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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
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Supply Bill 2017

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 9 May 2017.)

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (12:04): It is my pleasure to rise and speak on the Supply Bill. Before I address all the detail that I would like to on the Supply Bill, I will make some comments because last night, of course, the national Treasurer handed down the federal budget in the federal parliament.

I think, by and large, commentators on the national scheme have given this the tick of approval. It has provided some much-needed certainty in many areas, increased funding in terms of education and greater certainty with regard to how that funding is dispersed in a very logical and orderly way nationally. We see greater certainty provided in terms of health funding going forward and I think, very importantly, we see a resolution of the NDIS unfunded liability.

The NDIS, to be fair, is something that was put forward by the federal Labor prime minister of the time, but it received from day one strong bipartisan support. I think all Australians recognise that we need to do all that we can to provide support for those people who are living with a disability in our community. One of the things that I think has concerned this sector for a long period of time is that funding uncertainty. That funding uncertainty was removed with the federal budget that was brought down last night. I would like to commend the Treasurer and the Prime Minister for making sure that the NDIS will be fully funded and will support those people living with a disability in our community.

So there are lots of good things, no real surprises, and certainty for Australia. Yet, what do we hear from those opposite in this chamber? They could not wait to get out on the airwaves last night, on Twitter, talking to the trolls and telling them that this was a disaster for South Australia. In fact, they say that there was not one single solitary thing in this budget for the people of South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! There is too much noise on both sides. People will be warned, which means question time will be very tricky for you. The leader is entitled to be heard in silence. I cannot hear him over your noise. The leader.

Mr MARSHALL: This is a government—

Mr Picton interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna.

Mr MARSHALL: —that is completely unable to manage the economy in any useful way whatsoever and turns its attention to blaming everybody other than themselves and not taking responsibility. This is a theme of this government: never wanting to take responsibility for the situation that they have inflicted upon the people of South Australia. For them to come out today and say that they have had no support from the federal government means that they are dishonest, delusional or completely negligent—or all three. Let me provide—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order on my left!

Mr MARSHALL: Let me provide you with the evidence of this. When this current Premier came into this most important office in South Australia, this state government was receiving in the order of $8.2 billion from the federal government—$8.2 billion back in 2012. We are not even five years down the track and what are we getting from the federal government? It is $10.5 billion—from $8.2 billion up to $10.5 million—so another $2.3 billion worth of commonwealth money is coming into the coffers in South Australia.

In fact, we have become more and more reliant on federal government money coming into South Australia since this Premier has been occupying that seat. In fact, 55 per cent—a staggering 55 per cent—of the entire South Australian budget is now coming from the commonwealth government. That is because this government has failed to grow our economy and failed to grow our state revenue, and we are becoming more and more dependent on the commonwealth. Shame on this government, shame on this Premier and shame on this Treasurer.

A staggering $10.6 billion in total payments will come into South Australia in terms of health, education, infrastructure and industry support. The Premier and the Treasurer are out there saying, 'Nothing for South Australia.' I do not know whether they are having trouble reading on that side of the house, but I would like to help them out because I think that there are many things which ought to be brought to the attention of this house.

First of all, amongst those, I would like to commend the federal health minister, the Hon. Greg Hunt, for his support for the new proton beam therapy infrastructure or facility in South Australia. This is going to be the only facility of its kind in the entire nation, and it is going to be put here in South Australia. This is a great vote of confidence in our medical and research sectors in South Australia, and we say thank you very much to Greg Hunt for that $68 million investment in our infrastructure.

When minister Hunt was the minister for industry, science and innovation, we spoke to him. We spoke to him about this opportunity, this new proton therapy facility for South Australia. He was the minister for industry, science and innovation at the time and he said that he would make representations to the then minister for health, minister Ley. Of course, several months later, he became the Minister for Health and we reminded him of his great interest in the proton therapy facility for South Australia and it did not take very long for him to say, 'Yes, we want to invest in it, and we want to invest in it here in South Australia.' So, thank you very much to him.

There is a $110 million equity commitment to build solar thermal storage in Port Augusta. Again, this is a great vote of confidence by the federal government in the work of the member for Stuart, who has advocated on behalf of the people of Stuart and, quite frankly, on behalf of the people of South Australia since 2012, I think, when he set up in this parliament the select committee looking at the viability of establishing a solar thermal facility in Port Augusta. We thank minister Frydenberg, the Prime Minister and minister Morrison, the federal Treasurer, for their commitment of $110 million worth of equity to go into that plant.

In particular, when we talk about that plant, I would also like to acknowledge the great work of the federal member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey. He understands more than most the problems that the people of his electorate are experiencing because of this government's hopeless mismanagement of energy in this state. We have the highest cost and least reliable energy in the nation. We have a government coming up with spurious plans—well publicised, I will admit that: well publicised because they are spending our taxpayers' money telling people about their spurious plans, but they are no good.

Rowan Ramsey has been rolling up his sleeves and doing the hard work advocating on behalf of this project. In addition to that money, minister Frydenberg has provided a further $36.6 million to be made available to support investment in other energy infrastructure projects here in South Australia. I had the opportunity last week of again advocating to Arthur Sinodinos about how we can support industry in South Australia.

Labor has left our industry on the mat with little support for an extended period of time. Minister Sinodinos said to me, 'You're not going to have to wait very long, and we know why—because in the federal budget brought down in the House of Representatives in the Australian parliament last night we saw another $100 million to be put into an advanced manufacturing fund to help our businesses in South Australia transition.

Of course, Labor talk about it; they have their own transition fund. I think there is more than $10 million sitting in that fund, unspent because this government prefers to sit on his hands rather than roll up its sleeves and do the work to support employers in South Australia. In fact, recently the Premier very famously referred to the hardworking people in the small business sector of South Australia as the 'employer class'—as if we have a class system in South Australia: those people who want to put their private capital on the line to provide employment, and those people who do not. Let me ask you: where would we be in South Australia without the small business sector, without those people willing to take a risk to employ people in South Australia? It would be an absolute mess.

I would also like to highlight some of the excellent investments in important road projects that the federal government continues to make in South Australia. What we see for the next financial year is a commitment for almost $200 million on the Darlington interchange project, more than $100 million on the Torrens to Torrens project, and another $233.8 million to be spent by the commonwealth next financial year on the Northern Connector project, a very important project for the people of South Australia.

Deputy Speaker, I know that you will be interested, because of your longstanding interest for the people on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, that the commonwealth is again providing further support to improve the roads on the APY lands. In fact, next financial year another $23.8 million of commonwealth money is going into improving roads. We know that if you improve roads, you improve the productivity and you increase the opportunity for people to have meaningful employment on the APY lands, and that is good for everybody.

One of my favourite parts of last night's budget was something that I, personally, have been arguing for—and I know that many people on this side of the parliament have been arguing for for a long period of time—namely, the return of the supplementary road payment to the people of South Australia. On this point, I would particularly like to pay tribute to the member for Goyder, who has done a lot of work. He came from the local government sector before coming to this place; he knows how important that supplementary road payment is for the local government sector, especially for those in regional South Australia.

The federal government had this wrong. They have admitted that they had it wrong, and we are now seeing another $40 million going into the supplementary road payments for local government in South Australia—great work by the member for Goyder, and thank you very much to all the people in this place who advocated strongly for that.

I have the portfolio responsibility of looking after our veterans' community in South Australia as shadow minister for veterans' affairs in South Australia. When I came to this portfolio in January this year, I immediately set about talking to veterans about their priorities. Many of their priorities they needed to see addressed at the federal level. I made those representations to the Hon. Dan Tehan, and I am delighted with the package of measures that Dan Tehan has included in this budget: faster processing of claims and a significant amount of new money to accelerate the processing of claims for veterans; an expansion of the eligibility for people to access that federal government support from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, which is very important; and, I think most importantly, we see a real commitment with real dollars to finally address the issue of PTSD.

Our veterans have put their lives on the line to protect our freedom. Many people have lost their lives to protect our freedom. Many people have come back from the work they have done protecting our freedom here in Australia with shocking physical and mental consequences. It is outstanding that the federal government has recognised that we need to do much more in this area, and I commend the fighting that Dan Tehan has done for better money to support veterans who have returned with some of these mental scars that many of us probably will never fully understand.

Overall, the federal budget was a very good budget; it provided certainty, especially around education, health and the NDIS. There is plenty in it for South Australia, and those opposite should stop whinging and get on looking in the mirror at their performance over the last 15 years in office in South Australia.

We return of course to the matter most important today, namely, the Supply Bill. Convention dictates that we will support the Supply Bill, but we will not do so before I highlight the arrogance of this government. Let's be quite serious. They have come to this place and asked for $6 billion—this is just blank-cheque budgeting here in South Australia. There is no justification for this massive increase, and I will highlight to the house some of my concerns.

When the Supply Bill was presented in this house last year, the ask from the government was $3.4 billion; the year before, it was $3.2 billion. There was no explanation from the Treasurer, from the Premier, from anybody opposite, as to the reason for such a massive increase this year. I can only suspect that they are up to no good. I can only suspect that they are up to no good because an election is coming next March. They are only concerned with one thing. They have never been concerned about the people of South Australia: they are concerned about protecting their own political skins.

We see a massive increase in the request—$5.9 billion they want us to approve—without one shred of evidence as to what it will be spent on. Nightly on our TV screens, we are seeing the contempt that this government has for the taxpayers of South Australia. If there were any truth in advertising legislation in South Australia, the only ad we would see on the television would be an apology from this government for the position they have put our state in. Instead, we see taxpayers' dollars wasted on spurious advertising campaigns. It is an absolute abuse and waste of taxpayers' money.

At the moment, they are advocating for this $360 million gas-fired peaking plant to be put in place in South Australia. Of course, we have asked the logical question. I commend the member for Stuart, who is the shadow minister for energy in South Australia, who asks the logical questions. It might be $360 million in terms of capital, but how much is it going to cost to operate? What are the recurrent costs to the taxpayers of South Australia? What will the interest costs be? No idea. What will the depreciation costs be? No idea. What will the annual operating cost of this plant be? No idea.

What they do have an idea about is printing brochures, putting ads on television and DLs in people's letterboxes. That is no way to run our government here in South Australia. They had a perfectly good opportunity presented to them by Alinta. That would have saved hundreds of jobs in Port Augusta and in Leigh Creek. It would have cost the taxpayers of South Australia $25 million over a three-year period—$8 million per year—and $4½ million would have come back in mining royalties and payroll tax, so it would have been a net cost of $3½ million per year.

In fact, our energy prices have gone up so dramatically since that Alinta plant was closed that we would have saved money by spending the $8 million per year to keep Alinta operating, but they would not have that, because their ideology comes first—not the people of South Australia, their ideology. That is why South Australia finds itself at the bottom of the ladder in terms of economic performance in our nation. There is no care, no responsibility, no consideration of how hard people must work in our state to provide this government with money, which it wilfully wastes on a daily basis. It is not just the outrageous waste of money in terms of the spurious advertising campaign for their energy proposal.

What about the money they gave to one community? They gave one community $750,000 to run their politically motivated campaign. All of them on that side of the house should hang their heads in shame. That is a completely inappropriate use of state taxpayers' money. It was more than the government spent to actually promote exports throughout South-East Asia, more than twice the grants that were provided to veterans in South Australia for the ANZAC Day Commemoration Fund, and almost $200,000 more than the Housing Trust's annual homelessness grants, but these are the priorities of those opposite.

What I would like to challenge those opposite to tell us is: did they stand up in caucus or in cabinet and say, 'Mr Premier, this is wrong. This should not be happening. Taxpayer funds should not be spent like that.' I have not heard one of them make a grievance in this place, saying, 'Guess what? Jay got it wrong.' Not one of them! Look at them all hanging their heads in shame at their own government's performance, spending $750,000 on their politically charged advertising campaign to save their own skins. It is absolutely disgraceful.

Where do we find ourselves in South Australia after 15 years of Labor administration? We are not in a very happy place, let me tell you. At the turn of the century, South Australia had a staggering 7.6 per cent of the nation's jobs. Do you know what it is now? It is 6.8 per cent. If we had just kept pace with where we were at the turn of the century, we would have another 98,000 people employed in South Australia. This is not about improving our performance; this is just staying where we were at the turn of the century. Ninety-eight thousand more people would be employed here in South Australia.

At the turn of the century, South Australia represented 8 per cent of the nation's population. We are now down to 7.1. When I was a kid, we were the 10 per cent state; we represented 10 per cent. At the turn of the century, we were down to 8 per cent and we are now down to 7.1. If we had kept pace—not accelerated, just kept pace with the national average—there would be another 198,000 people living in this state. This would be transformational, but people have been giving up on South Australia over the last 15 years.

For 15 out of the last 17 years, Jay Weatherill, the member for Cheltenham, has been at the cabinet table. He has been in the driving seat, driving this state's economy off a cliff. It is completely and utterly unacceptable. When we look at where we are, it is a sorry state. Since this Premier came to power, South Australia's average GSP has been 1.4 per cent, and that has been almost exactly half the national average. In fact, our economy would be more than $10 billion larger if we had just kept pace with the national average, but we are nowhere near it.

We have had the highest unemployment rate for 28 consecutive months. It is impossible to believe—28 consecutive months and the government has done absolutely nothing about it. We have had a mass exodus of young people out of this state. Our net interstate migration now is 6,500 people per year. Our energy costs are the highest in the nation. A budget is coming down on 23 June, and this is a very important budget for the people of South Australia. It is an opportunity for the Treasurer, the Premier and this cabinet to press the restart button and start putting the people of South Australia first—forget about their own political futures and start focusing on the people they were elected to serve when they came into this place.

We need to see a much greater focus on creating jobs in South Australia. We need to see a massive reinvestment in creating exports out of South Australia. We are not selling goods and services interstate and overseas at anywhere near the rate we should be. We need to see more money going into exports. We need to see more money going to support families who are doing it tough at the moment. The cost of living is through the roof, and that is why we in the Liberal Party say that we will reinstate the emergency services levy, which will put another $360 million back into our economy in South Australia.

Defence work is coming, courtesy of the federal government. We have to do everything we can to grab it with both hands and turn it into an economic explosion in South Australia—a jobs explosion in South Australia. That means that we need to do everything we can to make sure that we have the skills in place to capitalise on the work that will come to South Australia.

In my final comments to the house, I would like to acknowledge the very big decision regarding Arrium at Whyalla that is going to be made in South Australia in the coming six or eight weeks. I was in Whyalla last week. I was travelling there with my parliamentary secretary, the Hon. Terry Stephens, and also the Hon. David Ridgway, our spokesperson for regional development in South Australia. A big issue is looming there. The people of Whyalla have been doing it tough for an extended period of time. I was very grateful to get quality briefings from the people from KordaMentha, who have kept the opposition in South Australia fully informed about their deliberations.

There are two quality proposals on the table. I say to this government and those opposite: let us put our political pointscoring aside on this issue. Whyalla is critically important, not just to South Australia but, quite frankly, to the national economy. The people of Whyalla have historically been very important to this nation's defence and to our industry, and we want to make sure that they are not left behind.

I give a commitment from all those on this side of the house that we will work with the government in any way we possibly can to ensure that the Arrium operation not only continues but flourishes into the future. I would really like to see this very much front and centre in the budget that will be brought down in this place on 23 June. But the most important thing we must see in next month's budget is a government that decides, once and for all, that it is going to take responsibility for running this state on behalf of all the people of South Australia, not just for their narrow interest groups and, in fact, their Labor mates.

South Australia is not doing well. It has so much potential and so much opportunity, but at the moment it has a massive boat anchor, which is 15 years of failed Labor administration. Start taking responsibility. Start putting the people of South Australia in the position in which they should be, which is that South Australians need to be listened to, they need a lower cost of living, more jobs and more security for our next generation.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (12:30): I, too, rise to speak to and commend this Supply Bill to the house. In the coming months, our Treasurer will articulate his and our government's vision for our South Australian community through the delivery of our state government's budget. It is important at this time to reflect on our priorities for our South Australian community and on our values. Our values are reflected in our spending priorities for our community. Our government is deeply motivated by our values, and we seek to advance those values in all aspects of our spending and through our activities in support of South Australians.

I understand and I am sure, having listened intently to the Leader of the Opposition, that there must have been some positive elements somewhere in last night's federal Liberal government budget. However, it was incredibly disappointing to learn last night, when I was listening to the federal Liberal government handing down its budget, that it is not motivated by values and that it is not prepared to back South Australians. As well as potentially vilifying unemployed people who often need a hand and others who need a hand through our welfare system, last night we learned that not one dollar of the $70 billion allocated to infrastructure by the federal government will be spent in South Australia—not one dollar on new roads, transport systems, public buildings—not one dollar of $70 billion.

Community legal centre funding has also not been fully restored for organisations like our Southern Community Justice Centre, the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, the Women's Legal Service, and all who access those crucial services set to suffer as a result. I find this extraordinarily unfair. Whilst many South Australians and I are disappointed, I am proud that our state Labor government is prepared to invest money in public projects, initiatives and infrastructure that will make a difference to people's ability to access world-class health care, to travel safely and to utilise public and community services and buildings. I am also proud that since our last budget we have continued to demonstrate that preparedness to support those measures that make a real difference in the lives of our fellow South Australians.

I have been delighted over the past 12 months to talk with local employers about the benefits of our $109 million job creation grant scheme to help growing businesses to create jobs, which we created in our last budget. The scheme offered $10,000 over two years for new full-time equivalent jobs created in small and medium-size businesses liable for payroll tax and $4,000 over two years for new jobs created by other eligible businesses. I have heard from those who have taken up this grant how it is helping them to expand and also to offer more employment opportunities. This is how our state Labor government is continuing to grow jobs and to support workers and their families.

It is right that over the course of the past 12 months, and indeed before that period, we have also prioritised funding for measures that help to prevent and eradicate domestic violence and ensure adequate support for those who experience it. I spoke in this place last year about our government's earlier funding for, and creation and implementation of, the Multi-Agency Protection Service (MAPS). This is an innovative partnership relentlessly focused on bringing together agencies that support those who experience domestic violence and deal with those who perpetrate it to ensure that community members do not fall through the gaps, that dangerous domestic violence situations do not accelerate and that we are harnessing, aligning and mobilising our resources around the prevention of domestic violence in the best possible way.

MAPS is a whole-of-government approach to responding to and intervening in domestic violence cases and child protection issues. It is an essential part of our government's commitment to eradicating domestic violence and to providing support and assistance to those who experience it. MAPS came from our government's abiding desire to do everything that can be done by government to protect those who experience domestic violence and to prevent the occurrence of it altogether.

I am very proud that our state government led the way in funding MAPS and I look forward to working further to build on MAPS by more deeply engaging our community sector and other sectors with it. I had the privilege of attending the launch of the new Women's Safety Services SA premises last year and have had the privilege for many years of working alongside the incredible women in that service and in other domestic violence services across our state, particularly with Southern Domestic Violence Service in our southern community.

I know how the Women's Safety Services is aligning its important efforts with other services, both government and otherwise, and the difference they make in the lives of women and children through doing so. An expansion of MAPS will further strengthen these efforts and will make a further difference in people's lives. Since last year's budget we have further strengthened our efforts in this area. In September last year, we committed $9.9 million to the Domestic and Family Violence Intervention Program, with more intervention workers and clinicians being hired to run the program. This followed a pilot in 2015-16 that engaged with 100 offenders.

As I have outlined, South Australia has a coordinated approach to preventing domestic violence and rehabilitation programs within prisons that target perpetrators are an important component of this coordinated approach. This program for offenders has been designed to challenge the mindset of those with a history of domestic violence and to shift attitudes towards the creation of supportive, loving, safe and respectful relationships.

Sentenced offenders who have been convicted of a domestic violence offence or who present with a significant history of domestic violence behaviour are eligible for the program. Protecting women and children, and indeed all people, from violence is complex. It requires a coordinated effort from governments, our community and individuals. This is an important program to give offenders an opportunity to break the terrible cycle of violence. The more we invest in rehabilitation the less we will see repeat offenders and the safer and more harmonious our communities will be.

Since March this year people leaving another state or territory to escape an abusive relationship will have their protections carried with them into South Australia. These new intervention orders will fulfil a commitment from the Council of Australian Governments to ensure that those experiencing domestic violence continue to receive protections even when they cross state or territory borders.

In December 2016, we also created an extra magistrate's position specifically to attend to the growing volume of cases involving domestic violence matters, with a focus on intervention orders and related criminal charges such as alleged breaches of orders. There are thousands of reports of domestic violence every year, with more than 8,000 reported in 2015. The number of these reports grows as, thankfully, awareness around the issue increases. By providing a dedicated magistrate to hear these matters, since December 2016, domestic violence matters can be heard more quickly and provide much-needed protections.

Our government has also given courts the sentencing power to require perpetrators of domestic violence to bear the cost of an intervention program if convicted of breaching an order and requires courts to inquire about any other relevant orders under the Family Law Act or Children's Protection Act. Domestic violence is a blight on our community. Our government is determined to use its resources, as we are doing, and to work with everyone we can to tackle and to end the problem. We will continue to work to make sure the justice system is as accessible, supportive and efficient as possible, and we will continue to do whatever we can to support those who experience domestic violence.

On this side of the house, we support education and understand how the changing nature of jobs and industries of our future means that we must change the way we educate our children, that we must teach them different ways of thinking and different skills. That is why, in our last budget, we committed to growing understanding of and engagement with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by investing $250 million in STEM facilities at schools across our state.

In my electorate of Reynell, Wirreanda Secondary School and Christies Beach High School received $2.5 million each, and Pimpala Primary School and O'Sullivan Beach Primary School were awarded $1 million each under our STEM Works program. These are just a few of the 139 schools that received funding under this program. Each of the schools I mentioned, and others across our state, are now planning to or are building new or refurbishing existing STEM facilities to give students access to modern learning environments to best interact with and learn these essential subject areas.

It has been an absolute pleasure to see these schools deeply engage their school communities in how these infrastructure upgrades will take place, what they will look like and how students will engage in STEM through them, how they will learn to problem solve and think differently through that engagement. In a number of these schools the voice of children has been sought, and their innovation is evident in the plans being made. Research shows that 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations are STEM-related. As South Australia transforms, so should our skill set.

This funding, and our ongoing commitment to schools, means that children will be prepared for the jobs of our future, including in areas such as advanced manufacturing and defence. On this side of the house, we will continue to support kids at school and ensure that they have safe, effective and innovative learning environments. This program has been delivered across our state because we believe that all children deserve modern learning environments so that they can reach their full potential.

Another aspect of last year's budget which is now being brought to life across South Australian communities and which I am thrilled to speak of in this place is our government's $10 million Female Facilities Program—a program which is giving more women better access to every aspect of sporting club life and enabling them to equally and actively participate in the sport and code they love.

The first round of the program had an extraordinary response, and the second round is now open to not-for-profit sporting clubs and associations. Clubs can apply for up to $500,000 to build new change rooms or to modify existing facilities so that women can also access them. From round 1 of the Female Facilities Program, 13 South Australian sporting clubs will share in $4 million to upgrade and build female change rooms.

New change rooms at these clubs and associations will be used by more than 3,400 junior and senior sportswomen across 12 different sports, including soccer, football, hockey and basketball. This means that 3,400 girls and women will have an opportunity to play, train and participate in the game they love without worrying about where they will change into their uniforms and without having to step off a field or a court simply to get into their car to go and shower and change at home.

Latest figures from the Office for Recreation and Sport show that about 150,000 girls and women are registered with sporting clubs in South Australia. This includes almost 5,000 registered female football and soccer players and more than 1,000 registered cricket players. But, despite growing participation numbers, many women's sporting teams in South Australia have been forced to use male change rooms, car parks, offices or other areas at sports grounds, or close to them, to prepare for their game. I have even heard of girls changing behind trees and in hot sheds on 40° days. Women and girls deserve to have access to the same facilities as our boys and men, and this program helps to make this a reality.

The implementation of this program at a local level is transformative. Those clubs that are thinking about their culture, and including girls and women in every aspect of club life and applying for these grants as part of this process, are growing and achieving better outcomes through embracing diversity. Our government encourages young people to be fit, active and engaged in their communities, and we see sporting clubs as a key place for young people to be included and to be part of a great big community family. We therefore want sporting clubs to be exemplars of inclusion and gender equality in all areas, and this program helps them to be just that.

We are currently experiencing a growing momentum of women and girls in sport and swelling numbers of female participation at all levels. Through the work of our South Australian Women in Sport Taskforce, which it is my privilege to chair, through the excellent and groundbreaking work of our Minister for Sport on equality issues in sport and through our government's strong commitment to advancing the interests and status of women in all areas of our community, we are making sustainable and lasting change. Together, we will continue to work to improve gender equality in sport, to change the face of sport leadership, to increase spectatorship and 'fanship' for women's sport and to keep attracting major women's sporting events to South Australia.

Our government is committed to our Achieving Women's Equality policy, which aims to eliminate barriers and to acknowledge the central role women and girls play in our economy and in our community. Whether a girl or a woman wants to write about sport, participate at any level, or administer it, coach it, or make a career out of it in any way, we must remove structural barriers to their being able to do so and we must support and celebrate their efforts. The Female Facilities Program is doing just that, and I look forward to further advancing this work.

In the lead-up to our next 2017-18 budget, I will continue to advance this work, and I will also continue to work with my wonderful, resilient and kind local community to advance their interests. There are a number of those local community issues that I am working with my community on—from local crossings to local walking tracks to minor upgrades at our local railway station—and I look forward to continuing to progress those issues through our budget and beyond.

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