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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-01 Daily Xml
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BUDGET SAVINGS

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:58): My question is to the Treasurer. Why have the Treasurer and the government not been upfront with the South Australian public before the March election about which jobs will be cut to make his $750 million in budget savings required over the forward estimates? The government has announced in this year's budget that it will be making $750 million worth of cuts through its Sustainable Budget Commission should it win another term of government but is yet to disclose to the public of South Australia the number and type of jobs and services that will be cut. The Treasurer has been there for almost eight years and therefore should have a more detailed knowledge of government finances and where cuts should and can be made than will any new commission.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:58): This is coming from an outfit that said they are going to sell $1 billion of land to pay for their stadium but it is only worth 100. This is an outfit that says they are going to shift the railway station—

Mr GRIFFITHS: Sir, my question was very specific in relation to the Sustainable Budget Commission, and I would ask that the Treasurer address the issue.

The SPEAKER: The question did contain quite a bit of debate. The deputy leader asked why the Treasurer or the government had not been upfront. Given the nature of the question, I will give the Deputy Premier some indulgence.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I would be loath to take that up, because I would probably overdo it and get into strife. The government has said repeatedly that there is a significant savings challenge ahead of government—whoever wins the next election—because of a collapse in revenue and a collapse in earnings as a result of the global financial crisis.

What I have said repeatedly—and this question was asked during the Auditor-General's Report, so it is not a new question—is that we believe a large proportion of that savings requirement can arrive, can come, if we can get a modest wage outcome from the Public Service in the current round of wage negotiations. If we are able to achieve a 2.5 per cent wage outcome across the public sector, we will be able to achieve in excess of 50 per cent—probably closer to 70 per cent—of those required savings; so that is the first measure.

I would hope to be in a position before the election of having settled some of those cases, which will give us an indication as to whether or not we are on track in terms of the quantum of savings that can be achieved from wage restraint. What we have said to the public sector is that if we cannot achieve wage restraint we will have to look at further positions in the public sector that will have to be made redundant in order to make our books balance.

I understand that members of the Sustainable Budget Commission have visited the deputy leader (as shadow treasurer) and the leader. I do not know the nature of those discussions, but I am sure they were far reaching and probing. We are doing a lot of work at present, as I have said previously. We are scoping and doing a data collection set of all government spending programs—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: God help us if this lot get elected. A data collection process is now underway in the Public Service so an incoming government, with this infrastructure in place, will have a good template of what exactly we are spending money on and the programs we are spending that money on. I am hopeful that at that time we will have wrapped up some wage negotiations that will make the task much simpler and easier.

There is no easy answer. The global financial crisis and the ever-increasing burden on state governments of sustainable health care are an ever-present danger for state governments. It would be no different under an Isobel Redmond government with, I think it is fair to say, Rob Lucas as treasurer (who has been there before). There is not an easy solution to this problem. Rob Lucas in another place understands that, and I am sure he would have a better appreciation of the task ahead.

On behalf of this Labor government I am committed to upholding and continuing the hallmark of this Labor government; that is, our financial management credentials. We are known as the AAA Labor government in financial circles. We are known as the Rann AAA Labor government. That is the common terminology on Wall Street and in London. That has been built up over eight years by this government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Members opposite can rest assured that the Rann AAA Labor government, if it wins the next election, will keep on keeping on.

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