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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-07 Daily Xml
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Question Time

National Commission of Audit

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:13): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about the effect on South Australia of introducing measures outlined in the National Commission of Audit?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Bragg for the first time and I call to order the Minister for Health. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:14): The implementation of the recommendations found within the commission of audit—that is, the National Commission of Audit, not to be confused with the proposed state commission of audit from the Liberal Party, should they have formed government—would be dire for South Australia. The report released last Thursday is actually—

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Yes, point of order. Member for Davenport.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: How is this question not hypothetical given that the commission of audit has only made recommendations to the government which hasn't responded? So, how can the Premier possibly respond to policies of the federal government that have not yet been determined by the federal government?

The SPEAKER: We have been here before, member for Davenport. The National Commission of Audit is a fact. It is not an apparition, or a mirage, or a poltergeist.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is warned for the second and final time. The commission of audit is a fact and it is not hypothetical to say what the effect of its recommendations would be on the state of South Australia.

Mr Whetstone: It's like saying, 'Where's Wally?'

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: In fact it is difficult to identify any areas that have been quarantined from cuts in the National Commission of Audit. The report targets such fundamental government services such as income assistance, education, housing and health care, of course, by charging to access primary health care and increasing the cost of life-saving medicines. It proposes to limit services, slowing the roll-out of initiatives that would better support those with disabilities, reducing funding for children in our schools, rationalising programs for Aboriginal Australians and charging for and changing housing support services.

It proposes to devolve functions without necessarily devolving the financing. It seeks to implement reforms that would see many South Australians receive less money for doing the same work. It raises the retirement age while reducing the amount of the aged pension, forcing thousands of South Australians to work years longer before retiring to receive meagre retirement benefits. Of course, when I raised the spectre of cuts of this sort during the election campaign, the Leader of the Opposition scoffed at those propositions.

These recommendations for implementation were developed by four individuals—not by parliament, not by a minister, not even by a cabinet, not even by an elected member, but by four individuals—headed by a representative from, obviously, one of the more privileged sections of our community. While the federal Liberal government has been widely criticised for this report, the reality is that the cuts commission is actually deep in the DNA of Liberals everywhere. It represents the real agenda of Liberal governments and, when I warned about this in the election about the governments of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria all having implemented similar cuts commissions where policy decisions were outsourced, once again we found that we were ridiculed.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader will not provoke the Treasurer, who is a hair's breadth from departing the chamber.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the leader to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is the fate that we dodged through not having those opposite on the Treasury benches now. This is precisely what was coming our way if the Leader of the Opposition had received—

Mr PISONI: Point of order, sir. The Premier is entering debate.

Mr Marshall: And not very well either!

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully to what the Premier has to say.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The government is the only government in this nation that is prepared to stand up against these cuts.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We saw the spectre at COAG the other day, a series of Liberal ministers all lining up—

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —to express how grateful they were for the Prime Minister bestowing some modest spending proposals on them at COAG, and no references were made to these important cuts. We are standing up here in South Australia for ourselves and also for the nation. We are prepared to stand up to protect the basic services that have created the standard of living that many of us find enviable in this state and this nation. There is no doubt that what is happening here is a challenge for us in this state, but we cannot cut and affect those most vulnerable in our community to resolve it.

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