Adjournment Debate

State Liberal Government

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:16): The year 2019 has undoubtedly been a year that has defined this government. It is worthwhile applying a degree of thought at this time of the year, as the house adjourns until next year, to exactly what has been exposed throughout the course of calendar year and parliamentary year 2019.

Let's cast our minds back to March last year when this government was elected with crystal clear promises to the people of this state. It started with more jobs, lower costs and better services. Then, of course, there was the fundamental premise on which this government was elected of not having a privatisation agenda. As 2019 has gone on, the promises have been distilled down in a way that has exposed them to be nothing more than slogans, which goes to the very credibility of this government.

Let's start with more jobs. More alarming economic statistics have been revealed during the course of just the last week, including the state final demand figures, which have seen two consecutive quarters of state final demand going backwards in this state, something that the member for Dunstan himself once described as a recession.

We have seen house prices fall this week. We have seen in the most recent employment statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that over the course of the last 12 months we have not seen one new job here in South Australia, and unemployment has risen to be the second highest rate in the nation, in excess of 6 per cent—6.2 per cent I believe—well in excess of the unemployment rate that this government inherited not 18 months ago. Their promise of more jobs has been nothing short of a broken promise.

As to lower costs, this year's state budget has done the exact opposite for the households and families of South Australia, with higher taxes to the tune of an additional $500 million imposed on the state. This year, 31 December will be the last night that the people of South Australia go to bed without having the threat of higher hospital car parking fees imposed on them, without the threat of additional taxes for so much as putting their bins out. Ask those South Australians whether or not this government has delivered lower costs, let alone those people who catch public transport, let alone those people who seek to register a motor vehicle, particularly on Kangaroo Island, where their fees and charges have gone up exponentially. So much for lower costs—a broken promise.

When it comes to better services, this government's whole agenda is predicated on cuts to services: Service SA, public transport, health, education, child protection, sport, multicultural affairs, you name it. We are seeing nothing but cuts from this government. There is not even an inkling of better services. Yet again—a fundamental broken promise.

And then there is the big kahuna: the no privatisation agenda. This year, that promise has been completely smashed. Whether it be public transport, whether it be hospital patient transfers, whether it be the continued threat of privatisation of SA Pathology, whether it be selling our state-owned generators to provide backup power to the people of our state, we have seen a fundamental broken promise.

To most people in the political commentariat, to many people who observe politics, they might think, 'Oh, well, government breaks promise, dog barks.' I think those opposite would be thinking to themselves, 'This is nothing that we can't sustain,' except for the fact that these guys promised everyone they were going to keep every last promise. In the very first question time in this place, in the very first question, we asked the Premier, 'Do you promise to deliver on every last one of your commitments?' and his answer was unequivocal. Since then, we have seen broken promise after broken promise. This government's credibility is in tatters. This government's credibility is shot to pieces.

At the heart of any government is more than just the day-to-day policy promises that ministers have gone about breaching. At the heart of any government is their leader, their Premier. And what of this Premier's credibility? Notwithstanding the broken promises, notwithstanding all the commitments that have not been fulfilled, how is the Premier's credibility looking? Today, we have heard something that is essentially unprecedented: none other than Hon. Bruce Lander QC, Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, today on public radio has made statements that directly contradict the remarks of the Premier of the state. The Independent Commissioner Against Corruption has absolutely unequivocally contradicted the Premier of the state. One needs to think through the gravity of this situation.

How can any South Australian possibly believe the Premier of this state, the member for Dunstan, on anything he says if he walks into the parliament and says one thing and then walks into the office of the ICAC commissioner and says the complete opposite? What are we to believe? What the Premier says in the parliament or what the Premier tells an ICAC commissioner in private? It is a dreadful choice that the people of South Australia are left with. I suspect that most South Australians will be far more inclined to believe what the Premier says to an ICAC commissioner than what he says in the parliament. That then means that this parliament to this government and to this Premier means nothing at all.

Consistently over the course of the last 12 months we have seen minister after minister face privileges motions, we have seen the Premier himself face privileges motions, not because of some scurrilous accusations but because they have consistently sought to mislead this house and vis-a-vis the people of this state. How can anyone believe what this Premier says? Those opposite might want to start to think about what the political consequences of this might be.

In the paper today, in Adelaidenow and in InDaily, senior journalists are rightly pointing out that the Premier's credibility is being questioned by none other than one of the highest independent law officers in this state. At the next election, which is now a little over two years away, what are South Australians to believe when this Premier comes up with his next set of promises? What happens when he goes to the next election and says, 'We are going to create more jobs, deliver better services and lower costs'? They will not be able to believe him.

What happens when he looks down the barrel of the camera and says, 'We won't be privatising SA Water'? They will not be able to believe him. When the government loses its credibility that is one thing, but when the Premier loses his ability to tell the truth that is a different proposition entirely. The way this government has handled the ICAC report over the last seven days is an example of just how incompetent this outfit is.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morphett!

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Last week, last Tuesday, the Premier receives a copy of—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morphett!

Mr MALINAUSKAS: —a report from the ICAC. About half an hour later, he announces his response to the report from the ICAC.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right!

Mr MALINAUSKAS: —but guess what the Premier has not done. Guess what the health minister has not done after announcing their response. They have not even read the report. Then eventually, having been shamed and embarrassed into reading the report on which they have already provided a response, the Premier has the gall to meet with the ICAC commissioner and then lay into him—walk into the office of the ICAC commissioner, not thanking him for his report, not acknowledging the hard work that he has done but instead getting angry with the author of the report for having the audacity to do his job and look into important issues of state within public health.

What sort of show are we running here where a Premier is getting angry with the ICAC commissioner for doing his job? Why not just say, 'Thank you, commissioner. I appreciate the work that you do, commissioner. I have taken the time to read your report, commissioner, and I would now like to discuss with you the response'? That might have been a good idea before he announced his response, of course, which he failed to do.

This last week has exposed this government for the incompetent shambles that it is but, more fundamentally, this week and this sordid sequence of events have demonstrated that this Premier is a fraud who has problems with telling the truth.