STATE BUDGET

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (15:05): My question is to the Treasurer. Why should the public believe Labor's promise to return to surplus at the end of the forward estimates when Labor has forecast a surplus at the end of the forward estimates in eight out of eight years, but has only delivered a surplus in one out of those eight years?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his question, and the simple answer is he can look at our record.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The record is this—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The record is this: we delivered surpluses in every year from 2002-03 to 2007-08, and then again in 2009-10. And during that period we paid down general government debt in 2007-08, so that there was no general government sector debt by 2008. In fact, we accrued net financial assets. We also over that period cut taxes and we gave significant relief in relation to payroll and land tax, and we embarked on an extraordinary program of infrastructure investment. We had seen that run down very considerably under the previous government and so we have invested in significant infrastructure.

We have also improved services in health, policing, education and child protection. But when the global financial crisis hit in 2008 it had a massive effect on our revenues. There was about a $3 billion cut to our revenues over the forward estimates from 2011-12, and we have had to grapple with that. We made two fundamental decisions in response to that. We have maintained our investments, at some risk to our rating, but we have maintained that investment because it was the right thing to do at the time, and this is becoming accepted across the world.

The austerity measures that those opposite would advance are discredited. We also embarked upon, at the same time, a series of savings initiatives to bring the budget back into surplus. Those savings have been designed to maintain front-line service delivery and to limit the impact on the community as far as possible, and to date we have achieved nearly all of our savings targets.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, you can laugh, but—

Mr Marshall: That's just not true. What about the Mid-Year Budget Review?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, the Mid-Year Budget Review grappled with this question.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: If perhaps rather than interrupting you would like to hear the facts: we actually budgeted for a 3,206 reduction in full-time equivalents. We actually achieved 3,154, so very close to our target, and to the extent that we had to reverse certain savings we put in other savings to make up the difference. So, we have undertaken a prudent set of financial measures. We have accepted our responsibilities about trying to trim where we need to, to make sure that we can retain our financial credibility within the parameters we set for ourselves, but we are also not prepared to put a massive contraction into the South Australian economy, in a way which is rejected by almost every serious commentator in the international marketplace.

We are now seeing that the policies that were advanced by the UK Treasurer are being walked away from. There is a widely held belief that the austerity measures in the United Kingdom have confined that country to a much slower recovery than would otherwise be the case, and there is widespread condemnation of austerity measures across Europe. We are not even in the same situation as those countries that would demand the austerity measures that those opposite are calling for. It is nonsense politics walking away from the economy at the very time it needs to be supported. You simply sit there in international opinion out on your lonesome if you are promoting these policies of austerity, when we are trying to sensibly manage our economy.

Mr PISONI: Point of order: the Premier is debating the answer.

The SPEAKER: Yes, he probably is. I think the Premier is finished. The member for Mount Gambier.