Grievance Debate

Malinauskas Labor Government

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (15:04): What have we learnt today, only days out from the Black by-election? What we have learnt is that this Premier, instead of being interested in Seacliff, is more interested in Sydney. He is about to leave the state, abandoning the people of Black and his parliamentary duties to attend, alas, a twelve and a half thousand dollar a table glitzy gala dinner in Sydney. There we have it, party Pete is at it again. He says, 'Forget the people of Seacliff, this Premier will be in Sydney,' rubbing shoulders with east coast elites, working the crowd for the job that he really wants, because we know his eyes are focused on Kirribilli House and not the people of Trott Park.

The South Australian Labor Party have completely lost touch with the very people they are meant to represent. We have seen that through upgrade Albo, who has shown Australians exactly what the modern Labor Party is all about and what they stand for.

This week in the chamber we heard the Minister for Energy say that energy prices are down. What planet is this minister on? We know that power prices have never been at the levels as high as they have been under this Labor government. In fact, do not just take my word for it. Why don't we look at the Australian Energy Regulator's 'Wholesale markets quarterly' report, which shows that power prices in South Australia have actually skyrocketed by some 35 per cent in the last three months alone and are again the highest in the nation this quarter under this Malinauskas Labor government.

What we are seeing is just sheer arrogance from this minister in the face of so many South Australians who are struggling to pay their own bills. They are struggling and we are all hearing about it in our electoral offices. We know South Australians are struggling the hardest because the Australian Energy Regulator's 'State of the energy market' report actually shows the proportion of electricity and also gas customers that are on hardship programs. When you look at the hardship data, guess what? South Australia unfortunately has risen to 2.3 and 1.9 per cent respectively, which are actually the highest levels in the country. So South Australia has the highest levels of hardship in the country.

What an affront to the people of South Australia. 'What cost-of-living crisis?' says the member for Enfield as not that long ago she jetted off to Cannes to the festival in France while small businesses in South Australia are having to close their doors due to rising costs. This is the party of the people until they actually have to live with them and deal with them.

We know about small businesses. Every day at the moment it seems that businesses are coming forward and people are coming forward who have not been paid—including today—and who have allegedly been left high and dry by a company that this government has partnered with one of its signature events in VAILO. We heard from Matt Kowald on the weekend. He has been waiting for six months to be paid for the most basic of invoices: a simple invoice to be paid for work that was completed for this company, but he still has not been paid.

This government has shown zero empathy for these people. That is the complete arrogance and hubris of this government. They are too busy living it up in their corporate suites to care about people like Mr Kowald, who has been left without payment for tens of thousands of dollars. Why? Because this government is not here to serve the people; it is simply in power to serve themselves and their mates. That is why they have already spent around $2 million on international and domestic travel just over halfway through their term in government. When you look at that it is around $15,000 per week being spent on ministerial travel. That is just eye-watering in a cost-of-living crisis.

I have been out in the electorate of Black most days and we know that cost of living is the number one issue facing households. We know the cost of doing business is making it harder and harder for businesses to also stay afloat. This government just does not get it—or worse, it just does not care about the struggles of the people in Black and the struggles of everyday South Australians.

That is why even this week we had to call on the government to get a move on in developing housing at Port Stanvac, because in the middle of a housing crisis they are just sitting on their hands. They are too busy living the high life to care about those in our community who are struggling to put a roof over their head.

Today, we also learn that South Australia remains the state with the third-highest unemployment and the highest under-employment rate on mainland Australia, which means South Australians are not getting the hours of work they want and need to to survive in this cost-of-living crisis. It is time for this Labor government to put the people of South Australia first. How can this Premier serve the people of Croydon when he is too busy pining for Canberra. It is time for Labor to get their heads out of the Qantas clouds and serve the people who elected them.