Grievance Debate

State Budget

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:01): Mr Speaker, I want you to cast your mind back to before the 2022 election, when Labor vowed that there would be no new taxes, no tax increases, and that the state budget would be kept in surplus. Well, we know two of those three things have already been broken in just the first 12 months: fees and charges are up two budgets in a row, despite the Treasurer's murmurings of potentially stepping in to take pressure off in the cost-of-living crisis if inflation remained high.

But, just two weeks ago, the Treasurer sat here last sitting week telling us in this chamber that the budget will not be in surplus this financial year. That is right: the $233 million forecast surplus for 2022-23 announced in last year's budget has evaporated. Labor promised fiscal discipline, but what we are getting is a masterclass in financial mismanagement. They promised that the budget would be kept in surplus and, just a year in, the wheels have well and truly fallen off.

We saw a vintage performance in this place yesterday from the Treasurer, trying to shift the blame onto the former federal Coalition government and his own federal colleagues for changing the way the GST is distributed to the states (into the future, I may add)—but absolutely nothing to do with this budget. The reality is that, between the Treasurer handing down his budget in June 2022 to the most recent federal budget forecast, South Australia's share of GST has increased by nearly $324 million.

Yesterday was just another example of the litany of excuses this Treasurer is using to cover up. But we know that, whilst he might be able to run, he certainly cannot hide from the fact that this was just another broken promise and also a clear sign that Labor cannot be trusted when it comes to managing the economy. As The Advertiser front page stated a fortnight ago: 'Stephen blows the budget'.

We had a projected $233 million surplus and $324 million in additional GST revenue. That is over $550 million just there, and that is not including the uptick in additional state-based taxation revenue: gambling taxes, stamp duty taxes, payroll taxes. This is a government that cannot control their own spending. They have not just missed it by a little bit: they have missed it by that much—same old Labor, same old excuses, same old spending.

We were dealt another blow last sitting week with the news that South Australia has now the single worst unemployment rate in the country, skyrocketing to 4.3 per cent, all while the state is dealing with the crippling cost-of-living crisis and nation-leading inflation of 7.9 per cent. The condition of the South Australian economy not only reveals Labor's inability to manage our state's finances but highlights their mismanaged priorities—their financial mismanagement and leaving South Australian families to bear the brunt of an escalating cost-of-living crisis.

What is more, in the federal budget just a couple of weeks ago it became starkly clear that the Premier's own federal colleagues do not have confidence in him. The brain drain, as they say, is coming back to South Australia, with net interstate migration forecast to return to levels that we have not seen in four years—up to 3,500 to 4,000 people leaving our state. Young South Australians who are looking for jobs in industries are leaving our state. The tap has been turned back on.

The reality is that the state's finances should be in a place to provide relief to all South Australians who need it. With an unanticipated GST windfall and historic tax revenue due to inflation, this government should have been in a place to help more South Australians, but according to the Treasurer there is just nothing left.