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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-05-07 Daily Xml
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Bills

Supply Bill 2015

Supply Grievances

Adjourned debate on motion to note grievances.

(Continued from 6 May 2015.)

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:41): It is my pleasure to speak on the beautiful electorate of Bragg and how the budget for this year has applied to it and to make some comment in relation to what should get bouquets and what should get brickbats from this government in respect of the services provided. Let me start with police stations. I do not have any, so closing them or opening them would be of no consequence to me because, firstly, they would not apply and I am not likely to get any, so I will briefly get over that.

Schools: I have excellent schools in my electorate, both public and private. They are so popular that we have waiting lists in nearly every school. Most of them are zoned in the public arena. They provide excellent education and development of our children. The bouquet this year goes to the leadership of the Linden Park Primary School who are now battling with enrolments of over 1,000 students, so many that they have to use the library for classrooms before and after school, and they have three separate lunchtimes so that they can fit each of the lots of children in the playground each day.

We are desperate for a new school in the eastern area and I would ask that the government seriously looks at the zoning issue. There are claims of exploitation and abuse by parents who are moving into the area in an attempt to enrol their children but who are not genuinely remaining resident in the area. It must be addressed, and I take my hat off to those who are struggling with this situation in my schools, and ask the government for its urgent attention in this year's budget.

As for hospitals, well, again, I do not have any public hospitals in my electorate. I have the Burnside War Memorial Hospital which does a sterling job. Just outside the electorate is the Glenside Hospital, which of course has the first brickbat, and that is the government's proposal to sell 40 per cent of it, a disgusting policy and one I will continue to fight against. It is a blight on the government's claim that they have any social conscience in this state.

The other one just outside my electorate, of course, is the Royal Adelaide Hospital which is about to be closed down and some of the services relocated to the other end of the city. I do not doubt for one moment that that will be exploited by the government for every opportunity of medical tourism it can find and not service the people who need it, that is, to be given assistance and surgery and training as it should be done.

Emergency services: lots of bouquets to the Burnside CFS and the Glen Osmond MFS. They cheerfully undertake their work, they are competent, and they continue to provide and protect our region. Also the CFS, both at Summertown, which covers Uraidla, and also at Crafers: I thank them again for all the work they do, particularly covering the South Eastern Freeway where we have truck crashes all too frequently, and other motor vehicle accidents, and they are also there managing cold burns across to raging bushfires. I thank them for their continued work and again urge the government to give them a decent amount of money to make sure that we properly clear vegetation regularly each year in hotspots to make sure that we protect our citizens and our wildlife.

SA Water, well, they might be surprised to hear that this year I give them a bouquet for finally resolving the mains water supply issue to the residents of Skye who have been waiting for, really, over a decade of disputes about how we could possibly provide them with a reliable water service. They have had unpotable water from five private bores now for some decades at an agreed cost of $18,500, with an opportunity for instalment payments over 15 years. These members of the community will finally get mains water by the end of this year. This will clearly help the health of our residents, assist protection in bushfire circumstances, and enhance the value and resale of properties. I would only qualify that by asking SA Water to ensure that they have that in situ and operational before the high-risk season for bushfires after November this year.

There is a bit of a brickbat for them, though. There are continued sewage inundations in homes, particularly in the St Georges region. The response is unfortunately piecemeal and inadequate. There is a response in emergencies to clean out root intrusions in the aged, really antique, pipes that underlie and provide for the sewerage system in the east, and the provision of a rebate for insurance excess payments. There is sometimes an allowance for an amount of water to be used to clean up the mess when sewage infiltrates houses. The obvious risk in relation to health and wellbeing endures. It is completely unacceptable in a civilised urban environment.

As to pest management, I will also say that I am very pleased with SA Water. On SA Water land in my electorate there has been vigilant attention to fox baiting, and weed eradication and spraying. Good on you, you get a bouquet for that.

Now to the state's magnificent parks, such as Cleland national park, where visitors are plentiful in my area, the local botanical gardens, and the like. This year Cleland donated four koalas to a private park in Hong Kong. I understand they are alive and doing well and obviously entertaining the visitors in their park.

The expansion and use of prisoners from city correctional facilities to assist in weed management and control has been occurring. It is a project that I have strongly supported for a number of years. It is win-win for both prisoners and also the parks, which need to be cleaned up and kept under control, so well done. Recently I attended the local Burnside Rotary Club parks night where we award a parks ranger in the state and a volunteer from Friends of Parks in the state. I am pleased to see that areas in my location are frequently represented in the finals. Our parks people are doing a good job. They are also doing a fair bit of their own managed cold burns, which is excellent.

The Department of Environment get a real brickbat. Three years after the inquiry in this parliament, fox control on a regional basis has still not been implemented. When the mothers are in their breeding period in July, which is only just around the corner, there will not be a program in place to deal with it. I am appalled at this delay. It seems to oscillate between the Natural Resources Management Board and the Department of Environment, which is really all the same thing these days. I am very disappointed that every time I go to meetings it is still on the agenda but nothing is done.

The brickbat this time for that department goes to minister Hunter in respect of the Chambers Gully reserve and the inadequate number of car parks. Members would know that over 400,000 people a year from all over the state and other places in the country go to Waterfall Gully for the walks there, and to try and relieve that situation there will be a few extra car parks put up there. That is fine, but I wrote to the minister last year asking for 17 extra angle car parks at the opening of the Chambers Gully reserve, which is a state asset under the responsibility of the minister. A year later, after agreeing that there would be some negotiation with the council and suggesting that they were negotiating, he then advised that it would not be going ahead and that they were doing some work in Waterfall Gully which we had already advised him about in any event.

They are just totally insincere when it comes to dealing with it. My understanding is the real situation is that the government refused to put any money into car park expansions on council land, even though it is to service a state-owned asset. It is just complete lunacy and the stupidity is breathtaking in their resistance to making provision there.

Regarding the Constable Hyde park at Leabrook—a memorial to a brave member of our police force who, over 100 years ago, died trying to run down some robbers out of the Marryatville Hotel—the government promised before the election that that would be saved and would not be sold off. It sits on some old state government land. Subsequent to the election, the Burnside council agreed to enter into some negotiations to exchange, on a win-win basis, some land that might be surplus to requirements for each. No problem about that; I was happy to support that concept.

Renewal SA, on behalf of the government, have now demanded that they have a scout hall which is on community land on Gurney Road adjacent to the Rose Park Primary School, again on community land. That is not negotiable for our community. We are not going to have one part of the area and sacrifice another.

If there is a fair exchange of land and the scout hall and Gurney Road can remain on community land with access to it for state services, i.e., as playing fields for the local school, that is fine, but if any exchange is not on a win-win basis, then that negotiation should come off the table. I firmly believe that the people of my area should not be asked to pay the price if the government wants to try to backflip on the Constable Hyde memorial park. We will have a big fight over that.

The prize for utter stupidity this year goes to minister Mullighan for the bike lanes that he insists on putting down Portrush Road. Over 3,000 trucks a day go along this road. It is a very dangerous, major piece of infrastructure which simply cannot accommodate a bike lane. I have said to him, 'Look, when you've got rid of the trucks and you've finished South Road, great, we'll talk about this. It might be a sensible thing to do, but at the moment it will be carnage.' It is just not acceptable that we have that risk in our electorate.

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:51): Today I want to use the time I am allowed to bring to the attention of the house a nonsensical outcome of our development law and, particularly, our fire regulations as they are written and, certainly, as they are being promulgated by the local authorities in some parts of my electorate.

Parts of my electorate are designated as medium and high fire danger risk. Fire is obviously something I know a little bit about, but it does provide certain risks in our area. The way the Development Act, particularly with regard to building laws, is being utilised in parts of my electorate just beggars the imagination. It is bringing home untold costs to various parties, and I want to talk first of all about the Kybybolite football club.

The Kyby football club is situated in the small township of Kybybolite. The football ground and the footy club are isolated from any other building. It is out in a rural area. The Kyby football club has a significant building, which has been there for about 40 years. It consists of a double-storey building with a nice dining room or function area on the upper floor. On the outside, there is a grandstand. Underneath are both male and female change rooms and toilets for football and netball which are played there on alternate Saturdays during the winter sports months of the year.

About 12 months ago, or maybe a little bit less than that, the club completed a project of some quarter of a million dollars principally upgrading the female toilets and change rooms but also undertaking a few other minor works around the club and the rooms. As a part of that, when the development application went through the council for the alterations to their building, the planning officer in the local council, the Naracoorte Lucindale Council, in their wisdom submitted this project to the CFS for their approval of the requirements under the fire regulations.

The CFS sent somebody out to the Kyby football club. They made an assessment and said they had to do lots of things. They had to hardwire in smoke alarms; they had to put in exit signs; they had to change all the hinges on their doors such that the doors open outwards rather than inwards throughout the building, and a few other minor things. The club was able to fulfil most of those requirements.

On top of that, the club has to install a static water supply of some hundreds of thousands of litres. They must have a water supply under the regulations which will allow a fire truck to pump at the rate of 20 litres a second for four hours. For the life of me, I cannot understand what sensible purpose this would fulfil, given that representatives from the football club have told me they have costed this particular proposal and it would cost about $100,000.

I have mentioned the project costing about $250,000, which included a $96,000 state Sport and Rec grant and about $120,000 in cash raised by the club over a period of about 15 years, and now they have the imposition of at least another cost of $100,000 to put in what is just a tank and some plumbing such that a fire truck can sit there and squirt water on a building for four hours, a building which would cause nobody any harm, even if it was burning to the ground. This is the sort of nonsense we are facing.

I thought that was bad enough, but since then it has come to my attention that a business premises within the township of Naracoorte has been subject to a similar imposition. It came to the attention of a businessman who was renting a premises that a premises about three or four doors up the road was on the market. He purchased that premises and wanted to move his business, which was a panel shop, a car-repair business, into this new shed. He went to the council and said, 'I want to build a little office block in the corner and put a bit of a lean-to verandah out the front because of the often inclement weather in that area.' Lo and behold, it was the same process, except the CFS do what they call a pump test because there are SA Water mains running down the street.

Of course, the SA Water mains will not provide the water flow to allow this 20 litres a second (or whatever it is) for four a hours—which is a fair bit of water—so they have said to him, 'You have to supplement that by putting in a tank.' Because the SA Water mains are there and there is some water, he does not have to put in quite as big a tank as the Kyby football club. His tank and plumbing is only going to cost about $70,000, according to the quotes he has received. Again, it is a nonsense.

All along this area there are similar-sized buildings and, under the regulations, the local Building Fire Safety Committee—if it is doing its work to the letter of the law—should go and knock on the door of everyone of those business premises, do an audit, and lo and behold they would all be required to do the same thing. We would have every premises along that piece of road where the building was over 500 square metres in size—and most of them are—install a $70,000 or $80,000 tank and plumbing. To what end, I do not know.

More recently, it came to my attention that the basketball people who are doing some small upgrade work in the basketball stadium in Naracoorte have experienced exactly the same thing. This is another sporting facility which is used fairly regularly but is a very low risk that is up for—I am not quite sure of the total cost of this one—tens of thousands of dollars. At the football club at Lucindale, which is another small country community, the same thing again.

I bring this matter to the attention of the house because the people involved in applying these regulations and the law under the Development Act are doing what they can do. I would suggest that they do not have to do what they are doing, but they are certainly within the law in doing what they are doing, and they would argue they are doing what they need to do. It is a nonsense. Just in the Naracoorte Lucindale Council area, I would suggest that we could spend millions of dollars complying with the Development Act and the development regulations and the building fire safety regulations to bring these buildings up to standard.

There is no benefit because, if a fire breaks out in one of these buildings, to my understanding, we would try to have the building such that any occupants of the building at the time of the outbreak of a fire could get out of the building. I would suggest that they would do that well before the fire truck arrived and connected to the static water supply. I would suggest that that would have already occurred. If it had not already occurred, I would suggest the occupants would be in very serious trouble. Very rarely is the fire truck going to arrive within the first couple of minutes. I do not think we are going to save any lives by insisting on spending all this money.

Secondly, I can understand that we should ensure that, if a fire does occur in a building, we protect the neighbouring buildings. In the case of the Kybybolite footy club, there are no neighbouring buildings because it is out in the middle of a paddock for all intents and purposes. There are no neighbours who would be in need of protection by having a fire truck pumping water at 20 litres a second for four hours. Again, it is nonsense.

I can assure you that the good folk of Kybybolite and the members of that sporting club would sit there and lament that their building had burnt to the ground, but the reality is that by the time the fire trucks with the capacity to put out the fire arrived, it would all be over. It is absolute nonsense that this parliament has promulgated law and regulations imposing these sorts of costs. We talk about trying to get rid of red tape, well, here is somewhere we can start. We can go back and have a look at the Development Act and we can apply some good old-fashioned common sense, some risk analysis, and remove this burden from sporting clubs and businesses which do not need this sort of aggravation. This is just one of the things that is causing this state to continue to go backwards.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (16:01): It is a pleasure for me to contribute to the grievance debate on the Supply Bill. I will note some of the things that are coming from forward expenditure items, so that is what I will focus on, but I also want to talk about some issues within my electorate in my 10 minutes.

A significant one in the shadow portfolio I have responsibility for is the planning review. The minister has flagged the intention to bring in legislation in July, with debate in September. There is no doubt that there has been a lot of discussion since February 2013, when the Hayes team was first brought together to review the planning and development act across South Australia. Twenty-two recommendations were presented in a final report by the Hayes review. The government has responded to them.

There are quite strong positions taken by the development group on what they would like to see occur, and there are also some quite strong positions taken by community groups with whom I have had contact which are concerned about the suggestion of the removal of elected local government councillors from the council development assessment panels. It will be a lengthy debate, I must admit. We will be in here for some time talking about what will be a completely new bill which will have an impact on communities, local government and development.

I respect, though, that the focus is upon improving the system and making it efficient to ensure that community engagement occurs very early and that surety is provided to proposals so that there is a very strong basis of what is intended to be supported and what are the complying or the noncomplying versions of development opportunities, so that we get things happening, and that is what the key is. I look forward to when the minister introduces that legislation in the house.

I also want to raise the point again of pensioner concessions for local government council rates because I sincerely hope this is part of the budget for the 2015-16 financial year to ensure that the 160,000 property owners who are older residents, who by virtue of being on a pension or as a self-funded retiree are eligible for it, continue to receive up to the $190 per year for pensioners and the up to $100 per year for self-funded retirees. Collectively, it is worth close to $34 million per year and it is legislatively very much a state responsibility. My hope is that when the Treasurer comes into this chamber and presents the budget for the 15-16 year, he gives surety not just to the property owners but, importantly, to the local government authorities who need to administer it.

To give them the surety, because of the timing of the issue of rate notices (and I am sure the minister will be interested in this), there need to be some commitments given before that to remove an opportunity for a crazy situation where a bill is issued based on what the councils believe the Treasurer intends to bring down and then the situation may change, either by the Treasurer's own action or by the action of the opposition and the minor parties in the upper house to prevent legislative changes, when a new bill will have to be issued and the madness occurs when the political argy-bargy occurs. I just ask that the statement is made and that it is a positive one.

The Minister for Local Government has had some discussions with me about the introduction of a local government bill that will be coming in soon. I believe the minister has referred to June as the likely date, or a little bit after. I think the minister and I recognise that it is a little bit at the lower level sort of stuff. It is about some things that were consulted on quite some time ago, well before the minister's time as minister and predates the 2014 election.

There is a very strong level of support for that, so I think it might have a swifter passage than other pieces of legislation. The bigger picture issues that local government will have to deal with as part of its next generation of representation and the service provision that it does will form part of a review of the Local Government Act that the minister has talked about quite often, which will be either late this year or early in 2016. That is the one I do look forward to. That is where I think the parliament will involve itself in the debate for quite some time. I know I have started collecting thoughts and information on things.

The Hon. G.G. Brock: Share it with us?

Mr GRIFFITHS: Yes, the minister asks: will I share it with him? I certainly assure the minister that I will because we have a relationship that allows for discussions to occur. They are not always reported, but there is an understanding of things between us. So, hand on my heart, that is what I intend to do because I want to try to get the best outcomes, too.

I want to talk about some things particular to Goyder, the wonderful community that I am provided the opportunity to represent. Infrastructure is an absolute key. I was grateful, when minister Mullighan was in Goyder a few months ago to open a boat ramp facility on the eastern coast of Yorke Peninsula, that he was good enough to get in the car with me and drive for about two hours on some of our roads which are rather challenging. They are Department of Transport roads. They have some issues associated with the pavement width, the drop-off from the shoulders onto the adjoining area, the angle of the shoulders and how the road drops away, which causes hassles. He was good enough to take things under advice.

I think I have said in this chamber already that in some patches I have noticed some improvements that have been undertaken, but the road network is still the absolute key when it comes to the quality of a regional community. There is nothing else that I considered more important over the nine years I have been in this place and, indeed, that people have mentioned to me more, and there has been a variety of things. There has been the country hospitals plan mark 1 or 2 in 2007, there have been marine parks, there have been significant development proposals in the area which people talk to me about a lot of times, also, but roads has been the one constant and it is the one area where a significant level of investment needs to occur.

For minister Mullighan and his predecessors, I have tried to ascertain and demonstrate my support for projects and tried to find out what their future plans are and look at where the long-term visions are. There are some things that come out of the woodwork that surprise me. One was an investment of $630,000 on an area of shoulder which was going to also have the wire rope or the guardrails installed. That was unexpected for me. I note, indeed, while driving to Port Pirie a couple of weeks ago, that the electorate of Frome has had significant work done north of Port Broughton, also.

The Hon. G.G. Brock: There's more to come, yet.

Mr GRIFFITHS: Yes, and more to come. I did contact the minister's office and he told me it is part of a $630,000 expenditure, and I am very grateful for the investment to occur, I must say, but I have had people in the community look at me and say, 'Steven, there are roads that need money spent on them more than that,' though. That is the difficult balance that has to be found, but it is part of a particular program.

The Hon. G.G. Brock interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: True, and it is where the drop-offs occur and, if someone were to go off the side of the road, there would be serious damage, I know that, because there are three, five, seven and eight feet drops on some occasions.

No matter how long I have the opportunity to represent the Goyder community in this place, the one particular thing I will continue to argue about is the improvement of the key intersections at Port Wakefield, to the north, and Federation Park. It was, indeed, the very first question I asked in this place of then minister Conlon about the intersections and the challenges they represent in the peak travel times, when we have thousands and thousands of visitors to the electorate. The response I got was rather flippant, saying that it was only at holiday times and it did not matter if people got caught up.

I have deliberately travelled it during the peak times and have experienced the frustration (for those familiar with the area) of when you come from Yorke Peninsula and come to the very top of the gulf, looking to get to the Federation Park intersection and meet with the Copper Coast traffic that is heading towards Port Wakefield. It took me 33 minutes after I stopped before I finally got to that intersection, and it would have been about 1½ kilometres. It then took me another 27 minutes to get from that intersection the seven kilometres to the Port Wakefield intersection.

Every peak time TV media crews go there, and they fly over and talk to people who are frustrated about delays, and I am sure there are other people in this place who have spoken to constituents or relatives who have frustrations with it. Last year, out of desperation (because if I held my breath for the investment to occur I do not think I would actually live very long) I asked whether there was an opportunity for alternative, little bypass routes to be established in these peak times to allow those who want to travel on them to use alternative routes.

The Department of Transport actually took up the suggestion. They contacted the Copper Coast council, the Wakefield Regional Council and, I think, Yorke Peninsula council. The Copper Coast council and the Wakefield Regional Council said no, because they were concerned that reliability for travelling on those roads—and, indeed, the potential increased maintenance—fell as a cost upon the ratepayers. I understand that, but I did it out of desperation because I think that it is such a negative when people see lengthy delays that the community at large misses out on the potential of a lot more visitors coming because they choose to go elsewhere.

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: That is right. I have copped a bit from a few of the business operators in Port Wakefield for suggesting this but I stand by the suggestion, not because I want it to occur permanently but as a short-term, fixed opportunity. I still think it is one worthy of consideration, but it does come back to the need to actually invest in it. To me, there has been a roundabout opportunity at the Federation Park intersection. The Department of Transport was good enough to brief me, probably two years ago, and showed me three different design options of various sizes to allow for different configurations, because we also have some large vehicles that travel those roads.

However, it does have to be one of the things I will fight for in my time here. It is not just the Port Wakefield intersection, which everyone focuses on and which is, hopefully, considered as part of a bypass issue; Yorke Peninsula-bound traffic will still have to go through Port Wakefield, but it is that other intersection seven kilometres up the road which causes exceptional delays.

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (16:12): I rise today to continue the grievance debate following the Supply Bill. When I made my original contribution to the Supply Bill I talked about roads, just as the member for Goyder has been. I will come back to that in a little while but, as the member for Bragg mentioned, it is an opportunity to give both brickbats and bouquets, and I am going to give some bouquets out to communities in my electorate of Flinders—in the first instance, for the wonderful job they did on ANZAC Day, all and sundry.

From Port Lincoln to Cowell to tiny Fowlers Bay there were dawn services and marches, and people celebrated and commemorated the centenary of the landing at Anzac Cove. The weather was not great. Rain had been measured right across Eyre Peninsula the day before and there were certainly showers; I attended the dawn service at my local town of Cummins and it rained for most of that service—although, having said that, that dawn service was at the very civilised hour of 7.30am. It was well attended, as were all the events right across my electorate and, in fact, right across the state. These crowds just seem to be getting more and more every year, and more and more young people, more and more people, are taking their participation more seriously.

I know, through my own children, that their recognition and understanding of what we are doing on that particular day is growing. There was a time when ANZAC Day was not as popular. I was a child in the 1970s, and I remember only too well the Vietnam War being on television every night of the week. Of course there were marches for moratoriums and all sorts of things. It was not a popular war, and the commemoration of our involvement in other wars was at an all-time low as well. Those things have changed and I think that has been a positive. It gives us all time to reflect, even, for some of us, on our own family's involvement in past wars.

Particularly researching the First World War, I was interested to find that I had a great-grandfather who served in the 5th Light Horse, and a great-great-uncle who served in the 11th Light Horse, both of whom served in the Middle East—not at Gallipoli, but certainly both in the Middle East. Being country boys and being able to ride, of course they were seconded to the Light Horse brigades and did a lot of work. The last time horses were really used in warfare was during the Great War, the first war of the 20th century.

I am going to mention one event in particular, which occurred at what we call Gallipoli Beach. Gallipoli Beach is just north of Coffin Bay—just north of Farm Beach, in fact. It has been named thus since the making of the film Gallipoli in the 1980s. Many of us in this chamber would be old enough to remember that great Australian movie of that time called Gallipoli. They searched far and wide, right across the nation and right around the coastline, for a beach head and a piece of coast that most closely resembled Anzac Cove, and they found it in the seat of Flinders on Lower Eyre Peninsula, as I said, just north of Farm Beach. It has been known to locals ever since that time (which now is over 30 years) as Gallipoli Beach. It is a popular fishing spot, of course, and many of the locals go there to catch their whiting.

A committee was formed 12 months ago and they did an extraordinary amount of work to have their centenary celebration, and a celebration for the community, at Gallipoli Beach. There was a live cross to the service at Anzac Cove. It was well attended. Once again, the weather probably kept a few away, but I am going to congratulate them particularly on their efforts. I think it is their intention to have an event each and every year for the next three years, so they will have a centenary event for each of the years of the First World War.

I finished up in Port Lincoln at a ball that night, which is always a lot of fun. I managed to take part in the two-up both at the Port Lincoln RSL and at the Wangary Hall after the Gallipoli celebration. It is the one day of the year where the toss of the coins is legal. Not everybody was clear on the rules, but we had a lot of fun anyway. I know a lot of members in this place took time to be in their constituency and attend ANZAC Day events.

The member for Goyder finished his contribution talking about roads, how critical they are and what important infrastructure they are to country people and country communities, not just for us to commute but also to carry the freight that we both produce and require to live our lives. I spoke about the Tod Highway in my previous contribution. I am seeking a meeting with minister Mullighan to further discuss this issue. I lodged a petition this week with some 800-and-something signatures. I have received further letters during the week, complete with photographs, highlighting the state of disrepair that the Tod Highway has fallen into. I know everybody's road is important and everybody wants their road fixed, but this is one that I have been talking about, harping on about, and will continue to until something is done.

The Minister for Transport, the Hon. Mr Mullighan, did give me the undertaking when the country cabinet visited the West Coast—they visited both Streaky Bay and Ceduna—that he would try to get some costings to at least do some shoulder sealing on the Tod Highway. It is about 110 kilometres from Kyancutta to Karkoo. I cannot imagine it is all that much money, but we will wait and see what the costings are. It may not even be as much as the government has spent on advertising in the last six weeks. It is important to keep things in perspective and it is important that a Labor government such as this remembers that it needs to govern for all South Australians, not just those in the metropolitan area.

The other petition that has been lodged this week, of course, asks the parliament and the government to reinstate the pensioner concessions. I have a further petition, which I will be tabling next week. I have not collected all the forms at this stage, but it is from the local government areas of Lower Eyre Peninsula and Tumby Bay. It is a separate petition. I will just read into Hansard—although we are going to have another opportunity to talk about it next week—that the signatories are asking that the government reinstate the pensioner concession cuts that they have identified. We will wait and see the budget. It will be interesting to see how the government approaches it. I suspect there will be a lot of politics played on this, but I would strongly suggest that the people who are going to be impacted by these cuts, these concessions to their council rates, are generally those on fixed incomes and can least afford it.

The last thing I would like to talk about in my remaining couple of minutes—and I did not get a chance to talk about it the other day—is the emergency services restructure. I can tell the parliament that there are still grave concerns amongst the volunteers—the CFS and SES volunteers—who work, and do such good work, in the community in my electorate about how this restructure is being carried out, the consultation process, and what it is trying to achieve and why. I know the volunteers association has had many meetings, and they have raised a number of serious concerns in relation to the future of the CFS under sector reform. I suspect that many volunteers are contemplating their future.

It does not have to be that difficult. I urge the minister to be very cautious about how he treats these volunteers. They cannot be treated with disdain. They are loyal and hardworking volunteers who provide a most important service. Once again, talking about the country, members in here cannot begin to imagine how important the CFS and the SES are to a small country regional community. There are lots of questions still to be answered by the minister regarding his reform process. For me, the main one is about the absence of any real business plan and what is actually driving this if it is not savings.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (16:22): It gives me great pleasure to rise today to congratulate Linda Williams on her appointment as South Australia's first female Deputy Commissioner of Police. I want to talk a little bit about Linda Williams and her appointment and also about 100 years of policing by women in South Australia. South Australia was the first police force in the British Empire to appoint women on the same pay and conditions as male police, with Kate Cocks and Annie Ross starting work in that role on 1 December 1915. I think Linda Williams' appointment is one more step in the line of the great work that women are doing in the South Australian police force, as they have for nearly 100 years.

The appointment of Linda Williams comes after an exceptional record that she has had as a police officer over 35 years. She served in just about every area within South Australia Police. Since 2010, she has been chief superintendent of the Ethical and Professional Standards Branch before becoming South Australia's assistant commissioner of the Operations Support Service in 2012. The Liberal Party is confident that she will distinguish herself in her new role as Deputy Commissioner of Police in the tradition of not only those trailblazing female police officers such as Kate Cocks and Annie Ross, and a few others who I will talk about in the few minutes remaining, but indeed also in the distinguished tradition of the two most recent deputy commissioners, current Commissioner Gary Burns and the soon to be police commissioner, Grant Stevens. On behalf of the state Liberal team, I congratulate Linda Williams on her promotion to deputy commissioner. The opposition looks forward to working with her over the coming years.

It was only a couple of weeks ago at the Police Foundation Day, celebrating the 177th anniversary of the South Australian police force, that we had some special celebrations for the centenary of women serving in South Australia Police. We heard terrific speeches from two women in particular who worked for the South Australian community and the police force for decades, in particular Senior Sergeant Chris Bettess and Constable Sharon Grant.

During the course of these celebrations, the plaque at Mary MacKillop Plaza outside St Francis Xavier's Cathedral was refurbished identifying the history of South Australian women police. I was talking to Assistant Commissioner Bronwyn Killmier after the ceremony and she identified a terrific piece of literature which was written by none other than Christine Bettess who we just heard from, as well as Patricia Higgs. It is To Walk a Fair Beat: A History of the South Australia Women Police 1915-1987 and it is a terrific publication. I encourage all members to take the opportunity of the parliamentary library and have a look.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: When you put it back.

Mr GARDNER: Once I have returned it, as the Deputy Speaker identifies. I am sure it is not the only copy that they have; it is a very significant work. There are some particularly important things in the book that I want to share with the house because I think it puts into context the significant challenges faced by those early pioneers of women in the police force, and the way that the role has evolved over 100 years, or at least in the first 72 years identified by the book and subsequently, but I particularly bring to the house's attention the history.

On 27 April 1915 the chief secretary at the time, the Hon. A.W. Styles, met with a deputation from 16 religious and philanthropic organisations putting to him that the morals of the time, particularly of young women and children, would be well served by having women serving in the police force. So this was debated in the course of 1915, but in particular on 2 October 1915, the crown solicitor, Mr C.J. Dashwood said—and I am quoting from the book here:

…after examining the Police Act advised the Commissioner that there were no legal complications regarding women being sworn in as police constables. On 7 November, 1915, in answer to a question in the Legislative Council, the Chief Secretary announced the appointment of women patrols, and that the two officers concerned would commence duty on 1 December 1915 and [critically, and I quote here from the chief secretary of the time] that 'they will be treated the same as constables in regard to hours of labour and remuneration'.

The first woman police officer in the world was one Alice Stebbins Wells, who was appointed to the Los Angeles Police Department in 1910. A number of other states of the United States of America had women police by the time we did in South Australia in 1915, but Kate Cocks and Annie Ross, on their appointment in October 1915 to start work in December 1915, were the first in the British Empire and outside of the United States.

The women police office opened on 1 December 1915 and its functions and duties were loosely defined but allowing those officers to find the work in which they could best serve the South Australian police. The first principal of South Australian women police was Kate Cocks, and that 60-year period of the South Australian women police branch was really in the vision of Kate Cocks who we remember significantly.

To put into context the significant role that Kate Cocks had in South Australia's history, on her retirement she had about a year of dinners and testimonials through the period until her retirement in 1935. In 1935 she was made a Member of the British Empire for her services to community. She had 20 years with the children's department before her 20 years with the South Australian police force—an incredible woman.

There is one story related in the book about Annie Ross, her co-founder of the South Australian women police, when they first started having women patrolling the wharves to meet naval and freight ships, and I quote from the book:

As they walked along they were constantly subjected to unflattering innuendos and whistles from the wharfies. On one occasion Annie Ross and Cora Trestrail were stopped in their tracks by a burly waterside worker holding his hand up in a stop fashion to the laughter and cheers of his mates. Annie took his outstretched arm and after a quick flick of her wrist the man found himself flat on his back with Annie's foot across his throat. Stony silence. Without a word the women continued on their way. The story obviously spread quickly around the docks and the women were no longer bothered whilst on patrol.

I thought that was a terrific story to hear and imagine.

The first report of the women police in June 1917 identifies the sort of work they were doing: 1,659 long distance trains met, with 147 persons assisted with accommodation or escorted to homes of friends; 79 steamers were met; 12 inquiries for other government departments; 43 girls rescued from immoral surroundings and placed voluntarily in institutions; 14 women placed in institutions; 65 women in distressed circumstances helped; 58 was the number of persons arrested and placed before the court, which were 47 juveniles and 11 adults; six absconders from state homes arrested; 600 plus persons warned regarding their conduct whilst on patrol; 610 miscellaneous inquiries, including white slave traffic, suspicious advertisements, ill-treatment and neglect of wives by husbands, misconduct of wives, especially soldiers' wives with children, houses of ill repute, mentally deficient persons, aged, destitute and drunken women; and 20 cases involving assisting the criminal investigations branch.

They did significant work assisting that criminal investigation branch, particularly where there were instances involving women, including larceny, indecent assault, abortions, concealment of birth, one coining charge and, indeed, fortune telling. The league of nations in 1927 recognised the significance of the South Australian police. Dame Rachel Crowdy was the secretary of the league of nations committee inquiry into the trafficking of women and children. A visiting South Australian women's police officer reported that Dame Crowdy said:

She considers the South Australian Women Police are among the leaders in their work and considered it a credit to South Australia that her Government realised the necessity and value of Women Police so early and leads the world by giving women commission to enquire into women police work.

Other work involved dealing with couples lying indecently together on beaches. Some of those roles seem a little ancient to us now, but at the same time there are also examples given in the 1920s and 1930s of women police officers getting honourable mentions for incredibly brave work, such as one might expect of any police officer.

The women's police office was disbanded in the early 1970s in a reorganisation of police. A new uniform was designed—the first time women were in uniform. Women were not forced to retire on their marriage. Of course, that early work (much of which is now done through the department for families and communities in its various form), by the 1970s was being done by the department of social welfare, and women fully integrated eventually into the police force as we know it now through the uniformed role.

Assistant Commissioner Madeleine Glynn was the first assistant commissioner from 2002. We now have 27 per cent of our police force made up by women. Linda Williams will do a terrific job in her role. We commend her on her appointment.

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (16:32): I rise today to talk a little bit about the impact of Gallipoli and the First World War on the Campbelltown district, which is partially in my electorate of Hartley. Obviously, at the centenary of ANZAC just passed we commemorated, remembered and mourned the people of our country who fought and died in the service of this nation. Certainly the ANZAC legend shaped our unique Australian identity and it is fair to say we emerge at the turn of the century from perhaps what was a distant outpost of the British Empire, the edge of the world, to one of the shining lights of opportunity and certainly freedom in the world.

The ANZAC spirit of hard work, toil, sacrifice and reward certainly is as relevant to our society today as it was 100 years ago and we have an opportunity to reflect on that ethos in our day-to-day lives, but especially when commemorating the centenary of ANZAC. Mr James Jury is a gentleman who is part of the St George's historical church group society and he has done a fantastic job at putting a book together which commemorates the ANZAC tradition and the spirit and what happened during the First World War.

During the last month, I had the pleasure of attending many ANZAC ceremonies in my electorate. One was at Clayton Church in Magill, another one was at the Bupa nursing home in Campbelltown and, of course, on ANZAC Day, along with the member for Morialta and many of the councillors and other members of parliament, I attended the Magill ceremony at The Gums in Tranmere, which was attended by thousands of locals commemorating the special day.

Further to that, we also visited the Payneham RSL and last, but not least, the Kensington Park RSL. It was a busy day. It was an enjoyable day and a wonderful opportunity to commemorate and remember those who have fallen before us.

The impact the First World War had on Campbelltown is apparent. Looking at the Magill RSL Honour Roll, the Magill memorial statue and the Campbelltown War Memorial statue, there were approximately 367 enlistments, of whom 55 made the supreme sacrifice. There is no doubt that the impact on our local area was huge. Across the state, South Australia had 34,959 enlistments, which represented 8 per cent of the state's population of 437,000 at the time.

Men aged between the ages of 18 and 44 who enlisted represented 37.6 per cent of the state's male population, so it goes without saying that quite a significant amount of our productive workforce at that time was affected by this war. I note that 6,600 soldiers from South Australia were killed, and that represented 18.9 per cent of those who enlisted and fought overseas. South Australia's fatality rate was the highest nationally. The impact on Campbelltown was certainly immense, as it was across the whole of South Australia, especially considering that the district of Campbelltown was only 46 years old when the First World War broke out.

The impact that this war had on early settlers was obviously devastating. Certainly, young people from the district were eager to enlist and, naturally, that placed a massive strain on available people power for primary production. Most of the young people in the Campbelltown region actually joined the Australian Infantry Forces, principally the 10th, 16th, 27th and 3rd/9th Light Horse battalions, and most of those regiments were raised in South Australia.

There was a massive impact upon many of the churches in my area, and one only has to look at the memorial at St. George's Church, Magill, to see that. Further to that, the Campbelltown Methodist Church Honor Roll details the 34 enlistments and the eight who made the supreme sacrifice. On the Campbelltown War Memorial statue, we see that there were 94 enlistments and 15 who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. There is also the Magill Soldiers Memorial statue.

It was quite an emotional day, this 100th year commemoration of ANZAC Day, and I certainly took it very seriously. So much blood has been shed for us to have the liberties, the democracy and the freedom that we have in our state and in our nation. It certainly puts things into perspective. We are certainly indebted to those who have fallen so that we can enjoy the wonderful opportunities and the wonderful freedom that we have in South Australia.

I would like to commend Mr James Jury and the St George's Church Historical Group for putting together their book, Young Men for the Cause. I also commend the community groups and organisations, the RSLs and the churches, some of which I have mentioned, which have taken the time to really make sure that the 100th year commemoration of ANZAC Day was such a special day.

On Sunday 26 April, we attended a moving service at St George's, Magill. After that, we were invited to view what seemed to be quite a collection of items preserved from the First World War, many of which came from the families of some of the soldiers involved. I attended that with the member for Morialta and also the member for Sturt, and we were very moved and very honoured to be in the presence of that wonderful community group. With those words, I finish up and congratulate all those who made the commemoration such a success.

Mr PISONI (Unley) (16:40): I will use this time to talk about the need for the Malvern Police Station to remain open. There is no doubt that the government's decision to close shopfront police stations in its budget cutting is going to have a significant impact on the people of Unley, and I refer to the SAPOL organisational review in 2005, a metropolitan satellite station review discussion paper.

The program sponsor was the Deputy Commissioner, Grant Stevens, and the program manager was Superintendent Dean Miller, officer in charge of the Commissioner's Support Branch. It reviewed the activities of the Malvern Police Station, and it is important that the parliament understands that the Malvern Police Station plays a significant role as a community police station and also conducts regular foot patrols. The history of those foot patrols is a very important factor in understanding why the Malvern Police Station is so important.

When I was a trader on Unley Road 10 or 12 years ago, we had a spate of opportunistic crime in Unley Road, in particular, when people were running into shops, threatening shop owners, grabbing goods and running out again. People were feeling unsafe in the street because they were being accosted by people who were asking for money. A meeting of traders and local police resolved that the station would start regular foot patrols, and the police in Malvern would walk up the entire length of Unley Road, then move into King William Road and down the side streets in-between. It has had a significant impact in the reduction of crime in the area because of the visual presence.

I hear the government is suggesting that these police stations will be replaced with patrols, but I want to tell you about an experience of a patrol that involved a constituent of mine in the Housing Trust block of Stowe Court, Fullarton. The constituent rang the police after being assaulted by another resident in that area who for quite some time had been using racist language when addressing her—she is an Australian of Indonesian-Chinese heritage—and on Sunday a week ago it turned into a physical attack. The police turned up and decided, despite the fact that the woman had significant visual damage to her hands and throat, that it was too hard to determine whether the incident was an assault, so no action was taken.

Last Friday, I went to visit the police. We made an appointment through the Sturt station, and the advice was, 'Go to any police station. You don't need to make an appointment. You can go in and make that report at any police station.' We thought we would go to the Malvern Police Station but, unfortunately, because there was just one officer there, the station had to close in order for that report to be taken, which took two hours. The point I make here is that if a patrol—and I think there were three officers there at the time—could not make a report on the assault, it had to be done in a police station.

One of the reasons it needed to be done in a police station was because this resident needed a translator. Fortunately, I was very pleased that Housing SA provided a translator for my constituent, she was able to tell the whole story and there is now a proper police investigation into this assault. I sat in on that interview and we were able to establish that there was a long history of disturbances by this particular tenant. I know that my constituent who came to me with this assault is very keen to see it through to ensure that she can live safely in that home or, if she cannot, be transferred either to another part of that large complex away from that tenant or to another Housing SA home somewhere in Unley. I think that is a classic example of where we can discount the comments of the police minister when he says that these services can be replaced with patrol cars because there is just no way that can be done.

When you look at the activities like the regular foot patrols that the review determined are carried out by the Malvern station, there were four full-time equivalent members, three of them IMO qualified. The positions were not backfilled when members were absent on leave but the remaining members worked together to alter shifts and rosters as required to cover absences to ensure the station remained open. I think that is very important because there was a commitment from those local police, and we all knew them. It is not as though we get different police every week or every month, we all know them, so it is that terrific community policing, and they can establish a relationship with those officers which of course you cannot do when you get a random police car turning up on patrol.

During the review period of 95 days the station was open every day, excluding public holidays, but what happened in those 95 days? One of the important things here is that, of 189 vehicle collision reports taken at Malvern Police Station over that three-month period, only 20 per cent of them (or 38) could have been done online. We have heard the minister again saying that there are options here with technology for reporting things online, but the department's very own report said that only 20 per cent of the 189 vehicle collision reports that were taken at Malvern station could have actually been reported online. So, that puts a lie to that myth that people can go online to make those reports.

Another interesting statistic is that in November there were 22 firearm registrations at Malvern, nine in December and 12 in January, so you can see it is a very active and busy station. The Sturt LSA superintendent commented that the Malvern Police Station provides a good community connection and is considered efficient. Members produce good returns regarding productivity and provide a service which would have to be replaced by patrols should the station close. Again, I have used that example of what happened Sunday week ago at Stowe Court in Fullarton. It is a very simplistic argument and an argument which simply will not work in Malvern.

One of the members working at Malvern was spoken to for the current review. He stated that Malvern members provided a valuable service and contributed significantly to crime prevention and public confidence. There is no doubt about that. We had a terrific success as traders in Unley Road 10 or 12 years ago when we engaged the Malvern station directly to help us make strip shopping in Unley a safer experience. He stated that the closure of the station would deeply sadden the staff and community, and he is qualified to speak for the community because those officers are part of the Unley community.

The Malvern station members commonly worked solo to provide optimum hours of operation. During shift overlaps they conduct regular foot patrols covering the area from Fullarton Road to Goodwood Road, Greenhill Road and Mitcham Shopping Centre. During these patrols they provide high visibility policing at major intersections and shopping centres, around schools and suburban side streets. Through these foot patrols they have built an excellent rapport with many local traders. That extends, of course, to the residents. I have had that feedback in my office time and again.

Statistically speaking, there has been a very slight increase in the work activity from the comparative period, albeit the results were already at a higher level. Based on the statistics provided, the average number of recorded transactions per day is the highest of all satellite stations in South Australia, yet we hear that the minister is going to close the Malvern Police Station when the department's very own report identified the significance and importance of the station and the reasons why the station should remain open.

Sitting extended beyond 17:00 on motion of Hon. G.G. Brock.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (16:51): 'My business is being destroyed by that better business and it's the government's fault.' That is the most liked post from the satirical Facebook page 'Opposing Everything Because I'm From Adelaide', which highlights the hypocrisy of conservatives opposing change in our city. This used to be a conservative town where things did not change—where you had dined at every restaurant because they had not changed in years; where you could find a car park on almost every street in the city because people did not leave the suburbs; and where festival season meant a fortnight every two years, because that is what always had happened. There were not small bars—or many big ones, for that matter. The only food you could get from a truck was your morning milk delivery, and the huge start-up costs needed to start a small business meant that we had clear intergenerational lines between bosses and workers.

Things have changed. Almost all of our city has embraced that change. We are proud to show it off to tourists, especially during the footy season. International students love it and many former South Aussies are returning home from interstate to a transformed city. But, since they lost the fight on the tram extension, the new hospital, Adelaide Oval, the footbridge, small bars and the Festival Plaza, Adelaide's famous naysayers are now turning their sights on pop-up festival venues and food trucks. The claims are the Garden of Unearthly Delights, the Royal Croquet Club and the odd food truck are hurting bricks and mortar businesses.

There is no financial evidence and there is no economic modelling presented that this is the case. It is just the vibe and the fact that one pub lessee that was struggling for years, sadly, went out of business. The last time I checked, we operate under a capitalist system and, under capitalism, there will always be businesses both opening and closing. We cannot protect every business owner from ever going out of business. In fact, it is the risk and reward proposition that makes capitalism work. It is particularly difficult for those staff members who are put out of work and must have their rights protected, but the fact remains that businesses that best adapt to their customers' wants and needs will thrive.

The good news is that our state has the second lowest rate of businesses becoming insolvent per person and, as of today, there are 55 licence applications being advertised through the liquor licensing commissioner, a dozen more than even this time a couple of weeks ago. There will soon be more and more bars and restaurants open around SA that you have not heard of yet. The evidence also shows that business people and developers have done exciting things with bricks and mortar in Adelaide. Take a look at the Mayfair Hotel, Peel Street, 2 King William Street, modern apartment buildings rising up throughout town and the soon-to-be first five-star hotel built in 30 years. This is not the sleepy Adelaide of old.

Yet, some say we need to protect the bricks and mortar business from competition, from those businesses that dare not use bricks; but why is red tape bad in every area of public policy except for food and beverage businesses? Why should these businesses be wrapped in regulation and protection and immune from the forces of a free market? If a particular pub offers bad service, food, marketing and entertainment, there is no reason why that business should not close and the building be leased to someone who can run it better. A successful business is not the bricks that hold it.

This is increasingly so in the digital world. Owning a property is not a precondition of having a business. In my own electorate right now, we have people utilising broadband connections from their homes to connect with clients around the world. Others have businesses to produce goods to sell at many local markets, others have food trucks and others have function businesses. They all contribute to the economic development of our state. They all contribute to employment, either through just their own labour or by also employing others. It has somehow been lost in the debate that places like the Garden of Unearthly Delights are also comprised of dozens of small businesses. Those small businesses hired more staff and had the opportunity to reach new markets.

I particularly admire the gumption of a new pop-up venue of arts vendors in Norwood that I saw, which has called itself The Bricks and Mortar Creative. The conservatives will not know what to do with that one. If the conservatives on the Adelaide City Council are concerned about bricks and mortar, perhaps they should have look at their own facilities; the Adelaide Central Market, a key tourist attraction, has managed to survive and thrive despite the lack of care and attention from its public owner to its bricks and mortar, seemingly waiting for Soviet-style architecture to come back into fashion.

Of course, there is more work to do to improve the environment for start-up businesses and entrepreneurism in South Australia, and address some of the challenges that will leave us. For instance the government's taxi review, which has been recently announced, will look at how to further develop this industry and improve the outcomes for passengers and drivers with the potential increased competition from new technology, and through a parliamentary committee, the Economic and Finance Committee, we are currently looking at how our small businesses and sole traders will best take advantage of the opportunities presented by the National Broadband Network.

We must look at what regulatory barriers we have in other areas that must be overcome. In particular, there is going to be more work to modernise liquor licensing, as anyone who has tried to drink a beer standing up can attest to. We must also consider that when so many people in the future will be employed themselves, how this will impact upon their ability to have income security for their family, compared to traditional jobs, where you work nine to five for a guaranteed paycheck.

However, when state or local governments consider regulation it should be to protect the safety and welfare of the community and the even playing field of the market, not regulation to pick winners in the market. People who claim to be small business, particularly in elected office, should be supporting all businesses' rights to start up and operate, not just supporting protectionism for some existing businesses.

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (16:57): I rise today to talk about some financial issues in my electorate, and also to again try to work with the government to present some ideas in moving this state forward.

I have recently come back from Texas, where I was fortunate enough to spend some time with the Hon. Chuck DeVore from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. I was very interested to work with Chuck and find out why Texas was booming yet much of America was struggling and either in recession or what we call a technical recession. I found out that Texas has actually committed to low tax and small government, which is paying dividends—and has been for over 15 years, certainly not a one-day wonder.

Just to give some context around this, they actually walk the talk, so to speak. The Texas parliament meets for only four months every two years. A part that I am probably not too fond of is that the average remuneration for a legislative representative is $7,200 per year, so I do not expect too much of a hearing on that one. However, they do walk the talk in terms of a low tax and a small government strategy, and it is paying dividends.

Chuck DeVore has written many books, but the one I have found the most interesting is The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America. These lessons are just as relevant for the state of South Australia. I think it is always important to look around at places in the world where they are doing things better and having better outcomes than we do in South Australia. Just for the record, Texas has a very low unemployment rate, and businesses are relocating from other states into the state of Texas to start up businesses. One of the excerpts from the book I just mentioned which I found quite compelling states:

The freedom to own or use property, to operate a business, to work are often overlooked in the all-knowing nanny state, tenderly seeking to save us from ourselves.

It is called economic freedom. Abraham Lincoln, in the context of slavery, shared the idea that every man had a natural right 'to eat the bread which he has earned by the sweat of his brow'.

While taxes are easy to measure and government spending somewhat less so, regulations are a hidden form of taxation put in place by lawmakers who draft bills that empower unelected government experts to draw up rules that compel people to act or not act in a certain way. Of course, some rules are needed—for instance, regulations on air and water quality that improve the livelihood of many nobody would argue with. However, there are also other regulations—for instance, endless red tape, onerous restrictions, particularly on labour, operating hours, etc., which depress employment in South Australia and need to be challenged at every opportunity.

No wonder productive people are fleeing South Australia for other states. We have to realise that we are in a competitive market. If you had $5 million to invest, you would need to ask yourself, 'Why would I invest in South Australia?' We have the highest water prices, the highest electricity prices, the lowest payroll tax threshold, stamp duty, red tape, and the list goes on and on. We have a culture in this state where everybody is happy to say they want to see development, but when you talk to developers and investors they tell a very different story.

I have had many conversations with people who want to develop in this state and yet, when the rubber hits the road, they find they run headlong into bureaucracy and red tape. Of course, at the next election people will have a choice. I think it is important that I put on the record what I stand for, and that is individual liberty, traditional values, limited government, free enterprise and decentralisation, where decisions are made as close to the people as possible.

Another issue I want to take up is pensioner concessions. I see myself as always trying to work in a bipartisan way with this government; however, pensioner concessions and the ongoing politicising of this issue is quite disturbing to me, and it is something that I want to take this government to task on. I find it disturbing because it affects some of the most vulnerable in our community. If this is being used as a political football then I think this government needs to have a good hard look at themselves.

The decision on GST allocations from COAG now means that South Australia will get an unbudgeted and unexpected $146 million in GST funding as a windfall this year. In fact, the total GST funding to South Australia will actually be $571 million more than this year, but $425 million of that has already been allocated in the government's budget estimates. This unexpected GST bonus means the Weatherill government no longer has any excuse to continue its $90 million ESL slug on homeowners or to go ahead with its plans to remove $30 million worth of pensioner concessions and to close the Repatriation General Hospital.

Coming back to pensioner concessions, this decision really does affect people in my electorate. If what I have been told does happen—and that is that councils will be told to send out rate notices without the concessions and then the government will do an amazing backflip and reallocate it—it is cruel and unnecessary, and the government needs to be taken to task over it.

One of the other things I saw in Texas was a change in focus on crime. As most people are aware, Mount Gambier has an ever-expanding correctional services facility. In fact, in the last three years it has expanded three times, with one more expansion planned to commence in the very near future. Whilst the jobs are welcome, the idea out of Texas was not to be tough on crime but to be smart on crime.

In discussions with some of the lawmakers from Texas, it is not a reduction in funding, it is not being soft on crime; it is certainly a reallocation of priorities. In fact, they put more money into rehabilitation instead of incarceration and it has had a dramatic effect on the number of reoffending criminals, because what we all know is that if you have somebody who has done the wrong thing and you put them into gaol with people who have committed more serious crimes, then the chances of them reoffending are higher and also they learn from those who are already incarcerated.

In 2006, a study of 1,500 youths found that the rate of reoffending increased when a young person was incarcerated versus non-prison sentences. This type of focus on rehabilitation instead of incarceration saved the budget in the order of $119 million for the state of Texas over a five-year period.

The other issue that I want to talk about is a notorious intersection that we have in Mount Gambier, the Wireless Road/Penola Road intersection. This conversation has only been going on for about 12 years, but I am hoping, now that we have the Treasurer in the chamber, that some funding can be allocated for this notorious intersection, rated as the riskiest intersection in country South Australia.

I find it incredible that the Weatherill Labor government plans to spend $160 million on the Adelaide O-Bahn and yet we struggle to attract the $2 million that it would cost to put traffic lights at this notorious intersection. It shows to me that the priorities of this government are all about investing in Adelaide and yet country South Australia is devoid.

Very quickly, I need to talk about the drainage network. Minister Hunter commissioned a group to come down and look at the $9 million needed to do the drains, only allocating $2.2 million, and I call upon him to fund this drainage network properly.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (17:07): I want to put on the record (I think I am not being too presumptuous in saying this) this place's appreciation of the role of former MFS chief officer Mr Grant Lupton. As we all know, Grant Lupton was the longest serving chief officer in the Metropolitan Fire Service's 150-year history and left recently to take up a job in the United Arab Emirates, where he is in charge of the civil defence programs for all of the seven emirates. He will be based in Abu Dhabi. The population is about seven million people and some of the features of the emirates, as we are obviously aware, are the world's tallest buildings, the world's largest oil storage facilities and a significant challenge for anybody, with the location close to areas of conflict.

To have lost Mr Lupton is a real loss for South Australia, particularly for the emergency services. I should put on the record that Grant is a personal friend of mine and I hope to visit him in Abu Dhabi in the not too distant future, once he has settled in, to see what they are doing over there and what opportunities he has, because he is the man who will be able to reshape or reform and take forward the emergency services in the UAE.

I should say that he was headhunted from over 90 chiefs—90 fire chiefs from around the world. We had this man here in Adelaide; we had him in our grasp here. We have a minister who wants to restructure and reshape emergency services, yet we have lost the person who probably was best equipped, best experienced and had the best knowledge to guide that possible restructure.

What has happened, though, unfortunately, is that Grant has taken an opportunity that was presented to him—and who would blame him, when this magnificent opportunity was there, and what he was being presented with. I will just read from some information that was presented publicly by the Metropolitan Fire Service about chief officer Lupton's retirement.

It says that Metropolitan Fire Chief Officer Grant Lupton announced his intention to resign, effective 17 March 2015, after 13 years in the role, and that Mr Lupton was the longest serving Chief Officer in Australasia having been recruited from Canada in late 2001, where he was the deputy fire commissioner for the province of British Columbia. It continues:

During his time in South Australia Chief Officer Lupton has been responsible for introducing a wide range of MFS initiatives to continuously improve emergency service delivery to the community and provided leadership during many major emergencies.

Chief Officer Lupton has made a significant international contribution to fire safety and fire engineering, becoming the first Australian Chief Officer to be appointed as the International President of the Institution of Fire Engineers (2013/14), based in the UK with 43 Branches worldwide. He is also the first international Chief Fire Officer to be appointed Chairman of the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Closer to home, Mr Lupton has initiated the Tonga Fire Service Sustainable Development Program and helped lead the establishment of the Pacific Islands Fire Services Association to provide humanitarian support to South Pacific Islands Fire Services.

Mr Lupton said:

'It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as MFS Chief Officer for the last 13 years…The MFS is a great fire service, primarily due to dedication of the men and women who are proud to be part of this essential public safety service.'

'To have the opportunity to lead the MFS for such a long time has been the high point of my career and I'm very grateful to all the people who have supported me. I have especially appreciated the opportunity to work side by side with some outstanding South Australia police and emergency service leaders,' says Lupton, who has served with two Police Commissioners, three CFS Chiefs and five SES Chiefs.

'I'm satisfied with what I've accomplished during my tenure and am pleased to be leaving…'

Mr Lupton says he is looking forward to a break from the 24/7 responsibility [in South Australia]…and pursue other interests.

And we know what those other interests are now. Just to list some of his achievements as chief officer, over the past 13 years Grant Lupton coordinated the acquisition of the Angle Park Training Centre, and South Australia became the first fire service in Australia to achieve the level 4 Incident Management System Certification. Mr Lupton introduced the Australian Interservice Incident Management System (AIIMS) into MFS operations, establishing the MFS state fire control centre to support AIIMS and the newly adopted Emergency Management Act. He oversaw the major upgrade of the MFS 000 communications centre and the introduction of SACAD to incorporate coordinated statewide call receipt and dispatch services for MFS, CFS and SES.

Mr Lupton introduced the MFS Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) capability and supported deployments to the Queensland floods and the Christchurch earthquake. He implemented a generational replacement of MFS breathing apparatus, including a whole-service user selection trial, and he introduced VectorCommand computer simulation training for operational command. He developed a 50-year station replacement and development plan, which has resulted in the construction of new stations for Renmark, Glen Osmond, Elizabeth, Golden Grove, Port Lincoln, Beulah Park, Paradise, Seaford, and we know that there is a new station now being built at Salisbury.

The other things that Mr Lupton achieved included the establishment of a day working crew for Mount Gambier and the development of new engineering workshops at Angle Park. He helped facilitate the implementation of the 'closest, fastest and most appropriate' response agreement with the CFS and SES. He sponsored the introduction of the road accident program. He led the development of the MFS strategic management framework, incorporating a comprehensive approach to strategic planning, corporate governance and performance management. He contributed to the development of the Emergency Management Act to replace the Disaster Management Act and served on the Emergency Management Council and State Emergency Management Committee since their establishment.

Mr Lupton has acted as SAFECOM deputy chair since the establishment of the SAFECOM Board. Mr Lupton was also the co-host for the 2007 World Police and Fire Games held in South Australia, and he chaired the Finance and Governance Committee of those games. He supported the refurbishment of the MFS Skyjet aerial appliances and then the recent sourcing of the replacement combined aerial pumping appliances. Innovation to introduce rear-mounted general-purpose pumpers and the replacement of MFS heavy rescue and Bronto large aerial appliances to enhance MFS operations was another achievement that Grant led.

The other things that Grant did included working with the Treasurer to transition the MFS superannuation fund into a public sector scheme, and he coordinated the MFS 150th Sesquicentennial Celebrations, including the establishment of the Wall of Remembrance at Adelaide Station.

Mr Lupton was partly responsible for sponsoring the MFS international firefighter exchange program and overseeing MFS negotiations through four enterprise bargaining agreements, conducting a successful parity review of commander and district officer ranks, and he facilitated the transfer of MFS staff from ESAU to SAFECOM. He introduced the MFS executive development program. He initiated the Tonga Fire Service Sustainable Development Program and helped lead the establishment of the Pacific Islands Fire Services Association, as we said, and he also became the first Australian Chief Officer to be appointed as the international president and chairman of the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Mr Lupton is a huge loss for South Australia. Can I congratulate my good friend Grant on what he has given to South Australia and what he has done for the MFS. As people in this place know, my father was in the MFS for 30 years and I am a life member of the CFS. So, having worked with the MFS and lived within an MFS family, I know how members who are in the MFS—and the member for Colton would be able to verify this—become part of a big family, and Chief Officer Lupton has led that family for over 13 years.

Fortunately for Mr Lupton, he has gone on to bigger and better things but, unfortunately for South Australia, we have really missed out. We have seriously missed out on a massive opportunity to have a man with immense experience and expertise here with us to help guide the future of emergency services in South Australia. I think that, if we continue along this line and ignore the experts, we are worse off for it, but I congratulate Grant on his move forward and thank him for his service to this state.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): Thank you. The member for Schubert.

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (17:16): Acting Deputy Speaker or Acting Speaker?

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): Acting Speaker is better, yes.

Mr KNOLL: Acting Speaker sounds pretty good to me. Congratulations on your promotion. I hope it leads to a second ministerial car and all the perks that come with that auspicious office. I rise today to talk about three issues: a couple to do with my local electorate but, firstly, I missed out on time during my Supply Bill speech to talk about this beautiful document which has come out in the last number of months, and that is the tax discussion paper and it as a vehicle for change in South Australia.

I think the tax discussion paper that was put forth was a missed opportunity. I think it was definitely a missed opportunity. It speaks very little about the long-term future of South Australia. Indeed, there is only one half page that deals with population changes and demographic changes within South Australia. I think that is a missed opportunity because, without bringing forward that understanding of what the state and the demographics of the state are going to look like, it is very difficult for us to understand where it is that we are going to go.

The tax discussion paper is also a missed opportunity because, in my view, all it is is a document through which the government seeks to increase taxation, and I think that is disgusting. Sure, we can talk about changes to gambling revenue, although I have a number of clubs in my electorate that have an issue with that proposal. We can give some simplistic calculations around changes to payroll tax, but the true intent of this document is aimed at one thing, and that is about bringing a land tax on the family home.

It was a proposal that the member for Playford brought to this place and to the public debate when he was the treasurer. It was shouted down then, and it has come back. It seems to be the only proposal that the government is interested in talking about, and I think that it is wrong for South Australia. It is something that we were right to give up during the Tonkin government back in the early eighties. It seems to be very much back to the future for this government.

The Treasurer said on radio that poor people cannot afford to maintain their homes. I was quite incredulous when he said it. He said that poor people cannot afford to maintain their homes and it was a good thing that the government was thinking about a proposal that would help them to unlock the equity that is in their homes and helping them to downsize.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: I never said that.

Mr KNOLL: I would put to you, Acting Speaker—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Don't mislead parliament.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): Order!

Mr KNOLL: If you are a person who owns—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Remember the conversation we had.

Mr KNOLL: —a person who owns your own home—

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): Treasurer, order!

Mr KNOLL: If the Treasurer would like to defame me on Twitter, be my guest. I just seem to be trying to have an open conversation—

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): The member for Schubert, the minister is on his feet.

Mr KNOLL: —but if we—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The member has accused me of defaming him. I ask him to withdraw and apologise or to take action.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): Yes, the member will withdraw and apologise, and please continue with this debate.

Mr KNOLL: I will withdraw and apologise, even though I don't believe I said he did. I said that he may or he could.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): No, no. The member will withdraw and apologise.

Mr KNOLL: I withdraw and apologise.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): Okay.

Mr KNOLL: It just seems interesting that the Treasurer would confuse open and constructive debate as being some sort of final position on anything. As a young member of this place, I seek to go to all sorts of people to discuss different ideas, but if that is somehow construed as having taken a final position and that is something I cannot debate—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

Mr KNOLL: Acting Speaker, if you are an older person who owns their own home outright, do you know what makes your house unaffordable? A land tax on your house. That is what makes your house unaffordable. Under the current system, it is only when you sell your property that stamp duty gets triggered. Instead, if you own your own home, the thing that will make your house unaffordable and force you to downsize is having a land tax put on your family home yearly.

If you have a property that has increased its value significantly over time, then that land tax bill will be significantly more than the averages that have been purported by the government on their very simplistic calculation. That is exactly the kind of thing that will make people's homes unaffordable and I think it is a little about-face. If we want to make housing affordable in South Australia, and if we want to keep people looking after the asset that they have spent their lifetime building up, then the current system certainly helps us to do that.

I move on to a couple of local issues. The first issue is the perennial Barossa hospital. A new health facility in my electorate is needed and it has been needed for such a long time. Today it was revealed that the government is spending $3 million on spruiking hospital cuts, or as they call it, Transforming Health. And the irony of all of this should not be lost on anyone—spending $3 million on trying to tell the public how they want to save money!

The Barossa Council is the 10th fastest-growing council in the state. Population growth will demand increased and better service provision in the Barossa, and the sooner the government realises this, the sooner we can start delivering a project for the people of my electorate, a project that they have been talking about and fundraising for since 1992. I do not accept that we need to have substandard health care in the regions. Instead of spending that $3 million on spinning health cuts, that $3 million could and should have been put forward for a new hospital facility in the Barossa.

The second issue I want to talk about—and this is quite an odd issue for me because it is something that I did not think would occupy as much of my time as it has—is two stop signs in my electorate—two stop signs.

In March 2014, I received a letter from DPTI that stated that there have been a number of crashes at the corner of Stockwell and Angaston roads (and I will declare I live about 400 metres down the road) and this intersection also forms an important part of the local gazetted B-double freight route. The project will provide safety and efficiency benefits for all road users and consists of installing dedicated right-hand turn lanes, widening various sections of the intersection, removing the stobie pole on the northwest corner and upgrading lighting and stormwater drainage.

That is all well and good and I thank the government very much for spending that money, but as a result of that upgrade, the stop signs have been removed and replaced with give-way signs. I have been made aware of at least one serious accident at that intersection since February, since it was changed, but there have been a number of near misses that have been highly publicised and well reported in my electorate.

The reason that these have been highly publicised is that the editor of one of my local papers was involved in one and a senior journalist at the same paper was involved in two, so of course these things tend to get some good ink. On 25 March, the editor of The Leader wrote:

I was returning to The Leader after a very successful day when all of a sudden a motorist travelling from Stockwell direction drove straight in front of me. Fortunately I was driving at around 70km/h at the time, so I braked heavily, sounded the horn and with the other hand activated the wind screen wipers. Shortly after this experience my very dear wife, Angela kindly took me to Nuriootpa for some fresh air and a nice hot coffee. However, on our way back history was almost repeated when a man travelling on our left from the Stockwell direction, almost didn't give way to us. He had to brake heavily after not seeing our vehicle.

In last week's The Leader, the senior journalist wrote:

Less than 10 metres in front of me a maroon vehicle zoomed through the Stockwell and Angaston Roads intersection, seemingly without a care in the world as I made my way from Nuriootpa to Angaston. A colleague of mine behind me saw it all unfold. It was when we pulled up in the car park of The Leader office that it really dawned on me what had happened, when she said, 'I nearly saw you die.'

This week, after another near miss, the senior journalist wrote:

Remaining cautious of this intersection, I spotted the truck stop but soon after they proceeded to move off the line to head towards Stockwell and I was right in their way. I discovered the real reason for horns being installed in vehicles and this would have to be closer than it was last week.

So we have had a number of serious incidents at that intersection. I have written to the minister, and we are seeking a follow-up. I appreciate the fact that he has a young child at home, as I do; as I have been through newborn babies, I can understand. He is a little bit time poor at the moment and his priorities are elsewhere, but in this case I plead with him to help to change the stop sign.

I also have the same issue when it comes to the Seppeltsfield/Samuel/Stelzer Road intersection, where again we have had a number of near misses and one quite serious accident around six weeks ago. We again wrote to the Light Regional Council on that issue, and they said, 'We are complying with the legislation and the regulations as they are set down; it has to be a decision of the minister to change those stop signs.'

I would like to put on the record my public pleading for common sense on this issue. I am pleading to the minister: please, give my community something that they so desperately want. It is a common-sense solution, and it is just a pair of stop signs. I am not asking for much money. I am not asking for anything. In fact, I will do an Ivan Venning and I will go put up the stop signs myself. But, I implore the minister to see common sense on this issue.

The reason I am asking for this now is: we have had near-misses, we have had incidents, and we have had a couple of accidents, but I would hate to come back to this place in a couple of months' time and for us to be sitting in the same situation, and for there to be a serious accident that causes permanent injury or death. I sincerely hope that we are able to—given I know the minister is a gracious person and I know he is a common-sense kind of guy, I implore to his better nature to please do this for my community.

It is genuinely the biggest issue that has occupied the minds of residents in my electorate for the past two months. As their local member, they are pleading and imploring me to get something done on this. In fact, I have got a letter from one of my constituents that says:

May I also suggest that in this process you lobby hard to have rumble strips or similar on the Stockwell Road intersection to make motorists aware of the approach.

It amazes me how seriously people are taking this, and I, in turn, am taking this very seriously. I am hoping that we can get a decent resolution by the time we come back to parliament in a couple of weeks.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. A. Koutsantonis.

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