Grievance Debate

State Labor Government

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (15:06): I have to say that today I rise somewhat with a heavy heart because across this great state South Australians are suffering—not because of circumstances beyond our control but because of this government's wrong priorities and, quite frankly, sheer incompetence. At a time when people are crying out for leadership, for action and for hope, this Premier and this government have all the wrong priorities. It is a government that is failing those it was actually elected to serve.

Let's start with the housing crisis. What we need is less lip-service and more slabs laid. Recently, I was speaking to a struggling South Australian: she is a 62-year-old hardworking woman who just wants a safe and affordable place to live. The resident earns around $35,000 a year and she has seen her rent almost double since 2023. She is now spending over half her income on rent as it is. She found a home through an affordable housing provider, but get this: she was told that she does not earn enough to qualify for cheaper rent. It is bureaucratic nonsense like this that is putting South Australians at risk, with many on the brink of homelessness. This is the new face of homelessness in this state.

The government claims to care about housing, yet when it has the power to change this type of thing with the stroke of a pen, it refuses to act. While thousands struggle to find a home, where are the 23,000 homes this government promised? What confidence should Australians have in their ability to deliver the 61,000 homes that they promised when not a single slab has been laid on any of the four land releases since 2022? Labor is all talk and no action, and struggling South Australians deserve better from this Premier and from this government.

Then, of course, you have farmers and the drought. This week, we saw that because the Premier would not go to farmers the farmers came to the Premier. Fed-up farmers came to Parliament House because they are being ignored by this Premier and his minister. I stood with Andrew, for example—a farmer who was in tears. A grown man—a farmer—in tears on the steps of Parliament House. His industry—an industry that feeds this state literally and makes up a substantial amount of this state's GDP—is on its knees.

The Premier was asked what would he do to help, and his response was something like, 'We are turning our minds to how best we can do that.' I mean, give me a break. We have been in a drought now for several months—many, many months. Meanwhile, some ministers of this government want them to hold on until the June budget for more support. How does this government not understand that farmers cannot wait? They are not just asking for help; in some cases they are actually begging for a lifeline.

Then you have ramping. There was a question asked today but not really answered. These have been the worst 33 months of ramping in our state's history. They never said anything about ambulance response times on the corflutes from what I remember. It was pretty clear to me. This Premier was elected on a promise to fix the ramping crisis. Recently, we heard from a woman whose 78-year-old husband was rushed to the Lyell McEwin Hospital with suspected stroke symptoms, but instead of urgent care he waited for not one hour, not five hours, not ten hours but 15 hours—a 15-hour wait while suffering from a suspected stroke. This is not a health system; this is a disgrace.

This is not an isolated case. There are many more cases like this. We now know that around 125,000 hours have been lost to ramping since this government was elected—effectively 13 years worth of ambulances stuck outside hospitals. We know that Labor promised to fix it. Instead, for 33 months it has been worse than it has ever been.

They promised the Hydrogen Jobs Plan. Instead, what have they done? They have basically abandoned their only substantial energy policy, blowing, what is it—we cannot get an actual answer—around $100 million or more in the process and still paying their Labor mate $600,000 a year, and for what? What is this guy doing?

As you can see, this Premier has all the wrong priorities, and quite frankly South Australians deserve better. They deserve a government that cares more about people than politics. They deserve a government that puts farmers first, that puts everyday people first—not the Premier's schedule first. They deserve a government that keeps its promises. Instead, what do they have? They have a government that cares more about spin than solutions, that is more focused on PR than policy, and more concerned about announcement than delivery.

Labor has failed South Australians, and every day they remain in government more and more people will unfortunately pay the price. The Premier will not act but we will. South Australians deserve better than this and in 12 months' time, come the next election, they will get it.