Question Time

Cost Reductions

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:14): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is lowering costs for South Australians?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:14): I thank the—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned for a second time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I thank the member for Colton for his excellent question. He raises the question of costs. We said very clearly that we had a strong plan for real change when we went to the election. One key component of that was lower costs, lower costs for families, individuals and businesses—

The Hon. S.K. Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister for Transport!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in South Australia, and ever since we came to government—

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Cheltenham!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that's exactly and precisely what we have been doing: lowering costs to make sure that we could maximise the economic activity and the job creation—

Mr Hughes interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Giles!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in South Australia. One of the major areas that we have put in place—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —is to make sure that we can put more money back into the pockets of ordinary South Australians with the restoration of the rebate on the emergency services levy in South Australia. We know this is a massive economic stimulus in South Australia and without it the situation that we are in at the moment—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —would be considerably worse than it is at the moment. We have also worked hard to put policies in place, some of them taking immediate effect, some of them longer term, in terms of putting downward pressure on energy prices in South Australia. I must say that in the last year of the former government, sir—and I know you allow a bit of compare and contrast—there was a $268 increase in household electricity bills. I don't know how people could actually cope with that. Since we have come to government, there has been a $62 decrease.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It is heading in the right direction and personally—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —I know that this has been very, very much appreciated.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier, please be seated for one moment. The member for Playford has been on two warnings for a little while. If he keeps interjecting, he can leave for the remainder of question time under 137A. Thank you.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: So putting downward pressure on energy prices is extraordinarily important.

The SPEAKER: Member for Playford, that's you.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: People told us in the lead-up to the last election—

The SPEAKER: You are not leaving? I have asked you to leave.

Mr Brown: You said 'if', sir.

The SPEAKER: Okay, you are on your last warning. If you keep doing it, you are going.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As I was saying, in the lead-up to the last election the people of South Australia told us that they wanted us to lower their costs. Energy was something that was really putting massive pressure onto household bills. People were finding it difficult to make ends meet. That is why I am very pleased that not only has there been some immediate relief but there is more relief on the way. I want to commend the Minister for Energy and Mining in South Australia for taking a sensible approach to look at every single component of what we are doing and put sensible, practical and non-ideological solutions into place to put on further downward pressure.

Of course, we also said that we would undo the rort that had been inflicted upon the people of South Australia over an extended period of time with the artificial inflation of the regulated asset base for SA Water. I note today that the ESCOSA commissioner has come out with his interim determination and we will see a final determination for water prices in South Australia to take effect from 1 July. The good news, the very good news for households, individuals and businesses in South Australia, is that as of 1 July there will be a very significant decrease in water prices. So we are bringing down energy prices, we are bringing down water prices, we have halved the emergency services levy and we have actually removed payroll tax—

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —on all small business in South Australia, the engine room of the South Australian economy. Previously, the threshold for paying payroll tax in South Australia was just $600,000. Now in South Australia, if you have a business with a payroll of up to $1.5 million you pay no payroll tax in South Australia. We make all these decisions based upon what it will take to stimulate economic activity. We appreciate that there are very strong economic winds at the moment, but we will continue to make decisions in the best interests of all South Australians to stimulate economic activity—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to create more jobs and to keep more young South Australians here in our state.