Holdfast Bay Citizenship Ceremony

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (15:48): On Monday night, I had the privilege of representing the member for Croydon, the Labor leader Peter Malinauskas, at the City of Holdfast Bay citizenship ceremony. During my address to the 75 soon-to-be Australian citizens, I asked them for a favour. I asked each and every person in the room on Monday night to never forget the stories that brought them to that room, and the reason they were choosing to become an Australian citizen.

It is our stories that are handed down through generations that remind us of the struggles and the sacrifices made to enable us to enjoy what surrounds us today and, hopefully, tomorrow. It is the stories we carry with us in this chamber and the stories every South Australian carries with them that have shaped who we are.

While our stories have helped shape who we are, our new citizens should be able to rely on a strong and bold government to provide the tools they and all South Australians need to build South Australia. As the member for Dunstan, Premier Steven Marshall, stated in his first parliament speech in 2010:

State governments should be focused on service delivery and be designed to keep decision-making as close to the people affected as possible. People should feel that their state government is there to look after them, to educate their children, attend to the sick, police their communities, build their infrastructure and help the vulnerable within their society.

A wise person once said to me, 'Be careful what you say in your first speech. You are laying the foundation of the legacy that you hope to leave behind.' They are very wise words. The member for Dunstan, the Premier of this state, from his first speech to his election pledge, asked voters to put their faith in him to deliver the services that support people, that will look after them, our children, our sick and the vulnerable.

When will the Premier acknowledge that he has not kept his word? When will the Premier acknowledge that he has let down the most vulnerable people in our community, by admitting that South Australia having the highest unemployment rate of 7.3 per cent—the highest unemployment rate in this country—is a problem? The member for Dunstan, Premier Steven Marshall, promised more jobs. Instead, he is delivering the highest unemployment rate in Australia.

What vision is there on the horizon? What legacy is this government putting in place to turn around these numbers? Where are the infrastructure projects? Where are the public services to deliver to those people who choose to call South Australia their home? What tools are those opposite leaving so South Australians can build South Australia?

We are all seeing cuts, closures and privatisations. We are seeing increased fees, and we are seeing the privatisation of our public trams and trains. That is why South Australians are trading in the comfort of their chair or their couch at night-time to spend it with politicians in a crowded room. They are giving up the comfort of their couch to cram into a hall to listen to politicians about why the Liberal government is privatising our trams and trains and how wrong you have got your land tax policy.

It is not tens of people, it is hundreds of South Australians giving up their weeknights. It is former Liberal voters, it is mums, dads and young South Australians, and they are all saying the same thing: this is not what the Liberals promised in opposition. I am sure many South Australians will again be sending the same message to the member for Dunstan on 13 October on the steps of Parliament House at the privatisation rally. I call on the Premier to reflect on his first speech and to reflect on the words that he used. I quote:

I am here to fight for the role of state government and to demonstrate that it is not the system that is broken but the people running it.

Premier, yes, the system is not broken: it is the people running it.