Public School Fees

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta) (14:16): My question is to the Premier. Were any public servants from the Premier's office correspondence team, or indeed any other public servants in the Premier's office, involved in either the drafting or the dissemination of the letter in question?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:17): I'm more than happy to obtain a briefing regarding the specifics of who was responsible for what part of the letter, as per the minister's question. Needless to say, the government takes very seriously its obligation to inform South Australians who are the beneficiaries of government policy. We know that South Australians at the moment very much have cost of living top of mind.

This is a policy that I understand enjoys bipartisan support because, of course, the shadow minister announced this policy in the lead-up to the election in conjunction with ourselves. This is a policy that South Australians who were paying close attention to the election process would know enjoys bipartisan support. We very much hope that that bipartisan support is maintained.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: The letter doesn't say that.

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: In terms of the policy itself, as the minister has correctly enunciated, it is one that provides a not insignificant degree of relief to families. We have a number of policies that were delivered in the context of the most recent state budget that try to orientate support to those members of our community who need it most.

On the one hand, we have the Cost of Living Concession, which we announced before the election we would commit to doubling. That has been honoured in this year's budget and will be rolled out progressively over coming months. That is orientated towards those South Australians who are on low and fixed incomes, pensioners probably being the most significant cohort.

Then, on the other end of the spectrum we have families. We know when they have school-age children, families have to incur substantial costs associated with education. We see this $100 relief providing a degree of support to those families, and they are entitled to know about that relief accordingly.