Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Adjourned debate on motion for adoption.

(Continued from 6 February 2020.)

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:31): I rise to support the passage of this motion and wish to place on record my thanks to His Excellency the Governor for his speech to open this session of state parliament. I would also like to express my gratitude to His Excellency and Mrs Le for their numerous years of outstanding service to the people of South Australia. Of course, that goes back before His Excellency became the Governor because obviously he was the Lieutenant-Governor and, previous to that, the Chair of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission.

His Excellency and Mrs Le visit communities across our state regularly and recently travelled to some of the major fire-affected areas, including Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills, to meet residents and thank volunteers and service personnel. To quote His Excellency from the speech:

I have spoken to South Australians whose properties were destroyed or damaged.

To do so is to be in awe of their resilience.

The bushfires this summer period have affected many parts of the state, including Yorke Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula, the Mid North, Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island, most of which have received considerable media coverage. Of course, there have been other fires that have not attracted as much media attention. I can think of one very close to where I used to live in the Angle Vale-Buchfelde area, not far from Gawler River, and also significantly another that I do not think has had much media attention, and that is the fire at Keilira in the South-East.

His Excellency noted the government's efforts to assist bushfire-affected communities through tax relief measures and the waiving of fees and charges as well as partnering with the commonwealth to allocate funding for recovery and rebuilding. Residents in fire-affected areas have been devastated by a loss of property, livestock and livelihood. The Marshall government is doing a great deal to support communities, farmers, businesses, wildlife and the environment to recover. I commend the government for its #BookThemOut campaign to encourage people to visit fire-affected areas, including, of course, Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills. These regions deserve our patronage now more than ever.

I was fortunate to recently visit Kangaroo Island where, as part of that trip, I had the opportunity to meet with Mayor Michael Pengilly to discuss many aspects of the fires but, particularly, the impact on the mental health of many people across the communities of the island. I note that Mayor Pengilly has worked tirelessly for his community over the period since the fires, and I thank him for his great efforts. I look forward to working with him in the future in regard to those issues.

Natural disasters such as bushfires can have a significant impact on the mental health of the directly affected communities, as well as people who have loved ones in affected areas or who have witnessed traumatic events through the media. It is important that we provide appropriate counselling and support for those affected, and indeed for those whose properties were left standing while those around them were destroyed.

Something I have become aware of over many years is almost a guilt factor when a house or property is left standing unaffected, untouched, when everything around them has been burnt. That is the nature of many of these major fires, particularly in the Adelaide Hills but not exclusive to that area. I welcome the announcement by the commonwealth government of the Supporting the Mental Health of Australians Affected by Bushfires package, which forms part of the state government's work in responding to the bushfire crisis.

The area of suicide prevention is very important to me, and I have cherished the opportunity to act as the Premier's Advocate for Suicide Prevention over the past almost two years. Working with the Premier's Council for Suicide Prevention and the whole-of-government issues group on suicide prevention, along with the support of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist and the South Australian Mental Health Commission, we have been able to make a number of improvements to suicide prevention efforts in South Australia.

I have been particularly pleased to see the further development of suicide prevention networks in this state. We now have 39 established, the majority in rural and regional locations as well as outer metropolitan councils. Many local government bodies have played a major role in the establishment of these networks, but there remain some that have not realised the benefit these networks can bring. There is still more work to be done to develop these groups, and I have recently held several meetings, in both country and metropolitan settings, to discuss how we can work with them to establish suicide prevention networks in their own localities.

In his address, His Excellency the Governor mentioned the pilot program by SA Health to embed mental health specialists in paramedic response vehicles. This six-week pilot program was conducted in 2019 by the South Australian Ambulance Service and the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, and involved a community mental health worker accompanying ambulance crews to attend to people in the community who may be experiencing a mental health crisis.

As a result of the trial, more than half of patients attended by ambulance crews were diverted away from hospital emergency departments to more appropriate forms of care. These patients were able to be cared for in the community or were referred to community-based services, easing the pressure on our emergency departments, which are often not conducive environments for their assessment or treatment.

This initiative forms part of the 2020 to 2025 Mental Health Services Plan, and the government's Towards Zero Suicides approach. The innovative program has evolved from the work of the Premier's council and the issues group on suicide prevention; I look forward to seeing it expanded to other health networks and, in some areas, potentially incorporated into South Australian police callouts.

I should note that one of my visits in the United Kingdom, to Birmingham, was to see examples of the way in which programs of this nature have been very successful, and successful across some of the lower socio-economic areas of Birmingham, working across the very diverse communities in that city with sectors such as the disability sector, the gay community and many others that have been proactive in making that program a success. We look forward to the further development of that work here in South Australia.

I should also say that the Issues Group on Suicide Prevention, which incorporates senior people from all the government departments in South Australia and, in some cases, some multiple agencies within those departments, has played a significant role in the development of workplace suicide prevention and mental wellbeing policies and procedures across government, with a flow-on effect into the broader community. I pay tribute to the work of that group because I think that is a very important area that we need to focus on.

Yes, we need to make sure that we are doing the right thing by the clientele of all our departments and agencies in regard to mental health and suicide prevention, but we also need to make sure that we are doing the right thing by the employees of those departments, particularly those who are first responders. I think that brings us back to those employees and volunteers who have been the first responders in the bushfire settings, and that goes right across the board.

Before leaving that particular reference to the Governor's speech in my comments about suicide prevention and mental health, I would also like to again commend His Excellency's role as the initiator of the Youth Suicide Prevention Summit that was held last year. I am aware that His Excellency previously raised the potential for such a summit, I think in the final days of the previous government, and I have been pleased, along with the Chief Psychiatrist, Dr John Brayley, to work with His Excellency in that area and will continue to do so in the future.

His Excellency also discussed in his speech the planned Aboriginal art and cultures centre at Lot Fourteen, for which $150 million has been provided by the state and federal governments. The centre will be a terrific opportunity to showcase the South Australian Museum's extensive collection of Aboriginal cultural artefacts, which is currently contained in storage sheds. The collection is described as the largest of its kind in the world and will be displayed in interactive ways to tell the stories of the world's oldest civilisation.

Listening to that part of the Governor's speech reminded me that on a recent trip to the United Kingdom with my wife, Sheila, we were able to visit the Avebury Stone Circle visitor centre in Wiltshire, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are some fabulous displays in the visitor centre of some of the evidence of existence around the planet from many, many hundreds of years ago.

Members in this chamber will not be surprised to know that I was flabbergasted to see, as part of that exhibit, an Aboriginal stone spear, or Pirri point, on showcase from Roonka Flat near Morgan, north-east of Adelaide, dating to around 5000 to 3000 BC. Being in the Avebury Stone Circle visitor centre in Wiltshire and coming across an Aboriginal artefact from South Australia—indeed, from the Riverland—was rather surprising.

Many Indigenous artefacts and ceremonial objects, collected generations ago from communities like that across Australia, are currently contained in overseas museums, although some concerted efforts have been made in recent years to return these items to their traditional owners.

The Governor noted that the South Australian Museum's collection of Aboriginal ancestral remains represents half of the total remains held in all of Australia, and the museum is empowering Aboriginal communities to make decisions about their ancestral remains. Repatriation of Kaurna ancestral remains is being supported by the state government through funding of a two-year pilot project, which is very pleasing to see.

In briefly reflecting on other matters addressed in the Governor's speech, I look forward to the reintroduction of a number of important reforms, including extending shop trading hours in the greater Adelaide shopping district and proclaimed shopping districts and the capping of local government council rates. I think they are important things that need to come back to this parliament, and they are generally very widely supported across the South Australian community. As I say, I look forward to those pieces of legislation returning to the parliament.

The government is also committed to the permanent lifting of the prohibition on growing genetically modified crops in all areas of the state except Kangaroo Island. I was disappointed when this measure was rejected by the Legislative Council in the last parliamentary sitting session. The lifting of the ban on GM crops is a change that has strong support amongst mainland farmers. I think the general community is of the view that we should get on and let farmers make those decisions and not leave it to people in this chamber.

Once again, I thank His Excellency for his speech. I have the greatest admiration for the Governor and for Mrs Le. I think their attitude to the way that they have been appointed to that position and the way in which they deal with any manner of the communities right across South Australia is of great credit to them. They have excelled in that role and, as I said earlier, I have been very pleased to have the Governor's support in the work that I do. I look forward to working with the Governor and Mrs Le in the future. With those remarks, I commend the Address in Reply motion to the council.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:48): I rise to support this motion and echo the words of the Leader of the Government in thanking His Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le and Mrs Le for their extraordinary work. The role of Governor dates back a long way. It was once the arm of absolute British authority in the colonies before we had democratic institutions, such as this council. Despite its past, the role of Governor has changed with the times. More recent Governors of South Australia would be unrecognisable to the very early Governors.

Dame Roma Mitchell was an amazing South Australian and the first woman in so many categories: Queen's Counsel, judge, university chancellor and, of course, Governor of South Australia. Governor Hieu Van Le is the first person of Asian heritage to hold the position, and he continues to reflect the strength that our community draws from its diversity.

In the 1970s, Sir Douglas Nicholls was our Governor, but ill health sadly cut his time short. That was the first time that an Aboriginal Australian was a Governor in this country. Reflecting on this proud record in South Australia, it is surprising that the Aboriginal affairs portfolio went missing from action in much of what has happened so far in this term of government. Even in terms of what the government's agenda was, only around 175 of the words were dedicated to the Aboriginal affairs portfolio. This is a reflection of this government's view about Aboriginal affairs. It is also a reflection of how it has been overlooked.

The person in this government who is responsible for Aboriginal affairs is also responsible for defence and space industries, the arts, tourism, veterans' affairs and multicultural affairs, as well as being Premier. This comes on top of managing a series of rolling, ongoing crises in his own party. By his own admission, the Premier is much more concerned with matters affecting the whole state than matters affecting Aboriginal people.

This leaves the question: who around the cabinet table fights for Aboriginal South Australians? Does every minister just give it 2 per cent of their time? The Premier is apparently responsible but not as minister for Aboriginal affairs. This is the same Premier who stalled treaty discussions when he first came to office because he had other priorities. While the Premier is working on his other priorities, the life expectancy of Aboriginal people on the APY lands is the lowest of anywhere in this country at just 48 years.

Some communities are struggling with the very basics of life. For example, Robert Larking from the Scotdesco Aboriginal community spent more than seven months trying to get the government to help with a clean water supply to his community west of Ceduna. The community is only 10 kilometres outside a zone that would allow subsidies for water to be delivered to the town at a fraction of the cost. Instead of offering any real solutions the town had to rely on donations of water until the government stepped in at the eleventh hour but has only offered a temporary solution to see out this summer.

While the Premier is working on his other priorities, Aboriginal communities around the state do not have access to clean drinking water in many cases. This government took a very modest one-off payment from the commonwealth for remote Indigenous housing with no strategy to use it effectively and no plan for what happens when the money runs out. It has become abundantly clear that other priorities of this government have little to do with representing or bettering the lives of Aboriginal South Australians.

While the Premier is working on his growing list of other priorities, many are being left behind. This might be understandable if the other priorities were making South Australia a better place for everyone, but they are not. We are seeing the sell-off of our trains and trams, we are seeing tourism in a tailspin, so much so that we could not even have a minister appointed to work in this portfolio. We now have a Minister for Trade with the lightest workload of any minister for trade in our history but, again, no minister for Aboriginal affairs.

The Premier has been kept so busy receiving new revelations and scandals from within his own party that we are seeing his half a dozen areas of responsibility withering. This government has been in power for almost two years and we are still waiting for real results in so many areas. There is no clear direction.

Within a week of the Governor's speech we had National Apology Day, a sobering update on our nation's progress towards Closing the Gap. There have been numerous meetings of a ministerial council to reshape the Closing the Gap agenda. Other states have sent their dedicated Aboriginal affairs minister to these important discussions but South Australia has been poorly represented by a revolving door of different ministers because, as I noted, there is no minister for Aboriginal affairs here.

We do not solve issues around health, education and employment by doing nothing or by sending a different minister to each different meeting. We cannot ignore these challenges away. The government already has had almost two years to shape the future of this state and it is just over two more years before the next election. For the sake of the people in this state and the Aboriginal people in this state I hope the next two years of government are in stark contrast to the last two.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (15:53): I rise to speak in reply to His Excellency's speech in opening this session of the South Australian parliament. I thank His Excellency the Governor for opening this session of the parliament. As I have mentioned previously in this chamber, I grew up on a farm on the Yorke Peninsula where I learnt firsthand how great our regional communities are. I was lucky enough to experience the strong sense of community and support that is common in many regional areas, and I will treasure that forever.

One of my first ever jobs was for a local paper, the Country Times, and it was there that I was given the opportunity to advocate and bring light to regional issues that concerned community groups and individuals. This is something that has followed me through my current work with the South Australian Labor Party and I am sure the owner of the Country Times, Michael Ellis, would be delighted that this is where it led me.

As is the case for many, moving from the country to the city of Adelaide as a young person is not easy. From working graveyard shifts in fast food restaurants to navigating the hustle and bustle of city life, being a young person in the process of trying to come into your own as an adult is already a challenge without further external pressures to make it even harder. So I would like to give voice to young South Australians in my address to His Excellency's speech.

As I have mentioned in this chamber on a number of occasions, in Australia there are now more people born after 1980 than before. While each generation has faced challenges, we need to be creating good policy now to help balance this generational shift in our population. In response to His Excellency's speech, how is the future looking for the post-eighties generation and younger South Australians?

We all know jobs in South Australia should be our number one priority, as was the Liberal Party's policy in the lead-up to the election. They promised more jobs, better services and lower costs, but just yesterday we saw a prime example of the way in which the Marshall government is failing on all of these fronts.

Yesterday, it was sadly announced that the iconic Australian brand Holden will cease to exist. The state and the country have now lost an iconic brand, a brand that was chased out of town by the federal Liberal government with no voice at all from the state Liberal government now or when they were in opposition, an industry that created thousands of jobs not only on the Holden manufacturing shop floor but in the car yards and supply chain industries.

The loss of the Holden brand does not only mean the loss of the car that we all loved, it means the loss of history, the loss of an industry, the loss of a country that builds things, the loss of an identity that we as a state could build a much-loved car and, most importantly, the loss of jobs. Our young kids will miss out on continuing this legacy and history of a brand name like Holden. They will miss out on knowing we were a state that could build things.

This, again, was on full display recently, with the Marshall Liberal government backing away from a commitment to guaranteeing South Australians will build the subs our taxpayers are paying to build. After initially promising that 90 per cent of the work would go to locals, this number could now be as low as 30 per cent.

The Premier, Steven Marshall, was present at the signing of the strategic partnership agreement last year. He stood shoulder to shoulder with his good mate, Christopher Pyne, in a way that said this deal would allow more jobs to come in for our kids and our future grandkids, not go to France. This is another betrayal and another broken promise by the Premier and his government to provide more jobs for South Australians.

The traditional manufacturing jobs of yesterday are unfortunately gone, but what is most shameful is this Premier has shown no leadership and given no voice to the manufacturing jobs of tomorrow. What industry is this government building to keep young South Australians in South Australia? That is a question we would all like answered.

Now to the Premier's next key policy commitment: better services. His Excellency mentioned in his opening speech the Liberal government's detrimental plans to privatise our train and tram network despite the Premier, Steven Marshall, previously stating that he and his government, and I quote, 'do not have a privatisation agenda'.

It did not take long for the member for Dunstan, the Premier of this state, Steven Marshall, to dust off the old Liberal privatisation handbook. Privatisation is in the Liberals' DNA, and this is not just my view. This is what I am hearing when I stand with my Labor colleagues and volunteers at train stations and tram stops. This is what 20,000-plus people who have signed the 'stop the sell off' petition believe. You cannot trust this government.

It leaves little wonder why people have started referring to the Premier as 'shifty Steven Marshall'—not my words, the public's. All will be impacted by the privatisation of our public transport system, as will our younger generations. Already we have seen this Liberal government slash public transport services, change ticket pricing structures and slap fees on Metrocards.

But what does this mean to the back pocket of South Australians? Some public transport users under this Liberal government will now be paying an extra almost $850 a year. Where will the cuts to public services stop? Is the Grange line next, or could it be axed completely? This is on top of the services and jobs cuts threating Service SA and the 300,000-plus customers who use this service each year.

This government again has left South Australians hanging in limbo while it figures out how to fix its own mess, created by announcing they will close the busiest Service SA centres in the state, locations where many young South Australians will go to finalise their licence and get on the road for the very first time.

When it comes to keeping South Australians in South Australia, we have a government not wanting to invest in industries that do just that. SA Pathology is our front-line health service that keeps people out of hospital and literally saves lives. They are the only body in South Australia that provides the research and training to be a pathologist. This government has put the writing on the wall, and it is the biggest deterrent for anyone thinking of seeking to upskill in this space, an upskilling option that could very well be taken away from young people as a result of this government’s privatisation agenda for SA Pathology.

It is these young people and all South Australians that Labor is fighting for to make sure that we stop the privatisation of our trains and trams and our health and public services. Labor is always thinking of how the future can be better for our growing population, the post-1980s generation. That is why Labor has co-sponsored a bill to introduce a pilot program to provide free pads and tampons for young people in our public high schools and is committed to taking the distraction of mobile phones out of the classroom.

As always, Labor supports the rights of workers, which is why we will continue to fight against the deregulation of shop trading hours. These changes hurt not only hardworking employees but small businesses, too, from the farm gate to the shop floor. Many young people are employed in retail and will be directly impacted by the Liberals' relentless attack, pushing their agenda on trading hours.

It is these problems that the Marshall Liberal government’s slapdash reform approach has not considered. When you do not consult with the community when creating reform, you make bad policy. It is just that simple. Over the 16 years that Labor was in government the party guided the state through many periods of uncertainty, and each time South Australia emerged as a stronger state. Labor delivered on bold ideas that pushed the legacy of our state into a new direction and responded to concerns in the community.

For young people today, action on climate is one of their top priorities, and we have seen young people out in their thousands right outside of this building, calling on the government to take action on climate change and make real policy change.

Under Jay Weatherill, South Australia became the world leader on renewable energy with the construction and implementation of the world’s largest lithium battery. While they were mocked at the time by people like our current Prime Minister and the SA Liberal leader, the member for Dunstan, Steven Marshall—now our Premier—it is these bold policies and quick decision-making that many young people who have become disillusioned with the inaction and stalling by politicians, both on a state and federal level, admire.

However, inaction, stalling and upright bad policymaking is just what young people are getting under the current Marshall government. Now with Steven Marshall as the Premier, South Australia ended 2019 with the worst unemployment rate in the country. For the entire year, the job growth was almost non-existent and grew a mere 0.1 per cent. Blink and you would have missed it.

The story for youth unemployment is even worse. While little to no change happened to improve the unemployment rate, the young people's unemployment rate skyrocketed to a massive 14.3 per cent. With an announcement like the ending of Holden and their brand, none of these figures are surprising.

If there are no jobs for our young people, we risk losing them to other states where there are more opportunities. With the state's unemployment figures the highest in the country, it is expected that many young people who might be struggling to find a job out of school may turn to institutions like TAFE to help broaden their skill set and improve their chances of employment, but the TAFE SA manager warned workers last week that more crippling savings targets are looming, and that could mean more campuses closed.

There is also talk of privatising TAFE, which, like our trains and trams, would mean that private profits would go before the welfare of our students. These changes to TAFE are not only another broken promise by Premier Steven Marshall but a direct attack on young South Australians who are looking to skill themselves for the future.

Finally, our return to parliament has been completely marred by the actions of the member for Waite in the other place. His actions against another member of parliament and a colleague of all of ours at a Christmas party last year in this very building and the subsequent inaction, delay and lack of leadership shown by his boss—the leader of the Liberal Party and the government—has sent a very clear message to our young people about what is tolerated in our workplace. Rather than lead by example, the Premier, through his handling—or should I say, mishandling—of the incident has shown that this workplace will tolerate harassment.

With all of this in mind, it is clear that the Liberal Marshall government is failing our young people. They promised more jobs—they have failed. They promised lower costs and they have failed. They promised better services and they have failed. They promised not to have a privatisation agenda and they have failed.

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (16:07): I rise to speak in reply to the Governor's speech, and in doing so thank His Excellency for his opening address. The Governor has contributed a great amount to our state, and I thank him for his service to our community. This government looks to continue its focus on economic growth and creating new jobs. I think we can all agree that South Australia does need more jobs and greater economic power, but for two years now we have been hearing the same message and have seen little result.

Although pointing out these issues, the Governor failed to mention the strategies that the government would implement to achieve this. If this government continues as it has done for the past two years, South Australians should have little hope that things will change or, in fact, turn around. It is astonishing that the government will reintroduce several of the bills that failed in the previous session of parliament. Legislation on extending trading hours, capping of local government council rates and permanently lifting the prohibition on growing genetically modified crops in all areas of the state except Kangaroo Island will be presented for debate again and, one presumes, unamended.

Does the government assume that we have forgotten about the failure of those bills after the proroguing of parliament in the summer break? Reintroducing these bills is a waste of our time and clearly demonstrates their lack of innovative thinking. This government's obnoxious behaviour has them retrying bills and amendments that have already failed.

Unlike this government, we are working collaboratively to create legislation that will benefit all South Australians. Consistently, our work with the crossbench has been snubbed. The opposition and the crossbench in this place took it upon themselves to create a better, more viable model of council rate capping. However, this government blatantly ignored our proposal and continued with legislation they knew would not pass. A parliament cannot work like this.

We the opposition are not the only ones fed up with this government's lack of ability. People are fed up with this government's overlooking everyday living expenses. The Governor highlighted the fact that, and I quote:

…living in Adelaide is 16 per cent more affordable than Melbourne and 28 per cent more affordable than Sydney.

This statistic just outlines our slow economic growth compared to other major cities. It also fails to express that rental prices in the CBD are extreme. In November 2019, Adelaide was placed as the second most unaffordable capital city in the country for rental affordability. Adelaide is only an affordable city if you fit the right criteria, such as having a well-paying job or income and secure living arrangements, otherwise it is no more affordable than anywhere else. With unemployment at 6.2 per cent and insecure work arrangements common, how can this government brag about Adelaide's affordability?

This statistic is made even more ridiculous when the government has completely ignored poverty in South Australia, not even mentioning it once in the long speech presented by the Governor. Further, the Governor went on to say, and I quote:

…your future isn't limited by the suburb, town, region or nation in which you were brought up.

But the sad truth is that where you live does affect your future. The South Australian Council of Social Service released that the poverty rate is twice as high in regional areas. The government continues to fail people experiencing poverty through inadequate action on housing, energy prices, telecommunication issues, access to justice and raising living standards. When will the government begin to listen to people facing poverty?

The arts also received little mention; in fact, only two sentences. Not only do we rely on the creative industries for our economy, it sets us apart from every other state in Australia and makes for a fantastic and vibrant city. In December 2018, Arts South Australia was dissolved by this government and ever since we have seen more funding cuts to the arts.

While the Arts and Culture Plan acknowledges the growing challenges facing the creative industries, it fails to give vital funding and structural support to the arts. This government has once again turned away from the opportunities that the arts bring to this state. Artists of all forms rely on nightlife to work, and this government has yet again failed them.

The hiking of liquor licensing fees is pushing businesses to the limit. After major backlash from traders in the East End, this government rolled back their liquor licensing fees just so businesses would stay open. If businesses are not able to pay these fees during the busiest time of the year, how will they keep their doors open during the quieter months? Fee hikes like this hurt the arts, hurt businesses and hurt our city.

The government presents several strategies to continue and expand clean energy initiatives. However, these proposals do not go far enough. After the horrendous fire season that we have witnessed and, unfortunately, many in our state have experienced, it is unacceptable for the government to ignore that we are in a climate crisis. The community is sick and tired of the government's inability to accept that there is a current climate emergency let alone act on the issue of climate change. We must be active in implementing preventative and mitigating strategies to reduce risk of harm to our environment.

One of the opposition's top concerns with this government is its implementation of health care. The issue of ramping in South Australian hospitals is phenomenal. Three patients last year died waiting for medical assistance while ramped at a hospital. Ambulance crews are fed up with it, the public are horrified, and the government continues to ignore the problem or at best is introducing measures that are ineffective. The Governor gave no indication that the health minister will address the issue. The Marshall Liberal government promised they would fix the health system, yet all we have seen is cuts to health professionals and a health system in crisis.

Our new Women's and Children's Hospital was promised to be opened in 2024, yet we have heard nothing about it. The government said there would be a task force leading the development and reporting publicly about its findings; however, a year on from when the report was promised, we have nothing to show for it. There is no mention of the report and no mention of the task force; in fact, the task force does not seem even to exist anymore. We have heard that reports were produced by the task force, but the government has not kept its promise of revealing these to the public. Now consultants have been hired to redo the same work.

Not only is the government letting down patients, it is letting down hospital staff. These hardworking nurses, carers and cleaners were appalled by the government's decision to hike car parking prices. These workers have one minister taking away bus services and another increasing their parking fees. The trend of ignoring staff continues with the government's inability to address violence against health workers. Reports continue to appear in rural and city hospitals, but we are yet to see action on this issue.

As I enter the second quarter of my eight-year term, I have reflected on what we have and have not achieved. In this Second Session of the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, I look forward to debating and decriminalising abortion, uncovering underpayment of workers in the wage theft committee's final report, upholding workers' rights in the debates to come on labour hire licensing and consultation and involvement in industrial and worker issues by stakeholders and unions involved.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.