Question Time

WORKCOVER

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): My question is to the Premier. Why did the government tell parliament, in 2008, in relation to the WorkCover scheme, that reducing workers' entitlements will enable a reduction in the unfunded liability and an improvement in return-to-work outcomes when the unfunded liability has now blown out to $1.2 billion and return-to-work outcomes have not improved?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Workers Rehabilitation, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:06): The fact is we have seen an improvement in the underlying performance of WorkCover. The reasons for the deterioration—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Treasurer, can you sit down. Thank you. Some order. We need to be able to hear the Treasurer. Thank you, Treasurer.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The reasons for the deterioration in the unfunded liability are twofold. One is reduce earnings on assets which are affecting many funds, including the funds the state government is holding for unfunded superannuation liability. We have seen the effect of reduced earning on assets on that. It is also because of the reduction in the discount rate, which causes significant deterioration in these sorts of funds and their actuarial calculations. If you look behind the numbers and at the actual performance of WorkCover—the scheme—there has been an improvement in the scheme.