Mobile Black Spot Program

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Will the minister commit to providing funding for the federal mobile phone Black Spot Program, as requested by his federal colleague Nick Champion?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:33): I think the opposition would have cleaner hands on this if they wrote to their colleagues asking them not to make cuts to funding to the communications portfolio where the current Prime Minister oversaw dramatic cuts to the rollout of mobile phone towers. What Nick Champion is doing, like a good local MP, is looking to any source possible to try to get mobile phone coverage for his electorate.

Perhaps rather than trying to score a cheap political point in the last dying days of his leadership, perhaps the opposition leader could have written to me in advance saying, 'Why don't we go in together? I'll speak to my colleagues in Canberra. You put up some money and let's try and get some more of this.'

Instead, what he does is he wants to lock in those cuts made by the commonwealth government to South Australia and he wants South Australian taxpayers to pick up those cuts made by the commonwealth government. And, of course, how do we fund that? We fund it through payroll tax receipts, through land tax receipts, through stamp duty receipts.

While he is calling for tax cuts, he wants us to increase spending while the commonwealth government makes cuts to their own expenditure in areas of their own responsibility. Quite frankly, he has no policies at all. He has no credibility at all on this. He is more like Tony Abbott and nothing like Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Point of order!

Mr GARDNER: Debate.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. Member for Morphett.