator.

People have come through Our Wellbeing Place and have gone on to study degrees, arts degrees, so it is just disappointing that this has happened. We just want to see people getting the right assistance, and they are good establishments. The One Voice Network, which is not just in my area but across country regions from Mount Gambier through to the Yorke Peninsula, supplies valuable mental health work for the citizens of this state. As I indicated, it is disappointing that this has gone.

I want to talk about the debacle of Shared Services. It is not just the fact that members of parliament in the place, on all sides, have had their phones cut off due to late payment. We have had that constant battle. I note that the finance minister, who seems to be the only one on the other side who has any business acumen, has undertaken a program to try to offset this. Why not do just simple things—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: I am glad you concede he does.

Mr PEDERICK: He did run a business, I acknowledge that.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: Koutsy ran a business.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Hon. M.J. Wright): Order!

Mr PEDERICK: I acknowledge that there have been attempts made to fix this inequity, but I cannot understand that all this work before me has supposedly gone to this great place of Shared Services, which is just an absolute disaster.

However, the biggest issue for me is that there are services in the community—ranging from people who provide services to the Zoo, whether in Adelaide or Monarto in my electorate, whether it is people doing general work for government at any level—who are just not getting paid. Anyone who has any idea of business knows that if you do not have the cash flow that is when businesses fall over. There is no way that any individual or business should be propping up the government's debt issues through their small business. It is disgraceful. The bills are there to be paid on time so that we can promote small business in this state and promote the individual entrepreneurs of this state.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.D. Hill.

[Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00]