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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-21 Daily Xml
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COALITION BUDGET CUTS

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:27): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on how South Australia would be disadvantaged by the coalition's threatened budget cuts?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:27): You don't like their threatened budget cuts announced yesterday. Members would be aware that the federal opposition leader Tony Abbott has announced the slash and burn program to a raft of important programs on health, training, education—

Mr WILLIAMS: I have a point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Point of order, deputy leader.

Mr WILLIAMS: I have two points of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: One at a time.

Mr WILLIAMS: The first is that this is a hypothetical question. The other is that the Premier has no responsibility to the house for the federal coalition's policies.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I think it does if it directly affects the state. I will listen very carefully to the Premier's response.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Given that most of the things referred to reflect—

Mr PISONI: I have a point of order. I did not hear your ruling on whether or not it was hypothetical.

The SPEAKER: I have not yet decided whether it is hypothetical. I will listen very carefully to the response. It is about how it will affect the state. We are here for the state, so I am prepared to listen to the response accordingly.

Mr PISONI: It hasn't happened yet, and there is no guarantee that it will. It is hypothetical.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: It is not open to the member for Unley to have an argument with you at large.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: The point of order is that he is not allowed to do it, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: He is not allowed to question my rulings. At this stage I make no ruling on it. I will listen very carefully and, if someone chooses to take up the question again, they can. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: It is interesting 'hypothetical'—a bit like Tony Abbott's position on WorkChoices. If you want to know what Tony Abbott thinks about WorkChoices, don't read his lips: read his book. Read the section called 'Unfinished business'—dead, buried and cremated but not pulped! Members will be aware that the federal opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has a renowned slash-and-burn program to a raft of programs on health, training, education, climate change, tax cuts for small business and infrastructure. Most of those involve joint funding with the states on health, on infrastructure, on a range of other programs. Apparently, the members opposite either agree passively or don't believe him because what he says is hypothetical. That is what we are saying. We are saying that what he says is hypothetical.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: On a point of order: the Premier has just told the house that what Mr Abbott says is hypothetical. That goes to our first point of order. The question is hypothetical; the Premier has just confirmed it.

The SPEAKER: Yes; I think the Premier is starting to get on thin ice.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Tony Abbott wants to cut spending on mental health. Do you agree? Do you agree with a federal Liberal government cutting funding on mental health? I thought you would be calling—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, Madam Speaker. It is out of order for the Premier to ask questions of the opposition.

The SPEAKER: I uphold that point of order. I am not sure what number at first.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: He is scrapping a range of primary health care programs, including cutting the 24-hour GP Helpline and stopping the rollout of GP Plus or super clinics. These were pioneered in South Australia, bringing primary care to where people need it. Now Tony Abbott wants to axe them, putting increased pressure on hospitals. We should not be surprised. After all, when Tony Abbott was health minister, he cut $1 billion from the hospital system. You say it has nothing to do with South Australia: $1 billion cut by Tony Abbott from the health system.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: In South Australia we are in the process of delivering on 100,000 extra training places, and this program will be complemented by the Gillard government's plan for new national trade cadetships. But what is Tony Abbott plan to address the skills needs of the future? He is going to strip more than $2 billion from the Productivity Places and Trade Training Centres programs and scrap the MySkills website.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Do you want to talk? Do you want to ask a question?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: He has also announced he will scrap the state infrastructure fund—

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, have you finished?

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Thank you, no. He has also announced he will scrap the state infrastructure fund, stripping $1.8 billion from building programs and directly costing South Australia at least $136 million. This massive cut in infrastructure investment would threaten the development of South Australia's minerals and resources sector. It would lead to job cuts and fewer exports and mean a big hit to South Australian production. They are going to axe the National Broadband Network, which is crucial for regional South Australia, particularly in the delivery of health and education services.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Because you do not care about health and education programs in country areas. Under the National Broadband Network, Willunga, Prospect and Modbury are the first areas to be getting the new high-speed broadband in South Australia but, if Tony Abbott gets his way, they will be the last.

On climate change, we know what he said about climate change: he thought climate change was crap but now, apparently, he is proud of his climate change credentials. Well, he is going to cut the renewable energy future fund, the green car innovation fund, the carbon trust and climate change foundation, the international climate change adaptation initiative, low emission assistance for renters, the green building fund, the retooling for climate change initiative and the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.

Any program with the word 'renewable,' 'climate,' or 'green' gets the axe from Tony Abbott. On industrial relations, Tony Abbott told us that Work Choices is dead, buried and cremated. But, as I said, if you want to know what he really thinks about Work Choices, don't read his lips: read his book.

The SPEAKER: Point of order.

Mr PISONI: Written and authorised by Michael Brown, South Terrace, Adelaide.

The SPEAKER: There was no point of order and that was very frivolous.

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