STATE DEBT

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:45): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier confirm that state debt now peaks at $14 billion in the forward estimates, $1 billion up from the debt forecast in the May budget, and can he offer the parliament and the people of South Australia a guarantee that this debt will not go higher than this revised debt forecast?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his question. Of course, he is speaking about the whole of the state government, including the statutory authorities that tend to be treated separately for the purposes of an analysis of debt. It is $14 billion if you scope all of those matters in; it is less than $10 billion if you don't.

The particular debt that is of interest tends to be focused on the general government sector, which is less than $10 billion. Can I say about that that it is directed at the infrastructure program that I just mentioned—the South Road Superway, the Southern Expressway, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the Adelaide Oval, the Riverbank Precinct, the Convention Centre, all of these substantial infrastructure projects which are developing ongoing prosperity for South Australia and sustaining people in jobs now.

This is the flip side. It is rational to borrow for those productive assets which give benefits in the long term for the future of our state. We have set ourselves a set of metrics which we are determined to keep within to ensure that we have—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, let's look at what we are talking about here: less than 3 per cent of the state budget will be spent on interest, which is a perfectly rational proposition. The ratio of debt to our gross state product is about 10 per cent—a completely rational and prudent level of borrowings for a state economy. Indeed, these are—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Morialta for the second time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: In historic terms, these are modest levels of—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, they are nothing like the levels of debt that occurred within the mid-nineties and also, I must say, nothing like the levels of borrowings that were undertaken by Sir Thomas Playford when he was seeking to grow this state. It really depends on whether you decide you want to grow South Australia or whether you want to shrink South Australia—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —whether you are confident about South Australia's future—

The SPEAKER: I warn the leader for the second time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —or whether you are fearful about South Australia's future.

The SPEAKER: Point of order, member for Stuart.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker, you have given the Premier ample time to address the substance of the question and that was: can he guarantee that the debt will not increase any more?

The SPEAKER: Member for Stuart, I am of the view that the Premier is answering the substance of the question. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: As I have said, we have a series of metrics that were published in the Mid-Year Budget Review, and you will see that debt levels reduce very substantially in the year after the forward estimates. So, it is our intention to reduce the debt levels in South Australia; that is the reason why across the forward estimates we have retained our objective. We have, across the forward estimates, planned for a surplus which will allow us to pay down debt.

These are rational metrics. They are the sort of prudent financial management you would expect from a government that is seeking to balance the imperatives of long-term growth, sustaining short-term activity in the economy now but also doing it with an envelope of prudent financial management.