Government Policies

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay) (15:43): I rise today to speak about cuts, privatisations and closures that are being announced daily by this Marshall Liberal government. It is now obvious that the Liberal government's promises of more jobs, lower costs and better services are nothing but hot air.

With unemployment on the rise, the cost of living increasing, additional fees and charges from tradies' licences to bus tickets and registration, and the reduction of services across a range of departments, the people in my electorate of Ramsay and across South Australia have every reason to feel that they were misled.

In the past two weeks, within my shadow portfolio of trade, tourism and investment, the following cuts have been exposed. Firstly, the iconic Brand SA has been axed, and it is only through advocacy that the state logo and well-supported campaigns such as I Choose SA have been saved. They have been saved and brought in-house, but we do not know how much money will be dedicated to the running of those programs or their promotion.

Many people reached out to the opposition in shock, anger and disappointment. Brand SA brought value to South Australia. It was supported by government funding of $1.6 million, but it was also supported by members and sponsors with almost double that investment. It was active participation for a not-for-profit to go out and support our businesses. Thousands of South Australian businesses raised their voice in protest and people felt so strongly about this bad decision that they launched a petition on Change.org.

When Brand SA announced its closure, they received more than 2,500 reactions on Facebook. The post was shared over 700 times and nearly 1,000 people left comments. Nearly 1,000 people felt so strongly about the closure of Brand SA that they put their names to their comments and shared their frustration and anger. Perhaps most shameful of all is that, despite approaching the state government many, many times over the past six months seeking advice about their future, the decision to close Brand SA was only uncovered during questioning by the Labor opposition on a parliamentary sitting day.

Today, we found out they were told on 8 May and were advised they could not tell anyone. They were not told by the Premier, they were told by the Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. I find that very disappointing because Brand SA was very well supported. More than 8,000 people proudly chose to use the state brand and logo. Around 4,800 people were part of the I Choose SA campaign and many other programs that were launched recently, such as Hello From SA, which encouraged ex-pats to reconnect with South Australia.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: They still can.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: No, they cannot; it is not funded. Of course, we also saw Fast Movers SA and the Regional Showcase. An expression of interest went out in a very short period of time and there is no funding attached to that.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: That is not true; the funding came out of my department.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: That's a lie.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, be quiet.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: The Marshall government has also axed the Adelaide Fashion Festival, which has been the major platform for South Australia's established and emerging fashion talent for over a decade. For a cost of some $500,000 per year, the Adelaide Fashion Festival—again, paired with funding from corporate sponsors; I am feeling a repetition here—showcased collections from internationally recognised South Australian brands such as Paolo Sebastian, Acler, C/MEO Collective, Flinders, Coutoure+Love+Madness and Tiff Manuell. People were very disappointed because of the loss of exposure that came with the Adelaide Fashion Festival.

Let us not forget the Motorsport Festival. It was confirmed last Monday that the 2019 event would be cancelled following a reduction in funding. We had seen growth on growth on growth, with the attendance of 47,000 people last year.

Time expired.