Bills

Supply Bill 2024

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading (resumed on motion).

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (15:42): I am proud that thousands of South Australian women can now access an assessment through their new community pharmacy urinary tract infection service due to the work of our parliamentary committee, led by the member for Badcoe, which I was pleased to be a part of. This service, now available at participating pharmacies, allows South Australian women aged 18 to 65 with symptoms of an uncomplicated UTI to speak with a trained community pharmacist for assessment and, if appropriate, access to a one-off course of antibiotic treatment without needing a prescription.

This, of course, is another way in which we are providing women in our community with safe, accessible treatment for their health concerns. So often, a woman experiencing a UTI cannot, unfortunately, access a doctor in a timely fashion and finds themselves in an emergency department although they would rather not be there, which of course creates a greater strain on our health system. Having the provision of community pharmacists to support them and dispense them their antibiotic treatment is incredibly helpful.

In a further boost to women's health, eligible women are also now able to visit participating pharmacies for assessment to access a resupply of their oral contraceptive pill without needing to see a doctor for a script, another way women are avoiding difficult waiting times to see a GP. This service is available to women aged 17 to 50 who have been prescribed an approved contraceptive by a registered medical practitioner previously. This is in addition to the opening of three 24/7 pharmacies following an investment by the state government. The pharmacies are at Clovelly Park—one accessed by members of my community—Norwood and Salisbury.

On average, more than 300 people are accessing these pharmacies each night during their extended hours, with an average of 130 prescriptions dispensed and 28 phone calls received each night across these pharmacies since they began operating 24/7—another way we are seeking avoidance from the hospital emergency system. With the health system on track, what we need is for South Australians to have a safe and affordable place to live.

Unfortunately, there has been a history in South Australia of governments of both persuasions selling public housing. This has been stopped by this Malinauskas Labor government. Since the 2022 election, this state government has announced an additional $232.7 million investment into public housing which will see 564 new homes built across the state, including Dover Gardens and Marion in my electorate, and major upgrades to 350 vacant properties.

In addition to this massive new investment, the government has cancelled the planned sale of 580 public housing properties. The opposition may try to duck and weave, but they were going to sell almost 600 homes had they been re-elected. The SA Housing Authority is building more than 1,000 new homes over four years under its ongoing capital programs and the government's additional investment.

The state government has also released, purchased or rezoned land that will deliver nearly 28,000 homes over the next few years. This includes 10,000 homes at Concordia and Dry Creek, 2,000 at Hackham, 1,700 at Sellicks Beach, 800 at Aldinga, 600 at Noarlunga Downs and 500 at Golden Grove. I note previously members opposite were laughing at the addition of six homes being created in the community, but of course they all add up. When we look at the numbers this state government is producing, it is absolutely worth applauding.

Locally, in Gibson, work is underway to deliver more than 680 new homes. South Australia's largest social housing regeneration project in decades has commenced at Oaklands Park under an innovative partnership between the community sector and state government. Led by South Australian developer Housing Renewal Australia, the Oaklands Park renewal project will transform a 16.5 hectare site between Barry Road, Bombay Street and Doreen Street, adjacent to the electrified train line. Oaklands Green is a fantastic development in our local community.

The state Labor government has also approved a code amendment to rezone land at Virginia for 150 low-density allotments, and is considering two code amendments in Freeling which have the potential to create 415 new allotments. South Australians in rental properties have benefited from the reforms introduced by our government. Pets are now allowed in rentals—a reform welcomed by 68 per cent of South Australians who own pets.

For the first time this year, South Australia has the best unemployment rate in the nation, a stunning sign of the strength of the state's economy. This state government understands families are struggling in this cost-of-living crisis and that is why this year we are delivering discounts to school fees, assistance to purchase laptops and subsidised home internet for students in need. Further, breakfast programs are also being made available in more schools this year following a $6.5 million boost from the state government over four years.

With tourism in mind, we have seen the second AFL Gather Round, the magnificent WOMAD, the record crowds at the Fringe and the Festival, plus the Adelaide 500 as just some of the major events on our calendar throughout the calendar year. Of course, with our state pumping, we are delivering for all South Australians. It is certainly true that this government is able to support arts events and sports events at the same time.

Heading south, major works have started on the Southern Expressway and Majors Road interchange project, which will have a significant impact on my community by reducing congestion on Brighton Road as traffic, instead, will travel along the north-south corridor.

For the seniors in our community, I would like to thank Minister Picton for the Retirement Villages (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2024, which will deliver increased consumer protection for retirement village residents, mandate greater contract transparency, strengthen the role of the regulator and enhance industry standards. I am lucky to have many retirement villages in my electorate.

Further, a new social housing development for Aboriginal elders at risk of homelessness is being built in Adelaide, delivering a much needed supply boost in Adelaide's south. This will deliver 40 modern and culturally appropriate homes at Warriparinga near the Sturt River, with the village built and managed by Aboriginal people.

To sport, my community is so fortunate to have excellent community sports clubs. I would like to congratulate the Brighton District Table Tennis Club, Marion Bowling Club and Sacred Heart Old Collegians on receiving Active Club Program grants. I also mention the Warradale Park Tennis Club, where an upgrade supported by local, state and federal governments is underway.

I would also like to highlight the work of the Marion Tennis Club which, despite having their home taken away from them behind closed doors by the City of Marion, is now growing. It has double the membership that it had at the beginning of the year. People want to support their local tennis club and have come out in droves to participate in this fantastic community club. Speaking of sports clubs, I must not forget to acknowledge my own club, Westminster Old Scholars' Soccer Club, which is once again fielding two women's teams and three men's teams this year. I am so fortunate to be part of a supportive, inclusive soccer club.

But not everyone plays sport, and that is why I am proud also that this state government has expanded the $100 Sports Voucher program to include Scouts and Girl Guides for the first time: another cost-of-living relief delivered by this government to benefit families with children who want to learn life skills and leadership while also having fun and being engaged in our community.

We know that South Australians are struggling not only with housing but also with the ever-increasing cost of living. To assist those in need, we have doubled the Cost of Living Concession; to assist seniors, we have delivered free public transport every day of the year; and to assist families, we have reduced the school materials fee for all public school students by $100.

The pressure of urban infill impacts our streets and our neighbourhoods, making urban infill synonymous with congestion and inconvenience. Of course, we need urban infill to meet the needs of our growing population, but development must not compete with community, it must serve our community. That is why my constituents and I were so pleased to see the state government adopt the recommendations of the planning review, and I look forward to seeing them being implemented.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our surf lifesavers for their work this last summer. I am so pleased to have both Brighton Surf Life Saving Club and Somerton Surf Life Saving Club in my community. I know that members of our community are so grateful to see them patrolling our beaches every weekend, knowing that they are swimming safely and participating in water activities safely and, should something go awry, there are people who are trained, ready and pleased to assist. While we are on our beaches, I am pleased that on 1 March this year our government banned smoking and vaping on beaches between and within 50 metres of patrol flags and within five metres of jetties, meaning cleaner air for everyone at our beaches.

I would also like to thank our frontline workers, whether they be nurses, doctors, ambos, police officers, or retail or hospitality workers. These are workers who continue to work hours far beyond the normal business hours that many of us enjoy, in order to keep us safe or to provide products and services we need at all hours of the day. I am so pleased to be part of a government that delivered appropriate, fair and reasonable pay for these workers on Easter Sunday, a move derided by those opposite.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the residents of my community who I have met at my mobile office, community forums, community catch-ups with ministers, while out doorknocking and at street-corner meetings. They have provided me with so many ideas and suggestions to improve our community, and I am proud to work alongside them and for them.

I look forward to the upcoming budget, and seeing this Malinauskas government announce further initiatives and projects to improve the lives of South Australians, in particular the people of Gibson. I commend the bill to the house.

Ms PRATT (Frome) (15:54): I also rise to speak to the Supply Bill for 2024, and thought I would treat it as an annual report, if you like, on some of the activities that have been happening within my electorate, allowing direct reflection on the presence or lack thereof of government services throughout my region.

Frome is 200 kilometres long, and extends from Two Wells to Terowie; as you know, Mr Speaker, once the city slickers cross the Gawler River they are in our backyard. It is an electorate carved up across seven councils and, as I reflect on the services I am focused on for my electorate, I thought that a way to paint a picture for my own constituents is to talk council by council and reflect on the work they do for their local communities—but that I also hope we do together.

Once that commuter has crossed the Gawler River and entered the Adelaide Plains Council area they are in the district of Mayor Mark Wasley. I have a unique affection for the Adelaide Plains Council because it is the only little bit of coastline that my country electorate has, extending out west to Port Parham, Port Gawler, Middle Beach and Thompson Beach—the communities along the Samphire Coast.

Whether you live along that coastline or inland around Dublin, Lower Light, Windsor or Two Wells you care about that coastline. There are a number of people who are focused on developing the Samphire Coast for ecotourism opportunities, but the community that lives along there is fiercely protective of their environment—and rightfully so.

I thank Mayor Mark Wasley for the work he does through the Adelaide Plains Council, supporting the community of Two Wells as it expands exponentially with a housing boom that is really testing the services and level of infrastructure required for the thousands of people coming into this region. Housing is a constant theme throughout the seven councils in my electorate of Frome.

Two Wells community members will often say to me that they are looking for a number of things, public transport being one of those major elements. Many people who have relocated to Two Wells have been able to maintain their work in the city, so they become commuters back into those jobs in the metro area but also enjoy a lovely lifestyle in Two Wells, which we still claim as country SA. So it is infrastructure and access to public transport, and there are elements such as letterboxes that are still in the main street rather than house by house.

The community is very much engaged in its football club as well as other sporting pursuits. I was there recently on the weekend supporting the Two Wells Melodrama Group out at the community shed. It is a community that is growing but it still has a country element to it, and the leadership that Mark Wasley demonstrates through that council allows for an open relationship as we start to look at the services that a growing community like this needs that come back to state government priorities and decisions.

Down the road on the Nine Mile, leaving Mallala and entering Balaklava, you come into the Wakefield Regional Council, ably led by Mayor Rodney Reid who, like me, was a teacher. That shines through in his endeavours to teach, to share information, and to bring his community along. I particularly enjoy listening to the mayor's conversation, learnings and outlook on life during citizenship ceremonies. Mayor Reid is very enthusiastic. He loves his community. He lives in amongst it. We see through the pride Balaklava has and the investment by council in services that they are well led by Rodney, representing not just of course Balaklava but, off to the west, the Port Wakefield region and my hometown of Blyth and my birth town of Snowtown. I have a special spot for the Wakefield Regional Council.

To the east of these councils is the Light Regional Council and its mayor, Bill O'Brien. He is well known to you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Kapunda and Freeling towns are in particular a focus of mine. We can look at the housing boom that is coming through that corridor from Riverlea and Buckland Park on the coastline, inland past Lewiston and through the Gawler ward belt, picking up Roseworthy and Two Wells in my electorate. Councils are integral to the planning required for these expansions that we are seeing in our country farming areas that will forever more accommodate many thousands of people. They are an on the ground, grassroot level of government, quite close to the action.

The township of Kapunda has extraordinary pride in its own school system. It is well recognised through Johnson's for hay exporting. Kapunda is well served by the leadership of council executives and Mayor Bill O'Brien, who is always imagining the next great thing to celebrate in his region. He is very proud of it.

In my own hometown of Clare, we have the Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council, ably led by the very colourful mayor, Allan Aughey. This entire region of the Clare and Gilbert Valleys is integral to my electorate. It is the capital, if you like, of Frome, the population of Clare leading all the rest for now, although Two Wells is knocking on that door.

With the 40^th anniversary of the Clare gourmet festival kicking off this Friday, there are so many fantastic elements that make up the Clare and Gilbert Valleys. Mayor Aughey is one of the best ambassadors you could come across for his experience, his network, his connections to the region, his flamboyant approach, his articulation, his work knowledge and his love of the arts and culture and our region. We have in Mayor Aughey a wonderful ambassador for a region that does not really need any introduction, although I am still surprised by the number of people who are coming to Clare for the first time.

As a wine region, it is very different to the Barossa, Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and even Port Lincoln. It still has its raw, natural beauty. These cellar doors and wineries are tucked away off the beaten track. Of course, it needs no explaining that the wines that are made locally are world standard. I thank Anna Baum for her leadership of the grapegrowers' association, given some of the challenges they have faced and continue to face.

Heading north from the Clare and Gilbert Valleys are the northern areas. Only a little part of the northern areas is captured by Jamestown and Spalding, but I am delighted to have come to know our newish mayor, Mayor Sue Scarman, who is doing a fantastic job in the northern end of my electorate.

Jamestown is not a difficult town to manage. It is one of the towns that constantly captures my surprise for its level of volunteering, its town pride, its can-do attitude, and the spick-and-span elements of clean main streets and a beautiful oval, and its centre of excellence for shearing. Mayor Sue Scarman does a great job in supporting that community.

Just around to the east is the Goyder council, where we see Mayor Bill Gebhardt taking the reins in the most recent election, with an extraordinary renewable sector in the back blocks of the Goyder council. In fact, the project was implemented by French company Neoen. Those projects, Goyder South and Goyder North, are significant for the region.

I recently went for a ride through the Stockman, Geiar and Rowe properties to inspect the wind turbines that are being installed, and they are monolithic in their size. What the council is managing at that very local level is an injection of investment in the region and that is very present by the workforce who are living around the Burra region. We know that those pressures have run down the road to Clare because that workforce has hoovered up housing through Burra all the way down to Eudunda and certainly in Clare.

I will touch on housing shortly, but the final council that I give a nod to is the fabulous Mid Murray Council and Mayor Simone Bailey, who I have very limited interaction with; she would admit that as well. The lovely little community of Dutton is captured within the ward of Mid Murray Council and therefore is encompassed in Frome, so I acknowledge Simone Bailey as well.

In my relationships with all of these councils what was clear is that we have collectively a number of common interests and we are frequently frustrated by two budgets now that have not met the needs of my community. So establishing the Frome Economic Forum—with all of my mayors, their CEOs and the two Regional Development Australia boards of Barossa Gawler Light and Yorke and Mid North—has given an injection of enthusiasm and focus to some of the things that we are fighting for for our region and no-one else's.

It is very difficult to list them in an order of priority because they are all connected. Housing is creating a pressure point and has done for a while now and, whether that is access to housing, affordability of housing or even the frustrations of construction of housing, we are hitting infrastructure roadblocks with SA Water to brand-new slabs where residents I know are being told, 'No water to your first new home for the better part of the next four years, 2024 to 2028.' I beseech the government to resolve this. It is a handbrake on essential construction for those blocks that have been identified, for those slabs that have been poured—and you know this yourself, Mr Speaker. We have this in common in our areas of commonality.

It is such a frustration for those people who have been single mums, working hard, saving up, renting, trying to get out of the rental market, and therefore freeing up a rental for someone else. Having put down a deposit on that slab only to be told there is no water possibly for four more years is a blight on those households and something the government is in a position to rectify immediately. Actually, this is two years old.

Water is tied to housing, whether it is water supply, whether it is pricing, whether it is quality, whether it is the infrastructure of the pipes, which certainly in Freeling need to be upgraded. We have a community post Pinery that is tense and anxious about the threat of another fire down the track. What does it mean to not have the water infrastructure it requires to defend itself?

The Frome Economic Forum has been focusing on housing, on water supply. We have talked about the quality and the state of the roads. Councils are often beaten up for the state of local roads and, while they have responsibilities, there are limits to the budgets that they hold. Certainly, for our regional councils, these are roads that the rest of the state are using, but an individual council may be responsible for the entirety of a road that is shared by everybody.

That is why the opposition has launched the Report Your Road campaign, because every one of my country colleagues is inundated with complaints and reports of grave concern where potholes have become craters and where tyres have exploded—my own included. There is no reimbursement for the repairs on the axle and the parts of your car that are beaten up travelling our country roads.

We know that the RAA has reported an ongoing backlog of up to $2 billion of maintenance on our roads. If we are on our feet talking about the Supply Bill and therefore the budget and the revenue coming into the government, then look no further than the primary industries: our farmers, our growers and our producers who are generating that income, generating that revenue, sending that back to the government through tax and maybe naively still expecting that this government will understand that there needs to be a return on investment and we need to see that money flow back into our communities.

The Frome Economic Forum with my councils has been a vehicle where we will continue to collectively negotiate and position back to this government what it is we need to see invested in our region. One of the topics that we have talked about is education. It is a pet passion of mine, having been an educator for the better part of 16 years. I do not know if you ever stop. There is an extraordinary pool of talent in the Mid North, going back to Sue Pratt who was the ag teacher at Balaklava High School and has now been seconded, as the Minister for Education knows, to his own ag teacher program.

I see with great delight investment in our ag teachers. We need them to be supporting the rest of our teaching workforce in our country schools: people such as Karen Bromley at Kapunda High School and my cousin Amanda over on the island, who is doing something similar. It is just fantastic to see our young people getting their hands dirty, getting out in the fresh air, learning how to manage these massive expensive implements and dabbling in ag tech now, applying the research and development that we see coming from the Marshall Liberal government's establishment of Lot Fourteen. The innovation that comes from space and defence has an automatic translation back to the agricultural sector, and I am really pleased to see that my electorate is right in the mix for those learnings, teachings and advancements.

At the southern end of my electorate, of course, is the University of Adelaide's Roseworthy Campus. I am so proud that that remains in my electorate. I continue to stay in touch with this university community because I am looking for higher education opportunities: uni, training, voc ed, whatever it is, for my community.

Clare and Jamestown no longer have a TAFE. We are in a corridor that is removed from the Barossa, further from the city and not part of Spencer Gulf. The establishment of the Uni Hub Spencer Gulf in Port Pirie and Port Augusta and a satellite community being established in Kadina gave me hope that something similar would be possible for the Clare Valley. In constant meetings with Anita and with great encouragement to the Goyder council, I am delighted that Uni Hub Spencer Gulf is now going to establish itself in Burra.

I know that because it can expand, there are possibilities for the Clare community as well. To meet a mother and daughter who drive from Clare to Port Pirie to study a Bachelor of Nursing together just reminds me that there is more that we can do, through technology that is available, to bring these opportunities to study and learn much closer to home.

The final thing I want to talk about today is, having invited the Mental Health Commissioner, Taimi Allan, to Clare, I was delighted that she said yes straight away. It is strange that the government, after three or four months of her being in office, have not really encouraged or invited her to get out into the regions, but I know that the Liberal Party welcomes anyone who is in a position to come and sit and listen to communities about their mental health and wellbeing, and I thank her for coming. With that, I support the bill.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (16:14): I was biding my time just in case others wanted to contribute to this debate about the Supply Bill.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: We are waiting for your contribution.

Mr PATTERSON: Yes, fair enough. We see the Supply Bill come into parliament each year. It precedes, of course, the Appropriation Bill, which is centred around the state budget, so it is apt while we are talking around those financial bills that we have the federal budget tonight, and we will wait to see what measures are announced there. That does, in quite a significant way, affect what happens here in South Australia, so we will watch with interest and concern, to be honest, around some of the measures that seem to have been announced and what effects they might have on inflation.

In terms of here in this parliament and the Supply Bill we have here, the opposition will be providing support for that bill, which is the convention. It is a very important aspect to running the state's finances because the Appropriation Bill each year provides funding up to 30 June and so the Supply Bill is that mechanism to allow funding to continue on into the next financial year before the actual Appropriation Bill is finally passed, usually in July, maybe early August.

We do that because it helps to fund and continue funding essential public services. Of course, with hospitals, it pays for nurses and doctors to continue providing life-saving treatments and makes sure the hospitals are running; it pays for our emergency services workers; the police, for example, to make sure they are able to keep the community safe; and also our teachers and our schools, both secondary and primary schools, to make sure that our children continue to be educated by allowing the teachers to be paid.

Interestingly, when you look at the amount that is being proposed to be legislated by the Supply Bill, it is some $7.7 billion. Of course, when governments talk about budgets, they are in the billions, but what is startling about that figure is the fact that last year, and in previous years as well, that figure hovered around the $6.5 billion mark, so there has been a massive step change in the amount required to offer supply here in South Australia, up by $1.2 billion.

You might think that maybe inflation accounts for that, but I think it will be very interesting to see what the upcoming budget has to say about the government's spending, because the fact that the government needs an extra $1.2 billion just to see its way through the passing of the Appropriation Bill I think speaks a lot to the amount of spending going on in the government. The fact that they need an extra $1.2 billion to see them through is startling.

We know, when we were going through the budget last year and going through the Auditor-General's workings through government spending, we saw there was already massive overspending underway. Of course, the budget promised that departments would be able to run as per an allocated amount and what we found was that there was massive overspending in just about every single department. I think there were only two departments that managed to not overspend, so it is symptomatic of the ministers in this house not being able to control their departments and keep their spending in check.

Of course, we know that households are being smashed by inflation. I think this time last year, around the budget, inflation was running at 7.9 per cent in South Australia. It was the highest inflation rate in the nation. Just recently, we have had the inflation figures released up to March and they showed that over the 12 months to March, while inflation is coming down, South Australia at 4.3 per cent again had the highest inflation rate in the nation. That inflation is directly impacting on households. The cost of their goods is going up. They are being hammered by these big, massive increases.

They are having to cut back. They are having so much less discretionary spending. Their kids want to go to the football, they want to go out, and it is not possible because they are having to pay just for the basics. At the same time, the RBA knows the imperative is that inflation eats into people's standard of living so it is important to be able to manage it appropriately and keep it under control. The RBA is having to fight inflation by putting up interest rates and holding them. The effect is that that takes discretionary spending away from households and businesses, which I talked about before. Their discretionary spending is being eaten into.

You would expect that governments, both federal and state, would be working hand-in-hand with the RBA, not allowing all the heavy lifting to be done by the RBA, not sheeting the blame home to the RBA. What you find is that while households are having to cut back and businesses are having to cut back this state government is certainly not cutting back. In fact, they have massive overspending problems.

How that impacts families, of course, is that that is all baked into what is going on with inflation. The massive money going into the economy is causing inflation to continue to run. It makes the RBA's job that much harder. It is simply unfair on households. The last figures showed that consumer spending, household spending, was actually down by 1 per cent and so that 4.3 per cent inflation rate is being driven not by households but by other spending going into the economy.

The government has a big role to play in that. As I said, they have overspent and it seems that is going to continue through into the next budget. What that inflation means for the average family with two children and an average mortgage is that they are over $20,000 per year worse off than in March 2022, when this Malinauskas Labor government came into power in South Australia.

This is a real issue for households, and for businesses as well. Of course, 10 per cent of the spending that is being driven, the increases in costs of food, petrol and groceries that consumers are paying, is GST. Those increases are being paid by households and businesses and that is finding its way back to the state government, as all the GST collected in this country, of course, gets sent back to state governments.

The state governments have massive increases in GST revenue and also from stamp duty, from the cost of housing going up. I know others have talked here about the housing crisis that is going on, and also payroll tax. Instead of returning that to provide support and productivity gains to help bring down inflation, the government is having to do it to pay for all the overspending. I think figures by the shadow treasurer show that that spending amounted to about $1.3 billion for the last financial year, with estimates that that is going to grow upwards to $2 billion. This has real issues for the budget going forward.

Yes, this is smashing households. It is also affecting businesses. Again, the shadow treasurer talked about the real impact that this is having on business. We are seeing businesses having to close their doors. Just about each week, unfortunately, another business says that they are closing their doors. Many of the commentators around that are saying that it is worse than during COVID. They were hoping to be able to spring back from COVID. They were offered significant support to keep their doors open, and now they are getting really pressured in terms of keeping the doors open because of the significant costs.

In Glenelg, on Jetty Road we had Hog's Breath Cafe close in February. In March we had the much-loved Cardone's close as well, an iconic restaurant in Glenelg. It was certainly not for lack of quality of their meals; it was a magnificent dining experience. As I have said previously, just this Valentine's Day I had a fantastic dinner with my better half at Cardone's. The service was magnificent. Nick himself had a hands-on approach. Unfortunately, he has had to close.

When I talked to him about it, just to share my disappointment and that of so many others, he said it was a double whammy. One was that the costs had gone up, especially costs in his electricity to be able to keep things running, and, at the same time, those costs were also being felt by households and they were simply not able to come in and spend money in his fine establishment. These are real issues that are occurring, not only in Glenelg but certainly in wider areas well.

I talked a little bit about electricity and I will probably save my comments around that for when we talk through the Appropriation Bill, but there is no doubt that in the last two years electricity costs have skyrocketed. We know this government had no plan going into the election to ensure that electricity was affordable and reliable. The current government just hoped that the good work undertaken by the former Liberal government, to basically fix up the mess we inherited, would continue the downward trajectory on electricity prices.

The average household bill came down by over $400 under the former Liberal government. Instead, as we have seen with successive default market offers, those electricity bills have not just gone up but actually skyrocketed. The average household bill, up to the last default market offer, so after the two, had gone up by $710. For businesses it was worse; it was $1,300, which is simply unsustainable.

Thankfully in the draft default market offer released in February, we have not seen the prices go up but what we have seen is that they effectively stabilised. For households, they came down as little as $12. For businesses, they did come down more than that, around $400, but they are still highly elevated.

As was said by a number of businesses we have spoken to, the federal budget last year, in conjunction with the state budget, provided an energy bill rebate, but that, in their own words, barely touched the sides. The real way to tackle this is to actually bring electricity prices down, not to provide rebates because ultimately the underlying problem still exists. As soon as the government turns the tap off, those that were on rebates are going to experience exactly what working families, who are not able to get access to these rebates, are currently experiencing and that is just being overloaded with energy bills.

Looking back at the previous budget and some of this money and supply, how that effect has played out in my local electorate, if I go back again to Jetty Road, where I talked about businesses being impacted, another real concern for not only the businesses but certainly the community who love Jetty Road, love shopping there and supporting local business, is the antisocial behaviour that is going on. We are seeing a surge in crime across metropolitan Adelaide. It is a bit like a balloon, where it pops up and the police do their best to address issues in certain spots and then it filters out and pops up in other areas. Certainly Glenelg has experience with that.

It is not the police that I have any issue with; they are doing a remarkable job in difficult circumstances. They are very attentive and responsive whenever I contact their office expressing concerns that the community have brought up with me, looking to address crime and looking to prevent crime, because ultimately that is the best way. They are also under pressure because of concerns that the shadow minister, the member for Flinders, has brought up around the resourcing of the police.

I have experienced an example of antisocial behaviour. I was walking up Jetty Road from Bayside Village with my staff, and Lois—who is a 72-year-old grandmother—was walking, minding her own business, when she was attacked by a person sitting on a seat who verballed her. Lois kept on walking, but he got up and physically pushed her into the window of one of the shops. Thankfully, my staff and I were close enough to put ourselves in between the attacker and Lois, chaperone her away from harm and immediately phone the police. Within 15 minutes they were able to attend the scene.

Certainly, we need a greater police presence along Jetty Road—a physical presence—not only the cars and the mobile patrols but a foot presence to act, as I said before, as a deterrent as well. Much more recently, in the last couple of weeks, we had that horrendous event that could have ended in disaster at Century 21 real estate. Someone experienced a mental health episode from a past trauma in previous years. They arrived at the back door of that real estate agent with a knife, obviously traumatised, and they could have caused physical harm or death to the staff, who are terrific staff. Being real estate agents they are very open, and Glenelg being Glenelg it is very friendly.

Thankfully, the police were able to attend and take away that assailant to be treated for mental health purposes at Flinders. Over the course of four or five days, they got to the stage where they were to be released. The family of that person implored that they not be released. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and the real issue is that they got straight in a taxi and instead of going home—so no guidance to make sure they left the hospital and arrived into the waiting arms of support—they went straight back to the real estate agents, effectively picking up where they left off. Luckily, they phoned beforehand to say they were coming to cause harm with a knife, and it gave the staff a chance to attend at the police station and alert the police.

That again highlights the breakdown of communications between departments, where the police should have been informed of what was going on and that there was a release; this went missing. It goes to the member for Frome in her role as shadow minister for mental health talking about the real core need to have more support and effort put into mental health here in South Australia. Certainly, the former Liberal government set up the Urgent Mental Health Care Centre in Grenfell Street. That is an exemplar and offers a way forward. There are I think 19,000 people in SA living with unmet needs. They are in hospital waiting, I think in the RAH, for nearly 100 hours to be treated. This is causing huge issues in hospitals, and it is having massive impacts on ramping as well.

It is worth making this final point around what this Supply Bill should have principally been about, and that was to fix ramping. That was the claim, and that is what this Premier and this government said they would do back in March 2022. What we have had since, though, and what people were not told was that as part of that you would get 22 months of the worst ramping in the state's history. In November, you would get I think 4,285 hours lost. In March this year, you would get over 4,000 hours—the second-worst ramping ever. In fact, what you would get is 86,317 hours of ramping in the last two years, which is more than what occurred during the former Liberal government where there were 74,991 hours of ramping.

This is what needs the government's utmost focus, for the reasons I have explained, so that South Australians can be safe in our hospitals. The Premier promised to fix this; he has not.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (16:35): I use this opportunity to speak about some spending initiatives, either real or faux, that I think are important for my electorate of Unley. I have been on a bit of a campaign in recent months, certainly over the last 12 months, to see significant safety improvements for pedestrian crossings on major roads in my electorate, particularly those that are adjacent to schools.

We have a lot of schools in the Unley electorate: government primary schools, independent primary schools, Catholic primary schools and independent schools throughout the electorate. Consequently, there are lots of reasons for traffic to be aware of the fact that there are schools nearby, particularly those schools that are adjacent to major roads. On Goodwood Road, we have Goodwood Primary School and St Thomas School just up the road behind the church precinct in Millswood, we have St Raphael's School on Glen Osmond Road and we have Walford Anglican School for Girls on Unley Road.

None of these schools are protected through warning devices that we see available through GPS systems on modern vehicles that send a warning to drivers that they are entering a school zone. I have written to the government about looking at how it can expand the system that works on side streets and, in states like Victoria, even on main arterial highways that link major cities but does not operate on main roads like Unley Road, Glen Osmond Road and Goodwood Road.

I did notice the other day, on the way back from the airport, that on Marion Road the GPS warning comes on. Marion Road and Unley Road: I do not know what difference there is between the status of those roads under Department for Infrastructure and Transport language but, to me, if we can have that system working on a road like Marion Road, why can we not have it working on a road like Unley Road or Goodwood Road?

I also think that in this day and age there are ways that we could have other physical means, particularly in areas that are heavily populated with shopping districts, like Goodwood Road and Unley Road, where visibility can be difficult at times because of cars parked on the side of the road and trees on the footpath. We could have some sort of physical mechanism, such as a rumble on the road in the lead-up to a pedestrian crossing, just to make people aware.

I know it has a much slower speed, but Arthur Street in Unley is the first place that I am aware of in South Australia to have wombat crossings. These are where you have, more or less, a raised zebra crossing; that is called a wombat crossing. That has worked very well. People recognise what they are. We also have them without the raising. We have had zebra crossings introduced, which are not very common in South Australia.

South Australian drivers are getting used to them. They are certainly used to the ones that have been there for a number of years now—it is probably close to three years on King William Road—and cars stop when a pedestrian wants to cross, but we do not have a lot of those so it is not common practice. Seeing more of them will make drivers more aware that they are in an area of heavy pedestrian traffic.

It is also important that drivers are made aware of the fact that they are in a school zone, where anything can happen—particularly with primary schools. We know that an excited child can very easily run across a road without consideration for any of the consequences, but if drivers are aware that they are in a school zone they are able to be more prepared for the unexpected than if it were a complete surprise for them.

I would like to see that technology used, and I cannot see how it would be very difficult or expensive to do so. We already know that at every set of traffic lights data is being collected from mobile phones about the cars going past. That is how we know, when we are on our GPS on the phone, when there is a traffic jam ahead; when we see that yellow road turn red we know it is because the cell system is telling the GPS provider that the traffic is not moving or is moving very slowly. We already have the technology in place; we have it in side streets and feeder streets but we do not have it on main roads—even though they do in other states.

It is also very confusing that we have signs saying '25 km/h when children present'. Other states have hours and 'on school days' when that is the case. It is very confusing for drivers and probably, to some degree, a little bit frustrating. It would also be difficult to determine the legal context in terms of what the intention is if someone defined legally as a child, maybe a 17 year old, was standing in front of a primary school that had a sign saying '25 km/h when children present' on a weekend.

If that does not connect to a driver that they may be committing an offence, how would the court see that? If they challenge that expiation notice, for example, how would that be dealt with? It is very clear in other states, where it is particular times on particular days, and people get used to slowing down at the peak times for the crossing points on the roads in front of schools. I am very keen to see the department work on that.

I had a briefing on the intersection of Glen Osmond Road and Young Street last week, and I raised this issue again with the department and the ministerial adviser who was there. I was also very pleased to advise them that I was fully supportive of the 50 km/h speed zone being introduced to Unley Road as well, for many reasons, predominantly lifestyle reasons for those who live in Unley or shop in Unley or who walk to Unley Road or drive on Unley Road and wish to stop along the way.

I am very pleased that will happen, to ensure strip shopping on Unley Road. I know the member for Morphett is very proud of the strip shopping he has on Jetty Road and other streets in his electorate. It brings vibrancy to the whole neighbourhood and increases the desirability of that suburb for residents and visitors, so it is important we ensure that what I will call those 'heritage' parts of Adelaide, those strip shopping parts of Adelaide, can continue to provide the services loved by so many of us living here.

I have also spent quite a bit of time finding out the news about the cuts to the Museum in South Australia by the Malinauskas government. It strikes me as extraordinary that at every opportunity the government is telling students to do more science, maths and STEM and then in one fell swoop they propose a plan to sack 27 scientists and researchers at the Museum. That is 170 years of scientific research in the Museum out the window in one fell swoop. Of course, despite the denials of the Premier that some of the most precious and loved galleries—the Egyptian gallery and the mammal gallery in particular—are not under threat, we see leaked documents released over the weekend through a media outlet confirming that that is very much on the cards.

I encourage South Australians to sign the petition to trigger the parliamentary inquiry into these cuts so we can stop them and hold this government to account. It is an extraordinary amount of damage for what is a very small amount of money in the overall scheme of things. It just seems extraordinary that such a focus would be put on destroying an institution that is so loved and so valuable for putting South Australia on the map when it comes to intellectual debate and scientific endeavour.

I am very pleased with the response we have been getting outside of the Museum and in shopping centres. Many people are aware of it. They are very surprised at the government's decision to do this and we are determined to make sure the government is made aware of how unpopular it is and the disapproval that there is in the community for this change.

A week ago on Saturday I was at the opening of the new Unley Oval. We call it the new Unley Oval because it is the first time in my lifetime, as I understand it, that it has had a major overhaul. I think about $650,000 was provided by the previous Marshall government to completely rebuild the pitch. Those who know me know that in a choice between a hot poker in the eye and an invite to a footy game I will take the hot poker anytime.

I was told the oval was in such poor repair after the last season and it was because of the fact that no work had been done. With the drainage, it was like a quagmire basically. There has been a complete rebuild of the oval. I was there for a Sturt match last weekend and it was terrific to see how green it was—run-off has been provided for when it does rain—and how many of the public use the oval, which is open to the public when it is not being used for football. It is enjoyed very much by the residents. We do not have a lot of open space in Unley and this is very treasured. It is a lovely precinct.

I will also use this opportunity to congratulate the City of Unley for keeping its rates below the rate of inflation, with a rate increase of 3.7 per cent. When you see what has been happening with some other councils around South Australia, it is an extraordinary achievement.

Congratulations to the mayor, Michael Hewitson, for his leadership. I think a lot of people forget that Trinity College is the largest private school in South Australia. I am sure that you, Deputy Speaker, know the success of Michael Hewitson for the innovative way in which he built that school, which was a combination of strategic planning, real estate development and good quality education and of course hiring you to do the books.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It was a stroke of genius.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Suggesting it was a stroke a genius, the Deputy Speaker. Well, I cannot argue with that.

But he was very focused on financial issues. I will also mention members of the audit committee: Monica Broniecki, Michael Rabbitt and Jack Gaffey, who have all had a role in ensuring that council rate rises are kept to a minimum.

I have to say that I know many members of parliament get a lot of complaints about council and pass those complaints on, but certainly in recent years I do not get the sorts of complaints I used to get when I was first elected 18 years ago in the City of Unley. I think they are delivering a good service and value for money. Certainly, as to the rate in the dollar compared with similar properties just over Cross Road in my electorate in the City of Mitcham there is a significant difference in what the same house value will pay in rates. It is lower in Unley than it is in the City of Mitcham. So congratulations to the City of Unley in the way they are managing their accounts and looking after the pockets of ratepayers as best they can in Unley.

I will finish my contribution by mentioning how disappointed I am with the government's announcement about focusing on the eastern suburbs for a new round of 20-storey towers. It is extraordinary that the government cannot see the opportunities for a bigger range of housing and the use of tired industrial land or tired residential land in the north-western suburbs which are serviced by a well-maintained railway line, a tramline to Port Road, a wide road in Port Road right down to the Port. I visit my mother regularly who lives at Semaphore and I drive past opportunity after opportunity for towers to be built at a much more affordable price than would be the case for similar projects in the inner eastern suburbs of Adelaide.

We have really punched above our weight in those suburbs for increasing density. It has come at a massive cost to open space, to car parking. We have had to have intersections widened because of the extra traffic that has come in. I think the people of Unley are right to question whether there are other alternatives. I have never met anybody who says, 'We do not want this to happen. We do not want growth in Adelaide.' They have all said they want it to be planned, to be considered, for there to be choice in housing. You will not get choice in housing if you just keep focusing on the top end.

I know that many people who have downsized in Unley would have liked to have been able to do that within five kilometres of where they brought their families up, and that is happening. Nobody is complaining about that, providing it is done within scale, providing it is adding amenity and not removing amenity. I understand it is a balancing act, but certainly for my electorate I think the balance is out of whack. It is time for the government to be looking at rezoning for these types of developments, mainly around shopping districts like Noarlunga shopping centre and Elizabeth shopping centre where real, affordable housing can be provided.

What is wrong with the ambition to buy a house? Why can we not have housing designed at such a level on land that is much cheaper than land in Unley, in Norwood or in Prospect, for example? Why can we not have affordable housing developed on land that is much cheaper to start with, which has all the amenities and the transport ready to go? There is a long way to go on housing choice but we think we have pulled our weight in the City of Unley.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (16:55): I rise today to speak on the Supply Bill 2024. This bill, of course, is a necessity enabling our state's public sector to keep operating. In speaking to this bill, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the important work being done in our community and highlight where more work is needed ahead of this year's state budget.

Health is a priority for my region. We have a doctor shortage across many regional towns, from Robe and Beachport up to Lameroo and Pinnaroo and places in between. While I welcome last week's announcement of the extra 60 GPs across the regions, we may need good incentives to make this work as it should and could. We are relying heavily on the locum doctors and that is obviously backed up with the fact that there is a shortage of GPs.

Changes to community health in Lucindale, Coonalpyn and Tintinara and the importance of the community health nurses and the need to cut red tape and make it easier to see nursing staff: this gives me the opportunity to highlight that recently the two community health hubs were basically put under pressure. Their structures were changed, and their integration into the local communities of Tintinara, Coonalpyn and Lucindale was found to be more difficult and more cumbersome. Local nurses were not being used as they have in the past.

One of the things that comes to mind is the fact that in our region we are waiting four to six weeks to see a local GP and one of the things we need is community health at least as a benchmark, a base, to move on from. An important thing for a community is that community health has structure in that it can do vaccinations, it can do wound care, it can do palliative care, it can do in-house care, and it can look after our veterans.

The community health model has changed over the last 20 to 30 years. I am going to harp on in this place and work with the health minister to make sure that community health is not only valued but actually comes back to the real principle that they are an effective organisation, an effective health model, that should be of a base that we can all expect and rely upon.

The Naracoorte Hospital and the $1 million review, which was rolled out by the new Malinauskas Labor government, and why this is important: in my time as the member for MacKillop we saw $3.6 million rolled out by the Marshall government. We then saw a more than doubling of that by the Malinauskas Labor government of $8-odd million going into the Naracoorte Hospital upgrade. In the last budget we saw another $1 million going into reviewing that hospital and what it might mean for my town of Naracoorte and its surrounds.

I am lucky enough to work with the Limestone Coast Local Health Network and with the minister's blessing to expand that to all the other regional hospitals that surround Naracoorte to see how they could all work together in a collaborative way and what role they will all play around Naracoorte and how it is meant to work, build, operate and redevelop and the services provided.

There is the need for an upgrade to Millicent Hospital's sterilisation unit. Millicent plays a very important role, being only about 30 minutes north of Mount Gambier. The Mount Gambier hospital is very well utilised. There are not a lot of spare beds. We know that we have specialists who come into our region of the Limestone Coast. They will perform functions at Mount Gambier and they can double their output if they turn up at Naracoorte because there are more spare beds to recover in than there are in Mount Gambier.

We know that day surgery operations are met by the Millicent Hospital, which is north of Mount Gambier, because Mount Gambier cannot cope with all the day surgeries, so the Millicent Hospital plays a very important role. Their sterilisation unit is not keeping up with the new standards that have been changed in recent years.

There is also the issue of ambulance officers and the need to expand the programs, such as the road paramedic program. It is really interesting when it comes to paramedics. We really are suffering from a lack of ambulance volunteers. We do have paid ambulance officers in our region and they play an important role, but paramedics are as valuable if not more than the community health model itself. They back up community health, they back up doctors and they back up volunteer ambulance drivers. Paramedics are seen as one of the new solutions to our shortage of health services and needs in our region.

I will back putting a paramedic into Robe. I know we need a paramedic in the Keith hospital, which has a new model, which I will talk about in a minute. I know that paramedics and the role they play in our regional health model is ever so important.

The PATS (Patient Assistance Transport Scheme) was really well used by my region. The services perhaps have become less available, particularly, I have heard, around Bordertown. Certainly, in Naracoorte and Mount Gambier, it probably has always been valuable. It probably has not increased, but I know in Bordertown it has because people are having to go to Adelaide for these services whereas 10 years ago I think these services were more available than they are today. That is becoming a very valuable health system for my constituents in MacKillop.

In general, in this budget and budgets to come, what I will be advocating for for MacKillop is a greater health system for our region. We say this is where the benchmark is; this is the base and hopefully it is all up from here.

I will just touch on the Keith hospital. We have seen the Liberal government keep it going. They tried to keep it operating as a private hospital. It was in the infancy of looking at all the other models under the previous Marshall government. The Malinauskas government came and advocated even stronger for a medical hub, backed up by two paramedics. There was meant to be a nurse practitioner and those two paramedics. We only have one paramedic in Keith.

It is difficult to get paramedics. I would love to see another one to back up the one we have there. I know that the nurse there is a very valuable nurse. It is not the nurse practitioner that we first talked about, but I know that the nurse is doing a wonderful job. Again, the more service we have in these systems, the more we are going to be looked after.

In jumping to the next one, I would like to talk about housing, the importance of the Office for Regional Housing, investment in regions like Bordertown and the latest Bordertown announcement by the housing minister, Nick Champion. Bordertown has the longest-running housing issue, I would probably have to say, in the state. They have records that go back to 2002, where they were wondering what they could do to address this shortage.

It is absolutely wonderful, it is exciting, and I can only encourage the government, investors and so forth to look at Bordertown as an investment to build houses because it is struggling to meet demand. The rollout of the government housing program they are doing there is really welcome. I know it is even hard to get principals and teachers at the two schools, the high school and the primary school. Also, I think the police station has even found it hard to get police to actually fill the station there again. That public housing bill by the now Malinauskas government will be welcome in Bordertown.

One of the things I will just touch on is that both Bordertown and Naracoorte have a major industry that I will touch on at the end of my speech. The meatworks and the processing businesses of Teys in Naracoorte and JBS in Bordertown play a pivotal role for our region and for our state.

Let me tell you, the meatworks in Bordertown and JBS had to go and buy a motel to find enough accommodation for their staff, which is innovative in itself and it is working, but one thing now we do not have is motel bedrooms for when there are any major functions in Bordertown because there is a whole motel that is not even a motel anymore. It does fill that shortage, but it just goes to highlight the shortage that is out there when a large business has to be innovative to solve the housing shortage in the region.

Not to forget, though, that we do have a housing shortage right across the region. I would say, and I am going to say it out loud that, even in a township like Robe, where house values have been sky high, most people do not live in Robe, they only have a house in Robe. In fact, I think about 20 or 30 per cent of the people who own a house in Robe are Victorian. They do need houses in Robe. One of the problems we are suffering—and we have seen it in Naracoorte—is the native vegetation rules. Even vegetation that is regrowth is hampering our housing development and solutions that we need to see in our small local towns, such as in Robe and Naracoorte and there are probably others. I hope that over the coming years we can address it and get the balance right there, where housing is seen as important and native vegetation and environment equally so, but the answers of 'No,' 'You can’t' and 'You won't' I will not accept. That does not find a solution to this housing shortage.

Regarding migration, there is a need for more skilled migrants to be encouraged to come to our regions to work in agriculture, building and abattoirs. Just recently, I touched on where we have had visa workers in the building industry. We know we need visa workers in the meat processing sector. We know that we need visa workers with their skills right across the spectrum.

I met with a couple of nurses who are bringing in nurses on visas, from African countries, from Europe, from London in Britain, even from America, trying to attract them into Australia and find them work with the visa, getting them into our regions. They have not come to my region. They have been working on Port Augusta at the moment. Obviously, that would be the seats of Stuart and Giles, because Port Augusta is split into two. I know that the nurse shortage could even get worse if we cannot get this visa contract to work better than it is now, to pick up the skills that we need to look after not only the people who are here today but those who are going to be here in the future.

We need to encourage more teachers to our regions so that our children receive the best quality public education, perhaps even independent schools and then moving on to the private schools. There is a need for more childcare places. I cannot emphasise child care more strongly. We talk about labour shortages and we talk about couples. How is it acceptable that when you do not have child care one of the parents, male or female, ends up having to stay home and their skills and service are lost, just because they cannot find child care so that they can attend and integrate into the workforce?

I think it is a sad situation. I know it is new. I know it has even become more important, but I think it is a fact that we need to make sure that we have child care and that we find a model that works. Early learning is important as well, because there are benefits there right through to year 12 by the fact that these children get into the education system earlier and will end up on the same ledger at year 12 in an education system readying them for the workforce beyond.

There is a need for more mental health support, and community hubs in regional towns are important. Absolutely right across the board there is a shortage. We need to back up our schools, teachers and students, their workforce. We need to make sure that we actually have those resources there, keeping people in good sound mind so they can integrate into our community.

There is a need for safer roads work. The roads in our electorate are struggling to cope with the heavy traffic flows and the fact that they are nearly 20 years past their use-by date. I cannot wait to see the iPAVE machine's results, even though I do not know where they are right now. They are meant to be around somewhere. They have been down through the Limestone Coast. I have a suspicion that the iPAVE results on our roads are going to say they are very much deteriorated and in high need of either resurfacing or rebuilding, because it has been a long time since they have had any major works to them.

All who travel on my roads—the heavy transport sector, the forestry sector, the tourism sector, the mums and dads, families, businesses and the like, school buses, ambulance drivers—know our roads are well below a lot of areas in the rest of the state. I would accept that sometimes if you go into Victoria the roads can be worse, but that is a Victorian problem, not ours.

The Southern Ports Highway is one of the main highways we want to see upgraded, as are the Naracoorte-Bordertown road, the Bordertown-Frances road and the Princes Highway. For those who do not know where that is, it is Tailem Bend, Kingston, Millicent and on through to Mount Gambier. The section of road between Millicent and Mount Gambier is mostly in MacKillop. I would have to say that the road section in the member for Mount Gambier's electorate is probably the best section.

All credit to him; in fact, it is probably more about what Mount Gambier has. It has had independence and been well supported. On our section in MacKillop the road has been falling to pieces. It does not meet standard. We have seen some major overtaking lanes there, but I can tell you that the Princes Highway from Tailem Bend all the way to Mount Gambier is in dire need of upgrade for a major arterial route. The Naracoorte to Lucindale road is also in major need of upgrade.

There is a need to upgrade sporting facilities in our electorate. The Naracoorte sporting stadium is an opportunity. It is high up there. I would never have put it at the same level as health and the roads, but it is still sport, family, mental health, supporting families, children and development. The sporting stadium will be a wonderful addition to Naracoorte. The town has 5,000-odd people and we need to always consider that Naracoorte sporting stadium as an opportunity.

In regard to jetty funding, we have a number of jetties in our region. One that comes highly to mind is Kingston jetty, which needs a $6 million upgrade to last another 10 years and then we have to spend even more money on it. It is a strong piece of infrastructure that is well attended by tourists and locals. It is a landmark on what is a pretty desolate coastline: it is very plain, there is no surf, there are no islands—but the jetty was always a focal point and they have fishing competitions on there. There is hardly any standing room at the young junior fishing competition: the entanglement, the kids and the families enjoying what that jetty provides—it is amazing.

There is also the feasibility study on an upgrade to tourism facilities at the World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves—one of the biggest, largest, strongest tourist attractions in our region, with huge visitor numbers. Yes, it looks amazing, it is amazing and I think the opportunities there are endless. I know that my staff in my electorate office are really keen to see some sort of accommodation investment there. We would love to see some opera/musicals in the caves attracting tourists—small things that would just bring it up another level to where we are and what we have been doing there over the last 20 to 50 years.

With the cost-of-living crisis, there is the need for more assistance for those who can least afford it, especially the elderly and those on the pension. They probably have not been keeping pace with inflation and I know that they have also found it really tough.

While I talk about what our electorate needs, I also want to highlight what has been done. I am pleased that this government has invested in mobile telephone towers with the rollout of 27 new towers across the Limestone Coast. We are really pleased to see that. There is certainty in the Keith hospital, with the paramedic and nurse practitioner or the registered nurse we have now. Still, it is working; it is a medical hub. It is not a health vacuum—it is working. There are 28 individual rooms there that are fully occupied and fully appreciated by the Keith community. Naracoorte Hospital had $8 million in funding and a $1 million review. It is going to be wonderful to see what actually comes from that review, what it will look like and how we are going to make that work.

The Penola bypass that was started by the previous Labor government and finished off by the Marshall government is a good bypass. Yes, the main street is a little bit quieter now; they got rid of the B-doubles out of the main street. We have some overtaking lanes on the Riddoch Highway but people would like to see more. The Keith playground is really important for fatigue and getting people to stop halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide. There is a major upgrade there, and we are looking forward to seeing what the state government with the war memorial fund in Keith, and all those volunteers, are putting those funds towards: I think it is a nearly $1 million playground, so it is another good reason to stop off in Keith for a toilet stop, coffee, lunch, and then obviously being safe on the roads.

The Kingston Main Street upgrade project looks a lot better than what it ever used to with better drainage, although I have to say the town of Kingston is not like it used to be without a boat-launching facility anymore. With the downturn after COVID, we have not recovered as well in Kingston as perhaps other towns have. The Marshall government rolled out sprinklers to the Kingston Lighthouse Lodge aged-care facility, and we have seen the Malinauskas government roll out some bathroom and room upgrades which have been most needed with a tired aged-care facility.

The turnoff into the Teys abattoir is really being welcomed. It is a major intersection and a major set of works there between Naracoorte and the border where the abattoir sits. The turnoff is working well. The Naracoorte roundabouts in the town are working well, although some people think that we should have stoplights there. I am not totally convinced. I have heard their argument and they say that we would have more parking in the town if the roundabouts were not in place, but certainly the traffic and the B-doubles and road trains are getting around and through that town now better than they were.

Regarding the Naracoorte High School upgrade, Naracoorte needs a high school, needs to keep pace with the rest of the education system not only in my region but in the state. The $8 million that has been spent on the Meningie Area School—I think it is $6 million by the Marshall government and another $2 million added by the Malinauskas government to finish it off. It has been welcomed. The school is in need. It has an Indigenous population at Raukkan, and then you also have the locals around Meningie. It is an area school from reception through to year 12. It needs to keep pace. We also need housing in Meningie for those teachers.

In relation to teacher entitlements, I was really pleased to see this new minister, Blair Boyer, roll out that if you are a Victorian teacher with some holidays owed to you and you are going to move to South Australia, the South Australian government will pick up those holidays and pick up that package and honour what Victoria owes you so you do not lose it, and not have to stay in Victoria until they are all gone or cashed in. I think that is a good relationship and I hope it works both ways.

To finish off in my last minute, I highlight that even though I have just talked all about MacKillop, there is a real fundamental thing about this budget and spending any more money than what you are. I hope the Malinauskas government can look forward over the next two terms—maybe even three—and ask itself: if we finish off the north-south corridor at $12 billion to $14 billion, where will we get the labour force from? If we get the labour force, where are they coming from? Are they coming from Australia or are they coming from overseas? If we are going to build a new Women's and Children's Hospital, where does the labour force come from for that? The list goes on.

I want to make sure that if we are going to spend billions of dollars, we recognise that there is already a labour shortage in the economy in South Australia. The private sector is already suffering. Even the public sector is suffering: teachers, police officers, nurses are all suffering. I hope that this is recognised. It is most important that we balance it all out and make sure that this state is prepared and is strong for the future.

Time expired.

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (17:15): I, too, rise to speak to the Supply Bill. It is certainly a very important bill before this house to make sure that the wheels of government continue to turn as we wait to see what is in the budget going forward. I think it is very important that we manage going forward to make sure that everything is there that we need. It is very exciting to see some government funds being spent in my electorate at the moment. Some of them are Marshall Liberal government commitments that are continuing and Morrison government commitments as well.

Certainly, one of the exciting things going on at the moment is the Goolwa Wharf development. It is quite surprising to head down there right now and see that the boatshed is actually missing at the moment. It has been completely disassembled and stored while they repair the wharf and get the underpinning structures, the foundations of the shed, back and stable. They then plan to reassemble the shed where it was previously. It is quite a strange thing to see that something that has been there all my life is missing at the moment, but I know it is coming back. It is an important piece of infrastructure.

The last time there was a significant upgrade down there goes back to 1988, when we saw Signal Point being built. Part of the redevelopment going on there at the moment is the refurbishment of Signal Point to upgrade it and put some air conditioning in the building so that they can have art exhibitions in a stable environment where it is not too hot or too cold so that the artworks can be managed to achieve a good display as well as protecting the artworks themselves. It is really pleasing to see that continuing.

Interestingly, 1988 was when His Royal Highness at the time, now the King, came to Goolwa to open Signal Point. They travelled on the Cockle Train from Victor Harbor across to Goolwa. It was an extremely hot day. The Cockle Train does not normally operate on total fire ban days, but that was one exception when the steam train was allowed to operate. I have a memory as a child of watching the CFS truck travelling the railway line and following the train to make sure there were not any fires started by the train as it went through.

Mentioning the train, another important spend in the electorate is the money that is being invested in the upgrade of four bridges on the SteamRanger line between Mount Barker and Victor Harbor. It is interesting that all four bridges happen to be in the seat of Finniss. One crosses the Finniss River; one crosses Currency Creek; one crosses the Urimbirra creek, which people may not know—that is also known as Watsons Gap, between Port Elliot and Victor Harbor; and there is the Hindmarsh River bridge as you go into Victor Harbor. All of those bridges need some significant repairs, and SteamRanger has been supported by the state government for those repairs. I am very appreciative of the government committing to those, because it is an important piece of history to our community.

The Cockle Train, particularly the line between Gawler and Port Elliot, is the oldest public railway in the southern hemisphere and has been operating for about 170 years. It is an important piece of line, and we need to make sure we continue to enjoy the operation on that line. It is a great credit to SteamRanger and the work they do in keeping steam engines, in particular, that are over 100 years old operational. It is no mean feat to keep something of that age functional and keep people skilled across their volunteer workforce (they also have some employed staff) to keep those trains running—so a big thank you to that SteamRanger community.

Another exciting piece of development going on at the moment is the building of a new emergency department, which has just recently commenced at the South Coast District Hospital at Victor Harbor. The South Coast District Hospital is nearly 90 years old, and the ED has been upgraded many times; I think the most recent upgrade was back in 2012, but it is certainly not fit for purpose now.

I was recently in the emergency department with my daughter Evie who had experienced an anaphylactic shock. She is allergic to nuts, and must have consumed some without her knowledge. We ended up in the ED, where she needed to be monitored and given some adrenaline to get her system back into a stable condition, so I was able to sit there for a good four hours watching the ED and how it functioned.

It was absolutely full to capacity, and it was really challenging to operate at that capacity. Sadly, they had a gentleman there who was dying, and his partner had to make phone calls to relatives with everyone listening because there was no ability to isolate in that ED. Fortunately that will be accommodated in the new ED being built; there will be a room available for those sorts of circumstances.

The ED has a bit of history for me, as well. Where the upgrade is all happening is where my Great Aunty Edith's nursing equipment has been on display for many years. Aunty Edith was a nurse at the hospital in the 1930s, and then travelled to the UK and nursed over there. She signed up with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in England on 1 September, the day war broke out, and actually served every single day of the war, in places like Malta and the Middle East as well as in England itself.

It is certainly important to me that that historical equipment is preserved in some way. Whether it is displayed at Victor or not I do not really mind, I just do not want that equipment lost because it is an important part of our history, knowing what nursing instruments were used historically in our community.

We are also seeing the building of a new ambulance station in Victor Harbor, also an important asset that needs some upgrade. It has certainly been a challenging space in the community for a long time. They currently share a building with St Johns smack bang in the middle of town; it is a challenging location and certainly not a good place to have their workforce sitting and waiting, so it is important that we have a new one. I am not confident that the choice of the new location—on the way into town on the Victor Harbor Road near Aldi—is the best location, but I hope to be proved wrong. However, it is an important asset for the community.

We must also recognise the spend that goes towards sporting clubs in our communities. Sport is an important part of any regional community, and the clubs do a wonderful job to keep operating their sporting clubs. However, at times, particularly for significant upgrades, they need some support to make sure they are able to keep their assets up to the standard expected.

There certainly have been some amazing changes. The Goolwa sporting complex at Goolwa Oval was certainly one that I very much remember going to visit a few years ago. I had a look at the changing rooms and there was a pole shower in the changing room of the Goolwa home club. There literally was a pole with eight showerheads on it so you stood cheek to cheek while having a shower post the game. There were two of those and they were the showers for the home side.

Then you went to the away change rooms and that was almost worse. The change rooms actually had wooden floorboards with holes in them where over the years maybe some losing sides had gotten a little bit grumpy and stamped their feet on the floor and had gone straight through the floor. Repairs were not done on those floorboards, so there were places where you had to be careful where you walked in the visitors' change rooms. The new changing rooms are fabulous. They have certainly been brought up to a very high standard and are a great asset now for that community.

The other significant expenditure that occurred during the Marshall time was the introduction of the Goolwa Secondary College at Goolwa, which was putting a high school into that community for the first time. It is hard to believe that a town of five and a half thousand people did not have a high school. It was the largest town in South Australia that did not have a high school by a long way. It is something that is hopefully really going to change how that community is seen and how it actually respects itself.

The effects are still continuing today. Many of you may have heard how there was a large score in the football in the northern suburbs. That same weekend there was a very large score down in the Great Southern Football League in the game of Victor Harbor versus Goolwa Port Elliot. Port Elliot and Goolwa are a combined club these days, based at Goolwa. Roughly, it was 52 goals to one point. That is because the town has effectively been losing its players for many years to Encounter Bay and Victor Harbor as the kids hop on the school bus, go across to the high school at Victor Harbor and end up playing footy with their mates over in Victor Harbor, so there has not been the flowthrough from the senior colts' level.

Interestingly, my understanding is that the senior colts from Goolwa Port Elliot actually won, so that shows that, at that lower level where we are now starting to see the kids staying at high school, the club is getting a bit of strength, so there is certainly a future for that town. Instead of telling its kids to leave town, they are actually starting to stay.

Another important thing I think we need to make sure we get right going forward is how we manage road maintenance. Currently, there is an upgrade going on of an SA Water pipeline along Waterport Road and it is being managed by closing the traffic while they are doing the work. I understand totally that there are times when it is so much safer to operate in that manner, but to me every effort should be made to keep roads open even if there are restrictions such as one-way travel or whatever down those roads because the effect is enormous on the rest of the community.

I did the sums on the number of traffic movements per day on the two roads: the main road through Port Elliot as well as Waterport Road. If we count every person on that road during those days affected over six months—just the weekdays and only the days they were working—it worked out to about $3½ million at five minutes a car and that is just assuming it is one person in the car at minimum wage. So it really is quite amazing how quickly it builds up and you should not be transferring that cost onto road users of putting that delay in place.

We have also seen those same sorts of strategies being used for a couple of bridge upgrades through the electorate as well: one out on Inman Valley Road and one on Alexandrina Road across to Strathalbyn. We have seen long road closures and large diversions that I just do not think should be the standard method of road maintenance.

I also think there are some things that we need to continue to look at. In the Mount Compass community, for example, the Mount Compass Golf Course has its own water scheme. It is a very expensive scheme and it would be lovely to have a look at that to see whether that could be augmented into the SA Water scheme. Half of the town is already on SA Water and merging the two would give some equity from one side of the town to the other. It is something that certainly should be looked at.

I am also very encouraged from my previous life in the dairy industry by attending recently the launch of the dairy industry plan going forward. I thank the Premier and the minister for their support for the dairy plan and their backing of the dairy industry going forward. It is a very important industry to South Australia and to the regional sector. It is important that we continue to make sure that we have a dairy industry here that will supply dairy products freshly into South Australian homes. We certainly have a very high-quality dairy industry here that produces wonderful products, so we are very appreciative of that support. We need to make sure that the industry is protected going forward.

I very much support the Supply Bill and making sure we do have those projects continuing to function going forward. With those few words, I commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Odenwalder.