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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-12-04 Daily Xml
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Government Initiatives

Mr GEE (Napier) (15:10): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about what he considers to be the government's most significant achievements since the March state election?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (15:10): I think I might be able to do that.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right.

The SPEAKER: A point of order.

Mr GARDNER: Standing order 97 declines the availability of argument, and that question presupposes that there have in fact been any achievements.

The SPEAKER: If anything in the Premier's answer isn't significant, I will crack down on him. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. This year has been a year of significant renewal. We started with renewal in the cabinet—five new ministers—and by establishing a stable new alliance with the member for Frome and the member for Waite. We appointed new chief executives to key government departments, including the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Renewal SA, the Department of State Development, Defence SA and the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.

One of the first acts was to finalise the deal to underwrite the $500 million expansion of the Nyrstar plant at Port Pirie, securing the future of this great town and indeed the region. We have delivered the most comprehensive reforms to WorkCover seen in 25 years, transforming it into a return-to-work scheme that will better support injured workers and save business $180 million per annum.

We conducted a review of about 180 government boards and committees which will be abolished. We have established a new role for a Coordinator-General to provide the front door for those who seek to invest in this state, to assist to clear hurdles and get quicker answers. We established a simpler regulation unit to identify barriers to doing business. We announced a $50 million financial guarantee program to support growing businesses to create jobs and, following a brutal federal budget, we handed down a state budget that protected those who are doing it hardest in our community.

Since the last budget, we have released 10 new economic priorities for South Australia to create jobs, creating a framework for future growth in our economy. We have conducted three successful country cabinets and, as I said, the country cabinet is here to stay. In one of the proudest moments this year, I appointed, on recommendation to Her Majesty The Queen, the new Governor of South Australia, Mr Hieu Van Le, and of course his deputy, Lieutenant Governor Professor Brenda Wilson.

We have established a massive consultation process in transforming a number of our important systems: the state's health system, root and branch reforms of the state's justice system, the planning system and the emergency services system. We secured automatic compensation for CFS volunteers who contract cancer through the course of their work—the most comprehensive scheme in this nation.

We increased the renewable energy target by 50 per cent to 2025. Importantly, we have taken the fight up to Canberra to protect South Australian defence jobs and also to resist the $5.5 billion cuts to health and education, but that is not all that has been done during the course of the year. Significant milestones have also been reached: the opening of the two-way expressway, securing agreement with the federal government to deliver major upgrades to the north-south corridor, the Darlington project and the Torrens to Torrens project, and, of course, we saw the first season of the redeveloped Adelaide Oval—the much-maligned Adelaide Oval—with a million footy fans streaming through the city during our winter.

I went to the last state election promising to keep building South Australia, to stand up to the Abbott government and to govern for all South Australians, and we have done each of those things.

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