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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-03 Daily Xml
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CREDIT RATING

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): My question is for the Treasurer. If spending $67 million to upgrade the Magill Training Centre would result in the loss of the government's AAA credit rating, as minister Rankine has previously warned, what will spending $450 million on the Adelaide Oval do to the government's credit rating? Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's indicated on 4 June 2009 that South Australia would retain its AAA credit rating because:

South Australia has a history of capital under-expenditure and is therefore less likely to achieve its forecast debt levels.

The government has indicated that the planned $450 million contribution involves new spending and funding from other projects being brought forward, both resulting in increased debt levels.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:47): I think the deputy leader really has to stop getting Rob Lucas to write his questions, because that is leading with a chin. What would—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Language!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What did she say?

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: She said you're full of crap.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I'm full of crap? Oh, Mr Speaker! I take offence at those remarks from the Leader of the Opposition.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: No, seriously—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the house will come to order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I am shocked at the vulgar language of the Leader of the Opposition, and I ask her to withdraw and apologise, sir.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The word—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The house will come to order! The word is unparliamentary. I did not hear the remark, but if the leader did say it she needs to withdraw.

Mrs REDMOND: Sir, I withdraw it; it should have been 'rubbish'.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Exactly right, because if you have a no swearing policy there are other words you can use. Right, you've learnt a lesson; that's very good. Leader, let's just say, whether you like it or not, you're just like the rest of us. You not the non-political leader that you'd like everyone to imagine you as. The leader is just like any normal politician.

The issue of the debt: what would their multibillion-dollar City West development do to our AAA credit rating? It would catapult it out of the bloody universe.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, sir. I ask for your ruling. In consideration of your last ruling, sir, is the use of the word 'bloody' in the house unparliamentary? If so, I think the Treasurer should restrain himself and apologise.

The SPEAKER: I think that, without making a definitive ruling on the use of the word 'bloody', in an abundance of caution and in a spirit of bipartisanship I ask the Deputy Premier to withdraw.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Sir, as I said, I apologise. But, as I said, Isobel's just like the rest of us.

Back to the AAA credit rating. The silly, wild, uncosted policies and ideas of members opposite, where they will sell a billion dollars worth of land that does not exist, sell West Lakes football stadium, which they are not allowed to, take the train from Keswick into the city—what do you reckon that's going to do to the AAA credit rating? Hello? Goodbye AAA credit rating.

This government has made it clear that the vast majority of this money is already allocated in the forward estimates, it is already provisioned for. We have already asked for, and are very hopeful of receiving, a sizeable commonwealth contribution. The impact of this statement will, in terms of additional capital expenditure over the next four or five years, in the worst case scenario be $150 million over five years and in the best case scenario $50 million.

Let us look at what the opposition's proposition does to the state. They cost their own stadium at $800 million. Well, we all know that that is not a legitimate number; it would have to be a billion dollars. The $350 million to shift the Keswick rail yards—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes; but you forgot the overpass for the grade separation. You forgot about it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Despite what the Minister for Infrastructure has repeatedly said and the advice received from the transport people. You need to have grade separation. I understand that that is the advice of Rod Hook, the head of the infrastructure department—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Sorry; here we go again. Let us not believe Andrew Demetriou or Mike Fitzpatrick, Leigh Whicker or Ian McLachlan. Let's believe Isobel. Let's not believe Rod Hook and senior government bureaucrats; let's believe Isobel when it comes to trains. The Leader of the Opposition is a walking genius! I do not know why we need all these experts working for government in these areas; the Leader of the Opposition can pop out there and fix all the ills of the world.

The reality is that the advice this government has been given is that Isobel's Disneyland, Wonderland or Las Vegas on the Torrens would be worth billions of dollars. Even Rob Lucas said it; he said it would be $2 billion or $3 billion. So I say to the poor excuse of a shadow treasurer, the deputy leader, who has no bite, no punch and no ability, that you have to get up a lot earlier and do your homework because your policies would bankrupt the state.

Mr GRIFFITHS: I rise on a point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr GRIFFITHS: This man continues to offer personal reflections.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I think the Deputy Premier has finished his answer.

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