Mid North Visit

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (14:30): Thank you Mr Speaker, my question is to the Premier: can the Premier inform the house about his trip to the Mid North last week?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:30): It was very nice; a very pleasant trip on 27 May.

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It was indeed a very pleasant trip. Last week I visited Burra and Peterborough to listen to the stories and concerns of the people who live in that beautiful part of our state. My visit was one of six on that day to the regions by cabinet ministers and demonstrates that we are in fact responding to the election result by seeking to reach out to people in regional South Australia.

In Burra, I met the Regional Council of Goyder Mayor, Peter Mattey, over a beer at the Commercial Hotel—a black and tan, to be completely accurate with the house. I discussed the challenges facing Burra and the local region with representatives of Regional Development Australia, the Mid North industry leaders group, the Southern Flinders industry leaders group and the local DFEEST regional manager. I also spoke with several small business owners and was again pleased to visit Paolo and Clare at The Black Sheep Italian restaurant, which I can highly recommend—one of the best pizzas—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Second-best pizza.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —second-best pizza—in the Mid North. It was also great to see the excellent progress being made on the restoration of the Burra Heritage Railway Station, where Mr Roy Taplin is doing some amazing work. He is one man with a tiny grant who has produced millions of dollars worth of work and it really is worth a visit. Whilst Burra is obviously facing its own challenges, in relative terms, it is a relatively prosperous place.

The problems facing Peterborough and those in the surrounding areas are very significant. Indeed, it is facing levels of disadvantage which are greater than any area outside the APY lands, so it does deserve our special attention, and this goes directly to the question of governing for all South Australians. We can't have it said that there is one group of South Australians who are so far behind another group.

In Peterborough, I visited the Mayor of the District Council of Peterborough, Ruth Whittle, and her council chief executive, Mr Peter McGuinness. I also met with UnitingCare Wesley to hear how our Building Family Opportunities program is helping disadvantaged families facing intergenerational unemployment in Peterborough. I met with participants of the UnitingCare Wesley's Mothers and Babies programs to hear of the challenges facing young families, and I also visited the Peterborough High School where I discussed the education and training opportunities for young people.

School principal Ms Liz Pannell showed me Peterborough High School's impressive trade school facilities. While there are great challenges in this community, there is also an extraordinary amount of hope, and I was impressed by the resilience of the Peterborough locals. But they won't be able to do this on their own and, obviously, we'll reach out to the local member and also all government agencies will make a specific effort in this area.

I spoke to these communities about my commitment to the regions to let them know that we will bring one of many community cabinets to the Mid North in the near future. But my principal purpose of the visit was to listen, not to talk, and the consistent theme that we heard was the very great concern about the future and I think very significant concern about the effect of the current federal Liberal government's budget, in particular the $60 million in local government financial assistance grants over the next three years.

The $18 million in cuts to local road funding was also playing on the minds of the local regional representatives. We will work with those communities, but we will be placing a significant amount of our effort on those communities that are doing it toughest in regional South Australia.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned for the second and final time. The leader.