Question Time

State Budget

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:05): My question is to the Premier. As the Premier told the house yesterday that what South Australia needs now is 'strong leadership that maps out a future direction for our state's economy', what has Labor been doing for the last 15 years?

The SPEAKER: That is a question that is very broad in scope, and if anyone takes a point of order that the Premier's answer is not relevant I will remove them under the standing order because there are no boundaries of relevance with a question like that. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:06): Let me explain the ways in which we have stood up for South Australia and asserted the interests of this great state in this nation, whether it is the great fight to secure what we needed down the River Murray to make sure it is preserved for the future, when we had the member for MacKillop suggesting we should settle for a Mazda and we decided that we wanted a first-class Rolls-Royce solution for the River Murray. When it came down to it, when we decided to stand up and fight for South Australia in the national interest but put South Australia's interests forward, we united the whole of the state behind this idea.

Irrigator and environmentalist, country and city, all of us came together and fought and won a glorious victory. If we—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —then go to that very important decision that we took, that very important decision as a government, to rebuild our most important hospital, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, remember those opposite: they opposed it every step of the way. Mr Speaker—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier will be seated. Mr Clerk, stop the clock. I call to order the members for Adelaide, Hartley, Morialta, Hammond, the leader and the Minister for Transport and the member for Colton. I warn the members for Adelaide, Mitchell, Morialta and the leader, and I warn for the second and final time the member for Adelaide and the leader. If they transgress standing orders one more time, they will depart with 58 minutes to go on the clock. Leader.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The cries of desperation opposite—one bad poll and they are in flat-out panic mode. The Royal Adelaide Hospital—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

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

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The Royal Adelaide Hospital is sitting in one of the most magnificent biomedical precincts in the Southern Hemisphere. A new Royal Adelaide Hospital and a new biomedical centre, a new Royal Adelaide Hospital medical school, a new University of South Australia medical school and, in the future, a new women's hospital are creating one of the great biomedical precincts of the world here in South Australia.

Of course, the city: the one thing that even those opposite would not seek to take from us is the complete revitalisation of the City of Adelaide, the centrepiece being the new upgrade of the Adelaide Oval, that extraordinary success story, once again opposed by those opposite. This is one of the great success stories they argued against. They argued against the footbridge; they said that that was a folly. They argued against the trams; they said that they should not come back into the city. They argued against the upgrade of Adelaide Oval, and they tried to prevent our great reforms of liquor licensing to introduce the small bars, which have utterly revitalised the City of Adelaide.

Of course, for the hell of it, we decided to duplicate the Southern Expressway, overturning that extraordinary folly of those opposite, the one-way expressway, the laughing stock of the world courtesy of the Liberal Party of South Australia, South Australian branch. We are taking up the challenges of transforming the South Australian economy, and our leadership is being seen for what it is, that is, the hope of the future of South Australia.

The SPEAKER: The leader and the member for Morialta will depart for the next hour, for a flagrant breach of standing orders, under the sessional order.

The honourable members for Dunstan and Morialta having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley.