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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-22 Daily Xml
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CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (14:55): Will the Treasurer guarantee to the house that all capital works projects announced as part of the 2010 state election campaign and in the Mid-Year Budget review will proceed in the time frame announced for each project? The opposition has been advised that, as part of the increased savings task approved by cabinet, one strategy outlined in the submission was to delay project time lines to create savings in the forward estimates period.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Federal/State Relations, Minister for Defence Industries) (14:55): Tragically, I cannot guarantee that, because the Adelaide Oval is in it; I wish it would get up but I cannot guarantee it. That has been the subject of much debate in recent weeks—so that is one project in particular. The problem facing our state government is no different from any other state government.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Eight budgets: seven AAA credit ratings. That is something you never achieved.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Just thank the fact that you had a very sloppy treasurer in Rob Lucas, who could not get the budget into surplus. The problem with state governments is not the capital side of the budget. In fact, the capital side of the budget under this government has grown to four or five times what it was when we came into office. What occurred when we came into office is that we were spending less capital than what was a depreciation requirement on the state's balance sheet. We were under-investing in capital in net terms. We were not keeping up with the need to—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, you can be critical of me on a number of fronts—we all make mistakes—but when it comes to budget management this government has a stellar record. That is not our government saying that with self-adulation: the rating agencies are saying that. The rating agencies repeatedly comment on that.

In terms of the capital profile of the state going forward, we remain committed to our projects. Obviously, there are issues with timing in any capital project. There is slippage in capital projects and there is reprofiling of capital projects. That occurs in the natural course of every budget, but the critical issue for our budget and for any state government's budget and state treasurer is the recurrent expenditure and recurrent outlays of government; that is, the insatiable demand for services in our community and the limited capacity for us to meet those demands.

Mr WILLIAMS: I have a point of order. The question was about the capital expenditure in the budget. I think the Treasurer has already answered it: that he will not guarantee that he will meet the promises he made only a couple of months ago.

The SPEAKER: Order! I almost uphold that point of order. Treasurer, I suggest that you wind up quickly.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I wind up by saying that is a total misrepresentation of what I just said.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: And one way we may not do it is because you get your way and destroy the Adelaide Oval project. Make no mistake, Madam Speaker; if football does not come back into the city; if Adelaide Oval is not redeveloped into one of the great inner city grandstands in this nation, it will lie at the feet of the Liberal opposition. It will be mission accomplished by Iain Evans and Isobel Redmond—mission accomplished by Iain Evans and Isobel Redmond. Make no mistake, the Liberal Party is on a charge, on a mission—

Mr WILLIAMS: I have a point of order. I fail to see the connection between this and the capital budget.

The SPEAKER: I uphold that point of order. The member for Davenport.

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