State Budget

Mr SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): My question again is to the Premier. What government agencies will be required to make deeper spending cuts over and above the already 1.7 per cent mandated efficiency dividend? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr SPEIRS: The Mid-Year Budget Review predicted inflation of 2.75 per cent this financial year when Adelaide CPI is now running close to 5 per cent, inevitably increasing pressure on budgets.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:11): I am not quite sure what the latest CPI figures have to do with what the policy was we announced at the last election. When it came to pursuing efficiencies in the public sector, we said that, in association with delivering more than $3 billion of improvements to state government services and infrastructure as part of our election commitments, they would not completely but in part be paid for by seeking some efficiencies from government departments. We made it absolutely clear that we wouldn't be imposing new savings as part of that effort on frontline service delivery agencies, and that included health, it included education, it included the police, and it included TAFE, courts, child protection and so on.

We have laid out our policy. As to what that means in terms of dollar figures for those in-scope agencies—those central government agencies, for example, like the ones that are responsible to me, or to the Premier, or to the Attorney-General, those that do not predominantly provide frontline services—will be revealed on 2 June when we hand down the budget.