Grievance Debate

MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:24): Today we have heard from the Premier his response to the extraordinary Mid-Year Budget Review predictions—no explanation as to the variation of the level of debt, no commitment to it being contained, no answers as to why we have over 1,000 few full-time jobs in the state, and no promises as to how we are going to get out of the manufacturing debacle other than to have a voucher system. We have heard now from the Minister for Small Business that we are going to have another public servant to get us out of the way.

The strong fiscal and financial discipline the Premier claims he has had to implement in light of the global financial crisis, which he claims still as the excuse for the failures of his government, while all of this is going on, while Rome is burning, the new Minister for Water and the environment is appointed, and what is the (almost) first act of the minister the Hon. Ian Hunter in launching his new portfolio commitments? He announced on Sunday that, notwithstanding what the Premier has described as the strong financial discipline of his government in light of these impecunious times, he will launch a multimillion dollar television campaign selling a policy on exclusion zones for marine parks that will be brought into effect in 2014.

He has proposed a multimillion dollar campaign with advertising in cinemas, print, billboards, bus shelters and online. All of these activities are to be undertaken at a time that the Premier (today) has told us are the impecunious circumstances of the state. With his strong financial discipline, what are we going to have? We are going to have another big television campaign, now to be expanded to cinemas, print, billboards, etc. He wants to explain, in this great campaign, why it is important to implement the program.

This is notwithstanding that the Premier has made a commitment, in announcing the new boundaries for exclusion zones last year, to consult with the people of South Australia to identify how this would affect the lifestyle and livelihood of thousands of people across South Australia, not just recreational fishermen, women and children and not just the people who have licences for fishing on a commercial basis in South Australia, but the livelihoods of all of those people who live in our coastal towns and those who have made an investment in them.

Just this week, in light of the circumstances that have prevailed, that is, the announcement by the government that it is going to implement this program in 2014, notwithstanding that it says this is such a great move that it is going to bring it forward to 2014, we have the clear confirmation that there is nothing in the budget to make provision to actually resource the implementation of this program. So, it is so important that he has to spend millions of dollars to tell the public about how fabulous it is, but he is going to do nothing to make provision for the expenditure.

On the evidence of the head of the Department of Environment alone, he says that the management and monitoring of the marine park exclusion zones is going to cost $120 million over the next five years. We have displacement payments from the department which confirms a $34 million cost over five years. Recreational fishing support over five years, $5.5 million; class action damages (based on legal advice), some $95.5 million; loss of sustainable production from the ABS statistics, $47.5 million; regional impact flows calculated from the EconSearch methodology, $213.5 million; and the department again (PIRSA and DEWNR), $2 million: a $518 million calculated cost over five years. That is $100 million a year estimated costs as presented. The government knows this because the Ceduna mayor, Mr Allan Suter, has presented that in an open submission to the Premier to explain: where is that money going to come from? There is no provision for it, there is no serious presentation—

The SPEAKER: Oddly enough, that applies to the deputy leader. The member for Mitchell.