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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
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Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Debate resumed

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (16:01): I rise at the start of this new parliamentary year to provide my Address in Reply. In doing so, I again acknowledge the extraordinary people of Reynell whom I am blessed to have on a daily basis inspire, motivate and support me to continue to work with and for them, to represent them to make sure their voice is heard on what is important to them. I am humbled by their relentless desire to do the very best for their families, for our southern community and for our state.

Ours is a community characterised by strength, kindness, resilience and compassion, an ocean-loving, tight-knit community that is always willing to open its arms to those in need and always willing to speak up and fight for what is fair. We are a community that cares about each other, about people being enabled to equally and actively participate in community life, about our natural environment, our pristine coastline, one that knows the true meaning of equality, of fairness, of inclusion, of what it takes to support people to access secure and decent jobs that enable them to meet the cost of living and live a decent life, and why high levels of employment are so important.

It is a community that loyally supports local businesses and wants to see them grow and that values quality and accessible health services, education, public transport and community services being there when they are needed. Many in our community have a strong vision of what they want for their lives, the lives of their children and all children and families in the south and beyond, how they see our state thriving and surviving into the future, and their vision, their hopes and their aspirations.

Their vision and the hopes and aspirations of communities across South Australia are why it is utterly disappointing that those opposite, in purporting to reset this parliament, have outlined no vision, no goals, no hopes and no aspirations for our state. What we heard on Wednesday 5 February was a series of reannouncements, with words direct from government media releases, about things that have already happened, many which were initiated and progressed by our former Labor government; a series of statements about initiatives that those opposite have already tried to progress but failed to; and about some vague, possible, maybe planning for a stadium—possible planning that comes at a time when so many people are feeling angry and let down by this government in so many different ways for so many different reasons.

The people of Reynell, as do hundreds of thousands of people in communities across our state, connect with one another through local sporting clubs. They are clubs that give them a sense of belonging, that enable them to do and be their best on and off the playing field, that recognise the power of sport to include people as part of a community family to support them when times are tough to see them flourish, that are filled with volunteers who work tirelessly to make matches, games and events seamlessly run week after week. They are volunteers who identify the need for improved facilities and who put their heart and soul into writing and preparing grant applications for funds that will see their clubs upgraded so that they can better include people in their club's activities, so that they can see facilities come to life that enable girls and women to equally and actively participate.

This is why this tawdry 'sports rorts' scandal, enveloping the federal Liberal government, which closely follows the cruel cutting by the state Liberal government of so much of the funding which these local volunteers from local clubs all over our state relied upon, is utterly appalling, so bereft of principle and so demonstrative of the lack of understanding about that power of sport to include people, to bring them together, to look after people, to create an equal playing field.

This government cruelly and ruthlessly cut the $24 million dedicated female facilities program in its first year. It cut $20 million across the board from sports funding and, in its second budget, slashed another $3 million plus. It is a government that has absolutely no credibility in terms of its support for women in sport or, indeed, support for the advancement of women in any other aspects of life. It is utterly outrageous, unconscionable, that back-to-back SANFL women premiers, the South Adelaide Football Club, have more premierships than toilets and that this remains so because of those opposite and because of their dodgy mates in Canberra.

This club was so close to rightly being able to build change rooms for girls and women, but this Marshall Liberal government crushed their hopes when it cruelly cut the $10 million final round of the female facilities program through which they had applied for funds and then cut the $24 million program altogether. The minister pretends that their $5 million fund somehow supports clubs like South Adelaide, other football clubs and clubs of other codes, but the harsh, cold reality is that their program is limited to three codes and requires a 50 per cent contribution from clubs or councils, something that is utterly impossible for many hardworking clubs across South Australia.

South Adelaide, like others across the country, then missed out entirely in the $100 million federal Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program that saw clubs with no women's teams receiving funding. These outstanding women kicked off their 2020 season campaign on Friday night with a great win against a valiant Eagles but, again, without appropriate facilities that provide safety, dignity and respect, and with local supporters and supporters from across town infuriated about the lack of support for these fine athletes from those opposite and their mates in Canberra.

This South Adelaide story is one characterised by unfairness and inequality, by margins triumphing merit, by genuine need being subservient to dishonest self-interest by a complete lack of care for or commitment to genuinely advancing the needs of girls and women in sport, and by an utter lack of understanding that it takes deliberate, targeted injections of funds to address inequity.

South's story, sadly, is a story that is replicated across South Australia to a degree that could fill a library. Whilst those opposite scramble to talk up their appalling lack of effort for women's sport, they utterly refuse to properly fund sport for women and girls in this state and, indeed, utterly refuse to fund sport across the board in a way that is fair and equitable and that responds to the needs of the hundreds of sporting clubs in desperate need of infrastructure and other upgrades. In their so-called big reset, those opposite failed to respond to that need.

The only news for sport and recreation was a vague reference, as I said before, to maybe possibly actively planning, whatever that may mean, for another city stadium—appalling but not surprising. They have let down again hardworking volunteers, players, parents, supporters and club officials in clubs across our state, and they have utterly failed again women in sport. Those opposite continue to demonstrate that they simply do not understand what it takes to achieve gender equality in sport or, frankly, anywhere else. They continue to have appallingly low representation of women in our parliament, lower than elsewhere in the country. It is hardly surprising that they fail to understand what it takes to achieve gender equality.

Diversity in decision-making does indeed make for better decisions, and the lack of women opposite participating in decision-making shows what happens when women are simply not at their decision-making table. This is evidenced by their lack of a plan or targeted strategy to achieve gender equality in their representation, and this is evidenced by their appalling handling of the ongoing saga involving the member for Waite, handling that has seen the Premier ignore every single best practice for expeditiously responding to complaints about alleged sexual harassment and alleged assault, handling that has seen the Premier utterly let down women and others impacted.

Their lack of understanding about what it takes to achieve gender equality is further evidenced by a very, very long list of failings: their refusal to support legislation to rid our roads of Wicked Campers with slogans that disrespect and promote violence against women; voting down legislation to insert the experience of domestic violence as a ground for discrimination into the Equal Opportunity Act; no money whatsoever being provided for domestic violence prevention, not one dollar; as I have said, the axing of the $24 million dedicated female facilities program; the axing of the South Australian women in sport task force; the axing of female participation grants; cuts to CCTV camera grants; cuts to managed taxi ranks that helped keep women safe when out at night; cuts to the Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service; and cuts to the Equal Opportunity Commission, limiting the commissioner's ability to deal with complaints about sex discrimination and sexual harassment, which together is one of the largest complaint groups.

There have been multiple inappropriate comments by the Premier and male ministers about women: the Premier's 'nasty face' comment; the Minister for Environment questioning the deputy leader's merit; the previous minister for trade, tourism and investment's comments about the appearance of a state government official on overseas trade work; and the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing's comment about his being more excited about the women's tennis than his wife would like him to be.

Mr BASHAM: Point of order: the member is reflecting on members of the house in a disrespectful way.

Ms HILDYARD: They said it. It is on Hansard.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will take the member's point of order—

Ms HILDYARD: I love the outrage about that. Where is the outrage about what they said?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Reynell, just be seated; I am speaking, please. I will take his point of order and I—

Ms Hildyard: Where is the outrage about the behaviour?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can you listen to me, please. I will listen carefully to your speech and you will keep in mind that we should not reflect on other members of the house, but go ahead.

Ms HILDYARD: It is not lost on many, many people in our community that these failures to address gender inequality come as at the end of last year we proudly celebrated 125 years of suffrage here in South Australia. It has been 125 years since a group of fierce activist women successfully fought for the right to vote and to stand for parliament. We were the first place in Australia and the second in the world to achieve this. It was an incredible achievement that reshaped our democracy, that had significant consequences for our state and across the globe and that was brought about by clever women like Catherine Helen Spence and her cohort of fellow activists.

These were women who knew how to organise other women and our whole community around the progressing of an outstanding cause. This was a group of women who knew how to fight and how to win. These were women who continue to inspire us to make change—and continue to make change we must because there is so much that we need to deal with to achieve equality, and this government clearly have a long way to go before they understand that and before they take any meaningful action.

As well as failing South Australian women and communities across our state, this government has failed communities across our state in terms of a lack of commitment to building infrastructure, its selling off our trains and trams, its cutting bus routes and its lack of funding for important community places and initiatives. As people in the south struggle with cuts to bus routes and the threats to their train services as a result of this government selling them off, this government's unwillingness to invest in our communities is also highlighted by its failure to commit to fund a much-needed upgrade to the O'Sullivan Beach boat ramp.

Local emergency services, including the SA Sea Rescue Squadron and the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard, have repeatedly said that the current state of the O'Sullivan Beach boat ramp is impacting on their ability to quickly respond to incidents to ensure the safety of people in our waterways. Local recreational fishers, including the outstanding Mark Mills, founder of the OnkaStompa Fishing Comp—which raises thousands of dollars for the Childhood Cancer Association—and the Christies Sailing Club have raised serious concerns about the problems caused by delays on busy days, problems that particularly impact boat users who need a bit longer to launch. If it is not fixed, people will stop using this facility and ultimately stop visiting our beautiful area—a situation that would be completely unacceptable, as would a lack of commitment from this government for the completion of the Witton Bluff base track to connect our beautiful Port Noarlunga Beach and Christies Beach.

The Hopgood Theatre has for more than three decades been a much-loved, integral and crucial arts community and social hub that has brought local people and visitors together. It is a fully equipped multipurpose arts centre and, year after year, it accommodates a diverse range of events. However, due to this Liberal government's refusal to fully commit to the ongoing funding for the long-term future of the Hopgood, it remains at risk of closing. This is despite the fact that it is home to more than 100 community groups every year and hosts tens of thousands of community members for events that have shaped individual memories.

It has developed the skills and confidence of our young people and it has added to the rich fabric of life in our southern community. Following more than 13,000 people signing a petition for the Hopgood to be funded forever, the government has again committed only a further six months of funding. But our community wants certainty for this place that is at the heart of our community that gives and enables so much.

Whilst women in the south who are in crisis as a result of domestic violence can rightly access emergency support service, those who are at risk of experiencing domestic violence often cannot access therapy, referral, counselling and other services and networks that could keep them safe. This lack of services means that, unacceptably, southern women often feel that they have nowhere to turn. Local community and other organisations report being able to advise a woman to contact a service at a time of crisis but literally not having anywhere to refer women before they reach that crisis point.

As mentioned, appallingly, the two most recent state budgets had no funds whatsoever allocated for domestic violence prevention. The lack of appropriate prevention and trauma recovery services presents a risk of increasing numbers of women falling into the acute crisis category, increasing pressure on already stretched crisis services. I urge those opposite to urgently and appropriately fund a domestic violence hub in the south that provides the services that southern women need, because southern women matter.

I also urge those opposite to immediately and fully reverse their cruel 25 per cent cut to mental health community services across our state. People experiencing mental illness and mental health issues are amongst those who need us the most. So many of these people cannot access the NDIS and so many rely on the support, contact and friendship that comes from attending local groups, the conversations they have with community services workers and the therapy they receive through those services—groups, conversations and services that keep them from isolation. They enable them to participate in community life.

This cut was a cruel decision that ruthlessly targeted people who should always be at the forefront of our hearts and minds when making decisions. Any funding cut in this area must be fully reversed to provide certainty to people in our community and to the outstanding workers who support and empower them.

We start this new parliamentary year in the wake of an unprecedented and deeply tragic bushfire season that has seen much of our beautiful country and state devastated by fire. I extend my deepest sympathy, love and support to those families who have lost a loved one and to those who continue to struggle in other ways through the loss of homes, community infrastructure, their jobs and their confidence and ability to start again. The mental and emotional impacts of these terrible fires will be confronted for many years to come.

I pay tribute to the member for Mawson for standing with the people of Kangaroo Island at this difficult time and indeed to other members who have worked so hard with their communities. I pay tribute to the many, many community members who, with perfect humanity and with such kindness, are reaching out to fellow community members in so many different ways. I offer my deepest gratitude to all the emergency services personnel who bravely risk their lives to protect others. I thank them for their incredible courage, generosity and willingness to put the needs of others ahead of their own. Their efforts are extraordinary, inspiring and to be commended.

These fires have taken a devastating toll on individuals and communities. They have also served to remind us of the importance of family, friends, of community and of the need for courage and kindness in the hardest of times. They remind us to always respect, cherish and enable what community is all about and what it can do.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (16:22): I also take this opportunity in parliament to respond to the speech by His Excellency the Governor Hieu Van Le, which opened the Second Session of the Fifty-Fourth Parliament in South Australia. In that speech, the Governor acknowledged the impact of the bushfire crisis on Australia as a whole, but more specifically detailed the impact those fires have had in South Australia.

The member for Kavel also spoke about the fires at both Cudlee Creek and Kangaroo Island that have caused immense damage to both the Hills and Kangaroo Island communities and also, tragically, have resulted in the loss of life in both those communities. We certainly express our deep sorrow and condolences to their family and friends.

In the member for Kavel's speech, he outlined the conditions that firefighters faced in the Cudlee Creek fires, which started in December, in the week just before Christmas. The speed at which those fires moved up from the steep country and went up those gullies until they hit the ridge lines, where they were fanned by winds causing them to race along the top of the ridge line, was incredible. As it moved, the heat that was generated was very intense, melting road signs and also the copper telecommunications lines that were in the ground. The aluminium in those road signs melts at over 600° Celsius, which certainly gives an indication of how hot and intense these fires were.

We heard from the member for Kavel the harrowing stories of the volunteer CFS firefighters who drove through firestorms, where both sides of the road were surrounded by fire, with trees and the bush on fire. There was also the risk of falling trees, which was always present as they drove along. He told stories of heroism, courage and self-sacrifice with these brave volunteers continuing to defend their community whilst at the same time not knowing if their own property had been lost to the fires.

The member for Kavel described the extent of the Hills' communities that were impacted, including (but not encompassing all) Cudlee Creek, Lenswood, Mount Torrens, Gumeracha, Woodside, Harrogate, Birdwood and Lobethal. Overall, the Cudlee Creek fires burnt 22,295 hectares and resulted in 84 dwellings being lost, as well as 493 other structures destroyed and 292 vehicles. I certainly take this opportunity to express my sympathy to all those who have lost their homes and also for the trauma that comes with losing not only the physical home but also all the memories and photos that go with it that really make up a home for people.

In the aftermath of that, the state government set up state emergency relief centres in Mount Barker, Highbury and Lobethal to help those communities recover, and the member Kavel has outlined the thankful feedback that his office received from the community about the compassion on display from the staff from the Department of Human Services who were based at those emergency relief centres.

While the Cudlee Creek fire was being brought under some form of control, at the same time the Kangaroo Island fires were starting to get worse. Lightning strikes hit a remote ravine near the Cape Borda Lighthouse at the top of the Flinders Chase National Park early on 30 December, and over the course of the next week they built into a firestorm that could not be contained, speeding through the western third of the island and in its path destroying national park infrastructure and community infrastructure as well, such as the Western Districts football and netball clubs, the Stokes Bay community hall, numerous homes on farms, hundreds of paddocks and thousands of kilometres of fencing.

At the time on New Year's Day, I was on life-saving patrol at Glenelg beach, and the air was thick with the smoke from the Kangaroo Island fires. Normally, the views along the coastline are uninterrupted down to Kingston Park, but on that day they were totally obscured by the smoke from those fires. Similar to the previously described fires at Cudlee Creek, the volunteer CFS firefighters again displayed countless acts of bravery and self-sacrifice to save people's lives and defend their properties where possible.

Tragically two lives were lost. Dick and Clayton Lang were caught in a firestorm as they tried to get back to their property near Parndana after trying to save a neighbour's house. They were trapped on the drive back in intense heat—a heat that was so intense that it melted the alloy wheels of abandoned cars and vans. When I was growing up in Highbury as a child the Langs lived just up the road from where we lived, and sometimes you could see the Desert-Trek emblazoned four-wheel drive that was parked out the front. Of course, when that four-wheel drive was not parked there it meant that Dick Lang was on one of his outback tours.

At the same time his son, one of four, was one of the state's leading plastic surgeons. At the time, he was good friends with my brother, and from an early age it was certainly very clear that Clayton was very intelligent and destined to achieve great things in South Australia. The deaths of those two outstanding individuals who were doing great things not only in this state but also for the state is significant, and I certainly express my deepest sympathies to the family of Dick and Clayton.

The scale of the bushfires on Kangaroo Island certainly was overwhelming, and at their peak on 6 January it led to the Army reservists being deployed as part of Operation Bushfire Assist at the request of the South Australian government. Major Trent Harron, who is a Morphett constituent, led the deployment from the start of the operation. Their mission was to provide assistance to the community's recovery efforts on Kangaroo Island. He describes the overwhelming gratitude of the Kangaroo Island community as the deployment arrived via the ferry at Penneshaw and then undertook the vital work that they did to help out and assist the local community.

Those efforts included relocating the emergency base camp from Parndana to be closer to Kingscote, also clearing roads from falling trees and creating firebreaks, helping recover and treat animals injured in the fire and also offering pastoral care for residents who were having to come to terms with the trauma of the fires and the loss of their homes and also stock. I remember back in 2007 when the fires ravaged the islands, the roads that were affected by those fires were closed for many weeks by fallen trees, whereas this time around, thanks to the Army, the roads were opened up much more quickly, which allowed access and recovery to occur so much more quickly than on that occasion.

Additionally, with water supplies becoming critical to the short-term survival of the island, the water purification and desalination system provided by the 6th Engineer Support Regiment quickly produced in excess of one million litres of water on Kangaroo Island to help overcome those critical water supply shortages. My Liberal parliamentary colleagues and I visited Kangaroo Island to see firsthand the impact of the fires on the Kangaroo Island community.

Many of the passengers catching the ferry to Penneshaw were Army personnel en route to relieve their fellow soldiers on the island. Compared to previous trips that I have taken to the island, rather than seeing tour buses as we drove into Kingscote we drove past Army trucks instead. It quickly became apparent that dedicated resources were being rolled out on the island to help with the recovery. The Army has undoubtedly left an impression that will live with the locals for many years, and we thank the Army reservists for their instrumental support in the recovery effort.

It is also important to mention the former member for Finniss and current Mayor of Kangaroo Island, Michael Pengilly. He has been instrumental in coordinating the recovery effort on the island, and he certainly deserves to be recognised for his ongoing efforts ever since the outbreak of the fires, including the establishment of the Mayoral Relief and Recovery Bushfire Fund. At the same time, the state government has also set up an emergency relief fund, and people, organisations and businesses throughout the state have been extremely generous in their support of these funds.

On behalf of the entire Morphett electorate, I express my heartfelt thanks to the commitment and courage of our firefighters and other emergency services workers, ranging from the MFS and the SES to the National Parks and Wildlife Service and all other emergency services and not-for-profit organisations who served tirelessly in all the fires the state has already faced this summer. We know that the fire season is not over yet. I also thank the volunteers who came from interstate and overseas to assist.

I will now get back to the Liberal parliamentary trip to the island. On the Friday, our visit took in a tour of some of the firegrounds in Flinders Chase. I went along with the environment minister and the members for Elder and Colton, and we were also accompanied by park rangers. We saw the devastation firsthand. Rain was falling at the time: over 50 millimetres of rain fell on that day. Amongst the ashen ground and blackened tree stumps the fire had created, we saw that green shoots were beginning to appear, which was certainly very encouraging. This growth has continued on since then.

Importantly, I think it is worth saying that many of the attractions are based on the eastern half of the island. Thankfully, the iconic Seal Bay was untouched, as was the magnificent scenic landscape along the Dudley Peninsula. They are still there to be enjoyed, along with many other attractions on the island. The aftermath of these fires now confronts us with an urgent challenge: to support the community, families, businesses, sporting clubs and organisations that have been devastated by these fires.

The government is allocating major resources from its agencies to support those individuals, communities, primary producers, businesses, wildlife and the environment. Notably, tourism is such an important part of the Kangaroo Island and Hills communities. For this reason, the government has launched the #BookThemOut campaign to encourage South Australians to holiday in these regions in order to help them recover. As I have mentioned, while some of Kangaroo Island is fire damaged, it is certainly a large island—in fact, it is the third largest island in Australia—and many locations on the island can still be enjoyed. I know that parochial South Australians will respond and help with that recovery.

So, yes, the bushfires do demand this government's attention, and as a government we will give the same energy to the recovery efforts that we have applied since our election in March 2018. It is a focus that has seen this government deliver on the commitments it made to South Australians at the 2018 election. Over the past two years, we have certainly been focusing on creating more jobs, reducing costs to families and businesses and making significant investments to provide better government services.

At the same time, gone are those fake fights with Canberra. They have been replaced by cooperation with the federal government, which importantly has gone into providing major productive infrastructure not only in Adelaide but also in our regions that have been neglected for so long. As a state, we now have a fully funded pipeline of infrastructure works worth $12.9 billion over the next four years.

Major infrastructure projects that are envisaged include the north-south corridor along South Road. Part of this is the planning around making the decision on how the corridor between Tonsley and the River Torrens is to be completed. It is certainly the most difficult section, and a decision on that will guide how that project is developed and delivered over the coming years. It certainly will bust congestion when it is finally done.

We can see the benefits of that already in other sections, and there will certainly be other projects that will also bust congestion, including upgrading seven major metropolitan intersections and, in addition, extending the Tonsley line, the rail line to Flinders University. As you drive along Sturt Road, you can see the elevated section starting to happen. Right from the outset, money has been expended to ensure that there is grade separation not only over Sturt Road but also over South Road, which will deliver commuters directly into the Flinders University precinct, and that will really help to make that a well-functioning precinct.

While I talk about grade separations, it is also worth touching on two other congestion-busting grade separation projects. One of those on Torrens Road at Ovingham, and one certainly very important to the electorate of Morphett, is the $171 million that is going to be put towards the Brighton Road, Hove, crossing that certainly causes traffic to build up in the afternoons right along Brighton Road, and even as far as Somerton Park and Glenelg, during peak times. This is going to be really important to help bust congestion along Brighton Road. At the same time as busting congestion and providing increased productivity, it will also create jobs, which will help grow our economy. It will also mean that workers will spend less time in their cars going to and from work and more time with their family.

But it is not just in road infrastructure that a beneficial relationship with the federal government is paying dividends to this state. In December 2018, I was delighted to be present when the Prime Minister, alongside the Premier, announced a new City Deal that will be supported by $185 million of federal investment, at Lot Fourteen, the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site, which has now been transitioned into a high-tech hub.

At the same time, the Prime Minister also announced the establishment in Adelaide of the Australian Space Agency at Lot Fourteen. This was a fantastic announcement and very exciting because establishing the Australian Space Agency in Adelaide is certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity that will position South Australia as a key player in the nation's space industry. The Space Agency will support the long-term development of space technologies, it will help grow our domestic space industry and it will allow businesses to enter new markets, which then means growing and creating jobs right here in South Australia.

Whilst getting the Australian Space Agency was a key plank, at the same time it allowed for a springboard to establish other like-minded facilities in Lot Fourteen. This includes the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, which will also be established at Lot Fourteen and will attract $245 million worth of research and jobs. The state Liberal government's efforts in supporting the space ecosystem in South Australia are certainly generating significant international interest.

Last year, the United States House Committee on Armed Services, which comprises eight members of the US Congress and is one of their most important committees, visited Adelaide to be briefed on what is going on here not only in our defence sector but also on the emergence of South Australia's space sector and what its capabilities would be. That certainly shows there is a worldwide focus on Adelaide because of that significant investment in Lot Fourteen.

Yesterday, the largest privately owned Italian space company, SITAEL, opened its new satellite design office at Lot Fourteen, which will design, build and manufacture 50-kilogram to 300-kilogram satellites. The General Manager of SITAEL Australia, Mark Ramsey, commented that the proximity to other space organisations, such as the Australian Space Agency, SmartSat CRC, Inovor Technologies, Myriota and Neumann Space, sealed the decision to locate in Lot Fourteen. He said, 'We are excited about expanding the company in such an environment.'

It is fantastic to see the biggest privately owned Italian space company basing themselves here in South Australia. That proved dividends straightaway when, at the same time as opening their office here at Lot Fourteen, SITAEL Australia also signed a contract with local company Inovor Technologies to formally support them in their $2.5 million defence contract for the Buccaneer satellite bus. It is fantastic news and it is big news because present at the opening of SITAEL was the President of the Italian Space Agency, Mr Giorgio Saccoccia, and Her Excellency Ms Francesca Tardioli, Ambassador of Italy.

Just to give an idea of where space sits, the Italian government contributes over €2 billion to the European Space Agency. They make up approximately 16 per cent of that agency's budget and it is certainly significant that Mr Saccoccia is visiting Lot Fourteen and seeing what is going on. Speaking with him, he is keen to provide their experience to our Australian Space Agency and, importantly also to learn from us because where we are placed is really the transition in the space industry where it has gone from government led to now being privately led. That is where Australia has been able to move in, pick up and run with that. Italy is certainly keen to see what we are doing and they can see that, as the commercialisation of space grows, Australia can certainly be a key player.

Reflecting on these sorts of relationships and the transformation that will result they are very important and realistically have only come about because Australia has its own national Space Agency. The dialogue that is occurring is at an agency to agency level rather than government to government. What the Australian Space Agency has found is that all of a sudden, by having an Australian Space Agency, doors that were closed are starting to open up, and out of that is coming growth.

I touch again on the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre that is being headquartered at Lot Fourteen. Lot Fourteen is also going to be home to the mission control facility and the Space Discovery Centre. You can see those two facilities being built at the moment. The Mission Control Centre will be very important, as will the Space Discovery Centre. The SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre certainly is significant. It has seen a lot of funds flow into Adelaide. It is a research powerhouse that brings together around 85 international and national partners, and they are investing $190 million of that $245 million, with the remaining $55 million coming from the federal government. That represents a research effort over the next seven years, with a lot of that money being spent in Adelaide.

Some examples of what that collaborative research centre will allow is a collaboration with NASA to investigate how to keep people safe during bushfires when they are out of wireless range, so the Internet of Things and constellations, what they can do in terms of downstream communications. Another example is that the CRC is working with the CSIRO to create a constellation of dedicated satellites to communicate with water sensors, named AquaWatch Australia Mission. That has the technology that will allow the monitoring of water going in and out of the River Murray. It can certainly track and monitor and find out if users are taking more out than they have been allocated. Those sorts of practical opportunities open up right here in Adelaide.

I touched on the Mission Control Centre based in Adelaide, which will be a focal point for space missions in Australia. It will certainly accelerate growth of the space sector and provide facilities for space start-ups, companies and researchers to control small satellite missions here in Adelaide, enabling them to have real-time control, testing and also accelerating the development of satellite capability in Australia.

The Space Discovery Centre, which will sit right alongside it, will be open to students and provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, engagement and inspiration to young South Australians and Australians. They will be able to look into the Mission Control Centre as they sit side by side. That will really help to inspire younger Australians and South Australians to see the opportunities they have before them.

I have talked a lot about space, but it is more than just space there at Lot Fourteen. Today during question time, the Premier spoke about some of the opportunities and the fact that Lot Fourteen is also home to the University of Adelaide's Australian Institute for Machine Learning. Lot Fourteen is also home to the Australian cyber collaboration centre, and all these work together and leverage off each other because you can use machine learning when you get the information from these constellations to make rapid decisions and for data analysis.

Yesterday, the Premier, the Minister for Skills and Innovation, the Minister for Education and I attended the opening of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning and we opened their new research and learning space. The Australian Institute for Machine Learning is the largest research group of its kind in Australia and is ranked in the top three of its kind in the world. At the opening, Professor Anton van den Hengel, Director of the AIML, stated:

The support of the South Australian Government in setting up our Institute has been instrumental to our growth and being recognised as one of the best Machine Learning research groups in the world.

That really puts a lens on the opportunities and the assistance they have received from the state government. Machine learning is a field of computer science that gives computers the ability to learn without having to be explicitly programmed, and that allows rapid learning to go on. This is not something that is going to happen in the future; it is something that touches our lives even as we speak.

Whenever we use Google, Google Maps, Facebook or Instagram, we are using apps that have machine learning built into them. The Australian Institute for Machine Learning researchers are applying this machine learning. Those are some examples. There are certainly terrific opportunities in Australia in agriculture and medical imaging. From the University of Adelaide's point of view, a lot of machine learning was based on using machine learning for vision, transport, cybersecurity, winemaking, mining operations, moviemaking and even advanced manufacturing.

In terms of estimates, Professor van den Hengel outlined that they are looking to create over 150,000 jobs in AI into the future, so it is certainly a growing area and something that will be very important to the South Australian economy. The fact that we have one of the top three institutions in the world in this field and discipline is fantastic for our state as we look to transition this economy.

Alongside these opportunities in high-tech, and complementary to these high-tech industries, is the $90 billion shipbuilding program that will deliver sophisticated and high-end manufacturing here in South Australia. The shipbuilding program will build Future Frigates and Attack class submarines and, in the process, will support smaller companies in South Australia to establish themselves in the defence sector. These Future Frigates and submarines are advanced, sophisticated pieces of defence equipment and they are going to require South Australia and Australia to build our knowledge base and skills. We really have to upskill ourselves, and I have every confidence that we can do that.

Throughout history, South Australians and Australians have shown that they can learn, and they certainly can punch above their weight in this regard. It is not going to happen by chance, and the Minister for Skills and Innovation has really been at the forefront in terms of rolling out skills and training programs that are going to be needed over the next 10 years to get us to that level. The Defence Teaming Centre is also working very hard to ensure this occurs to make sure that South Australian companies can maximise their chances of being involved and also create as many South Australian jobs as possible.

We do focus on shipbuilding but it is also worth talking about how shipbuilding is only one aspect of the armed services. I have spoken about the Army before, but the Air Force is also very important. Again, we are lucky in South Australia that RAAF Base Edinburgh is one of the two major Air Force bases in Australia and the centre for the electronic warfare of our country. Again, you have that electronic cyber high-tech aspect which is complementary to what is being rolled out in Lot Fourteen as well. Cybersecurity is definitely important going forward. That brings me back to the Australian cyber collaboration centre, which is looking to be set up in Lot Fourteen. It is anticipated to be operational by the middle of this year, and this is a big industry.

In shipbuilding, you talk about $90 billion; a fair amount of that is just in the steel and the electronic warfare systems, whereas with cyber a lot of it is software based. You can see in terms of order of magnitude that cyber is going to be very important. There is a lot of work required, so there are plenty of jobs in that area. To supplement that, the cyber collaboration centre being set up in Lot Fourteen is going to be very important. One of those facets is the cyber test range that will provide a facility for organisations to test and security test their equipment and network configurations, knowing that they are in a production environment that is safe from interference.

I have touched on the work in the space and defence sectors and how exciting they are. I acknowledge that there are many other sectors where there are growth opportunities in South Australia, such as international education, energy and mining, food and wine, agribusiness, tourism, health and medical services. These are all exciting opportunities and part of our plan to create more jobs in South Australia.

The first two years of the Marshall Liberal government have shown us as being able to deliver on our election commitments. We are focused on lowering costs. We have created jobs. We are providing better services. I look forward to continuing this work, in Morphett and across South Australia, as we look to embrace the exciting opportunities that will transition South Australia to becoming a growth state.

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (16:52): I also rise to give my Address in Reply speech and, in doing so, acknowledge the Governor's speech. It is always good to see the Governor in this place and elsewhere around the state, because he is an exemplar of something incredibly important, something that in some ways seems to be slipping away to a degree. I would like to think that it is not so in South Australia. I have said before that here is a man who turned up on our shores on a boat as a refugee and he was greeted with, 'G'day, mate!' and brought into our community. If he were to arrive today, he would spend years on some isolated island out in the Pacific. So the milk of human kindness, as I have said once before, does not flow as freely now as it did in those years, which I think is very unfortunate indeed.

I was going to start my Address in Reply by talking about the bushfires. A number of people have raised them in their opening, especially those people who have been members directly involved in the bushfires around our state, especially Cudlee Creek and Kangaroo Island. But I thought I would start on a different note. Given the report that was very recently released, a very disturbing report in a number of ways, came just before the latest Closing the Gap update was released, there has been discussion in the parliament of the need to rejig and change the emphasis. Clearly, when it comes to Closing the Gap, nationally, I think of the seven measures; five are nowhere near on track.

In another report, Professor John Glover from the Public Health Information Development Unit, drawing upon ABS data, looked at the whole of Australia and he broke it down into suburbs and regions. The figures for this state were incredibly disturbing because, when it referred to the APY lands, we know there is a gap when it comes to longevity, but this was not a gap: this was a gaping chasm. In the APY lands, the report indicated that the median life expectancy is 48 years. There was no mention of that in the Governor's speech, and these numbers came out before the Governor's speech. A number of things were mentioned in relation to Aboriginal people, but this was not touched upon. This is something that all of us in this place and all of us in this state need to deeply think about.

I do not pretend that the responses are simple; they are many and varied, and in a lot of ways they are complex, but some of it has to be about genuine empowerment of people. They need some significant degree of control over their lives. In an advanced country like Australia, one of the most affluent countries in the world, to see that there is part of our population where the median age is 48 I find really hard to comprehend. Obviously, the APY lands is in my electorate, but I think this would deeply concern, in a genuine way, everybody in this place, irrespective of which party they are in. I am not here to provide any simple answers or have a go at anybody, but it needs seriously deep reflection about where we are going and how we can improve. I know that some of that is about empowerment, a lot of it will be about on-the-ground measures and maybe some measures are symbolic.

Since being elected to this place in 2014, I have been on the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee. This might be speaking out of school a bit, but I have to say that my introduction to that committee at my first meeting was somewhat disturbing, in that one or two of the members on the committee, at public expense, wanted to go to New Zealand to look at governance methodologies there. I thought it had absolutely nothing to do with our communities here in South Australia. Another place to visit was also mentioned. I indicated at that stage that there was no way I was going to take part in any of those visits to overseas countries. I did not think it had any relevance.

I remember the first time I went up to the APY lands as the local member. I understand why we go up in a chartered flight. As a group of parliamentarians, time is scarce, so it is a practical thing to do, but what deeply disturbed me was that we flew in and out of those Aboriginal communities each night and stayed in a luxury resort at Uluru. I indicated that, if we did that again, I was not going to attend. I thought there was something deeply wrong with that.

As I said, a number of things were mentioned in the Governor's speech in relation to Aboriginal affairs, but I actually feel somewhat uncomfortable that, as a group of white European parliamentarians, with one exception on that committee now, we are the ones who go in and visit communities. It is my view that it should be Aboriginal people who go in and visit these communities and it should be Aboriginal people who report back to this parliament about what is needed. I say this just off the top of my head, but I think we need to really look at this. As I say, when you have a community of about 3,000 people in the APY lands where the median age is 48, we have to change our approach in one way or the other.

Earlier this year, along with other members from both sides, I went to visit communities down in the South-East and elsewhere in South Australia that had been affected by fire. Obviously, the most intense damage was at Cudlee Creek and on Kangaroo Island. I had the opportunity to go to the western part of Kangaroo Island to have a look at the devastation and to speak to people who were seriously on the front line—volunteers, farmers, small business owners and general members of the community—about what they lived through. The sheer voluntary community effort that went into tackling the fires and providing support subsequent to and during the fires was one of the incredibly good things to come out of an incredibly bad situation.

I visited some farms that had lost their farmhouses. Some had lost everything. One young farmer who was starting out, who came from a family of farmers, had his house and all his outbuildings destroyed. Another farming family had their property threatened. Some of their property did burn, but their house and some of their outbuildings were saved purely by the shift in the wind at the last minute. I spoke to one man who was a farmer, a professional fisherman and a charter operator. If not for a number of people coming together at his property with farm firefighting units, he would have lost his property. That was the difference between total loss and saving nearly all the major structures on his property. It shows the importance of the farm firefighting units, which is one those things that used to be supported.

Subsidies were in place under the previous government that were removed. It might be time to reflect upon that given the difference it can make, because the volunteer firefighters and the CFS cannot be everywhere. These units can make a difference between saving a property, saving buildings and not saving buildings. I would call upon the government to look at the removal of that subsidy and reintroduce it, because I think it is one of those incredibly positive things that can be done. I do not say that in a way to have a go; it is just a sensible and pragmatic thing to do. This is the sort of thing we can do that makes a real difference.

When you speak to people on the ground, on Kangaroo Island especially, you get a number of different opinions on their take on the fire. There is always going to be that nuanced view of what needs to be done. Some farmers did lots of great work with native veg corridors. They said that we might have to relook at some of this, but not in a 'let's just get rid of it' sort of way. We need to be sensible about it. The issue of how we approach the need to provide an environment around properties that is less conducive to fire was mentioned. I was given an example of one property where there was a fairly slow bureaucratic response to addressing the issue of some clearance around the major buildings, though not a wholesale clearance. The slowness of that response was probably a contributing factor to the loss of that farmer's house.

We have to look with an open mind at some of those issues and sometimes the chain of command when responding to stuff on the ground. They might not always be perfect responses, but speedy responses can sometimes make a real difference. There are practical issues we need to look at when it comes to fire regimes around the nation. Global warming is not the direct cause. We do not need to have those really silly arguments about whether it is arsonists or it is this or it is that. Global warming is an amplifier: it amplifies the threat that we face.

When it comes to extended drought, intensity of drought, global warming is a factor, and it is obviously a factor in the drying out of forests and the drying out of scrub, which provides the medium for the fires to take place. We know from the experts in the field that the season within which we can do the prescribed burns is getting shorter and shorter. Globally, at the moment we are just on a 1° average increase in temperature rises induced by human activity leading to global warming. On the current trajectory, we know that we are on track to anywhere between 3° and 4°.

I have said many times before in this place, as have other people and obviously lots of commentators and lots of scientists: a world of an average global increase of 3° to 4° is a fundamentally different world from the one we are currently living in. The damage in Kangaroo Island, and the damage at Cudlee Creek and in parts of the Hills, was extensive and we need to do all we can, both as a government and as communities, to support those areas to rebuild because it is going to take time.

There is a linkage when it comes to mitigation, so I am going to talk about energy. I noted with interest the Address in Reply speeches from the member for Kavel and the member for Heysen. I know that a lot of people across the floor, unlike their federal colleagues, accept the science and believe that we should be doing something about it. Even though South Australia is just a very small part of the globe, there is absolutely no reason why a state like ours should not seriously mitigate, as we have a long history of innovation. There are opportunities associated with mitigation, and clearly adaptation is another part of that strategy. If we do not get mitigation right at a national level and at a global level, eventually it just outstrips our capacity to adapt and we end up in a far worse world.

The member for Heysen had a few interesting things to say about energy when he started talking about something I did not know about. He said that way back in 1593 Palmanova, a town in the north-east of Italy, wanted to isolate itself from the world and become a utopia. It was meant to be some sort of simile, if you like, for our approach to our energy system when we were in government. That is not just a long bow, is it? It is almost an infinite stretch because, of course, our approach was not an isolationist approach, and there have been various approaches on our side to an interconnector with the other states over an extended period of time. I have said here before that I think the principle of interconnection, especially as we shift to renewables and to variable energy systems, is sound and we do want to move around electrons from state to state at times.

You can say that is a good thing, and I do not think that any rational person who understands our electricity system would have an argument there. However, sometimes it is an argument about timing, and it is important to get the timing right. I think that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the strategy that we had, which was linked to building generation capacity in this state, and I think that is a good and positive thing to do.

We get into these debates here and we say, 'Well, at the end of the day, yes, interconnectors are right, but, yes, building generating capacity in this state is also right.' In a practical way, it takes into account the timing and takes into account what is happening interstate. Let's do this in a way that we do not lose generating capacity in this state and that we can continue to expand generating capacity in this state. It is not a fundamental disagreement by any means.

We commissioned the Green Grid study that looked at the 10,000 megawatts of wind capacity on Eyre Peninsula that has barely been tapped. In the context of that report, it was flagged that if we developed that capacity—or certainly if we focused on 2,000 megawatts of that capacity—it would be very worthwhile to have an interconnector or two additionally with the other states. I am sure that the member for Flinders would agree with me that we should revisit that study, as I think it was a good study, in terms of strengthening the grid on Eyre Peninsula while also capturing the massive resource over there.

The government mentioned in passing our primary industries, a $20 billion industry in this state. Some of the rain we have had of late has been welcome, but some areas of the state are not out of the woods yet. I would say that, when it came to drought, the government was very slow to act. There is now a $21 million program, but, as I said, it was very slow to act. We were the last state to provide direct assistance for primary producers and their drought-affected communities. I do not begrudge or denigrate the $21 million, but it could have happened sooner.

However, there are still people in our state who are still experiencing difficulties. Certainly in pastoral properties people have raised a number of issues about accessing support. Given the nature of the pastoral properties, which are invariably very large landholdings, the value of those properties is such that those people are denied the opportunity to make use of the various federal government supports and the belated state government support. I think that that really does need to be looked at.

Even though there has been some rain in the Far North of the state, rebuilding is probably going to take a long time. A lot of those properties were heavily destocked, so it is going to take time to rebuild. They still are in need of assistance. Look at the dog fence levy. New South Wales provided direct assistance to primary producers when it came to the levy. The levy has increased. That is something that the government could look at. Could we provide some assistance there?

The freight subsidy comes up on a regular basis when you speak to pastoralists and others because it did disadvantage South Australia. I understand the abstract argument about how we do not want to get into a bidding war with the other states. This needs to be handled at a national level or maybe at a COAG level so that we do not have one state offering subsidies to the detriment of other states. While other states are doing so, I think we do have to provide assistance for our primary producers as well.

Going back to energy, hydrogen was mentioned in the Governor's speech. I have spoken about hydrogen a number of times in this house. Indeed, before I was elected, I worked with the Melbourne institute of energy, and I think we wrote to around 100 companies to ask whether they were interested in co-funding a study into the potential for green hydrogen in South Australia, and specifically in Whyalla.

I will always get back to the fact that the South Australian community with the strongest comparative advantage when it comes to producing green hydrogen and all the challenges that presents would be Whyalla. It is one of only two integrated steelworks in the country, the other one being in Port Kembla. If we are ever to green the steel industry, we have to find a substitute caulking coal, and that substitute is hydrogen.

The Swedes and Germans are going down that track. Rio Tinto is talking about scope 3 emissions, largely in China but also elsewhere. When they talk about scope 3 emissions, they are looking at hydrogen, and I think BHP will probably come on board with hydrogen as well. Not only does Whyalla have the only steelworks in South Australia but, as I said, it is only one of two integrated steelworks in the country.

The other reason that Whyalla makes so much sense is that there is nothing at Cape Hardy, whereas there is already an export facility at Port Bonython near Whyalla. The last time I looked, that export facility was massively underutilised, so there is probably 70 per cent spare capacity at Port Bonython—well, there was a few years ago and I do not think it has changed all that much.

Whether you directly export hydrogen or you take it that step further to ammonia, which will have other benefits, these are all things that are really worth looking at for our state. I do not pretend that this is necessarily easy, but other countries are making the effort. Some other states will make the effort. When I mentioned the underutilised resource on Eyre Peninsula, that is cheek by jowl with a world-class solar resource. A lot of elements come together for South Australia when it comes to renewable-based hydrogen production and it needs to be treated very seriously with a strong commitment from the government.

I acknowledge that the previous government had its hydrogen road map. It funded a number of projects—one at Port Lincoln, one at Crystal Brook and down at Tonsley Park—and the current government have built on that with the report that they have provided. However, it does require support because we are in a race with other states and other countries. There are some major opportunities here, but it all gets back to doing it commercially at scale, and we need to take some of those early steps.

I go on about Whyalla not because I am the local member—obviously I do that—but because when I look objectively at the comparative advantage it lies in that community. Sanjeev Gupta has talked about hydrogen. When it comes to economic development in South Australia, I will say that this year is going to be the litmus test for what happens in Whyalla. That has benefits for the whole of the state if that journey starts in a pragmatic and practical sense this year.

We have the development application in for the new mill, but that does not have financial closure. The 280-megawatt solar plant has undergone yet more slippage, when it comes to some of the regulatory hoops that have to be jumped through, but this year will be the litmus test about what is going to be delivered in Whyalla. I always say there is a spectrum of possibilities, so let's keep tuned. I have no doubt he will be back to government to see what assistance might well be provided, but that can be done in a way that I think is sensible both for the state and for the national government, while generating what could be very significant benefits for Whyalla.

The Governor's speech also mentioned mining. It was good to see the reinstatement of the renamed PACE program because support for exploration is incredibly important. It is one of those areas in which you can invest a reasonably modest amount of money and get huge returns. That has been the case so far with mines such as Carrapateena. Certainly in this state, the potential for more discoveries, especially in the area of copper, is very strong. We know that in this state already there is over 10 billion tonnes of magnetite reserves, which is a form of iron ore, and that is another reason why it would be incredibly worthwhile for this state to take this approach to hydrogen seriously if we want to green up the steel industry. I say this independently of Sanjeev Gupta.

My view is that our state should continue to have an integrated steelworks and look at the opportunity of linking that 10 billion tonnes of magnetite reserve in this state to a far greener way of producing iron and steel in South Australia.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (17:22): I rise to make a contribution to this Address in Reply debate. It was an absolute privilege to again have the Governor deliver in the other place a stocktake at the halfway point of where the government has been and where the government is going and where our state has been and where our state is going.

The speech, which was a bit longer than average, provided us with a pretty comprehensive list of things that are going on. Using the Address in Reply speech as an opportunity to take stock of where we are at, it was really quite remarkable to see the amount of reform and the amount of change this government has already made and also what it will seek to undertake as we move forward.

The new year brings a new job and I am standing in a different place and have been given a new role. I thank the Premier for his confidence. I am happy to serve him in whatever way he sees fit. I did want to take the opportunity to be able to deal with a matter that has been ongoing in this house and one that I think we need to deal with. On the matter of pairing arrangements between the government and the opposition, last year the government and opposition entered into an arrangement to pair the member for Taylor due to illness.

The pairing arrangement was in writing and agreed to between the whips. The government did not honour the arrangement and that was an error. On behalf of the government, I apologise to the opposition, and in particular to the member for Taylor. I can assure the house that in future all pairing arrangements agreed by the whips or respective managers of government or opposition business will be honoured for all votes of the house, except of course on matters of conscience, which will remain a matter for members of the house to arrange between themselves.

With a renewed sense of goodwill, I think there is an opportunity for us to make sure that this house operates and maintains the conventions that allow us to run smoothly. I certainly see my role as upholding the traditions of the house and making sure that on all occasions we do our job properly to further the great institution that we in this house get to take part in. I think the conventions of this place are extremely important and ones that we need to maintain.

I look forward to working together with the manager of opposition business, as we work to make sure that this house functions and operates smoothly. As I have said, the Address in Reply speech is quite a comprehensive document on where South Australia is at. For my part and my ministry's part, we have done a huge amount and there is still a huge amount to do, especially over the course of the next year, to deliver for South Australians.

Local government reform is one that comes to mind extremely strongly, whether that be, over the course of this term, looking at how we cap council rates, how we bring back a mechanism that helps to put downward pressure on rates and also deals with some of the legitimate concerns that were raised by the sector. I look forward, in the not too distant future, to being able to discuss and ventilate the next steps that we want to take and what that means, especially in conjunction with the Productivity Commission's report and especially in conjunction with the broader reform package.

There are ideas that come from all over the place and we have taken and will take all those into account. After a good solid year of consulting with the sector and with the public, everybody is keen for us to now get on and start to deliver the reform that we need. There is also a huge amount happening in the infrastructure space that the Governor outlined. We are seeing the completion of a number of major projects that were started by the former government, one being the Torrens to Torrens.

Last year, the Northern Connector was only a few weeks away and various stages of the Darlington project opened, as well as some more sections, especially the final opening of the lower motorway, to happen over the coming months. Even now, we switch to a series of different projects, ones that were funded or initiated under this government. Certainly the electrification of the Gawler rail line, a project that spans many years, now has the final amount of money, the final $220-odd million, to make sure that it is completed.

We have seen early works start on that corridor already and as we move out of the design phase we will see a significant quickening of that. Again, a joint project that spans governments, we are also finishing off the Flinders Link extension to Flinders University. It did need some extra money. When engineers come to you and say, 'We need to upgrade the viaduct structure and this will make it safe,' I do not think there are any bones about how we need to fund that, and fund that properly we did.

We did use our last budget to provide money for upgrading seven major metropolitan intersections as well as removing two level crossings. We are also getting on with delivering upgrades to 1,000 kilometres of regional road, using $1.1 billion worth of taxpayers' money. We are upgrading some 10 per cent of regional roads in South Australia, a massive down payment on a part of South Australia that has needed more investment for a long period of time.

I think one of the most exciting things about the Governor's speech was the independent research that my department commissioned in relation to the fact that living in Adelaide is 16 per cent more affordable than Melbourne and 28 per cent more affordable than Sydney. It shows that we have significantly lower office rental costs and other business outgoings.

What this report shows is that moving white-collar jobs to South Australia, to Adelaide, provides significant cost advantage to businesses. This is a message that we are going to take to the federal government. It is a message that the trade, tourism and investment office is going to take to private operators. But, basically, we have a cost advantage in Adelaide and we have a cost-of-living advantage in Adelaide, and it is a comparative advantage that we need to be driving home harder to be able to improve job opportunities here in South Australia. I look forward to working with minister Ridgway in the other place, as well as the Premier, on helping to deliver that.

The speech also goes on to talk about other initiatives within my portfolio area, specifically around the planning reforms. These planning reforms are ones that have been a long time coming. They were largely bipartisan through this place. There were some disagreements at the margins, but by and large we all realised we needed a planning system that was going to be able to deliver growth and really improve all decision-making in South Australia.

As we go over the course of this year, I am quite excited to be able to deliver this. I know that it is a reform measure that is not going to leave everybody happy. When it comes to planning, there are people with all sorts of different views, and the ability for us to essentially do what everybody wants is impossible, but that is why you have a planning system in the first place: to provide an orderly mechanism whereby we can make sure that everybody's views are heard, that everybody's views are taken into account and that we undertake the orderly growth of the development of our state.

We also have on-demand bus trials, which have commenced in Mount Barker and the Barossa, in the press over the weekend especially in relation to the Mount Barker trial. We were expecting 200 people a week to use this service over the first few weeks; we are now hitting over 1,000 people a week using this service and we think there is a lot more to come. We are also opening up options for e-scooter and ride-share options around South Australia and we look forward to helping to push those, especially into regional South Australia to help them be apprised of and provide for increased opportunities for new technology coming into regional areas, providing new transport options and delivering better services for South Australians.

This document, this blueprint for what is going to happen over the course of this year, is a pretty comprehensive document and a pretty full document, and it is going to take all the energies of government and South Australia to deliver on, but we are up to the task. By outlining this in a speech, we have put our flag in the sand and said, 'Well, this is who we are and this is what we are going to do,' and certainly South Australians will judge us on our ability to deliver just that.

With those remarks, I would like to conclude and say that I look forward to the second half of this first term of our government being a productive one that delivers for South Australians, that delivers on the commitments we made but, more importantly, that helps to drive our state forward in a way that is advantageous to the people who live here.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (17:31): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 23

Noes 19

Majority 4

AYES
Basham, D.K.B. Chapman, V.A. Cowdrey, M.J.
Cregan, D. Ellis, F.J. Gardner, J.A.W.
Harvey, R.M. (teller) Knoll, S.K. Luethen, P.
Marshall, S.S. McBride, N. Murray, S.
Patterson, S.J.R. Pederick, A.S. Pisoni, D.G.
Power, C. Sanderson, R. Speirs, D.J.
Teague, J.B. Treloar, P.A. van Holst Pellekaan, D.C.
Whetstone, T.J. Wingard, C.L.
NOES
Bedford, F.E. Bettison, Z.L. Bignell, L.W.K.
Boyer, B.I. Brock, G.G. Brown, M.E.
Close, S.E. Cook, N.F. Gee, J.P.
Hildyard, K.A. Hughes, E.J. Koutsantonis, A. (teller)
Malinauskas, P. Michaels, A. Odenwalder, L.K.
Piccolo, A. Picton, C.J. Stinson, J.M.
Wortley, D.

Motion thus carried; debate adjourned.

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