Cost of Living

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:27): Despite all the spin, all the rhetoric, all the smoke and mirrors, the facts show that South Australian families and business are doing it tough and feeling the pinch. The Treasurer might be running around telling everyone and anyone he can find that things have never been better, but the reality is starkly different. The opposition has crunched the numbers on skyrocketing prices for housing, food, electricity, petrol and other essentials.

The typical South Australian family—one with two kids, public schools and an average mortgage—is now paying close to $17,000 a year more than they were at this point 12 months ago. This is not a number that the standard family budget can just absorb. That whopping increase equates to an extra $324 a week. South Australian families, under this government, are being forced into survival mode as budgets become tighter and tighter by the day.

Last week, we saw the release of CPI data for the March 2023 quarter. It brought no relief for South Australian families or businesses. The quarterly inflation rate in Adelaide was 1.2 per cent, whilst the March 2022 to March 2023 annual inflation rate remained stubbornly high at 7.9 per cent. The yearly inflation rate for Adelaide is the highest of all capital cities.

Imagine the hit on the hip pocket when you look at some of the rises in grocery items since March 2022: bread and cereal products up 9 per cent, meat and seafood up 4.3 per cent, dairy products up 15.2 per cent, fruit and veggies up 6.7 per cent, eggs up nearly 15 per cent, coffee and tea up nearly 8½ per cent. It is a bleak picture, and it is clear that the Premier needs to step up and to provide more support across the board. Rising prices are showing no signs of slowing down either, and a few extra dollars can become the difference between food being put on the table or not.

The flow-on effect that these rising prices is having on financial stress, business confidence, business conditions and the general wellbeing of South Australians is stark. The NAB Australian Wellbeing Survey released last week for the first quarter of 2023 found that financial stress here in South Australia was the highest in the nation. It rose sharply in the first quarter, up from 41.9 points in the final quarter last year to 48 points this quarter. The wellbeing index measure of South Australians is also down, from 67 points in the final quarter of last year to 64½ points in the first quarter of this year, reflecting the largest drop in the nation.

Let's have a look at the most recent NAB monthly business surveys. Business confidence has dropped nearly 20 points since the start of January. The business conditions index has dropped over 25 points since January and is in negative territory. Interest rates are rising, energy costs are rising, people are worried that they will not have money in case of an emergency and are struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile we have a Premier, described by some as a show pony, leading an arrogant and out-of-touch government, with him and his ministers more focused on looking for the next photo opportunity and swanning around with celebrities rather than actually doing their jobs.

This government went to the last election saying that they had the right priorities, but if you ask someone from Fulham Gardens or Modbury or O'Halloran Hill or Mitchell Park or Golden Grove or Seaton or Angle Vale, it is becoming clear to them that this government has the wrong priorities. This government is arrogant. They are out of touch and it is time for them to get back to reality and start addressing the real issues that are facing South Australians.