Grievance Debate

PAYROLL TAX

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (15:19): I just want to make some comments on the poor old Treasurer, leading up to budget week. Over the weekend, we had the Treasurer with his construction hat on, sort of a Bob the Builder from Treasury, out there breaking a fundamental promise and, again today, in The Australian, announcing a broken promise on behalf of the government in relation to the payroll tax rebate for apprentices and trainees.

Three days before the last state election, they had done their polling and Mike Rann, the then premier, comes out and announces an exact match of the Liberal Party policy; that is, there would be, in round figures, a $25 million a year rebate for apprentices and trainees. He promised that it would increase the number of apprentices and trainees by 10 per cent. He promised that it would be four years. If you go to the press release, it said that it was over four years. From memory, it was a $108 million commitment. This was a commitment to last four years. What do we find? On the eve of this budget, the second Snelling budget, they have poked the South Australian public and the employers in the eye and they have abandoned the promise. They have broken yet another promise.

What it means for the employers in the building industry is that there is an extra cost of around $1,500 per apprentice. This government is making it harder to employ apprentices and harder to employee trainees. Why would a government do that, other than the fact that their budget is in a mess?

The Treasurer goes out on the weekend and makes budget announcements, but in here in front of the TV cameras, when he is asked very simple questions about his own press statements, the poor old Treasurer says, 'I can't talk about the budget. You will have to wait until Thursday.' The simple fact is they have broken their promise. It is yet another promise that Labor has broken.

We are still waiting for the Mount Bold Reservoir duplication. We are still waiting for the prison PPP. My electorate is still waiting for the underpass and overpass at Sturt Road and South Road. We are still waiting for the tunnel at the intersection of Grange Road and South Road. These are all promises the government has made and ultimately walked away from. There was the promise before the election about the Adelaide Oval: $450 million and not a cent more.

All Treasurer Snelling has done today is to show why he is so desperate for the media to come and watch him having a boxing session on budget day. Why would a Treasurer want to set up a media stunt on the morning of budget day if it was not to distract from the bad news in the budget? It is a joke. It is a joke that the Treasurer is so desperate to hide the bad news in the budget that he wants 10 or 15 seconds of the budget wrap-up that night to have Jack doing his shadow boxing with the bag. It makes no difference to the budget. He has a right hook: that will be $5 million saving here. He has a good left jab: that will be $3 million saving there. Frankly, it is pathetic. Jack Snelling could not go two rounds with a revolving door.

Let us get back to the real issue facing South Australia. This government went to the last election misleading the public on a number of fundamental promises, and today we have another one. All those apprentices and trainees out there, you have just been jabbed in the eye, and your employers have been jabbed in the eye by this government. There is a double whammy here, of course. This is the Treasurer and the government that are putting their hand in the pocket of the Construction Industry Training Board to grab $4.5 million a year out of the Construction Industry Training Board. So, apprentices and trainees have just got more expensive for the employers to employ and then the Construction Industry Training Board is going to have less money to provide training.

If you want any better example that this budget is in trouble, you have a government breaking a fundamental promise, and the best the Treasurer can come out with is to come and have a look at him doing a bit of boxing. It is a joke.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!