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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-03-20 Daily Xml
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State Liberal Government

Mr BOYER (Wright) (15:30): It has now been 12 months since this government was elected, and today I want to look at what has and has not been delivered in the north-east. The member for Newland's electorate was ground zero for cuts, closures and privatisations in the September state budget. We saw the announcement that Service SA in Modbury would shut, the third busiest Service SA centre in the state and one that saw transactions increased by more than 10,000 between the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial years alone.

We saw the announcement that Tea Tree Gully TAFE would close, too—the axe has already fallen on that site—and the indefinite postponement of the new park-and-ride at Tea Tree Plaza, a development funded by the previous Labor government that progressed so far as to have the contract signed. We also saw the privatisation of patient transfers between Modbury and Lyell McEwin hospitals.

Ms LUETHEN: I draw attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

Mr BOYER: This is from a party that swore it would never, ever again privatise Modbury Hospital or any of its services—and it took them just six months to break that promise.

On the weekend, the members for King and Newland posted some very polished and produced videos designed to look back at their first year in government and what they had achieved. When I consider all these cuts and closures in the seat of Newland, I can understand why the member chose to focus so heavily on his life before politics in the video. The video he posted was basically a recap of what he did for a job before entering parliament. Whilst what the member did before coming into this place is commendable, he must have been a little light on footage showing what he had actually delivered for the people in his seat over the last 12 months.

The member for King, however, took a very different tack. The member for King's previous work history is inextricably linked to Service SA because she actually managed two of the three service centres that this government is closing. What an extraordinary thing to be elected to this place and to come in here quietly, meekly and complicitly and sit by while your old workmates are thrown under the bus one by one and you have done nothing! You have done nothing. A true and accurate video of the member for King's first 12 months in this place would be an endless loop of footage showing her standing by meekly as one by one the people she used to manage get chucked under the bus. Under they go!

You can imagine the conversations between the gurus in the Liberal Party HQ when they were putting together the member for King's video: 'Well, we can't tell punters that the member for King managed the Modbury Service SA centre because that would be political suicide. So what is more popular than that? I know, we'll tell people she worked in banking and finance. People love that.' Genius, absolutely genius. What action did the member for King take after learning that her government would close her old workplaces? Did she stand up and fight for her community and demand that the Modbury Service SA centre stay open? Did she personally write to the Premier, the Treasurer or the transport minister asking that the closures be reversed? No, she did not.

We know now, though, after obtaining FOI documents, that the member for King did not even bother to write personally to the Premier, the Treasurer or the transport minister, as the member for Adelaide did, arguing that those cuts should be reversed. Instead, she had an electorate officer send a very short email to the Treasurer's office that said:

Dear Treasurer,

A resident has approached us with some issues surrounding the proposed closure of Service SA at Modbury—

Surprise, surprise—

Are we able to request some further information behind that decision?

This incredibly meek email tells us a couple of things. It tells us that speaking up in the Liberal caucus is not encouraged. In fact, when I first read that email, it brought to mind the iconic line from Oliver!: 'Please, sir, may I have another bowl of gruel?' But, most importantly, it tells us that the member for King was apparently so unaware of the reasons for the closure of Service SA Modbury that she had to write to ask. She did not even have an answer: she had to write to ask why it was being closed—shameful. Nineteen minutes later, the same electorate officer emailed the Treasurer again:

Following my earlier email, we have received numerous correspondence from many other concerned residents in King about the issues surrounding Service SA.

I bet the phones were running hot that day. It might have reminded the member for King of a day back in the Service SA centre at Modbury, in fact.

Returning quickly to the carefully stage-managed videos, some have suggested, upon watching the videos, that they were slowed down for effect, but this is not so. This is actually the pace at which the Liberals in the north-east move. It is glacial: opening Hope Valley Reservoir, nothing; upgrading the park-and-ride, nothing; an alternative to Service SA, crickets; and Tea Tree Gully Toy Library, delivered, but it was cut.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Wright, please be seated. Time has expired.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There will be no banter across the chamber. The member for Wright has finished. The member for Elder has the call.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: They sent me a very nice letter of thankyou.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister for Education!

Mr Boyer: They know what you did, minister.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Wright is called to order.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is also called to order. The member for Elder has the call.

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