Address in Reply

Address in Reply

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:48): I bring up the following report of the committee appointed to prepare a draft Address in Reply to His Excellency the Governor's speech:

1. We, the members of the Legislative Council, thank Your Excellency for the speech with which you have been pleased to open parliament.

2. We assure Your Excellency that we will give our best attention to all matters placed before us.

3. We earnestly join in Your Excellency's desire for our deliberations to serve the advancement of the welfare of South Australia and of its people.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:49): I move:

That the Address in Reply as read be adopted.

I thank the Governor for his opening address. I, too, join with the Governor in passing on my condolences on the death of a former governor and seven former members of this parliament since the opening of the 52^nd Parliament. Mr President, I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election as President. I trust I will benefit from your advice and guidance as I learn the ropes in this place. To new and continuing members of the Legislative Council, I extend my congratulations on your election. I look forward to working with all of you in the next few years. I hope we can have a professional working relationship in and outside this place.

I am Ngo The Tung; I was born in Da Nang, Vietnam. I arrived in South Australia in August 1982 with my sister and her family. I was 10 years old and had just spent 1½ years in a refugee camp in the Philippines. It is a great honour for me to stand in this parliament as a boat refugee from Vietnam. Thirty-two years ago I did not have a country or a home. The people of South Australia opened their doors to me. Thirty-two years later those very people have elected me to be their voice and representative in parliament. I am deeply honoured and truly grateful.

My journey to Australia was difficult and dangerous. I left Vietnam as a nine year old on a small fishing boat with 31 other Vietnamese people. We were attacked by pirates, who took all our valuables, including the boat's engine, and we were left to die. After a few hours of drifting, the boat was taking in water due to the damage done when the engine was removed. We all prayed to our own God that we could make it through. Many were calling for Buddha to save us. Others were praying for Jesus Christ. I remember the last words of advice that my parents gave me the night they said goodbye to me: they told me to pray to the Virgin Mary whenever I felt the need to and to recite the Virgin Mary's Lourdes prayer three times. I prayed to her.

While everyone was beginning to accept that the end was near, somebody started shouting that they could see a ship. They were waving their hands and screaming. Because of the last ocean wave, I did not see a ship until a good five minutes later when it got closer to us. The ship was called Cap Annamur, and we were very fortunate that it did not abandon us. It saved us all from a certain death. The Cap Annamur took us to a refugee camp in the Philippines, where we stayed for 1½ years, before being accepted and settled in South Australia.

The reason I have taken the political path is a commitment I made when I first landed here in Adelaide. This commitment was not about being a member of parliament or getting rich and famous. The commitment I made was to repay the generosity this country has shown to me and my family. I found out that one way I could repay this country was to get involved in the wider community, working as a link between Vietnamese migrants and other Australians. I wanted to help the new emerging community that I was part of come together with the wider community that had been so good to me. I wanted to promote harmony so that Australians had an opportunity to gain a positive perspective about migrants and refugees, and see more than just the negative stories I have read in the paper, even to this day.

In high school I played cricket and Aussie Rules. I also got involved in less popular activities that other kids had no interest in: for example, it was unpopular then to join the student representative council (SRC). We had to miss out on having fun at lunchtime to attend those meetings. I was voted by the school committee to become school prefect in my final year of high school. In later years, I was encouraged to run for local council. I was told that I could do a lot to help ethnic communities and the wider Australian community as well. In 1995, I became the first Vietnamese-born person to be elected to local government in South Australia. I served on the Port Adelaide Enfield council for nearly 19 years, until I resigned recently due to my election to this house.

I take this opportunity to thank all the staff and elected members from the council for helping me with my role as councillor and, most importantly, for helping to make a difference in the lives of the many people they represent. During high school, I landed a job at KFC, and when I was at university, I worked as a pizza delivery driver for Pizza Hut. Those were the real jobs that I cherish because they gave me my first opportunity to enter the outside world. Working for these fast-food outlets led to my involvement with the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA).

In 1995, I was offered a part-time job as a youth casual recruitment officer. Working at the SDA really taught me how to deal with conflict, advocating and compromising. It also taught me that there were people in Australia who were not in a position to defend themselves. What I liked most about working for the SDA was its relationship with the workers and employers. All three interested parties worked together for the benefit of everybody. I cannot remember the last time the union went out on strike. Most matters were resolved on the shop floor.

I thank the SDA for the opportunity to represent them and their members in my seven years as an organiser. I also thank the secretary, Mr Peter Malinauskas assistant secretary, Sonia Romeo and the SDA community members for their support through my long journey to this house. Without their support, I would not be here today. Like my previous role at the SDA, I will continue advocating for retail workers, as well as working for the employers, for the betterment of this state.

I also thank the former secretary of the SDA and now senator Don Farrell. I have known Don and his wife Nimfa since 1995, when he offered me a part-time job at the SDA. I have seen the media portray Don as a faceless man, somebody who is uncaring and ruthless. In reality, he is the complete opposite. I have not met one person in public life, such as a politician or business person, who has worked with him and had one bad thing to say about him.

I know personally that he cares very much about the wellbeing of this state and this country. He has continued to fight for the underprivileged, such as young workers, women and ethnic communities. Don and Nimfa once said to me that, if I was able to make it to high places one day, I needed to do what I could to assist the wider ethnic community. This country is strong because of its diversity and its people.

Don travelled overseas and to remote areas when he was young, and I have heard him speak about the experience he gained meeting with different cultures. It is important for there to be diverse views in this house to provide the best result for our diverse community. Don knew this, and he made sure of this when he was advocating for Mr Tom Koutsantonis, the member for West Torrens, to become the first Greek MP in South Australia. I am the only Vietnamese born member of parliament in Australia, and I thank Don and his wife for their leadership and their foresight in giving someone like me the voice for the communities I will be representing.

I take this opportunity to thank all those people who have been so important in getting me elected. I thank the Labor Party members who preselected me to be the party's candidate and all the ALP voters and supporters for electing me and other Labor members in this parliament. Thank you for the trust you placed in us. I also acknowledge all the volunteers for their work and for the countless hours they put into helping the ALP. I thank the unions and their secretaries who supported and encouraged me to put up my hand for parliament: Mr Ray Wyatt from the TWU, John Camillo from the AMWU, Ms Debbie Black from the FSU, and Mr Bob Donnelly from the CEPU.

I thank the many members of parliament who have been such good friends to me for several years and who have always gone out of their way to help the many communities I have referred them to: Michael Atkinson, Tom Kenyon, Tom Koutsantonis, John Rau, Nick Champion, Kate Ellis, Gerry Kandelaars, Dana and Russell Wortley, Lisa Vlahos, Zoe Bettison, Amanda Rishworth, Senator Gallacher and former senator, Annette Hurley.

I also thank the many friends of mine like Sonia and Daniel Romeo, Paul Sykes, Rosie Falco, Nimfa Farrell, Chad Buchanan, Reggie Martin, Peter Louca, Bob Korbel, Mary Karsperski, Corey Harriss, Paul Marcuccitti, Sam Runnel, Aemon Bourke, Michael Brown, Yourng Yin and Chinh Ho for always standing up and defending me. I want to acknowledge a former member of this house Carmel Zollo who recently retired. I wish Lou and her all the best for the future as they enjoy their retirement.

I thank my good friend Jack Snelling, who has been instrumental in my political career. Jack was the first person who signed me up to the ALP back in 1994. In 2002, he offered me a position in his electorate office and from 2010 I became his ministerial adviser. I thank him for giving me the opportunity to be part of the decision-making process in the ALP and for taking me under his wing and teaching me so much about the political system. I thank my staff, Michael and James, and I look forward to working with them in the coming years.

As I said earlier, the jobs I had in my youth helped get me where I am today. Unemployment in youth and ethnic communities is still far too high. Many parents have spoken to me about their kids not being able to get part-time jobs. They want their children to be able to go out and take a part-time job in the workforce so that they do not just hang around in the house on computers all day. We need to find ways to create more opportunities for our youth.

Small business is the engine of our state economy. It employs about half of the workforce and represents more than 90 per cent of all businesses in this great state. I believe one way to help small business is to allow small business owners to conduct their business in the most efficient way. Small business owners find the amount of bureaucracy that they have to deal with when opening or maintaining a business particularly problematic. We should remove all unnecessary regulation.

Small business creation is an important source of pride for many migrants. Migrants who have made the difficult decision to leave their homeland for a better life innately hold the value of entrepreneurship within them. First generation migrants often find it hard to find employment. Opening small businesses, often restaurants, helps to promote a migrant's culture, as well as providing all the other benefits that small business creation contributes to our state.

Contrary to some people's belief, migrants do not want to go to Centrelink and take unemployment benefits. I speak from personal experience. Migrants want to work and to contribute to this country that has been so good to so many of us. Local government and state government need to be working together to assist the small local family run businesses. In the next eight years I intend to work closely with the small business community and advocate on their behalf.

To my family, I thank my parents—my dad, Tu, and my mum, May. I cannot imagine how painful it must have been for them to put their young children on a perilous boat, hoping that they could have a better future. They knew that their decision could potentially have sent me to my death. Being a parent myself now, I know how hard and painful that decision would have been for them. I also thank my nine brothers and sisters who are living in the US for their caring advice and support of me throughout these years. I also thank my two other sisters, Phuong and Dung, and their husbands, and my uncle and aunty Chap who pretty much brought me up in Australia. I thank the Bugden family—Brian, Dianna and Jacob—whom I lived with for several years and who taught me many aspects of the Australian way of life.

Finally, I thank my wife, Kim-Phuong, for her support and understanding. Being a politician's partner is not easy. I know you have sacrificed a lot for me to be here. Thank you for your love and sticking with me. I thank her family for their help, especially with babysitting our son, Jayden. As I am sure is the case with all honourable members in this chamber, my children are the most important aspect of my life, and I am in this place so that I can do something positive for our future generations and obviously my children, Renee and Jayden.

I share my election win with the whole Vietnamese community in Australia. This is a proud moment for the community, having the second person in Australia to be elected to parliament. The fall of Saigon in 1975 saw millions of Vietnamese people dispatched around the world. In Australia, the arrival of the first Vietnamese refugees in the late seventies was the start of the first big wave of non-European migrants and refugees to this country. There are now over 400,000 Vietnamese Australians in various Australian states and territories.

Like any new migrants to this country, we first struggled to adapt to the new society. We had to learn a new language and a new way of life; many had to work two or three jobs to provide for their families. Cultural differences and problems with learning a new language can often lead to isolation and affect the wellbeing of both migrants and the existing community. Multicultural policies set up by various governments, as well as the Australian belief of 'a fair go for all', have enabled the Vietnamese community to integrate into this society. The Vietnamese have also enriched Australia with their own cultural heritage, and Australia is a better country to live in as a result.

The Vietnamese community will always be grateful to Australia and the Australian people, who have embraced all of us in this tolerant and peaceful society. I also want to pay tribute to all Australian service personnel who served during the Vietnam War in which 521 Australians, including 58 South Australians, paid the ultimate sacrifice. For many Vietnamese, you were our heroes and protectors, and you are the reason that many Vietnamese can enjoy the life they do today. To every Vietnam veteran and their families, especially those who lost their sons, on behalf of every Vietnamese person in Australia I want to say thank you—thank you for your courage and sacrifice, and thank you for everything you did.

In closing, my own life experience as a refugee growing up in this country has shown me how tough it can be for those who are unemployed, for those who do not have English as their first language, and for those who are discriminated against. I want to use my new position and this office to work as a link between those disadvantaged people and the wider Australian community. I want to help new Australians feel welcome in this land and show them that they do have a voice in this great country; vice versa, I want to be a link from the wider Australian community to these new settlers. I want to help the new settlers learn the Australian way of life and give them the same Australian values, the same belief in 'a fair go for all', which welcoming Australians showed to me all those years ago.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (16:08): I rise to second the motion supporting Address in Reply. It gives me great pleasure to stand on this side of the chamber on this bench as a member of a fourth term Labor government. First, I wish to congratulate and thank the Governor, His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce, for his address on the opening of the 53^rd Parliament. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the great work of our Governor and his wife, Liz Scarce. They have certainly endeared themselves to the South Australian community and lent their support to many deserving causes. They have represented this state and its interests with distinction. It is always a pleasure to meet the Governor and his wife. They are remarkably personable and put those who meet them at ease instantly. As we all know, the Governor's term is coming to an end, and I wish him and his wife all the best in the future.

On Tuesday, the Governor outlined a vision of the Weatherill Labor government, a future that is bright. The Labor vision is to keep building South Australia. It is a vision that we on this side are proud of. It is a vision that looks to keep South Australia moving forward, a vision to transform and modernise our economy by ensuring a strong partnership between government, business and the community. The Governor's speech outlined the government's approach to making the most of our opportunities and was underpinned by three clear principles.

First, the government will intensify the level of collaboration between business, government and academia. The second principle underpinning the government's plan is to transform the economy to develop a stronger culture of innovation in South Australia; that is, to constantly search for new and better ways of doing things. The third principle supporting the government's approach to modernise and grow our economy is our commitment to an outward-looking approach. South Australia has gained a reputation as a welcoming, engaging state. South Australia must continue to build this great tradition. It is true that we face challenges ahead, particularly the pending closure of Holden at Elizabeth and, sadly, Australia's vehicle manufacturing industry as a whole.

Late last year we saw the Prime Minister refuse to engage Holden regarding its future here in Australia. We then saw two senior federal government ministers—the Treasurer and the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, at that point also acting prime minister—dare Holden to leave this country. Surprise, surprise—the next day Holden announced that it would cease its automotive production in Australia from 2017, a decision that will cost thousands of manufacturing jobs in this state and have a profound impact on Adelaide's northern suburbs. Where were the state Liberals when this was taking place? Sadly, they were missing in action. How disgraceful. How appalling.

This state faces another significant challenge in the form of savage cuts from an Abbott federal government based on an artificially contrived budget crisis; savage cuts to health by attacking Medicare with a GP tax; savage cuts to education; savage cuts to the minimum wage; and savage cuts to our ageing population—and the list goes on.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): I remind the honourable member that this is an address in reply to the Governor's speech. I am not sure where these things the member is mentioning now are in the Governor's speech. I call the Hon. Mr Kandelaars.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: In the face of these challenges, the only way to keep moving forward as a state is to keep building South Australia and to keep standing up to the Abbott Liberal government, which is exactly what we intend to do.

I am particularly proud, of course, because not many people thought I would be making this speech today from the government benches. Certainly those opposite assumed that they would be sitting on this side of the chamber, but, as history shows, they were very wrong. The Liberal Party's failure to form government has been blamed on everybody else but themselves. I think in time history will show that the Liberal Party is arrogant and that any blame for their failure to form government must be attributed to their leader, Steven Marshall, senior Liberal Party strategists and senior members of the Marshall front bench.

The Liberal Party played small target politics. Rightly, the people of South Australia wanted and expected more. In contrast, the Premier set out Labor's extensive policy platform on day one of the campaign—and I have it here. We did this because we had a story to tell: Labor has a vision for South Australia and it is a vision that we are proud of and are prepared to stand by.

Here is an idea for those opposite: perhaps next time sell a vision of your own. It works actually. People want ideas, not slogans. They want a government that will lead from the front, not a government that fails to offer fresh ideas but instead simply agitates for no more than change's sake. They want a leader who will fight for the interests of South Australia, not one who shirks scrutiny and debate by avoiding the media during an election campaign or shuts down press conferences because the questions do not suit him.

Importantly, they do not want a leader who simply worships the federal Abbott government and meekly accepts cruel cuts to South Australia. Those opposite have been whingeing since 15 March. They have been whingeing that the electoral system is not fair. They forget two critical things: first, following the 1989 state election it was the Liberals who lobbied for the electoral system as it exists today. If Labor had received 50 per cent of the statewide two PP vote but lost, do you think it would have cried foul? Of course not.

Secondly, the Liberals forgot the rules. They were clear to everybody. Every party contesting the election knew the equation. There were 47 seats in the House of Assembly and to form government in its own right the party had to win 24 seats. It was always the case that for the Liberals to win government they needed to win six extra seats. On this side, it was equally clear that we had to defend those seats. For the second successive election the Liberal Party has failed to achieve what was required; that is, they can only blame one source—themselves.

The 'mincing poodle', as the then prime minister Julia Gillard referred to him, the federal member for Sturt, outrageously suggested that this Labor government is illegitimate. What nonsense. Did the federal member for Sturt refer to the 1998 Howard government as illegitimate? Certainly not. What hypocrisy—this from the man pulling the factional strings of the South Australian Liberal Party, a man, so rumour says, who has single-handedly taken control of the state Liberal Party campaign review, sidelining the state director, Geoff Greene, in a desperate effort to discover why his hand-picked state leader, the member for Dunstan, is not the premier of South Australia.

Even as recently as yesterday we heard the Liberal Party complain about Labor's so-called dirty tricks. What rubbish, what a cop-out. The easy yet predictable excuse. When complaining about dirty tricks the Liberal Party lacks credibility. This is the party which for months prior to the election made a political football out of the sexual abuse of a child in a western suburbs school. They perfected the art of smear and fear—a favourite term of those opposite when complaining about the superior campaigning effort of Labor. But, even still, they tried to denigrate the Premier's integrity and honesty which was upheld by the Debelle report.

No matter, though. In one of the most shameful political stunts that this state has witnessed, the Liberals authorised and funded a radio advertisement on behalf of the Independent in the seat of Lee. That advertisement stated that the Premier knew of a rape of a child, that he chose not to tell the parents, and that the Premier's assertions that he was not informed of the incident at the time were false. Each of these statements was a lie. The advertisement was deceitful. It deliberately contradicted the finding of an independent inquiry with the powers of a royal commission.

Yet the Liberals sought to gain political advantage. What was worse was that they left it to an Independent candidate, who may or may not have known better, to do their dirty work. How disgraceful. How cowardly. The Electoral Commissioner held that each of these statements was misleading and inaccurate to a material extent, in breach of the Electoral Act. The commissioner requested the Liberal Party to withdraw the advertisement and to publish a retraction in the same time, place and form as the original advertisement.

But what did the Liberal Party do? They refused to publish the apology, in defiance of the commissioner's determination. Instead, a week later, they decided to distribute a flyer in the electorate of Adelaide which levelled substantially similar allegations against the Premier. This time the commissioner requested that the Liberals issue a public statement of retraction to the media. Again, the Liberal Party ignored it. These incidents were only two of five in which the Liberal Party electoral advertisements were held to be misleading and inaccurate to a material extent, and for which they were requested by the commissioner to publish a retraction. Each time, they refused.

Another occasion was a television commercial in which the Leader of the Opposition stated that the Labor Party had short-changed the McLaren Vale hospital. This was despite a commitment given by the Minister for Health (Hon. Jack Snelling) to continue funding that hospital for a further three years. The shadow minister for health (Hon. Rob Lucas) knew that before this advertisement was published. He admitted as much on his Twitter account of 12 February, and he admitted that Labor and the Liberals had offered the same level of funding.

So the Liberal advertisement that aired during the campaign was one of two things: it was either a deliberate lie, designed to misinform voters, or it was evidence of the Liberal Party's incompetence and shows a clear lack of communication between the shadow minister for health and the opposition campaign spokesman (Hon. Rob Lucas) and the Leader of the Opposition. I very much look forward to hearing the Hon. Mr Lucas clarifying that for us at some stage. Here is what the Electoral Commissioner had to say, in a letter dated 12 March, on the McLaren Vale hospital:

I am of the view that the advertisement is in breach of the act and have requested the Liberal Party to withdraw the advertisement from further publication in any form and publish a retraction and apology on the Liberal Party website.

As with every election, the campaign was hard fought. Yes, it was a battle, but any suggestion by the Liberal Party that it was denied government through dirty tricks is nothing more than a desperate attempt by those opposite to place blame anywhere other than where it ought to be placed. It is a bit rich for the Liberal members to criticise the Labor Party, given their dirty tricks. What hypocrisy. We on this side will not be lectured by those opposite—I stress, we will not be lectured by those opposite. The Liberal Party must take responsibility for its failures. No-one else is to blame—no-one. The Hon. Rob Lucas, the Liberal Party campaign spokesman, will not take responsibility, that is for sure.

Moving on, it is interesting to wonder how many consecutive defeats the Liberal Party will endure before they will actually do something about their side, quite frankly. That is enough of the vanquished. The Labor Party has managed to form government with the agreement of the member for Frome. In the light of this result, there are some people who deserve congratulations. Firstly, Reggie Martin, who, I see, is in the gallery today, the secretary of the Labor Party here in South Australia. He led a wonderful central campaign. He worked tirelessly to ensure that individual campaigns could focus on what they needed to focus on, that is getting out and actively engaging and listening to the people in their electorates.

Labor's parliamentary party has also seen the introduction of new blood. I congratulate those new members, in particular the member for Napier, Jon Gee, who will represent his constituents with the utmost diligence and passion and who is acutely aware of the challenges facing the northern suburbs; the member for Lee, Stephen Mullighan, who recently was appointed to cabinet; the member for Kaurna, Chris Picton; the member for Reynell, Katrine Hildyard; and the member for Gillies—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Giles.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: —Giles, sorry—Eddie Hughes. I also wish to particularly applaud the new member for Torrens, Dana Wortley, who campaigned extremely hard and whose hard work has rightly been rewarded.

At this juncture it is necessary to wonder whether the Liberals' view that a couple cannot be employed in the same department of the Public Service means it is improper for a couple to be employed, say, as doctors or nurses in the same hospital or teachers in the same school. It is a crazy notion, but it would appear to be the view that we should return to the 1960s and the marriage bar of that time. For those who do not know what the marriage bar is, it excluded women who were married from having a job in the Public Service.

Why do I raise this? This issue arises because of the campaign material distributed by the Liberal Party in Torrens, which seems to suggest that a woman who is married to another member of this parliament does not deserve to be a member of this parliament. Dana has a right to a career of her own. Again, what hypocrisy, what a shameful line of attack. Just another brilliant decision of the Liberal misogynists—sorry, strategists! Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference.

Moving on, I would also like to congratulate two members of this place: the Hon. Tung Ngo, who has become the first Vietnamese-born member of the South Australian parliament, and, the Hon. Kyam Maher, who has worked tirelessly throughout his time in this place and thoroughly deserves his election. I should also mention you, Mr President, and the Hon. Ian Hunter: you were both re-elected for another term in this place. I offer my heartfelt congratulations to you all.

I want to note the retirement of a number of members, particularly Robyn Geraghty, the former member for Torrens, a person who spent many years in this place and had a real impact here and in her community—a great local member. Very few of us will ever get a chance to serve for nearly 20 years, as Robyn did. She was the longest-serving Labor Government Whip in South Australia's history, a wonderful person to work for (and I worked for her for six years), a wonderful colleague and mentor and, most importantly, a dear friend to my wife and me.

I also mention Lyn Breuer, who served in the seat of Giles with passion for her community. She was the first South Australian female Speaker, a great spokesperson for regional South Australia, and you could always ensure that she would call a spade a spade—a great South Australian. I mention, too, the Hon. Carmel Zollo who, as I have said previously in this place, provided me with a guiding hand and was an enormous help when I first entered this place. She also served for an extraordinarily long period of 15 years, as did Lyn. I wish all three remarkable women the best in the next stage of their life.

Finally, I also thank and congratulate a band of loyal party volunteers who gave up their time—took time away from their own jobs for no financial gain or reward—to stand up for the Labor cause in which they believe dearly. It is people like this who will always represent the defining difference between Labor and others. There is life still in the Labor government. The recent election result has reinvigorated this government. We have a positive agenda for this state, and I am excited to stand part of the government that will always put jobs before cuts, and we will keep building South Australia.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (16:33): It is a pleasure to stand here and speak to the Address in Reply 2014. I thank the Governor for his speech. It is always a very important part of our parliamentary process and our democracy when we have the Chief Justice and the other judges here, members sworn in and the election of the President. It is pomp and ceremony, but a very important part of our tradition, and we should make sure that we always maintain it.

I also extend the opposition's best wishes to the member for Fisher and his family. The Hon. Dr Such has offered a great deal to this parliament and diligently serves his electorate. The people of his electorate have a great respect and affection for him. I note that the South Australian community and the parliament are hoping for his speeding recovery.

My colleagues and I have looked forward to the return of parliament—perhaps not thrilled about returning to this side of the chamber, as evidenced by our two-party preferred vote of 53 per cent. A majority of South Australians are not thrilled either, but nevertheless we are grateful to be back here in good health, with the ability to continue doing the job of holding this government to account and serving the state we love.

Holding this Labor government to account grows ever more frustrating. It becomes increasingly clear that they do not feel obliged to answer to the opposition or to the South Australian public. As the South Australian Labor Party enters its fourth term of office, the arrogance will only grow.

As members opposite would know, the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars, who is not with us in the chamber at the moment, talked about dirty tricks. I think it is appropriate that I talk about some of the tactics that delivered a fourth-term minority government—the tactics that provided you, Mr President, with your plum job, minister Gago with another stint at a lacklustre leadership and, in fact, all the ministers and members opposite. In fact, I suspect that even the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars may have been so embarrassed that, when he welcomed all new members of parliament, he forgot the member for Elder, or as we call her on this side, the 'member for racism'.

As I said throughout question time on Tuesday, our most recent preselections delivered some high-quality candidates from both sides of politics. I had the great pleasure of working closely with a number of them and the not so great pleasure of observing some underhand tactics from others; the case in point is the now Labor member for Elder, Annabel Digance.

It was clear from the outset that Ms Digance was in a desperate bid to follow her two failed attempts at federal parliament with a win at state level. I believe that it was not the desperation born from her love of the electorate or her desire to serve its people but one driven by personal pride and ego. That desperation played out in her behaviour and personal attacks towards the Liberal candidate and, just as seriously, with what I believe was threatening behaviour displayed by her husband towards Ms Habib and her dedicated volunteers.

On Tuesday, the Leader of the Government in this place called my concern 'sour grapes', not racism or personal attacks or dodgy campaign tactics but 'sour grapes'. I have made no secret of the fact that I am disappointed with the outcome of 15 March. We live in a democracy, and with any questions about the effectiveness of the Electoral Act momentarily put aside, this is the parliament we have been delivered.

However, I do have sour grapes when either side of politics acts in an undemocratic way for the advantage of their party. When those actions are pivotal in delivering a particular election result, it demeans the very system that South Australia is so proud to have. It speaks volumes for the current Labor government, its collective character and its values and priorities.

By contrast, I will quickly speak about the admirable character of our Liberal candidate for Elder, Ms Carolyn Habib, a women who is passionate about her community and about creating opportunities for those who are disadvantaged. There were no devious tactics in Carolyn Habib's campaign; it was focused on hard work, receptivity and respect, even for her opponent. It was clear from Ms Habib's approach that she inherited her good values from a hardworking, honest Australian upbringing.

At a farewell function for an industry chief executive, I was concerned when former minister Conlon, the then member for Elder—of course, he was working for Minter Ellison, so the part-time member for Elder—informed me that Habib's problem was her name. I know that it is out of order to refer to people in the gallery, but they have been referred to before. I suspect that this is something that the Labor Party was planning to do from day one; they thought they had an opportunity. Former minister Conlon said, 'Her name will never fly down there.'

A few days prior to the election—and we are all familiar with it now—the now member for Elder distributed a Labor Party endorsed flyer which embodied a great deal of prejudice, which we in this parliament elected to fight against. In fact, a senior journalist at The Australian who rang me about it said that it was printed with what they called 'the international terrorist font'. I did not think that an international terrorist font existed, but there have been a couple of books written by international terrorists, and the exact same type of font and stylising have been used in those publications. It is extremely sad, but I believe that the voting community of Elder was frightened by it as much as it was offended by it.

As I said on Tuesday, Carolyn Habib—as put by David Penberthy—had 'by dint of her surname become the subject of button pushing smear'. Haydon Manning of Flinders University made the assessment that the flyer had been 'designed to attract the attention of those few voters who might take a dim view of a candidate with a name like Habib'. As I said, I believe it did that.

When the pamphlet was opened up, it made a ridiculous link between Ms Habib's election to the Marion council and a substantial rate increase. It would be like blaming me, having been a member of parliament for the last 12 years and continually begging the government not to force us into debt, for the $14 billion of state debt we have today. How outrageous it was that this campaign brochure would try to link a council member to higher council rates when, in fact, she voted against substantial rate rises! In fact—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Well, no—as my colleague interjects, it is not the only place to do that. It is a ridiculous assertion that she was responsible for increased council rates. If Ms Habib had not been so busy trying to win an election on merit and good policies, she might have responded to that. Between 2004 and 2010, when Annabel Digance was on the South Australian water board, she attended an average of 1.5 meetings a month while South Australian water bills soared by some 50 per cent, and she pocketed some $225,000 in board fees while she was there.

The 'Can you trust Habib?' pamphlet was one of the final instalments in a campaign which had been based on lies and scaremongering—for example, the Liberals do not care about sick babies because we are going to scrap the upgrade to the Flinders neonatal units. The pamphlet was a new low in Labor campaigning.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Yes, it was the last roll of the dice for the Digance team. It made national headlines and drew criticism and dismay from all sides of politics and the public. It was truly a step backwards for South Australian democracy and it will be Annabel Digance's legacy to this parliament. As we have said, we often call her 'the member for racism' on our side of the chamber. Of course, it brings into the question how the Premier, when asked about this, said that in his judgement he did not think it was a racist slur on Ms Habib. Now, have we stepped to a new low if it is the Premier's judgement that it is not bad to attack somebody for their race? If somebody is fat or does not look good, if they are ugly or of a non-preferred ethnic background, is it up to the Premier to judge this? Nearly everybody in the nation in politics and in the public saw this as a very low point in this state's history.

I also make mention of the member for Elder's husband. By this point, he was becoming increasingly involved in the campaign, too. His desperation to win was also palpable, and it was completely clear he was prepared to engage in all manner of conduct to get his wife over the line. By contrast, I worked on a polling booth most of the day with what I would call normal ALP volunteers, people who barrack for a different team from me but are decent people, and I know the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars referred to them. They do not engage in intimidating behaviour, they are just happy to have a chat about the weather and the footy and support their team. We have them on our side, and those volunteers from all sides of politics are an important part of our democracy.

However, in this case, this person was going over the line. An article in The Advertiser speaks of the harassment of Liberal volunteers at a shopping centre. Mr Digance said that he refuted the claims and that he had been subject to similar behaviour from the Liberals. He later retracted those statements. On the eve of the election, he called the police and reported one of our volunteers for assault while they were setting up the polling booth at Hamilton College—that one of our volunteers had struck one of the Labor volunteers. I think the volunteer may have been his daughter, but I am not 100 per cent certain of that.

We have a copy of the CCTV footage from Hamilton College and I can attest that there is no such behaviour. I remind people that to report a crime that did not exist is actually a crime in itself—a false report to the police. Again, this is evidence of the lengths that this particular campaign would go to in order to get over the line. On polling day, a number of volunteers bore witness to Mr Digance behaving in a manner which they assessed as being generally intimidating. An article in the Sunday Mail gave an account of one such incident at the Edwardstown Primary School polling booth. His intimidation included invading the personal space of Liberal candidate Carolyn Habib, when she arrived, and continually taking photos. In fact, he followed her around with his iPhone filming her.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: My colleague the Hon. Terry Stephens says 'stalking her' from the moment she arrived. I am also reminded that the young Liberal who allegedly assaulted the young Labor volunteer was also intimidated when he was working on another booth. He was told, 'We are going to get you. We have that stuff on you from last night.' So again there was intimidation when that assault did not happen. At another booth, three Liberal volunteers had to report a Labor volunteer to the returning officer for sexual and verbal harassment. One of the volunteers had her bra strap twanged by a Labor volunteer handing out how-to-vote cards. She had her bra strap pulled and twanged by a Labor volunteer on this campaign.

Another one of the volunteers was asked—and this is slightly unparliamentary, Mr President, but I think I need to put it on the record—by another Labor volunteer to come out, and go behind the shed for a root and a beer. In the polling booth line up! So, this man over there talks about our dirty tactics, this was intimidation like we have never seen before, in the line-up at a polling booth. I also point to the tactics around the Habib poster for polling day. I know we are not allowed to use props, so I will just look at it. I will not hold it up for members, but members would remember—oh, he's gone now, Reggie Martin has left the chamber—the lengths he would go to stretch the truth.

We had a Steven Marshall poster—a big, long, black one with a not particularly flattering photograph of our leader with 'cut deeply', a cross; 'cut jobs', a cross; and 'slow the economy, the Liberals say no'. I was told by a Labor volunteer on the night before the election that the whole Habib thing and the racist stuff really had not gone that well for them, and that they had to cut a poster off. All we saw on election day was a cross saying 'doesn't have the experience, the Liberals say no' in the same style and same black font. I suspect there was a very nasty extension to that which was guillotined off because, again, they knew they had overstepped the line and they had gone to a new low, and they were not game to put up that poster because they knew that it would potentially have disastrous impacts for them.

Also the returning officer, Mr Geoff Lang, was somewhat concerned about this behaviour. He raised it with me, and I suspect that, if Mr Digance had turned up at the pre-poll and postal vote counting after the election, he would have been excluded from that process simply because of the way in which he had conducted himself on election day. While I touch on this, I would also like to congratulate Geoff Lang, the returning officer, for his work and his team. I think they conducted themselves very well.

I was involved as a scrutineer in the pre-poll and postal vote count. Although the one point I will make, and I did promise Mr Lang I would do this, is that I think the person who bought the envelopes that the postal votes went in—and the machine would not open them—needs to explain why you would buy a set of envelopes that are used on polling day that do not actually work. I have photographs on my iPhone of polling booth officers using pairs of scissors to cut open postal votes instead of going through the automatic machine. It seems hard to believe that we would not have tested that before election day.

I believe the public deserves an account of the Elder campaign, endorsed by the Labor Party and the Labor member for Elder, and I believe they deserve to know the kind of tactics which have returned this government to office so you, Mr Wortley, can enjoy the spoils of your new position and so we can have the same government leader returned who has absolutely no accountability to this council. In fact, all the ministers, whether it is Premier Weatherill, Treasurer Koutsantonis, all the members are here on the back of a racial attack on a young South Australian woman.

Mr President, I know you will not be surprised that I need to turn my attention to you. Incidentally, you were a former minister for industrial relations and you worked your way up from being an employee of the Federated Gas Employees Industrial Union. I congratulate you on your new position. I have a serious question about the integrity of this member. In parliament at the end of 2011, I moved a motion that this council notes the credible allegations of serious malfeasance in the South Australian branch of the FGEIU. Our President was the subject of that motion and, Mr President, you never took the opportunity to come into this place and refute those allegations.

I put on the record that last time I tabled a statutory declaration to that effect, and now our new President has been accused by former employees of SAGASCO of being pivotal in receiving payments made to the union from then SAGASCO employees in return for negotiating better redundancy payments. These are serious allegations and I note the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption is in the throes of investigating exactly this type of behaviour.

In summary, I am very concerned about the direction of our state because some of our most senior Labor government figures appear to have entered parliament on the back of dubious union activity and dodgy campaign tactics. It makes me very nervous for South Australia's future. Mr President, you have now survived three days and you have one day to go to break your record of not having a no-confidence motion moved against you as happened when you were a minister, so I wish you all the best for the next week as President.

Just quickly, I will touch on the regions. Yesterday, our shadow treasurer used his Address in Reply to give a very detailed account of the problems of the state's electoral system and my colleague in this place, the shadow attorney-general, followed that with a motion prompting the parliament to investigate the need for electoral reform. I second the comments and will anticipate the findings of a select committee. Instead of electoral reform, therefore, I wish to focus briefly on the deal the regions will get from the outcome of the recent election.

I think the best way of assessing that is to consider what has happened in the past. In 2002, former Labor premier Mike Rann appointed Independent member for Mount Gambier, Rory McEwen, as minister for regional development. Mr Rann was excited about the move, trumpeting the benefits that this state would see from having a regional minister for the regions. He said:

Having been involved for many years in local government, and being a passionate supporter of our state's regions, (Mr McEwen) has a vital interest in his new portfolio responsibilities…We are prepared to be inclusive, to bring regional and country South Australians to the cabinet table. We are prepared to put the state's interests before party interests.

We heard just recently from Premier Weatherill. In the years that followed—nothing new really—under Labor's governance, Mr McEwen was to hold various portfolios of vital concern to the regions—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: He had regional development twice.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Yes—agriculture, food, fisheries and forests. The year 2002 was to begin one of the darkest periods for the South Australian regions that this state has seen for a long time. As my colleague the Hon. John Dawkins interjected, he was the minister for regional development twice.

Almost immediately, Labor reduced funding for the maintenance and repair of local regional roads. The arterial roads and regional roads programs introduced by the former Liberal government were axed; $1 million was cut from the outback roads maintenance gangs. Under previous Liberal governments there had been $77 million and a 10-year plan for sealing major unsealed rural arterial roads and it was cut to just $2.8 million in 2003.

Also in 2003 came the decision to reduce country road speed limits to 100 km/h. Labor recognised the deteriorating and dangerous conditions of South Australia's rural roads but was not prepared to commit extra funding to improve them. For the first five months in 2003, there were 34 fatalities in country areas compared with 27 in the metropolitan area.

Shared Services was introduced and the regional impact assessment statement in December 2007 found that, under the reform, 500 regional jobs would be lost. These job losses were to cost regional drought-stricken communities some $150 million. The Murray Mallee LGA estimated the total cost of axing 111 jobs in the region would be $32.6 million. All the while regional hospitals were being slashed and burned to manage cost blowouts in major Adelaide hospitals. In 2006, $10 million extra was allocated to regional hospitals to operate, compared with $85 million extra allocated for metropolitan health.

In 2008, Labor's secret plan to close 25 country hospitals following the abolition of country hospital boards became known. There were already $100 million worth of procedures being performed on country patients in city hospitals, but the closures would place increased burden on city hospitals.

In 2010, it was bad news again. Labor's budget funding cuts threatened Moonta, Ardrossan and Keith District hospitals. Perhaps the nail in the coffin—and we are really only beginning to understand the ramifications—was the sale of the forests. In the lead-up to the 2006 election, Mr Ewen actually said, 'The worst thing that could possibly happen to Mount Gambier would be to privatise our forests.' However, when the Treasurer approached him, asking if he would be okay with looking at other ways of using the revenue stream of ForestrySA, Mr McEwen supported the inquiry. I believe that he knew the path that the state was going down with that inquiry and I believe he sold out the South-East through blatant arrogance, or ignorance, at best.

The case I am building here is that Mr McEwen, simply by virtue of being a rural (and Independent) minister for regions, in no way increased his capacity to deliver for the regions or his own electorate. Indeed, his own electorate probably did the worst during his time in cabinet. In March, just after signing the agreement with Mr Brock, the Premier echoed the sentiment that Mr Rann had in 2002:

The inclusion of Mr Brock in our cabinet will allow us to add a strong voice for regional South Australia.

I know that Mr Brock has good intentions and that he is a hard worker, but he is up against an arrogant, stale and tired Labor cabinet. We have read the agreement that he and the Premier have made, and there is no doubt that if every project promised in Frome were to be delivered, the electorate would be all the better off, but the agreement is not worth the paper it is written on. Who will hold this government to account for honouring its commitments? Moreover, what about the rest of the regions of South Australia as a whole?

The agreement only discusses projects for Frome. There is no commitment by the Premier to maintain all of his pre-election commitments to the rest of the state. In fact, the 'Brockument', as we call it, makes no reference to Labor's other election promises. So, Mr President, this deal to form government does not bind Premier Weatherill and this lacklustre lot and yourself to deliver the promises that you went to the election with. You can break your promise at the stroke of a pen and there is nothing in the deal that holds your government to it. Mr Brock can walk away from it.

Quickly turning to the Governor's speech—something I note the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars did not do—and touching on my portfolios, in 2012, and again this year, he referred to one of Labor's so-called seven strategic priorities: premium food and wine from our clean environment. Just yesterday, food industry leaders gathered at a CEDA forum to discuss exactly this matter. They told the forum that it was not enough to be a clean green commodity producer and that Australian agribusiness was falling behind competitors due to the lack of investment in the sector. Yesterday, a CEDA forum in Adelaide heard that South Australia's agriculture sector risked missing out on the dining boom and agribusiness opportunities in Asia unless it could invest more in agriculture and add value to its exports.

Labor has focused for too long on the smaller producers and the boutique manufacturers. Why? Because it is fashionable and popular. This is all about PR and nothing to do with economic strategy. They have forgotten our large-scale commodity groups which drive the economy—the grains, the livestock, the horticulture that contribute billions to our economy, yet their needs and wants are dismissed by an arrogant government that believes it knows the very best way forward for this industry. They do not, and the industry feels completely let down and ignored.

Despite everything this government proclaims about how much they do for the sector, they do very little and refuse to face the difficult issues the industry is presented with by this government—look at land tax, payroll tax, production costs and red tape which are strangling the industry while commodity prices remain stubbornly low. Across the state, farmers are walking off the land. Our honest and hardworking farmers, the people who produce the vast bulk of what the Labor Party calls our 'premium food and wine', are going to the wall because of the cost of doing business, the cost of production, and this is unsustainable in South Australia.

We have a supermarket duopoly squeezing every last drop out of our farmers, coupled with a state government that is basically doing the same. Business is becoming unviable for our farmers. For years now, the Labor government has refused to listen, and its continual neglect of issues has destroyed the livelihood of families in our regions. The marine park sanctuary zones have driven many fishermen out of the industry and those remaining see a bleak future ahead for them.

Our exports have also stagnated. The value of horticultural exports, for example, stands at $139 million—only a 2 per cent increase since 2001-02. Our overall exports have increased by an embarrassing 1 per cent in that same period—that is 1 per cent over a decade. In comparison, Victoria and New South Wales exports have increased by 25 per cent in just five years. Our bulk commodities have been neglected by a lazy, dismissive government.

Grain exports have increased by only 1 per cent in the past decade; in comparison, the grain industry in Victoria has increased its exports by a staggering 250 per cent in the last five years alone. Bulk meat exports only increased by 3 per cent in South Australia last year, while they increased by 12 per cent in Victoria over the same period. Put simply, the government's support and plan to grow our premium food and wine is an expensive sham, and it has done very little for the producers who are at the starting block of premium food and wine.

The Governor gave no details yesterday about Labor's plan for the future of primary industries. The future will start with strong research and development, on which Labor's track record is terrible, and it is continually stripping SARDI of vital funding in successive budgets. At the same CEDA forum I referred to earlier, Food SA chief executive officer Catherine Barnett said that while best practice German food manufacturing companies spend 8 per cent of their turnover on R&D, 6 per cent on staff development, and 6 per cent on plant upgrade, Australian companies spend less than 1 per cent on R&D, 3 per cent on staff development, and 3.5 per cent on plant upgrade.

Labor has started this term by flagging the closure of the Lenswood Research Facility, a critical soils and science research centre that has contributed immensely to our primary industries sector. Incidentally, that is a bit of a strange one: in the same breath they have been trumpeting plans to protect the vital agricultural land of the Adelaide Hills, yet they want to close a research station that could actually build the economy there.

SARDI has been on shaky ground for years, with confidence at an all-time low. The employees are leaving due to the uncertain nature of funding and rolling contracts, and R&D has been in dire need of more government investment. Every industry group has highlighted the lack of R&D as a critical issue for their sector and one that needs to be fixed quickly. Crucial R&D allows our farmers to access state-of-the-art breakthrough plant science, breeding, new seeding and farming techniques, yield increases, frost, drought and salt tolerance crops, and countless other advantages. However, we did not see any mention of that in the Governor's speech on Tuesday.

Piece by piece, Labor is stripping the infrastructure that builds the future for our primary industries. We need this innovation to survive and remain competitive in a modern world, and our failure in the export market show that the cracks are already starting.

The Governor also spoke on Tuesday about our tourism sector. Again, the government has failed to grow it. Events SA now manages only three events: the Tour Down Under, Tasting Australia and the Credit Union Christmas Pageant. Two of these were created by a Liberal government, although I remind members that, at the opening of Tasting Australia, all the regional tents were closed. They were closed for the first four days because they could not afford to open. How bizarre! Only a Labor government would say, 'We'll bear the cost of assembling these marquees,' and then charge people on a per day basis. When they could not afford to come, they just closed them. Who loses out? The regions again—our regional communities are the ones who lose out.

They have failed also to sustain funding to regional tourism. They have stripped money out of regional tourism. They have starved the 11 regions of resources. They are always happy to put another $8 million or $9 million or $10 million into the Clipsal each year, but they have starved the regions. They have failed to achieve an increase in visitor expenditure to $5 billion by 2008. They have failed their own target, and they will fail to achieve the strategic target of an $8 billion industry by 2020. They will also fail to achieve sufficient annual growth to meet the 2014 milestone target of a $6 billion industry. In relation to the strategic target, the audit committee rated the government's achievability as unlikely.

The state Labor government is squandering that potential that the Governor spoke of. In my time within my current portfolios, I have visited the regions and spoken to the small and large tourism operators, as well as seen a great deal of South Australia's natural beauty, and I can attest that under this current Labor government those assets are being wasted. I feel a little disappointed for the Governor because of course he reads the speech. It is his speech and it is his name on it, but he does not write it. He has to just read what is given to him, and I suspect a lot of people think that, sadly, it was one of the most lacklustre and uninspiring speeches we have heard. It is no reflection on the Governor: it is a reflection on the people opposite.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Are you saying he is a puppet?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: We know who writes it, and he reads his Address in Reply. I will have a chat to him when we go over and present it to him. We know who writes it. We know that it is this lacklustre lot here who prepared the speech. In closing, I am fearful for the future of South Australia as we enter this fourth term of Labor government.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Continue, the Hon. Mr Ridgway.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I am almost finished. You would think they could hold themselves together. My colleagues and I will continue to hold this government to account despite their arrogance and resistance. I am hopeful that this term will bring about electoral reform so that, at the next election, the government that South Australians truly want will be delivered.

The PRESIDENT: It is good to see that sometimes these speeches act like a little bit of therapy and people feel much better after them. The honourable and gallant Mr McLachlan.

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (17:02): Thank you, Mr President. I am pleased to support the motion for adoption of the Address in Reply, and I thank His Excellency the Governor of South Australia for his speech with which he opened this 53^rd Parliament of South Australia.

I offer my congratulations to the other new member of the Legislative Council, the Hon. Tung Ngo, and wish him a fulfilling career in this chamber. I also wish to acknowledge the service to this council and to the state of those members who have left this place—the Hon. Carmel Zollo and Ms Ann Bressington. I thank the former president, the Hon. John Gazzola, and the staff of the Legislative Council for their welcome and the assistance they have provided me. I congratulate the President on his election and wish him well in his leadership of the council.

I am also grateful for the welcome from honourable members from both sides of the council and the consideration they have shown me upon my election. In particular, I appreciate the care and attention my colleagues have taken to ensure that I begin to learn the ways of this place. They have been generous with their time and in sharing their experiences. The government must be congratulated on its re-election. I will work diligently to hold it to account in order to fulfil my obligation to all South Australians as a member of the opposition.

I come to this place as a strong advocate of Liberal values. It is my belief that it is these values, which respect individual freedom and encourage free enterprise as well as the preservation of the environment, that are the best foundation for ensuring a strong, confident and compassionate society in this state. I have always been attracted to the Liberal belief in encouraging initiative and the taking of personal responsibility. In many ways, it could be said that these values underpin the experience of my family in these lands.

The first of my line to come to South Australia was Colin McLachlan, as a young boy with his mother, Catherine, and his stepfather. They came to this state on the ship Macedon, seeking opportunities they were unable to find on the west coast of Scotland. He spent the remainder of his youth on Kangaroo Island, as his stepfather had found work manning the lighthouse at Cape Willoughby. I suspect that life on Kangaroo Island at that time would not have been much different from crofting on the west coast of Scotland.

Demonstrating initiative and learning, he became the commander of coastal ships in the state and settled on Lefevre Peninsula and in Port Adelaide. He married Mary, the daughter of Captain Hugh Quin. Captain Quin was a local identity at the time, being the harbourmaster. He has the distinction of forming one of the party that witnessed the proclamation of the colony and can be seen in Charles Hill's painting of the occasion.

Their son, Colin Graham McLachlan, purchased a custom and shipping agent business which was a successful house until recent times, when the business was merged with another firm. This enterprise sustained an extended family for four generations. National competition, driven by technology, forced consolidation of the marketplace. Geographic location was no longer the key to success, and business flowed to the east.

While saddened by the closure of this business in the port, I do not mourn the passing of this trade in the state. Over its 100 years of existence, it was a contributor to the economy of the port and to the wellbeing of its community. Its time had come and new industries had to be explored. The great-grandson of Colin had to seek other endeavours to pursue. However, I have not drifted that far, even as a member of this chamber, as I row with the Port Adelaide Rowing Club, the same club Colin Graham rowed for in 1892, on the same narrow waters where his father navigated his ships to berth.

When plying those waters you can see that the port was once a thriving gateway for our industrial and trading people. Today, these waters are increasingly being used for leisure pursuits. It could be argued that this is a physical representation of the decline in our economic confidence and the turning away from exploring trade to the singular pursuit of lifestyle for its own sake. As much as I am encouraged by the efforts to renew the district, the only true foundation for a prosperous and healthy community is sustainable and competitive enterprises that deliver real opportunities for employment and advancement as well as leisure.

My parents and grandparents believed education was the key to advancement. Much was sacrificed to ensure that I received the education that would allow me to study at university. I chose to read law at the University of Adelaide, and to this day I continue to apply the knowledge that was taught to me and enjoy the friendships that I made. The commitment to pursuing education that I was taught in my youth did not abate at the end of my undergraduate years. I subsequently pursued degrees of other universities, including the University of Edinburgh in the country of my blood.

At an early age I was imbued with the notion that my education was to be used for the service of others. In keeping with this belief, I have endeavoured to apply my legal skills for the benefit of the community. I joined a law firm with a strong commitment to social justice and spent my time in my formative years as a young lawyer serving the community in Port Augusta and the surrounding districts.

In my time working in the Mid North, I came to appreciate life in the regions and its challenges. I am proud that my party has such an abiding commitment to the regions of the state and its communities. The regions are where the natural wealth of this state lies and are the source of much of our economy. It is important that we build vibrant communities across our state and that they have every opportunity to develop and grow. I do not find appealing the thought of an empty state with all its peoples in one city.

When I was living in Port Augusta, the city was experiencing tough times. The stresses of a declining economy were played out in criminal and family courts. From my experience as a young advocate, I learnt important lessons in life. We must not seek to judge others; rather, we must do all that we can to assist those experiencing hardship and help them find a better road to travel. Further, a strong and healthy society is dependent upon, at the very least, a modicum of material prosperity. Perhaps these experiences were my first steps towards becoming an active member of the Liberal Party.

During this time, I also worked as a junior on certain matters for the advancement of Aboriginal communities. It was then that I formed the firm belief that it is the responsibility of all of us to assist in the development of sustainable and strong Indigenous communities throughout this state. From these formative experiences, I fell into the world of banking and securities law. After a time studying overseas, I returned at the height of the recession and took the first offer of employment.

After a spell in a commercial law firm I joined a financial services house and enjoyed a career in law and management that lasted over a decade. During my time in financial services I witnessed the flight of employment in commerce to the east coast. It reinforced in me the necessity of a strong economy to ensure the future and vibrancy of this state. Our brightest and best should have an opportunity to pursue their dreams in the place of their birth, for they will be the drivers of our state's growth and the guardians of our future.

Immediately prior to my election to this chamber I worked at the University of Adelaide at its International Centre for Financial Services. It was a delight to return to the institution that had nurtured me so many years before. The centre was established to foster excellence and thought leadership in financial services. I commend the university for its research into financial services and its advocacy for the growth of the sector in this state, for there are significant employment opportunities in the wealth management and international education sectors in South Australia.

A career in financial services should not just be the preserve of a chosen few who reside on the shores of Sydney Harbour. We should aspire to build, nurture and retain the talent of the young of this state in all fields of endeavour. Lord Haldane said that it is in universities that the soul of the people is mirrored. We are fortunate to have such universities in the state that conduct important and significant research. I believe that it is in these institutions we will find the ideas that will drive creation of new sustainable industries. We must ensure that our universities are at the centre of our debates concerning our state's future. It is important that they capture the imagination of the public and are cherished.

The structure of our economy is increasingly being challenged by national and international forces. Our survival as a prosperous and self-reliant community is under threat, and we must discover new opportunities for growth. We must create an environment for small and medium businesses to flourish, innovate and trade internationally. Critical to creating this environment will be the role our universities play in the development of new technologies and fuelling innovation that drives commerce.

The role of government is to create the environment which encourages enterprise in its citizens who actively take risks to pursue prosperity. Governments by their very nature are unable to take the place of those in our community who run businesses and generate growth, which in turn drives employment opportunities. Further, there is increasing evidence that government fiscal stimulus does not necessarily produce economic value and assist recovery. Rather, governments should seek to restrain public debt, as it is this debt that ultimately can have a negative impact on growth. When debt is incurred it should be invested in those things that will produce an economic dividend.

This parliament must do all it can to assist South Australians to rediscover the same skills and innovation enterprise which drove our economy since its founding as a colony and which has sustained us as a state. Many valuable lessons can be learnt from the experience of cities and regions in the Midwest of the United States. These cities have discovered the road to growth and secured the survival of their communities.

A consistent thread through all these endeavours has been strong leadership, not just from government but from all sectors of the community. Like them, we must find a collective will that drives change and seeks new paths to invest in an energetic and dynamic future. We can no longer simply see, as the only solution to our ills, the demand for more funds from the commonwealth.

We must seek to carve out our own place as a trading state in the Asia Pacific region. We must resist the temptation to look across our immediate borders for comparison or even inspiration. Our gaze must be to our far north, with the ambition to build relations with other trading states far beyond the borders of the federation. Only this will deliver us the prize of self-reliance from the federal treasury.

Where a government has responsibility for both raising revenue and expending the same, it will be clear to its citizens the priorities it has set. But this is not the present situation in our federation. Unfortunately, our federation has delivered a significant level of fiscal imbalance, which undermines the ability of our governments to take real accountability. The financial arrangements between states and the commonwealth are in need of recasting, together with their respective taxation regimes.

The ideal for any functioning federation must be the accommodation of the desires and needs of all of the many regions that make up our nation. This can only be truly achieved by vibrant, energised and prosperous states.

A particular challenge that is facing all states but more so South Australia is our ageing population. Our demography is working against us. We face the prospect of a declining participation in the workforce and increasing demands placed on our government for the delivery of services. This makes a drive for greater productivity in our economy not a choice but an imperative.

History instructs us that all great societies have an energy that drives them. Societal vigour and vitality derive from many sources. In essence, it is the people's confident belief in their community, its values and the capability of its citizens. History also demonstrates that however permanent and sophisticated society appears, it is fragile and can quickly fall into decline. We must not be like the fallen communities that have come before us and make an enemy of change. We must not let our past prosperity and comfortable lives undermine our confidence to reproduce and grow our population.

My own experience of the fragility of states came relatively recently when observing life in an extremely challenged country. With ANZAC Day just past, I reflect on my experiences in Afghanistan. I have always been an engaged citizen. I have sought to make a contribution through service in the Army Reserve. When joining, I never imagined that I would experience operational duty. At the time I enlisted, the world was enjoying a reasonable period of stability, yet things change and, after almost 20 years of service, I was asked to deploy.

The Afghan people know only too well the fragility of a civil society. My time there reminded me of how grateful we should all be for our democratic institutions and that we all have a responsibility to use them for the best effect for our own people. We should never be so arrogant as to take institutions such as this chamber for granted. My time there renewed my desire to pursue public office and to aspire to a seat in this place.

I also acknowledge the service of the young men and women who have served their country in Afghanistan. The profession of arms remains unique in that it asks every member to be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. In the places that I was required to live and work, I was often one of the oldest by many years. It was a privilege to carry out my own tasks alongside them and to witness them carrying out their dangerous duties with diligence and youthful good humour.

I am a proud volunteer for St John Ambulance in this state. I acknowledge the efforts of its volunteers, who work tirelessly to keep South Australians safe by training them in the skills of first aid and watching over their community events. Much of the social fabric of this state is woven by the work of volunteers, like these men and women, who selflessly give their time to St John. Their diligence should remind us all in this place that we must endeavour to assist our fellow citizens to create an environment where contribution to the life of the state is not only encouraged but expected, valued and recognised.

I thank everyone who has assisted me in my journey to this place and the confidence they have placed in me. I congratulate those of my Liberal brethren who have taken seats in the other place. I acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all our candidates who did not prove successful at the election. I make mention of two who I had the privilege of working alongside in the campaign: Mr Joe Barry and His Worship the Mayor of Playford, Glenn Docherty. Both are good friends and were strong candidates who fought valiantly for their party. I wish them every success for their future.

I make special mention of my parents, my wife Marcia and my sons Hamish, William and Alasdair, and I thank them for their unswerving support for my endeavours. I acknowledge the privilege of having the opportunity to represent all South Australians, and I look forward to serving them in this chamber to the best of my ability. I commend the motion.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (17:19): I take this opportunity to thank His Excellency for delivering an inspiring speech, and most significantly for setting the positive tone to this 53^rd session of parliament which I hope will continue. The Governor remarked that he has recently felt a new-found confidence, a belief that irrespective of the challenges we may face South Australia can and will shape its own destiny. To me, this sums up what I am also feeling out in the community. There is a fresh sense of confidence in what we as a state have achieved and what we can do into the future.

I do not mean to imply that we are ignoring challenges we face or failing to see the difficulties that await us, quite the contrary. I think all South Australians understand the challenges posed by a changing economic environment. They understand that we will have to work together to find solutions. They understand that we face a federal Liberal government that opposes action on climate change, a government that is pushing for increased privatisation and threatening to cut essential government services.

I think what South Australia also understands is that we can stand up and fight for what we believe in and we can ultimately shape our own destiny. If we take a look at all we have achieved for the past 12 years of this Labor government, we have every reason to be proud and hopeful for the future. There has never been a more environmentally active state government in South Australia than this current Labor government.

We are committed to ensuring the protection of our environment and the sustainable use of our natural resources because we know that a healthy environment is essential for a healthy community and healthy economy. South Australia is leading the nation in addressing climate change, renewable energy investment and production, waste management and water security. We enacted Australia's first dedicated climate change legislation, released a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and began a climate change awareness campaign, and today emissions are lower than 1990 levels in spite of our economic and population growth.

South Australia also leads the nation in the uptake of alternative energy sources. Since coming to government in 2002, we have seen the amount of electricity generated from renewable energy increase from 0.8 per cent to about 31.7 per cent. This state is recognised as a leader in recycling and resource management. Labor ensured that South Australia was the first place in Australia to ban plastic shopping bags from supermarket checkouts in 2009, and I congratulate my leader for her leadership in this very important role.

This has already prevented about 30 million bags per month from being dumped into landfill and waterways. We are also reducing litter, having less litter by number of items and overall volume than the national averages. South Australia has less beverage litter than any other state due to our innovative, and unfortunately still unique among the states, container deposit legislation, although I hear that could be changing soon.

In 2013, 594 million containers representing 43,213 tonnes were returned for recycling and diverted from landfill. This is a fantastic result and one that we are keen to build on. In fact, our policies have resulted in world-leading rates of recycling and waste reduction that prompt international jurisdictions to come to our state to seek our advice. Since coming to office the state Labor government has established a network of 19 marine parks, has given wilderness protection to almost 1.8 million hectares of land compared to just 70,000 hectares in 2002 and has added over 60 additional national parks.

We have also seen outstanding progress for Aboriginal people. Our policies have resulted in the lowest Indigenous perinatal death rate in the country at five deaths per 1,000 births. For the first time all Aboriginal children in the year before full-time school who are living in remote communities will have access to an early childhood education program. We lead the nation in education, doubling retention rates for years 8 to 12 Aboriginal students in government schools from 33.1 per cent in 2002 to 66.9 per cent in 2011.

Native title holders now comanage over 32 parks and reserves around our state. These arrangements cover 13.5 million hectares, representing 64 per cent of the total protected area system. Our state constitution, our most important rule book, now recognises Aboriginal custodianship of the land and waters of South Australia. After more than a decade of investment, APY residents now benefit from improved preschool facilities, family wellbeing centres, aerodromes, vocational education, law and order, youth activity centres, allied health providers, electricity improvements, waste management schemes, home living skills and arts centres.

While there is always more to do, it is important to acknowledge just how far we have progressed. This progress was achieved because we are a government that is not afraid to stand up for what we believe is in the best interest of our state. I am incredibly proud of the way we stood up and fought the federal government for the River Murray, and I remind the chamber that we fought a federal Labor government for the River Murray, together with South Australians from all walks of life, pastoralists, traditional owners and citizens from as far away from the river as Ceduna.

As a result, we achieved a final basin plan that will ensure the health of the river with an extra $450 gigalitres returned to the river together with funding in legislation of $1.77 billion dollars to deliver it. In addition, we won $445 million in funding to assist our river communities and undertake environmental works. Since the state government's Water for Good plan was released in 2009, South Australia has become a leader in stormwater harvesting and re-use, and completed the 100-gigalitre Adelaide Desalination Plant.

This has secured a water supply for our growing economy and population without placing an additional burden on our existing resources and allowed the return of water for environmental purposes. Together with the signing of the Murray Darling Basin Plan last year, it means that we can now ensure the river itself receives the flows of water it needs to remain at a satisfactory level of health.

SA Water provides another example of this government standing up for all South Australians. There is a renewed push on the part of the federal government to incentivise (and that is a great Liberal phrase, isn't it? Remember 'incentivation'?) states to sell off public assets to pay for infrastructure. Well, that suggestion is nothing but a short-term fix to the federal bottom line so that they can pull out of sharing the funding for the state's productive infrastructure, shared funding that all governments of all persuasions in the past have been more than willing to participate in—but not this federal government.

SA Water must remain in public hands. It makes no sense to sell off SA Water or its assets to make a quick buck. This government is much more interested in the longer term picture. Our successes have also been underpinned by our understanding that we need to be innovative, and we need to constantly search for new and better ways of doing things. Water and environmental policies are about more than just politics: there are about science, innovation and partnership.

Last year, we also announced our Water Sensitive Urban Design policy, which promotes urban design principles that will integrate the management of the water cycle into land use and development processes. We are confident that this policy will enable South Australia to maintain its world-leading approach to water management. A further example is the Building Upgrade Finance scheme that will use government resources to unlock development opportunities, enabling economic growth and employment while increasing energy efficiency and reducing our impact on the environment.

We will also ensure that we continue our leadership in securing our water supplies, with our Urban Water Blueprint, which I am expecting to be completed over the next 12 to 18 months. The blueprint will provide a more integrated approach to urban water management, and it will provide an overview of the current urban water environment and identify opportunities and a vision for Adelaide's urban water environment.

A further example of our innovative spirit is Zero Waste SA, which has established a reputation for delivering innovative, effective and well-targeted programs. Since 2003, Zero Waste SA has invested more than $80 million in programs and projects that have stimulated councils, businesses and the community to reduce, recover, re-use and recycle. This has helped South Australia to reduce waste to landfill by nearly 20 per cent from 2002 to 2013 and achieve a resource recovery rate of more than 77 per cent.

Zero Waste SA's work as a leader in waste management and resource recovery continues to attract attention nationally and internationally. By creating a new body to advance the next stage of the state's development in waste management, we are entering a new and exciting phase in our waste strategy. The new authority called Adaptive Futures SA will be established from July 2015 to build on the successes of Zero Waste SA.

This demonstrates that we are a government that takes partnership with communities and industry very seriously. Our strong history of achievement has only been possible because we understand how fundamentally important it is to work with sector and community groups, other agencies and other governments, as well as businesses and academics, to ensure that we achieve the best outcomes for our state.

We need to work in partnership with industry and community to ensure that what we get from the federal government and other states is the best deal for South Australia. We are at the bottom of the river system when it comes to water, and we need to continually fight for our rights against upstream states.

As the driest state on the driest inhabited continent, South Australians have always had to make the most of our limited water supply. Providing our state with water security has been a strong focus of this government. This has been a very important and difficult period in water policy in this state, and partnerships at local, state, federal, and across community and industry levels were essential in helping the state government steer South Australia through these difficult times.

Our partnership approach has also resulted in positive outcomes for the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people living on the APY lands. In the area of food security on the APY lands, we have a comprehensive plan that looks at a range of factors from improving freight transport to making sure Anangu have the best consumer protection possible, and we are achieving good results thanks to this partnership approach. The annual store nutrition report, the Market Basket Survey report, released in October 2013 by the Nganampa Health Council, found that prices are lower compared to a few years ago for most healthy foods in Mai Wiru stores on the APY lands, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables.

By bringing business and community together we are building capacity and economic opportunity for generations of Aboriginal South Australians to come. For example, Labor is working with Jawun—an organisation that specialises in establishing partnerships between the corporate sector, government and Aboriginal Australians—to come to South Australia. This will give Aboriginal communities access to our nation's best and brightest to create new opportunities for new generations.

Jawun will select communities to identify projects for support and then, through its partners, find the resources needed to make it happen. In turn, the corporate sector will learn about the values, culture and unique point of view of South Australia's Aboriginal people. This government wants to continue building on these successes in the coming years. I see an enormous potential to use the current momentum to create jobs for South Australians in our new and emerging industries.

The recently announced new state development agency will play an important role. One of its aims will be to identify markets with a strong demand for those goods and services for which South Australia has developed a strong reputation. Importantly, it will also find new opportunities in sectors that are not necessarily considered our traditional strengths. This will complement the work that Adaptive Futures SA will undertake in the coming years, including encouraging innovation and economic growth through the green economy, helping businesses find a new overseas markets for their waste management knowledge and skills, helping businesses to reduce their costs through more efficient use of raw materials, water and energy, and administering grants to local government and industries to explore new technologies.

The work we do in the coming years in the area of climate change will be of vital importance. Few policy areas have created more debate in recent years than climate change. The federal position regarding climate change has changed, and there are those in the federal arena now who deny that climate change even needs to be addressed. We have seen the new Abbott government attempt to dismantle many of the progressive achievements in this area in the very short time since coming to government, from the price on carbon to reversing funding increases to the Environmental Defender's Office. This should be of grave concern to everyone.

If we deny the hard facts of climate change and refuse to have a contingency plan, how can we protect our water for critical human needs, protect our irrigators and our landholders, protect our population and ultimately protect our economy? This government remains committed to tackling climate change. That is why in August 2013 I asked the Premier's Climate Change Council to develop a compelling vision for our state's future in a changing climate.

On 27 February 2014, Mr Bruce Carter, chair of the council, forwarded the council's advice, 'South Australia's climate change vision: pathways to 2050'. The report was informed by an independent review conducted by KPMG of South Australian government climate change policies and commitments undertaken since 2007. It contains eight main recommendations, including:

continue to show strong leadership on climate change;

That is one of the most important—

develop bipartisan agreement for an enduring commitment;

We try our best—

engage our community as partners in tackling climate change;

reduce emissions by capturing all cost-effective abatement;

identify adaptation funding sources;

prioritise support for the most vulnerable members of the communities;

ensure the land-use planning system supports adaptation and transition; and

create the settings for an industry-led transition process.

The South Australian government will work with industry, local government, business and the community to respond to the council's advice and develop a new strategic direction for climate change action that will move South Australia further along the path towards a prosperous low carbon future.

We see enormous potential for economic growth and job creation through our innovative policies on climate change. A perfect example of this is the wind industry. Not only has it created thousands of jobs in this state, but it has placed us at the top of the league table in renewable energy.

Now the industry is set to invest $1.5 billion on Yorke Peninsula to build Australia's largest wind farm, despite some opposition. Because of this the state Labor government will forge ahead with its policies to achieve our targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the state by at least 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050, increase the proportion of renewable electricity generated so that it comprises at least 20 per cent of electricity generated by 2014, and achieve a $10 billion economy in low carbon investments by 2025 by working with industry and community.

We have also been working towards reducing our landfill by 35 per cent by 2020. In addition, we have also committed funds to support a feasibility study on the viability of a solar thermal generation plant at the Port Augusta power station. We have also supported the development of Nature Play SA, a non-government organisation that seeks to get more children playing outside again in unstructured play to ensure that future generations of South Australians will continue to care deeply for our environment.

In Aboriginal affairs, we have committed $3.5 million additional funding over two years to improve forensic child protection services and therapeutic support to a number of communities across the lands. We also recently launched a new purpose-built $600,000 mobile dialysis truck that will expand the services available on the APY lands and will allow dialysis patients to return to their home communities for longer periods of time.

The Labor government will also introduce legislation to recognise self-governance for the state's Aboriginal communities. The legislation will provide best practice guiding principles for dealings between government and Aboriginal communities. For example, one of the principles might include the responsibility on government to include Aboriginal people as partners in government decision-making. In addition, we are undertaking a limited review of the APY Land Rights Act 1981. The focus is on strengthening the executive's accountability to traditional owners and is also looking at changing the voting structure for elections and some better ways for women to be empowered with a stronger voice.

We want to work together with the Aboriginal communities across the state and particularly on the lands to ensure that the APY act remains as relevant and as supportive of Aboriginal interests today as when it was the first, very innovative groundbreaking piece of legislation that caught the attention of the whole country over three decades ago.

I am not only proud of what this government has achieved over the last 12 years but I also share the Governor's feeling of confidence in the future. We are more committed than ever to ensuring that opportunities for Aboriginal people is not something based on chance but on choice, and we will continue to forge ahead with our policies and investment in environmental protection.

These are policy areas that not only require innovative thinking but a strong ability to collaborate across sectors, including industry and science, academia, as well as all levels of government, community and business. They also require courage and commitment. This government has proven that it can achieve an enormous amount in these important policy areas, and I am excited about what we can achieve in the coming years.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

At 17:38 the council adjourned until Tuesday 20 May 2014 at 14:15.