State Debt

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): My question is to the Premier. How long will it take for the budget debt to be paid off?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:12): Mr Speaker, as you would be aware, that would be a function of how soon the surpluses are returned to the budget in South Australia. We have a balanced budget at the moment. I wouldn't call it any more than a balanced budget, but we of course hope to be returning to surpluses into the future.

We have just had a budget brought down where, I think, everybody realises the very significant challenges that we face with a $2.3 billion writedown in revenue to the state and, despite that, we present a good budget to the people of South Australia, which invests in South Australia, and very significantly infrastructure investment of $11.3 billion.

Last year, we presented a budget that delivered on the election promises that we made and set a vision for our state. This year's budget is focused on building our state with $11.9 billion worth of investments in our state. We think it is a good budget, which is going to grow our economy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —grow jobs and secure the future prosperity of our state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Hammond, the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Reynell. The leader has the call.