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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-19 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

ECONOMIC STATEMENT

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (15:57): I rise to draw to the house's attention the glossy brochure released by the government last week, entitled Economic Statement 2013. This document is nothing more than a discussion paper. At its core, what it does is talk about the problems, talk about the issues and offer nothing new, nothing of substance, not a single new policy which is funded, nothing which has not already been announced. It offers absolutely nothing more than what we have had already.

It is a very, very disappointing effort from the Premier and the Treasurer, being the one person. I think, frankly, at this point in the electoral cycle, with one year to go to an election, the government could have done far, far better. The people of South Australia deserved a plan. The difference between this document—this 'economic statement'—and a plan is simply this: a plan tells you what the government is going to do, when it is going to do it, how it is going to do it and how much it will spend doing it. You will not find any of that in this 'plan'.

I note that the Premier has tried to have a bet each way. His document defines itself as a statement and makes no mention of identifying itself as a plan, yet the Premier was on radio Monday morning and in a debate on Friday saying, 'We have put out our plan. Where is your plan?' Well, this is not a plan. It follows, of course, a long list of glossy brochures that sit in corners in ministers' offices at the moment gathering dust, going back to the beginning of this government's life in 2002—we have had it all.

The statement broadly identifies areas of economic strength and potential, the obstacles to success and priorities for government and business. But, of course, it does not provide any answers, it does not provide any solutions and it does not provide a road map as to what the government will do to breathe life back into this staggering economy. It makes certain observations that are irrefutable. Yes, we need to be a smarter economy. Well, surprise, surprise. Yes, we need to be innovative. Yes, we have identified four areas that are very important: growing advanced manufacturing, premium food and wine, realising the benefits of the mining boom and a vibrant city of Adelaide.

Well, hello, that is the grand revelation of this government after all of these years in office, that these four issues are very important. You will not have any argument from over here, it is just that there is more. We are back to the thinking of the A.D. Little report of the early 1990s about clusters, as if the internet and interconnectivity had never arrived. We talk about mining and a boom that is, frankly, not happening in this state at all; exploration yes, but boom no. Roxby Downs has collapsed. What they say in this document is in total contrast to what they presented to this parliament in the Roxby Downs indenture bill, where they rolled over and gave BHP whatever it wanted without requiring any of the benefits to be extended to the South Australian economy.

The offerings on premium food and wine and a vibrant city are shallow. Can I just remind the house that almost everything in the government's vibrant city agenda was ours, from the stadium to City West to livening up the city to new planning rules, it all came from over here. I remember it well because I was announcing the policies, and they were a squint not a vision. Now they are a central plank of this government's plan for the future. Well, thank you, I look forward to being in the credits.

The role of government in the economy. There is quite a gap opening up between the government's view of what it should be doing (a very socialist approach) and our view of what should be going on, which is one of supporting and sustaining the private sector. There is nothing in here on the tough issues. The 10 tough issues I mentioned today, the ones that are costing businesses money and holding back the economy, are not addressed at all. You will not go near labour productivity, debt or taxes, you will not go near the real problems. It is a shallow document, a very poor effort, and for a Premier and Treasurer to put it forward (nothing more than another Rann-esque glossy brochure) is a great disappointment to business. We know what they think of it, we know what they said. They said it was a failure and it is.

Time expired.

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