State Economy

The Hon. S.L. GAME (15:45): I rise to speak on the ongoing financial and economic pressures impacting South Australian workers, families and businesses and the urgent need for the government to act on the advice of stakeholders and experts to prevent our great state from falling into economic despair. In a cost-of-living crisis, the survival of households and business is dependent upon financially responsible decisions, and yet governments, both national and state, are free to spend billions of taxpayer dollars without restraint or accountability.

One Nation will always stand against reckless government spending and, as a truly independent minor party, we will never be afraid to challenge the flagrant waste of taxpayers' money to prop up bloated billion-dollar bureaucracies and fund ideological bandwagons. These wasted funds and resources could be allocated to provide some much-needed, targeted and meaningful economic reform that would reduce the cost of doing business in this state, as well as improving housing affordability and investing in the future provision of reliable and cheaper energy sources.

Instead, governments continue to borrow more money to subsidise unprofitable industries, burdening our children with crippling debt and plummeting standards of living. Without immediate and major economic reform, future generations may never buy a new home, run their own business or experience the financial security and freedom of previous generations. While the state government continues to highlight the state's economic growth in comparison to other states, these much-touted figures can be largely attributed to increasing government subsidies and expanding public institutions, with 72 per cent of new jobs created in the state existing within the public sector, according to the Institute of Public Affairs.

The South Australian Productivity Commission has also concluded that more South Australians have gone economically backward than forward in the past three years. It is clear that the benefits of any economic growth have not extended to all South Australians, with limited progress being made to stimulate broad export and value growth in our economy. To achieve widespread economic growth that benefits all South Australians, One Nation has plans to reduce excessive government spending and waste—$90 billion a year nationwide, in fact—eliminate red and green tape, and increase investment in business research and development backed by technological innovation and quality workplace training.

According to the South Australian Business Chamber's March quarter survey, almost 80 per cent of businesses in this state listed the cost of doing business as a major issue of concern, the highest percentage recorded. Other issues impacting on the cost of doing business were government policies, legislation, compliance demands, in particular, the mandatory climate reporting that was introduced at the beginning of 2025, with 31 per cent of businesses still yet to integrate those requirements into their operations.

One Nation will continue to develop and support measures that remove bureaucratic barriers to improve business efficiency and profitability, as well as continuing our support of nuclear energy to reduce energy costs for businesses and households. While federal and state Labor continue to celebrate their election win, the cost of energy in this state keeps rising, with the Australian Energy Regulator and market operator announcing a 17 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2025.

In addition, the market operator was also forced to intervene to maintain the stability of the grid more than 60 per cent of the time between January and March this year, adding an estimated $21.5 million to the wholesale price. However, given the opposition leader's sudden withdrawal of support for nuclear energy, the South Australian Liberal Party is left with no solution to our state's energy crisis.

Only One Nation will offer South Australian householders, farmers and businesses the possibility of cheaper and more reliable energy through the supply of abundant baseload nuclear power. One Nation's policies include changing the National Electricity Market rules to enable and incentivise cheaper coal and gas-fired baseload power, while supporting nuclear energy in the medium term. This would slash electricity bills by up to 20 per cent immediately.

South Australia has approximately 25 per cent of the world's uranium resources and is home to the world's largest uranium deposit at Olympic Dam, containing more than two million tonnes of uranium oxide. However, all of the uranium oxide we produce is exported for the generation of electricity in nuclear reactors in the United Kingdom, France, China, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, the United States and Spain, and yet the cost of our own electricity in this state remains amongst the highest in the world. The answer to many of our economic and financial problems in this state could very well be sitting right under our feet. All we need is the common sense and courage to act.