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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-14 Daily Xml
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STATE STRATEGIC PLAN

Ms FOX (Bright) (14:41): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier advise the house on the release of the 2011 update of South Australia's Strategic Plan?

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) (14:41): Thank you very much. I thank the honourable member for Bright for her question and for her interest in this area. Last Thursday night I launched the 2011 update of South Australia's Strategic Plan, and this is the third iteration of the strategic plan—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, deputy leader!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —first released in 2004 following widespread consultation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The first plan set—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my right will be named also.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The highlight of yesterday was hearing that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition reads James Thurber—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Bragg!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Have you met James Thurber?

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No, no, which is not—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: He's been dead for a long time. The first plan—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Bragg!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —set 79 targets, including targets to diversify and strengthen our economy and to address the key social—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I warn the deputy leader.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —and environmental issues identified—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: This is the third iteration of the strategic plan first released in 2004 following widespread consultation. The first plan set 79 targets, including targets to diversify and strengthen our economy and to address the key social and environmental issues identified by South Australians at the time. It is fair to say that in 2004 a number of people doubted that South Australia's Strategic Plan would still be around seven years after its release, but the plan has now endured two full electoral cycles and it has become even more valuable and relevant with every update and evaluation.

In 2009 the plan was recognised with an international award from the US-based Community Indicators Consortium for integrating community indicators with performance measures to drive meaningful, sustainable change. That honour reflects the fact that the plan is driven by the people of South Australia, not by government decree; but the plan is also a critical document guiding government policy and decisions. Every minister who presents a submission to cabinet must show how it meets relevant targets set out in the plan, and chief executives must demonstrate how their agencies are meeting the plan's targets.

Importantly, progress against these targets is monitored by a rigorous, transparent and independent audit committee every two years to demonstrate areas where we need to redouble our efforts and to track our state's achievements. The plan's success is reflected in the most recent economic data. Last week's ABS employment figures show there are more South Australians employed than ever before. Our unemployment rate is now below the national average and is the second lowest in Australia. What is more, in the 12 months to July this year, South Australia's goods exports totalled $11.4 billion—the highest level ever recorded by this state. Since—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Do you want to give a speech? You did one yesterday; it wasn't your best and brightest. I am told there was a strange, eclectic, slightly weird and maybe kinky group that wrote the speech the night before—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: There is no relevance to the—

The Hon. M.D. Rann interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier. Order!

The Hon. M.D. Rann interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Premier! Point of order, the deputy leader.

Mr WILLIAMS: I am still waiting on a ruling.

The SPEAKER: I didn't hear your point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: My point of order was one of relevance. The Premier was debating a matter that had no relevance to the question that was asked.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. That's all right—matter of relevance. I am sure the Premier will now return to the substance of the question.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: We'll save the weird speechwriters' collective until later, but James Thurber wasn't one of them. Since 2004, when the plan was released, we have seen major structural changes in our economy. We have increased the number of defence-related jobs in South Australia from a baseline of 16,000 in 2003 to more than 24,700 today.

We boldly aimed to become the nation's 'green energy' state and a leader in wind generation capacity, even though there was not one single wind turbine operational here in 2002. We now have over 50 per cent of Australia's wind generation. We have also consistently exceeded our target to increase mining investment exploration to $100 million. This increase in exploration has underpinned a huge expansion of our resources sector. South Australia now has 18 mines, with some 20 or 30 more in various stages of development. In the 2011 plan, this target will now be doubled to set the bar even higher.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The 2011 update follows the biggest consultation processes in the state's history in which we asked 9,200 South Australians what their priorities are and what their vision is for South Australia out to 2020. What we heard is that in 2011 people want us to build on the solid economic foundation that has been laid and ensure the ongoing wellbeing of communities and families into the future. People want to feel safe in their homes and on our streets. They want to protect our water supplies, particularly the River Murray. They are concerned about maintaining their own health, that of their own family and our environment. These aspirations, among others—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —are reflected in the latest update of South Australia's Strategic Plan. Overall, the 2011 plan contains 100 targets that all fit under new categories: our community, our prosperity, our environment, our health, our education, and our ideas. These categories have been informed by direct community input and recommended by the Community Engagement Board. Each target is attached to a goal and a vision, making it easier to see what we jointly want and how we plan to get there.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Here we go. She's still talking.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Come on. Give us that speech again from yesterday. Many fundamental priorities remain. Indeed, the Community Engagement Board reports that more than 90 per cent of the targets in the plan reflect what they have heard during the consultation period.

The majority of targets have therefore remained largely unchanged. Some have been made more ambitious because we have already exceeded them, whilst others have been merged into a single target. In areas where we have not been as successful as we hoped, we have maintained the same target or extended the time frame to ensure that we continue striving to reach our goals or that we revise our thinking to help get there. We have added 21 new targets which reflect the changing priorities of South Australians. They include:

building further on our international reputation as a cycling city. We are looking to double the number of people who cycle by 2020;

increasing the use of public spaces and further increasing our city's liveability by focusing on the design of our public places;

supporting our critical food industry with a target to increase its economic value.

We must also ensure our state receives a social dividend from our economic success, so we have set a target to increase social participation—a target aimed at ensuring everyone is included in our state's social, economic and cultural life. To fully include people, we know we must strive to address difficult social challenges. That is why we have several targets for this complex area, including a goal to reduce the incidence of violence against women as well as a target aimed at cutting the rate of reoffending, as recommended by one of the recent Adelaide Thinkers in Residence, Judge Peggy Hora.

All of these targets, the existing and new, feature a common name, which is to foster the wellbeing of South Australians, and that is because our strategic plan is a blueprint developed for and by South Australians. Its strength is drawn from the fact that it is a truly non-partisan blueprint that is embraced by state and local government, by business and industry, by communities, neighbourhoods and families. It is not a plan just for the government: it is a plan for the whole state. Achieving all 100 targets will rely on community effort. So, I am confident that the 2011 plan provides South Australia with a framework to actively pursue a bright future, a future shaped by choice, not by chance.

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