Bills

Appropriation Bill 2018

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading (resumed on motion).

Mr GEE (Taylor) (15:49): I will continue my remarks. I left off before the break talking about R U OK? Day, with all the former auto industry workers who were invited back to the old Holden site.

One of the concerns with the cuts to these programs is that we are going to leave behind a number of these workers and their families, as well as a number of the participants who were benefiting from the support of the team at the Northern Connections or from different programs run by Gail and her former team at the Northern Futures. Gail's team was assisting jobseekers with crucial skills. They were also assisting employers to access skilled and work-ready jobseekers, as well as unemployed and underemployed people to develop the skills and abilities that they need to access work or to obtain additional hours of work.

The funding for these programs will be axed, resulting in job losses. The message is that, unless these people want a traineeship or an apprenticeship, they are really not worthy of help. In fact, unless you want to be a trainee or an apprentice, this is a bad budget as far as training and education goes. Across the state, seven TAFE campuses will close and savings will be sought at those that remain open.

It is a dark time for TAFE. When we have the Victorian state government and the federal opposition ready to invest heavily in TAFE with fully funded places, our institutions are being devalued. We need real investment in TAFE so that it can continue to deliver for all South Australians who want to access higher education through TAFE.

Regarding schooling, we know that upgrades are being delayed or reprioritised across primary and secondary schools, with funds being moved to fund the transition of year 7 to high school and away from the projects that school communities need. In the north, the new birth to 12 school announced by the previous government—and I want to give credit to the new government—is going to be brought forward by a year. However, the problem we have now is that we do not have any details on the location, the catchment zone or anything else, and that school is going to open in just over three years.

The principals of the John Hartley School and Mark Oliphant College, the last two schools built in my area, were already on board long before the schools opened—in fact, when the schools were being discussed. Of course, that made it very beneficial. We need decisions and actions to be taken. Everybody in the north is talking about the new school, because the schools are so overcrowded, and the fact that this government is bringing that school forward a whole year. So it is a very positive measure, and a lot of families are moving into Virginia, Angle Vale, Munno Para and the back of Andrews Farm.

On the other side, though, it is disappointing to hear that the $5 million upgrade of Elizabeth North Primary School has been delayed—that should have already been implemented—denying the students the opportunity to use the state-of-the-art facilities for drama and music. This school really needs some modern facilities, which is essential for the students at that school.

Last week, with the Minister for Education, I visited the Burton Primary School, and I look forward to heading to Swallowcliffe and the Two Wells primary schools, where we are going to open their new STEM facilities. It is good news that those upgrades have gone ahead. Our school leaders, teachers and SSOs are obviously doing a great job. Hopefully, we are not going to see any cuts to those people. In fact, we need more teachers and more SSOs.

Slashing bus routes and the delivery of the Gawler rail electrification are two good things that this government is doing. Perhaps the highlights of the entire transport announcements in this budget are those two things really: slashing bus routes and the electrification of the Gawler rail line. It is pretty good to see this. It is a lot of money. It does not really create any ongoing jobs. I am not sure how many extra people are going to be transported on these trains.

I am not sure how much extra industry is going to be created by these trains and this electrification, but at this time it is something that we are happy to have. The people in the north want it. It is a thing that will probably see us good in the future, at a time like this when what we really need is schools, so this school has to be delivered. The timing of this will be just before the next state election.

One of the things that I will say—and I do not think there would be too many people who are currently sitting in the house here who have ever been on the Adelaide to Gawler train—

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Pederick): Absolutely!

Mr GEE: —but one thing we need is more carriages. You cannot get on that train unless you are standing up. By the time it has visited a few stops it is chock-a-block. Sorry, Acting Speaker, were you saying you wanted to join me on the train one day? One of the things we do really need on there is more transit officers, especially on the city to Gawler line.

In terms of the slashing of bus routes, the community is asking why you would not look at different service options, such as smaller buses. Some of the communities I look after, including Angle Vale, Virginia and Two Wells, do not have many buses now and the buses they do have do not have a lot of people on them, but they might just be people who are shift workers working in the food industry and things like that. A lot of those people do not need a full-size bus or an articulated bus. There are different options to cutting bus routes by using different types of vehicles.

I really think that most of the public transport systems do not run at a profit. The only one I am aware of that does, probably anywhere in the world—I will have to look into this—is the Queensland public transport system. As far as I know, it is one of the only ones in the world that actually runs at a profit. If you have ever used those buses, trains and the river system they have there with public transport, you know that those services have not just drivers but also guards and ticket people. It is very secure, very safe, and a lot of people use them because they feel safe, and that drops the price of the system as well. The profit they make more than covers all of that.

My local residents probably find it quite interesting to read in the budget papers that the government is planning on spending $150,000 on a feasibility study to extend the Adelaide Metro bus service to Murray Bridge, while we are cutting out other routes. In a letter from minister Knoll to me last week regarding more services for Angle Vale, Virginia and also extending services to Two Wells, which locals really want, the minister advises that the introduction of a new service would require either additional funding or reallocating existing public transport resources from other areas across the metropolitan network into those areas. You cannot have both or different: it either has to be one or the other.

The closure of Service SA offices in the budget is really short-sighted. The Service SA centres at Modbury, Mitcham and Prospect will close, while a new Service SA will open at Mount Barker. The Treasurer says that the reason three centres should close is reduced client numbers, with more people accessing the services online. Why close three centres and then open a new centre? It does not make sense. I have used this service a couple of times online but, even while I have been waiting, after a week or two I will call in to the service centre and get the same papers, the same papers I have been waiting for online for a couple of weeks.

Premier Marshall promised better services, yet this is the opposite: now he is closing Service SA centres. Most South Australians rely on Service SA centres to access essential services, such as to renew their driver's licences and car rego. Obviously, in those Service SA centres that are not closing the queues are going to be out the door because people are not going to use the online services. Most people who use Service SA go there in their lunchtime or their smoko. They just rush in and rush out; they are not going to be there for a long time.

We know that, on top of closing TAFE campuses and Service SA sites, the Liberal government are looking to privatise the Adelaide Remand Centre, a maximum security prison facility in the Adelaide CBD, and have flagged potential privatisation of SA Medical Imaging services and SA Pathology. It is a very concerning start to the first budget, when we know that the government, when they were last on the treasury bench, privatised ETSA and so much else. That is why I am saying that this budget seems like a continuation of the Treasurer's last budget 17 years ago.

The government are also off and running with their privatisation agenda in health. The last time they were government, they privatised Modbury Hospital. This time, they are looking to start their privatisation of health by privatising patient transfers between Modbury Hospital and the Lyell McEwin. I will wrap up there, and I look forward to making some further comments as we move through the Appropriation Bill.

Mr MURRAY (Davenport) (16:02): I rise to support the state budget of 2018-19—the first, in my view, in the reform and repair era of the Marshall Liberal government. In doing so, I want to report that I cannot help but reflect on the palpable disappointment that the budget has caused, principally of course to those opposite: Labor and its associated cheerleaders. There has been lots of confected outrage and lots of stunts, but in its core, and in their souls, Labor is disappointed in this budget for a variety of reasons. The first is that they knew how parlous the state's financial situation was that they left behind. It was laughably bad. The result and their attempts to hide it were even more laughable, and I will speak further on that shortly.

Labor clearly hoped that this government would respond in much the same way as they would have, which, historically, has been to flog more assets and, if there were any left, to grab the cash from those assets and then just make the rest of it up. When we are being lectured by those opposite about asset sales, etc., let's just remember that it was they who sold our forests and they who sold the Motor Accident Commission. They even tried to sell the Repat and SA Pathology, but they were beaten to the punch on both of those by the imminent election.

They secretly sold the rights to the motor registration data and the driver's licence data of all South Australians for $80 million. Again, this was done secretly—a cash grab. Under that agreement, the state is contractually obliged to use its best endeavours to commercialise the motor registration and driver licensing registry within three years, or repay the $80 million or grant a seven-year extension to the 40-year term of the land services agreement, which is already in place. Again, this is completely secret, flogging not just the asset itself but also the data, the information that pertains to South Australians' motor vehicle registrations and their driver's licences.

This budget, in contrast with Labor's spectacular failures and their world-record deceit, is about growing jobs. It is about $11.3 billion in infrastructure spending and commitments to South Australia, South Australians and South Australian jobs. This budget is, importantly, about lowering costs for South Australian households and small businesses. It is about an incoming government delivering on all its election commitments—over 300 of them. No wonder Labor are disappointed.

To be fair, they are not called the opposition for nothing. They reckon we cut some programs. We certainly did, and I am going to use one of those programs—a personal favourite of mine—by way of comparison because to me it says so much about what is wrong with Labor and their stifling, stale, Stalinist views and methods. We cut the Dob in a Litterer program. This program was a Stasi-style, Stalinist program; it looked like a refugee from the Stalinist state. It was designed to enable the community to dob in people they saw littering. To that end, a website was provided, and there were also phone apps, both Android and Apple iOS apps, designed to enable South Australians to dob each other in to the government.

I happened upon a little treasure trove of what, as I said, is something out of the Stasi files and provides some data on this particularly important—certainly from Labor's point of view—program. Since its inception in February 2017, there have been a grand total of 1,937 reports of people littering received. The details enable us to ascertain that 1,505 of those were able to progress, and unfortunately—certainly in the view of the authors—432 could not progress.

What was also interesting was that in the first three months of the program a series of warning letters—there was a separate table entry for warning letters—were sent out. I was very interested to learn that in the first three months—that is, February, March and April of 2017—a total of about 310 letters were sent out warning people and that for the balance of the program there were 10. In other words, there were no more warning letters. Why were there no more warning letters? Because they were making money from it—not a great deal of money, it should be said.

The interesting thing is that about $350,000 has been made by the program over the course of its sad little life, and I am able to ascertain that, notwithstanding that in classic Labor style the spreadsheet did not add up. But with a little bit of work and a little bit of patience, I was able to correct the errors, and I am delighted to report to all and sundry that the late unlamented Dob in a Litterer program did produce, as I said, about 350 grand.

What is also interesting is that the vast majority of those fines—about 78 per cent—were for cigarette butts. There is also an interesting split: north-south, east-west, central etc., and I can inform those people who are resident in the south of Adelaide that they accounted for some 24 per cent of this particular little program. In other words, the gouge of people from the south by the Dob in a Litterer program was about 90-odd grand. As I said, that has been cut. That is a personal favourite insofar as what, to me at least, were the warped priorities under the budgets put in place by those opposite.

By way of contrast, I move to recite and look at what, to me at least, are some of the statewide highlights of the budget, not the least of which being a $30 million allocation of additional funds to help with the additional needs of children in care. Again, that is a recognition by this government of the parlous state of that part of our collective social responsibility when we came into government.

It has been well remarked, but it is worthwhile reiterating, that we have put $360 million over the next four years back into the hands of South Australians and lowered their household costs by virtue of reinstating the emergency services levy remission. South Australians are now commenting, and the Premier has made the point, as have many people in my electorate of Davenport, that they are delighted to see the tangible benefit of the effective halving, is how it has been put to me, of their emergency services levy, and that is the delivery of a fundamental election promise made by this government.

I am also particularly taken by some of the developments insofar as the education system is concerned. Again, it is no wonder that Labor is disappointed. I refer to the fact that we have made a record investment in education, and that is a hallmark of the Marshall Liberal government's first budget. We are investing more than $1 billion in capital projects. Recurrent annual funding to schools will also increase by $515 million from 2017-18 to 2021-22 under the Marshall Liberal government. That is a record investment.

Additional education-based measures include $21 million over four years to support the government's Literacy Guarantee, which is an important initiative designed to give the young in our state the best possible opportunities in a globally competitive environment in which they are growing up. I was particularly happy to see $12.2 million over four years supporting the government's Languages in Schools initiative, which includes enabling four new public schools to offer the highly regarded International Baccalaureate as well as expanding the Languages Alive holiday program for primary schools.

I commend the Minister for Education and this government for its investment in the International Baccalaureate and for giving high schools the opportunity to avail themselves of the benefits it brings to not just students and teachers but the means by which those schools can go about educating the youth. With record spending, record capital and record recurrent spending in our education budget, no wonder Labor is disappointed—though it is good news for South Australians.

As a government, we brought about relief, as promised, in the election for people committing the crime of endeavouring to employ South Australians. We have wound back the payroll tax take in this state by $157 million, and that will result in some 3,200 businesses being exempt from having to pay payroll tax from the start of January next year. I have spoken to businesses in my electorate of Davenport that will be some $40,000 or thereabouts better off as a direct result of that initiative. It is designed to enable them to employ more people and particularly more young people. Lowering costs and growing jobs is what this budget does.

Additionally, we have reduced land tax by around $96 million over the course of the forward estimates and invested $43 million in cutting elective surgery waiting times. I will speak some more about that shortly. We have invested $1 million to establish a dedicated paediatric eating disorder service. We have spent just under $30 million doubling the value of school sports vouchers, from $50 under the previous government to $100, as a demonstrable, tangible, very real and in particular grassroots-based means to enable students, families and young people to access sports. It also helps establish sports clubs to provide services to our communities.

We have spent and will continue to spend $1.4 million per annum, with effect from the start of January, removing the $59.40 charge that is levied at present for DCSI clearances on sporting volunteers. Labor charged individuals in question full retail for those clearances. For someone involved in a sporting club who utilises those, we spent many thousands of dollars as a volunteer organisation paying for clearances which, arguably, should have been provided free of charge, given the work those volunteers are doing. I am delighted to reinforce the fact that this government, in this budget, has delivered $1.4 million in ongoing reductions by making these clearances available free of charge.

We have additionally spent $203 million in conjunction with the federal government on skills and training proposals. Fulfilling an election commitment, we have allocated $1 million for an independent inquiry into water pricing, which has been a quiet but nonetheless prevalent part of the cost of South Australian households, having increased considerably over the rate of inflation over the course of the previous government.

I move now to consider my seat of Davenport and the south of Adelaide in particular. My view is that the south has always been ignored by Labor unless they were looking to make cuts in services. Basic infrastructure was ignored and/or cut under Labor, especially roads, health and recreational facilities. Did Labor provide funding for roads, hospitals and recreation? No, they did not in my electorate and in the south. They certainly funded and they certainly took money, as I described, with the Dob in a Litterer program.

I first of all want to talk about health. We inherited a situation at Flinders Medical Centre, which is in my electorate of Davenport, where, as a result of an intensive and very interesting tour that I was fortunate to be given by the people at Flinders, I was provided with some numbers that I think adequately describe the completely disgraceful state of our health system generally and in particular what has been foisted upon Flinders as a result of the Transforming Health debacle.

In 2011, the Flinders emergency department pushed 60,000 people through a facility designed to enable 70,000 people to be treated. In 2018, seven years later, it has been forced to push 90,000 people through that same facility—an increase of 50 per cent in seven years. I do not think the spike in presentations to the facility is surprising.

On the subject of health, in 2010, then premier Mike Rann, standing in front of the Repatriation Hospital, said 'never ever' would that be closed under a Labor government. In 2011, they closed its emergency department. I invite you, Mr Speaker, to consider the numbers I have just quoted to see whether in fact that had some impact. I suggest that clearly it has. In November 2017, they shut the entire hospital at great cost to the 675 staff and 200 volunteers who worked there.

What this government has done in this budget is stop the Repat being flogged off to developers, as was the plan under Labor. To show just how close they got, we have forgone $19.725 million in revenue from the proposed sale, by Labor, of that site to developers. That was in 2017, after they stood in front of it in 2010 and said, 'We will never ever close it.'

Continuing on the subject of health, we are restoring and reactivating the Repat. We face a tenfold increase in elective surgery, which took off from November 2017. I wonder why. Maybe it had something to do with the closure of the Repat. That will be addressed by the $43 million in funding specifically directed to rectifying that.

Insofar as roads are concerned, I first move to consider the work we have done fixing the very short-sighted—some would say cheap and shoddy—means by which the Southern Expressway was completed under Labor, in particular the fact that no—I repeat, no—preventative measures were employed to address rock throwing, despite there being clear evidence that it was necessary.

We have funded a total of $15 million to put throw screens on 10 bridges, implement 12 security cameras and improve fencing to limit access to rocks. That will be completed by the first quarter of 2019. Whilst we are on the subject, I would like to commend South Australia Police on its Operation Watercolour and its recent successes in that regard and, on behalf of everyone in the south, I make it clear that we certainly do not mind the helicopters flying around keeping people on that road safe.

In Davenport, we have allocated $6.4 million to fix Flagstaff Road. The Liberals are going to fix the road. It has allocated the cash. That is precisely $6.4 million more than Labor ever did, and it is worthwhile recapping or reiterating the fact that I noted with great interest that our newly installed federal Labor member is seeking to muddy the water in that regard. Just to be clear, the only thing that Labor has done in the past is to vote against fixing Flagstaff Road. So we will fix it to the tune of $6.4 million.

We have allocated $5.2 million to Candy Road. Again, previously the Labor Party allocated precisely zero dollars to fixing that road. We have allocated, from a recreational perspective, $10 million to Glenthorne national park, part of which is centred in or around my seat of Davenport with the Happy Valley Reservoir. We have already delivered $500,000 in funding for female-friendly change rooms and an upgrade to the Flagstaff Community Centre.

I will close by making the point that the era of fake surpluses and Labor financial ineptitude is now over. The deliberate neglect and pillaging of Adelaide's south is now over. This budget delivers for South Australians and it delivers on our election promises, including those that I made regarding Flagstaff Road, Candy Road, Glenthorne national park and the Flagstaff Community Centre. This is a budget that delivers roads, recreation and health for my community, and I commend it to the house.

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (16:22): What an eventful fortnight we have had in South Australia. How exciting has the 2018 budget been—incredible! As a former prime minister turned upper east sider once said not so long ago, 'There's never been a more exciting time to be an Australian,' but for our purposes I am sure we can change the copy to read 'South Australian'.

It was all good news. The government had prevailed. It had won the election. The Liberal Party had figured it out finally and now, after 16 cold years in the wilderness, they were here. The band was finally back together. Now, on this side of the house, we have heard this song before. We know how it goes, but those opposite tried their best to deceive the people of South Australia beyond March.

They swore to us black and blue that the line-up had changed, that they had cleaned up their act and that they had a whole new catalogue of hits to unveil come budget night. Anyone understands that no matter how hard you try to reinvent yourself you always return to the classics and, just like Barnsey and Farnsey, that is what we saw in this place two weeks ago. The band was ready for its comeback performance.

Sadly, it did not go according to plan. In fact, it went so badly that the lead singer, the Premier himself, went missing. He went to ground in the last two weeks. Where has he been? Is he in witness protection from his own budget? I for one would like to hear more from the Premier about this budget, to explain to the South Australian people the backflips and the broken promises—the greatest hits of the South Australian Liberal Party.

Of course, I admit that I am partial to the one hit that the Premier likes to roll out from time to time. I have heard his hit song 'Vote Labor', and I like to replay it when I am having a party. However, we have also had the entire band seemingly forget how to play their instruments. What should have been their greatest masterpiece was just a cacophonous mess. This was not going well at all, but what to do? Sadly for all South Australians, they fired up the DeLorean and, as the flux capacitor began pulsating more rapidly, it was 'back to the future' for the South Australian Liberal Party.

The Premier, having lost his voice, blew out the cobwebs from the Treasurer's seat in the other place and invited him over here to lead the band, and what a performance it was. It was just like the good old days, as if no time had passed at all. It was as if they were all transported back in time to an era when the state government was at war with the unions and the public sector, when any state asset that was not nailed down was divvied up and sold off and when those doing it hardest were unfairly targeted with higher costs and fewer services. The Crows were on top and on track to win their second grand final, MMMBop was on the radio and ETSA was on the chopping block. It was good times for them.

Of course, I make light of the Marshall-Lucas 2018 budget because if we did not laugh we would cry, and many have. Many more will as the true impact of this budget is felt around our communities and throughout the regions in the weeks and months ahead. It truly is a budget of blatant broken promises and bolshie backflips.

I have heard interjections in this place and in the media that at least this budget is not as bad as the car crash Abbott-Hockey 2014 budget, given that it was prime minister Abbott's first budget, just as this is the first for Premier Marshall. But I have to say that, if you use the 2014 federal budget as your unit of measurement, you are setting yourself a pretty low bar. This is a government that went to the people of South Australia, hand on heart and cap in hand, promising an antiprivatisation agenda. Only months later, the Premier has broken faith with the people of South Australia with his plan to sell, to privatise and to cut.

I will start with one of the biggest issues in my portfolio space, and indeed the entire budget document, and that is Premier Marshall's cruel and unusual fascination with going after South Australia's most vulnerable. This time it is in the form of a spike in the rents of South Australia's most vulnerable Housing Trust tenants in one-bedroom cottages and bedsits. These accommodations are very basic, hence they attract a lower percentage of the tenant's income or entitlement and always have done, that is, around 18 to 21 per cent and not the 25 per cent that is usual.

For many who are unable to find work or unable to work for a number of social or health-related reasons, this increase in rent, as much as $10 per week for some tenants, is not even the difference between treating themselves once a fortnight to a finger bun or a coffee at the local cafe or going without; it is the difference between running a car, buying medicine to stay out of hospital, having a hot meal or going to bed with a heater on and staying warm.

Those opposite are always banging on about getting government out of the way, improving the bottom line of small businesses and encouraging more people to spend their money on goods and services in our local economy, but they have their hands in the pockets of the most vulnerable. By denying them access to any form of disposable income at all—and, yes, Housing Trust tenants are entitled to have some disposable income—Premier Marshall is locking people out of the South Australian economy. These vulnerable South Australians rarely make extra trips to the supermarket or buy coffees. They can rarely afford fish and chips on a hot night by the beach in warmer months. They just dream about not being cold and about getting a fair go.

It hurts many of South Australia's most disadvantaged Housing Trust tenants, including elderly pensioners and those living with a disability, but it also hurts small local businesses who rely on their very occasional purchases to cover their bottom line. It is a double whammy by a government that spent 16 years rehearsing their sound bites but neglecting proper policy development.

I have spent the past two weeks meeting with Housing Trust tenants and many, many providers. None were aware of the Premier's secret plan to hike up the rents on South Australians living on the margins. It is cruel and it is unfair. Under these new arrangements, many Housing Trust tenants are likely to be facing not only one $10 per week increase in their rent but, overall, this could be up to $50 come 2021. Not only will many Housing Trust tenants be forced to find an additional $520 this year to cover their rent but by 2021 some could be looking at paying an extra $2,600 in annual rent for their same property, be that a cottage, a bedsit or a unit. This is nothing short of highway robbery.

I have done my research. I have gone through the government's pre-election material. I brewed a pot of coffee and I thumbed through not only the Premier's 'Our First 100 Days' but also the critically panned tome '2036', and can I say, 'What a read.' But it probably will not surprise anyone in the house today or watching from afar that there was no mention of Housing Trust rent hikes before the election. Nothing on our most disadvantaged paying anywhere between an extra $10 and $50 a week in rent. Nothing, zero, zilch, nada. Nothing about the elderly and those living with a disability being forced to pay an extra $520 to $2,600 in rent each year.

Who in this place was thankful for their reduction in their ESL bill because they could afford groceries? This reduction for many, and for most of us, was equivalent to the rise in rent for Housing Trust tenants. It is a disgrace. We do not need that reduction; the Housing Trust tenants need that money. It will make the difference between them being able to drive their car to their appointments, buy their medication so that they stay out of hospital and meet the basics and live a decent life. It is a disgrace.

The land tax reductions that you are all spruiking to your rich mates—your rich mates own multimillion-dollar parcels of land and get tens of thousands of dollars in reductions in land tax, which is more than any one of these people will get every year on their benefits—are another disgrace. The public loathe governments that promise one thing before an election and deliver exactly the opposite after it. They also loathe governments that do not tell people what they are going to deliver afterwards and then deliver cruel cuts and shut the doors of Service SA so that they cannot even get there to renew their licences.

Members interjecting:

Ms COOK: I sat and listened quietly to the rubbish coming out from those opposite; I expect the same. It discredits the legitimacy of government and casts a pall over our profession as parliamentarians and community leaders. A broken promise is as bad as an omission. It is our duty to serve our constituencies with honour—to mean what we say and to work hard every day to deliver it. Sadly, the Premier has chosen to say one thing to get himself elected and then do another once behind the desk. It is an indictment on everyone on that side of the house, and the South Australian public will not easily forget this breach of faith.

Of course, while the Premier has jacked up the rent on our vulnerable Housing Trust tenants on one hand, he is busy jacking up the take-home pay of his handpicked chair of the new Housing Authority board. While the chair of the former Housing Trust board was remunerated at around $33,000 a year, the Premier has decided to jack up the pay for the new chair to $70,700 a year—nearly double. Thanks, Premier Marshall. That is around $6,500 per meeting every time the board meets on their schedule. The extravagance on display, while those doing it the hardest are asked to do more and more with less and less, is breathtaking. It is a clear sign of where this government's priorities lie.

I would also like to draw attention to the government's decision to initiate the free volunteer screening checks through the Department of Human Services from 1 January 2019. Of course I welcome this decision; it is a great announcement for volunteers who give so much to our community. But I know, after having met with over 150 organisations, these organisations expected those screening checks to come in this year. They have not budgeted for them and they are struggling. It is thousands and thousands of dollars in screenings that they had not budgeted to pay for between 1 July and 31 December this year. It is news to them that there is no relief on the screening until next year.

Organisations that live a hand-to-mouth existence are doing it tough. I have spoken with them. They welcome the decision, but they urge the government to change its mind and bring those volunteer screenings forward so that they can get on with doing what they do best: providing services to vulnerable people in our state. It is just not good enough. According to the Office for Volunteers, the volunteering economy in South Australia is worth $5 billion per annum.

Approximately 920,000 South Australians volunteer an estimated 1.76 million hours every week. It is quite incredible, so why this could be put at risk by the government is beyond me. The minister in the other place needs to shake off her cloak of invisibility around the cabinet table and fight for the volunteers, fight for those who already deliver so much for South Australia, fight for those who are being forced to scrap programs to meet their costs because they have been misled.

I also remain concerned that, despite the pre-election commitment to make volunteer screening free for all applicants, there lacks clarity around this. The budget papers talk only about volunteer screening for those volunteers who are working with children or with vulnerable people, but there are three other sections of volunteer screening, and there is no clarity about whether they are going to be delivered. I have taken a number of phone calls on that. That needs to be clarified by this government, otherwise it is a mealy-mouthed attempt to sidestep their commitment, and I am going to be holding them to account over the coming weeks and months.

Like everyone on this side of the house, I am dismayed at the raft of cuts and broken promises that extend beyond the human services portfolio, including the closure of three Service SA centres across Adelaide, a really short-sighted decision that will only increase travel and waiting times for clients and the workload and stress on the remaining staff. Service SA centres are designed to assist those who cannot access online services themselves. It is not good enough just to say, 'Use an online service.'

Thousands of people in South Australia are unable to do this, predominantly the elderly, disabled or very young people getting their driver's licence for the first time. These closures will flow on to all other offices, and the members in the north-eastern suburbs, like the member for King and the member for Newland, will be hearing about it in the years to come, I am sure. I hope that they will join our call on a reversal of that decision.

We have the privatisation of key public assets that were not announced prior to the election. It seems to be in the DNA of the Liberal Party. What is this Americanisation of our prison system that we are looking at? Premier Marshall's plan to privatise the Adelaide Remand Centre really does put profits before jobs. The environment in the Remand Centre is very different from the environment in the Mount Gambier Prison. As to jobs and safety, it is a disgraceful backflip from a Premier who, in February this year, claimed not to have a privatisation agenda. Along with this, we see cuts to the Crime Stoppers program, money that was committed gone.

We see cuts to the surveillance grants. Cameras do not stop crime, but they can deter people and they can also catch offenders. Other things that were cut include the crime prevention and community safety grants from the Attorney-General's Department. Over the years, millions of dollars have been invested in grassroots community organisations, providing grassroots decision-making and solutions to problems in their own communities. Many of these programs were also picked up by the government and went into broader program delivery. This should be rethought as well. It removes capacity from the community to work in their own backyard.

There are more plans to privatise SA Pathology, leading to more cuts and more job losses, and we cannot forget the sword of Damocles hanging over the public transport network, with essential bus services on the chopping block. Sadly, we have already seen the doubt around the Footy Express. Public transport is not solely just the domain of commuters opting for the ease of public transport into and out of the city. It is the only option travelling between suburbs for many young, older, disabled and other people who cannot afford to buy a car or run their own car, let alone the shift workers and those in service industries.

Well, I suggest to those opposite, when you attend your early morning breakfasts, if the staff are not there, there might be a reason. It is because there are no more buses. Sadly, Premier Marshall has used this budget to again go after the most vulnerable in our community by axing these bus services that are relied upon by many. It will be up to those opposite to explain to their constituencies why these vital public transport services have been slashed. If I am getting emails about it, I bet they are.

We have public sector job losses. Around 4,000 public servants will be given their marching orders under Premier Marshall's budget of cuts and broken promises. The truth is that the Premier has never come across a public asset he did not want to sell or a public servant he did not want to sack, I am sure, but I am also as concerned about what is not in the budget as what is.

Youth and youth justice are completely ignored in the budget. There are no announcements, no policy, nothing to say, no changes around youth, nothing except for the closure of seven TAFE campuses, of course, which will make it harder for young people, particularly in our regions, to get the culture and vocational support they need to help them set up for the world of work. TAFEs do not just offer lessons; they offer a community.

Also missing from the budget is any talk about much-needed support for people living with a disability who do not qualify for the NDIS. What about the thousands of people who have not qualified? What happens to them this year? There is a small amount for transition. What is going to happen? Where is the plan? What plan does the Premier have for these people? There is no financial commitment towards the much-discussed disability advocate and no broader commitment towards this at all. What plan is there? If there is a plan, it must be communicated because the sector needs to be given some confidence moving forward that they will have a voice.

Premier Marshall has again failed to deliver certainty for both providers and consumers when it comes to the disability community. It is pushed out into the never-never. The Premier's half-hearted commitment towards disabilities is evident throughout the budget. The budget shows that South Australia is the only state without a named minister dedicated to disabilities or disability service in their title.

While I have deep reservations about much of the budget, as I discussed in the last couple of minutes, I will mention a couple of community projects that have been given the green light and that will benefit the electors of Hurtle Vale. I have worked and consulted with many in our community in the months ahead of the state election and we have secured the installation of wayfinding lights across the expressway exit at Happy Valley, Old Reynella. That will be much appreciated by not just by local residents but new people travelling to the area. It is a difficult intersection to navigate, so that will be helpful. It will improve safety for both locals and tourists. I am proud to see that delivered for our community.

I am also proud to have seen the commitment to the transformation of the meeting of Candy and South roads. That came to my attention at the 2014 by-election. I have doorknocked hundreds and hundreds of people on that issue and, when we were in government, I talked to our treasurer about that and now I see that it is being delivered. I, along with the members for Black and Davenport, I am sure, am very pleased that that is happening.

In closing, why are those opposite of the opinion that there are votes in targeting the most vulnerable in our society? It is a mystery to me. Every single member opposite who votes for the budget is voting against the most vulnerable people. They are voting for rent rises. They are voting for backflips. They are voting for broken promises. They are voting for cuts to services and the closure of Service SA centres and TAFE campuses. They are voting for Housing Trust rent increases and the sacking of public sector workers. Shame!

Ms LUETHEN (King) (16:42): Thank you for the opportunity to speak directly to you and my King community about our government's first budget and the good news in this budget for King and for South Australia. The Marshall Liberal government has delivered a strong budget to deliver on our election commitments and to secure South Australia's future. After 16 years of financial mismanagement, we are returning the state's budget to a sustainable position. This budget achieves a return to surplus and projects surpluses across each year of the forward estimates. I am so proud that we are not only cleaning up a mess that we were left for our state but also, most importantly, delivering on our election promises.

Our Marshall Liberal government is taking our state forward through a budget that is fair, responsible and lays a strong foundation for the future. I am so pleased to be able to tell people living in King, with the help of my colleagues on this side of the house, that I am delivering on what they told me was most important locally and in the state. Today, I take the opportunity to share the good news for King constituents and provide accurate information for people living in King.

I have been disappointed—but, I must say, not surprised—by the inaccurate and misleading information the opposition is sharing in relation to the budget. It is a shame that constituents have to read fake news and then use their valuable time to raise concerns to get the most accurate information from me. Thanks to every community member who has contacted me with questions about the budget.

In a way, I am actually really grateful to the opposition, as each conversation on this budget has given me one-on-one time with my constituents to discuss how we on this side are getting our state back on track, lowering the cost of living, fixing up and improving our healthcare system and creating jobs in South Australia. I am pleased with this budget because I still remember the great sadness I felt when I knocked on doors where for sale signs were up in yards. These people in King told me that they were moving their family interstate because they had to find a job. This fuelled my passion even further to fight for jobs and investment in South Australia and to support a government that would implement real change for South Australia.

It is my hope that in the future the opposition will also realise that people in the north and north-east want our parties to work together to create more jobs, better services and affordable living. I urge those on the other side to cease their scare campaigns and spend more time reading and understanding how this budget will help make South Australia the best place in which to live, raise a family and work. It is my intention to work with all members of the house. It is time now to work together to achieve what is in the local community members' best interests. Let's work together to create a better future for South Australia.

I will now highlight areas of the budget that deliver on so many opportunities that people told me were important. First of all is the cost of living: the Marshall Liberal government is delivering on its key election promise to lower costs for families and businesses, with $613.1 million in tax cuts provided in this state budget across the emergency services levy, land tax and payroll tax to create jobs and grow the economy. The 2018-19 state budget provides for a $360 million reduction in emergency services levy bills over the next four years—a saving of more than 50 per cent for a median value household in metropolitan Adelaide, or around $145.

The 2018-19 state budget also delivers on this government's commitment to abolish payroll tax for small businesses from 1 January next year by exempting businesses with annual taxable wages below $1.5 million from paying payroll tax—saving businesses up to $44,550 a year. Around 3,200 businesses will be exempt from payroll tax as a result of this measure. A further 400 businesses with payrolls between $1.5 million and $1.7 million will receive a reduction in the amount of payroll tax they are required to pay. I have been talking to accountants and they think this is good for businesses. I do, too.

Health was one of the most important things people raised with me when I was campaigning. The state government is investing $1.2 billion over the next four years in the key front-line service delivery portfolios of health and wellbeing; human services, including domestic violence assistance; child protection; police; and emergency services. This is in line with the commitments that South Australians endorsed at the state election. The government has had to commit an extra $730 million to health because of the unrealistically high levels of savings the former government had factored into the health budget's estimates.

Specific key health service commitments that King residents will be interested in are $45 million over four years to reduce elective surgery and colonoscopy waiting lists in South Australia's public hospitals; $23 million over four years to reinstate the high dependency unit at the Modbury Hospital; reopening the Repat as a genuine health precinct (this was raised in King); $16 million over four years to increase palliative care support; and $2.6 million over four years to establish an adult safeguarding unit to protect our most vulnerable citizens (again, this was raised with me today by King residents).

Key mental health service commitments include $2.5 million over four years for additional suicide prevention services and $10 million over four years for a new specialist borderline personality disorder service. I will speak a bit more on aged care, which was a key concern. In the wake of the Oakden scandal, presided over by the former government, we are establishing an adult safeguarding unit that will have statutory responsibility for responding to reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of vulnerable adults.

Can I take this opportunity again to remind people who have concerns about aged-care quality that they can also raise concerns with the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner. They can assist with concerns about the quality of care or services provided by Australian government-funded aged-care providers.

On child protection, I am so pleased to communicate that children in state care are further supported, with an extra $30.9 million for child protection over the next two years. In addition, there will be $3.3 million over four years to establish a dedicated paediatric eating disorders service. I will now take the opportunity to share a factual account of the proposed approach to the northern interhospital transfers.

As part of the recent state budget, the Marshall Liberal government announced that it will go to market to see if it can find a more cost-effective way of delivering the dedicated transport service that operates between the Modbury and Lyell McEwin hospitals. The service currently uses SAAS ambulances and operates between 6.30am and 2pm, seven days a week. This service, which is only used to transfer non-acute patients between the hospitals, has been operating since 2016. It was established around the time the previous government downgraded Modbury Hospital as part of its controversial Transforming Health changes.

The cost of providing this service has risen as the number of transfers between the Modbury and Lyell McEwin hospitals has grown. In the 2017-18 year, it cost around $1.2 million to run this shuttle service. That cost is projected to increase to $1.5 million this year, a 25 per cent increase in one year. Other local health networks and the SA Ambulance Service itself already use private providers to transfer patients. The service will only involve the transfer of non-acute patients. Acute patients will continue to be transported by ambulance. The investigation of potential alternative suppliers will ensure that South Australian taxpayers are getting value for money while ensuring the service continues to operate safely.

On education, there is a huge, good news story: record funding for education is a hallmark of the Marshall Liberal government's first state budget. We are committed to delivering better services to South Australians, and we recognise that investment in our children and young people is a key driver for South Australia's prosperity. The minister has personally guaranteed that the Golden Grove Primary School, Greenwith Primary School and Golden Grove High School will receive many millions of dollars promised under the Building Better Schools infrastructure program.

Our government proposes to deliver this Building Better Schools project in line with the funding commitments made before the election. I have heard the opposition talking some nonsense about plans that have changed; however, the illustrations and lists of desired improvements submitted for schools in the program clearly stated, 'These initial plans are subject to further planning and may change.' This statement was placed under the illustrations when the former government was in power, as the funding allocation to each school was determined before the scoping documents were commenced.

Neither the former government nor the Department for Education ever provided any guarantee that each school's aspirations or wish lists could be met in total. The work currently being undertaken by the Department for Education in collaboration with our schools will determine the detail of the final projects that will go ahead. The guiding principles for the work, developed under the former government, remain the removal of old relocatable or modular classrooms; the creation of new buildings for schools with growing student numbers; the refurbishment of classrooms and buildings, transforming them into modern learning areas; and landscaping and upgrades of the street frontage.

The 2018-19 state budget initiatives also provide $20.9 million over four years to deliver the government's promised Literacy Guarantee package of measures designed to give students the best possible start to their education. Central to the program is the education department's Literacy Guarantee Unit, established this year, which will hire 13 new literacy coaches to support our schools. Coaches will have experience and expertise in literacy instruction, including in phonics and teaching students with dyslexia and other learning difficulties.

We want our students to be the beneficiaries of the best education system in Australia, and a strong start in literacy is an essential foundation upon which a student's subsequent educational success will be built. The sum of $7.5 billion has been provided over the next three years to assist with planning the transition of year 7 students into a secondary school setting by 2022.

The other night, I was given a really good example at the Golden Grove governing council meeting by a teacher about why this is so important. Currently, the Australian Curriculum needs us to teach students in a certain way that cannot be accommodated by all our primary schools right now. A teacher gave the example that, in science subjects, we do not have the science labs, Bunsen burners and that sort of thing to teach the curriculum that needs to be taught. That is why it is so important for this transition to take place.

The government is also committed to ensuring a fresh start for TAFE, providing $109.8 million over five years in additional resources to support continued service delivery to implement a new quality system and ensure compliance with the national vocational education training standards. The significant investment in entrepreneurial and vocational education also ensures that training will be connected to the needs of the broader economy to lead to real jobs and better investment outcomes. This is in keeping with our government's focus on increasing numbers of trainees and apprentices, backed up by over $202.6 million in the Skilling South Australia investment through the Department for Industry and Skills. The Marshall Liberal government is investing now to build the skilled workforce that will result in thousands of jobs in the future in South Australia.

There is great news for energy, which was the other key topic raised at doors. There will be a $1.5 billion interconnector with New South Wales to help fix our power crisis in South Australia. This was a promise we made, and it is currently being delivered. There is also Tesla's virtual power plant. With the support of the South Australian government, Tesla is developing a network of up to 50,000 home energy systems, comprising solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall battery across South Australia, all working together to form a virtual 250 megawatt power plant—the largest in the world.

A virtual power plant is created by a network of home energy systems all working together to generate, store and feed energy back into the grid. Energy from the home energy systems installed as part of this virtual power plant will provide electricity for the house on which they are installed. Any excess energy generated by the system will be dispatched to meet the needs of the grid, providing additional energy to the rest of the state when it is required.

We are funding South Australia's Home Battery Scheme. The South Australian government's Home Battery Scheme will give 40,000 households access to home battery systems through a $100 million investment in state government subsidies and $100 million in commonwealth finance. While the subsidy will be applied to the battery storage component only, finance will be available for households to purchase new solar panels as well as the battery system as part of the scheme. South Australia's Home Battery Scheme will begin in October 2018.

I am also really excited to share that we are building an infrastructure pipeline. The Marshall Liberal government will deliver a record level of general government infrastructure spending in our budget, building a significant pipeline of infrastructure works to grow the economy and create more jobs. Contrary to alarmist claims by the Labor Party, there will be a $576 million increase this year compared with what the former Labor government spent last year. The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure will deliver $3.4 billion in capital works, with projects to include fixing Golden Grove Road. This is a promise we made.

I thank the community again for getting behind the petition with which I stood out on Golden Grove Road with my colleague the member for Newland. The community had been waiting 20 years for the previous state member to fix this. Finally, after our community pressure, we are delivering this upgrade. Both the Premier and the minister have been there with me to look at the road since being elected to see the issues. Everyone wants this to happen.

In addition, we will be delivering the Skyline Drive slip lane. Over $300,000 has been allocated to upgrade the Skyline Drive turnoff from Blacktop Road at Hillbank to add in a slip lane. This was an issue that local residents raised, a promise I made, and it is being delivered. The O-Bahn feasibility report is budgeted, and the study is already well advanced. Those of us living in the north are so pleased by what we are seeing: the Gawler line electrification, expanding park-and-rides, the O-Bahn park-and-rides, $33.5 million, prioritising Golden Grove and Paradise.

I just want to make it clear, so that no one misunderstands this on the other side, that this is an additional $18.5 million above the budget promised by the previous government: four park-and-ride upgrades planned and budgeted for. You told me that the upgrade to the Golden Grove park-and-ride was important, and this project is being delivered. I have so much more information to share, but I am running out of time.

In summary, the former government left a mess in key areas, but this state government is working responsibly to clean up this mess and invest in South Australians. We will lower costs, we will create more jobs and we will deliver better services, and there is a lot more good news to share. I will wrap up here, though, and invite people living in King, people living in the north, people living in the north-east, to contact me if they want to find out what is really in the budget. I encourage everyone to ask questions to find out about the good news for King and for South Australia.

Debate adjourned.