Grievance Debate

State Liberal Government

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:16): They say 24 hours is a long time in politics, but if that is true then this has been an incredibly long week for the Premier and his government because this week we have seen everything that this government is capable of. They say that your worst day in government is better than your best day in opposition, but after this week I suspect there are few people in government, particularly the Premier himself, who would not mind winding back the clock to the time when they were in opposition because this week started with the government breaking an election promise.

This week, we saw the government announce the breaking of an election promise in the form of a right-hand turn. This week, they started off breaking their only key election promise when it comes to infrastructure in announcing that they could not go through with the right-hand turn of the tram. Then quickly after that, what we saw was the government's new agenda when it comes to health policy in the form of their KordaMentha cuts.

That is right: the South Australian public learned this week the full totality of this conservative government's ideological ambition to cut our public health system and put the corporate liquidators in charge of cutting at least 178 beds out of the health system, 18,000 activity units out of the health system, at the very time when the people of South Australia know that they need a government investing more in health. They understand now they are the government that is breaking their promise and, indeed, cutting public health.

Following on from KordaMentha, the week rolled on to education, and what we saw in education during the course of the week was that, for the first time in a long time, our teachers decided they needed to take industrial action to protect the services that our students and their parents rely upon, particularly in one instance around the need for services around those students who have a disability. Where was the education minister during this exercise? Totally absent. He handed over the reins to the Treasurer, the default premier, in the form of Rob Lucas.

What happened as the week progressed? We saw an unprecedented event. We saw an event that this parliament has not seen in living memory. In fact, no-one can remember an occasion when the government of the day lost a vote in the house of government—not once but three times, and not from one member but from four members.

The SPEAKER: Please do not reflect on a vote of the house, leader; thank you.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Four people, Mr Speaker, who fundamentally undermined their Premier, their government and its stability. If anyone thought that this show was united, they would not think so after this week. A number of those opposite have legitimate concerns around consultation, particularly on regional issues; however, to add insult to injury, we saw another minister walk into the parliament and drop a bill to provide a bureaucratic agency with the power to stop harvesting.

What do we hear being whispered in the corridors of this place? That yet again those backbenchers from regional communities were not consulted, not even on such a drastic measure. On top of that, only a day later, we discover that a minister has decided to cut $300,000 and kill off a train service that we know has value in our regional communities. They cannot find $300,000 for a regional train service, but at the beginning of the week they found $42 million for a private sector-owned hotel. What happened to not picking winners?

What we have uncovered during the course of the week is that this is a government with an ideological compass that is spinning at a million miles an hour. This is a government that does not know what it stands for. Are they picking winners or not? Are they committed to the country or not? Are they united or are they divided? All those questions were answered with a high degree of uncertainty this week.

When you go down this government's conga line of ministers, all you see is trouble. You start with the Attorney-General, who is potentially being investigated by police. You have the Minister for Education presiding over strikes. You have the Minister for Industry and Skills making dodgy appointments to boards. You then move down to the Minister for Energy. I actually like the Minister for Energy. I think he is a decent bloke; it is a pity that members of his own backbench do not seem to think so.

Then you go down to the Minister for Child Protection—well, that is a ticking time bomb. You then have the Minister for Regional Development, who is actively not consulting with his own backbench. Then you have the Minister for Police who, without consultation, is dropping bills regarding a ban on harvests. You then have the Minister for Infrastructure, who is breaking promises. This is a government that is starting to unravel at a rate of knots. They had a plan for 100 days—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member's time has expired. Member—

Mr MALINAUSKAS: —but they certainly do not have a plan for the next for years.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, Leader of the Opposition. Member for Elder.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Elder has the call.