Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Economic Stimulus Package Economic Stimulus Package The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY Legislative Council Economic Stimulus Package The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (15:14): My question is to the Treasurer. Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway has the call. The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY Legislative Council The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you for your protection, Mr President. Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: The leader is out of order and so is the minister, for that matter. The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY Legislative Council The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway will be heard in silence. The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY Legislative Council The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —please outline whether there has been any independent assessment done of the relative size of the economic stimulus packages across the states and territories? The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:15): The issue of the relative strength of economic stimulus packages has taken on almost legendary status over the last six to 12 months. It seems to be a constant refrain from our opposition in South Australia, and perhaps even oppositions in other jurisdictions as well, that the relative strengths of their economic stimulus packages in the state are not strong enough. Certainly, the state opposition in South Australia spends every waking moment, almost, saying more needs to be done, not enough is being done and the stimulus package isn't big enough. So it is important and I think informative for all of us that the independent assessment be conducted. The independent federal Parliamentary Budget Office—there is nothing more independent than that—has conducted their own analysis of the relative strength of the stimulus packages in the various states and territories, and their measure was essentially the size of the package as a percentage of gross state product. It was relative, clearly, in absolute terms, that bigger jurisdictions like Victoria and New South Wales have bigger numbers than our $4 billion figure, but our $4 billion figure is relative to the size of our state's economy. Pleasingly, in relation to that, from the viewpoint of comforting the opposition in South Australia but also others, the taxpayers of South Australia are doing an enormous job and a lot of heavy lifting in terms of their $4 billion economic stimulus package over the next two years—the second strongest stimulus package of all of the states in Australia. The Hon. D.W. Ridgway Legislative Council The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: How strong? The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The second strongest at 3.6 per cent of gross state product. The New South Wales government— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: —has the highest measure of the— The Hon. E.S. Bourke interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Bourke needs to be quiet. The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: —strength of their package at 4.6 per cent, South Australia at 3.6 per cent, Tasmania 3.3 per cent. The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: And so does the leader. The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Intriguingly, three Liberal governments are leading the rank here. Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Next come the Labor-led jurisdictions. The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: The honourable leader! The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: My very good friend, comrade Tim Pallas, in Victoria is languishing at 2.8 per cent, and Western Australia at 1.9 per cent. As I said, it's useful to get an independent assessment because it might give some degree of comfort to those in the opposition that when they are bewailing the lack of economic stimulus, the independent commonwealth Parliamentary Budget Office should provide them with a great deal of comfort that South Australian taxpayers are doing the heavy lifting, we are providing significant stimulus and there will be more to be announced over the coming days.