Service SA

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:07): My question is to the minister for planning, transport and infrastructure. Have any comparative efficiency studies been done on Service SA offices, both metro and country? If so, will the minister supply the house with all the results?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (15:08): I thank the member for Florey for her question. The phrase 'comparative efficiency studies' I think is a little bit more specific than the work we are actually seeking to undertake in relation to Service SA. I am happy to go and have a look and see if there is something by that name that exists with regard to the work that we have done, but there is certainly nothing that has been presented to me.

Again, the decision that was made in relation to which centres needed to close in order to meet the budget savings task—three-quarters of which the former government left us—was not done on an efficiency basis. It wasn't done on a numbers through the front door basis. It was done on an equity basis, making sure that people had the opportunity to still get to an existing centre. This is a difficult decision. The department—

Ms Hildyard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —is working through a number of strategies at the moment to make sure that we have alternative propositions put in place to deliver the solution. I would say again that 82 per cent of the people who walk through the door at a Service SA centre have the opportunity to be able to conduct those transactions online. More than that, many people who currently go into a Service SA centre—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —already actually have the opportunity to undertake those transactions at Australia Post offices, which are likely to be closer to where they live than the Service SA centre that they are going to. What I think here is that, apart from the fact that there is a tough body of work that we need to do—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —to make sure that the alternatives are in place, we need to help communicate to South Australians that there are plenty of alternative opportunities that would save time for the individuals involved. It will save time and money for government, and we can actually get on then and spend those things on other priorities to help deliver better services in other areas rather than a higher transactional cost, which is essentially what is happening at the moment.

We don't resile from the fact that this is tough, that this is difficult. We don't resile from the fact that about $11½ million of this savings task was in place at the Mid-Year Budget Review handed down last December. This is what happens when you want to get the books back in the black without having to flog off assets. You have to take the tough decisions.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms Hildyard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Unfortunately, the forests and the Motor Accident Commission cash cows have already been flogged off. They don't exist for us. The Lands Titles Office, that little booby-trap that the former government set us—

The Hon. R. Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Child Protection is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: This is what happens when a responsible government takes the tough decisions to put the budget back in the black on a proper operating basis, as opposed to covering up their black hole by flogging off assets left, right and centre.