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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
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Bills

Appropriation Bill 2021

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 24 June 2021.)

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (11:04): I rise today to speak in response to the Appropriation Bill 2021. The past year has been one that has been incredibly challenging in my community, which has endeavoured to find a new normal in a COVID world—quite ironic given today's rapidly evolving situation. If anything, the past 24 hours and today are a stark reminder that the pandemic is not over and that things really are not back to normal.

I think it is prudent to open on behalf of my community and say that every time over the next few days I put on a mask to do essential tasks, while I am sitting in my home or working from home, I will be thinking of my community, the people who are unable to work, who are not getting paid and who will be worried because they were already living on the edge and the people who are in our community and putting themselves at risk every day to serve people during the course of essential business.

We saw yesterday what happened and evolved at Modbury Hospital. Even our highly trained professionals are sent into disarray and panic because of what can happen with exposure to this awful Delta variant of COVID. I will be thinking of friends and family who now are absolutely unable to connect, unable to comfort each other and unable to support each other during this time of COVID.

People will be left alone in their homes, unable to have physical and social contact. Not all people in our community are able to flick a switch and connect through technological means, which, I have to say, is great but no substitute for physical contact. It is no substitute for the warmth of a friend or a friendly touch from your family. As we progress over this next seven days, I urge people to do everything they can to avoid unnecessary contact to look after each other. For so many people in our community, the anxiety will be immense—it has been all year, and today is another trigger, so look after each other.

I have been really proud of our community and communities right across the state who have done their bit. We do follow the rules. These transmissions are inadvertent. This is not a deliberate cause of harm to each other. We have very little control, even at a time when we are trying desperately to get ourselves vaccinated and we are trying desperately to eliminate, eradicate and suppress. COVID is running rife across the world, but here we know the alternative. It could be so much worse.

In these times, it is vital that ministers and their departments focus on ensuring members of the community who are disproportionately at risk of negative consequences of both the pandemic and the economic fallout that occurs are fully and inclusively supported. Certainly, one of the greatest focuses for me and my office has been the battle for people either to avoid homelessness or to exit from homelessness. This issue reaches far beyond its previous cohort. Indeed, I have families reaching out to our team who are financial and who can afford private rental, but with this current rental crisis there simply are no properties available to rent.

What we have is a perfect storm. We have people returning to South Australia to be with family. We have had many episodes of borders closed to varying degrees, which in itself drives people to this uncertainty and to want to stay here in South Australia where we have been comparatively so safe. People want to live in an environment where the community is proactive, responsive and, in many ways, so compliant with the health advice. People know that Professor Spurrier and Commissioner Stevens have led one of the best public health responses in the world.

I can tell you that what does not cut through in my community or make sense to people is politicians from the government celebrating population growth and stemming the so-called brain drain. It just does not make sense. Because of COVID, people have come home and they cannot leave. While of course we welcome the return of our talented family and friends, I feel many of these people would gleefully return to the secure employment they had before, building their future in a way they did prior to COVID, but they simply cannot.

The situation is unfortunate, and some of the perhaps unintended consequences of a building stimulus program see us now with both a rental crisis and a growth in property value in the market. This is forcing people into unaffordability when they were not there before. It is unprecedented. It does not help the battlers. I cannot celebrate the rise in the prices of property. I cannot celebrate the unintended consequences and the fallout that is happening because of it. We are seeing these people in our electorate offices, people who otherwise would have been able to navigate an affordable and available property market in South Australia.

As shadow minister for human services, I am flooded with stories of people in housing stress. The pain people are going through and the fear of not being able to provide a roof over the heads of their children and their loved ones is truly heartbreaking. This is not just a problem with the private rental market. We know that our public housing system is at a critical point in crisis.

The minister does not talk about this. She does not acknowledge that problem. When challenged, the minister in the other place has suggested all is well, and I quote, 'I might add, too, that I do get a lot of correspondence from people from time to time about people in particular situations. Those issues generally do get resolved relatively quickly,' says the minister. 'Usually by the time the letter gets to my desk somebody has been assisted into the private rental market or been provided with a public home.' Absolute rubbish!

That is absolute rubbish from the Minister for Human Services. We know that is not the case. We know there are people struggling. That response is nonsense. All is not well. Being provided with a public home is only possible when there are public homes being provided. What we are seeing over the forward estimates is actually a cut to the number of public houses. Look at the Seaton development, for example. They snuck out on a Sunday with a lovely bit of media on this project. It was announced with much fanfare by the Minister for Human Services. Before the announcement there were 35 public housing properties in that block; after the work is complete there will be four. That is 31 fewer public housing properties after the minister's intervention.

This is repeated over and over again. How can you trust the minister, so incredibly dismissive of these figures, changing the stats to say there will be more? We know that across the forward estimates at least 592 properties—public housing properties—will be lost, and figures provided through questions on notice paint a shocking picture. Social housing numbers will drop by about 200 this financial year and again in the next. There will be 592 fewer social housing properties from 2020 to 2023 in the midst of a housing crisis no less.

This budget fails to address the issue here. I have looked thoroughly at the budget papers and I am unable to find any indication of any additional money being spent on social housing in a meaningful way. Sure, there are some minor funds in health, child protection and Treasury, but do any funds actually end up resulting in bricks and mortar or a roof over the head of someone in need in our community?

The Minister for Human Services, responsible for housing and homelessness, has not been trusted to build even one extra house. I have looked over the budget papers and there is no mention of extra money for the minister for public housing to build new public housing. If this is not a budget about building houses to solve a housing crisis, then what is the story of this budget? Let me tell you: the story of this budget is evictions.

The way the Marshall Liberal government and the Minister for Human Services have treated residents at Hove is disgraceful. Let's be clear: these people were kicked out of their homes so that the government could build an overpass. Yet, even as these people were moving their life's possessions out of their homes, the government was cancelling the bridge without bothering to tell the tenants, mostly public housing tenants.

Perhaps we should ask Judith, a Housing Trust resident in Hove. We certainly cannot ask Marlene; Marlene passed away. I am sure she would give you some colourful thoughts on the last six months of her life of insecurity and her feelings of threat, about being first told by a letter drop that her home was being acquired and she would be evicted by June. No-one thought they needed to knock on her door and deliver this information; there was just a letter drop. Even in the last week, she was being told she would be moved. Housing Trust was providing the boxes to fill with her worldly goods but scant information.

When were the budget papers printed? Not on the Tuesday after someone was moved out of their house on the Monday. When did the human services minister sit in on the meeting and hear that the crossing project had been canned? Why on earth did the minister fail in her responsibility to inform those under her leadership, let alone to question why they actually started booting people out when there was no money for the job to start with?

Where is the human in human service? Why does the minister believe it is acceptable to leave individuals in a state of flux and insecurity about their home—not a house, their home? I did visit. I did doorknock. I heard their stories, and I looked the residents in the eye while they shook with worry and concern. I did not visit them once; I visited them several times actually.

There is a real lack of humanity in the way this government deals with the homelessness sector too. This government, this minister, will always be the one who cut the funding to Hutt St and the one who cut the funding to Catherine House and the Vinnies men's shelter. The minister in the other place waxes lyrical about how much money they are committing to homelessness, over and over again. The funds she refers to are part of a national partnership. This is part of a national agreement from the federal government; it is not new money. She states there is more money, but really there is no injection of funds. People are expected to stay in their regions, but there is no injection of extra funds in the regions.

The other great folly has been the early intervention prevention fund. Twenty million dollars was announced with a glossy press release and great accolade, but nothing was done about it, no tenders put out for months and months. In good faith, NGOs committed the tender applications and again they sat there for months and months. Announcements were finally made when we went out in public as an opposition and highlighted that this shameful delay was happening amidst a COVID crisis.

Homelessness reform has been the conversation of the past few months. The minister heralded reform to a broken sector—a broken sector. I put it to you that this sector was not broken, but again without meaningful pathways to housing how do you solve homelessness? Catherine House crisis beds are being defunded. Where is the transition plan for these women? We saw what happened. There were some desperate attempts in the last minute throes of their contracts that saw some agreements being made in the last couple of days to hold onto the funding to those beds, just for a short period of time.

The only service we have for women, by women, about women is Catherine House. It is the only shelter, the only beds of crisis, a place of care, a place of wraparound support. When services are on hand, women can find their feet and after some time and support find themselves with a 95 per cent success rate of being able to maintain a home at the end of their time. It is unbelievable that that did not make the grade for funding.

Vinnies has been a cornerstone for men. Again, crisis beds were lost, the transition occurring in a week. There was desperation again in the last days and an agreement for some bridge funding to happen out of the budget given to new providers. The minister was repeating ad nauseam that there was a plan but refusing to tell anyone what that plan was, what it would be like. The current providers were left to desperately seek some sort of reassurance in the last 48 hours.

The iconic Hutt St Centre is being left with only a couple of staff in their homelessness services. They will not shut the doors, because South Australia is generous. South Australia donates money and does fundraisers for all of these organisations. Then there is Neami, an innovative mental health provider with street outreach. What is happening now? An absolute skeleton outreach service because they are not ready; it has happened too fast.

But the minister said in the other place that there is new innovation, that now we have a mental health provider in the service. Well, what was Neami? Chopped liver? They are a national benchmark mental health provider trusted with other state government services for mental health. I am sorry, it is not new and innovative. They were always there and they were doing an amazing job.

We were told there is no need for crisis beds in the Adelaide CBD because of the new model. Well, there is no extra funding and within their funding these alliances will have to do all the administration. It is privatisation and outsourcing of contract management at best. This will see cuts to frontline services. Again, the not-for-profit sector is expected to do more for less, decimating years and years of cohesive teams. But, never fear, apparently these staff can just apply for a new job—just like that. Never mind the loss of continuity of service, the loss of trust and the loss of support for people in the homelessness sector. We are told all will be fine, but I am sad to report it will not be.

As well as this, we see cuts and failures in disability too. We have transitioned to the NDIS, but we all know there is still loads of confusion. People have to shout and scream for what they need. They have had to fight against independent assessments. We have had a state government silent on its objection to the federal government's crazy reforms that were not supported by the people living with disability. We have seen other states having to fight that battle. It is appalling that, three years down the track of transition, this is happening.

I remember speaking about this then, but I am still repeating that we are hearing stories where if you are in the position of having a loved one with a chromosomal abnormality, they are being asked when they are growing out of this. They are being asked, 'When does this resolve?' It is ridiculous. It still happens. If you were born without a limb, it is not growing back. It is simply ridiculous. I would love to be joking, but the questions are being asked.

In the midst of all this, we hear that the peak body for the disability sector—a sector under crisis, under absolute pressure—the National Disability Service, have had its funding cut by the state government. They support their members with a collective voice, which aims to initiate positive change and quality service delivery for people with disability. Now it is time to ensure that type of service continues when we need to grow the sector, when we know that there are shortfalls, when we know that that these providers need more support, not to cut the funding.

But, of course, the answer is digital, right? This appears to be the minister's view: go virtual. For years, I have been raising the role of the community visitor and how we should be increasing what it is doing, not decreasing what it is doing. The minister completely refutes the concept and most recently announced $500,000 to investigate an app as a virtual community visitor. She wants to remove NDS support to the sector and spend half a million dollars investigating a virtual community visitor—an app.

Apparently, if you are unable to download the app, you just ask a carer to help you, which is probably not much use if the carer or the support worker is the person who is actually not treating you well. So we have a bit of a problem there. I cannot imagine what value this app would have been to someone like Annie Smith or any number of my community who, when at their most vulnerable, are beyond the point of reaching out for help. A knock on the door could help. A face, a person—they could help. Maybe that could save a life. You cannot use your hands-off approach to a hands-on problem. At the recent royal commission, a witness commented on the smell of urine as you walked into supported accommodation, which added to an air of neglect. You cannot smell in a virtual world.

There is so much potential and possibility in our future for people who are vulnerable in an empathetic and supportive community, but what we see are the consequences of a Premier who did not get into politics for social issues. That is right, he is quoted, he said it: he did not get into politics for social issues. Well, I say again, I, along with other members on this side, did and we will continue to fight for those who need it.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (11:25): I would like to make a contribution to the Appropriation Bill. Before I start my contribution, I congratulate the member for Hurtle Vale on her contribution. She has covered a lot of ground that would be of great interest to members on this side of the house. Certainly, I would share and support the experiences she has had regarding homelessness, disability, etc., and that is the sort of feedback I am getting in my electorate office as well.

I think it is important to make some general remarks before I go into my contribution on the actual bill itself because today we are going into a seven-day lockdown. I understand why that is necessary and why the government has been advised in that way and we should support it because we need to get this disease under control as soon as possible for the benefit of all.

But it would be remiss of me if I did not also talk about the huge impact this lockdown will have on ordinary people and small businesses. From the older person who is isolated to the small business person who cannot trade but still has the huge overheads such as rent, etc., to the employees who will lose their work—and often most of them are in insecure work already, those who work on a casual basis—these are the people who will be hit the hardest.

It is important that our state and federal governments respond to this crisis to ensure quickly and thoroughly that the burden from COVID-19 is shared fairly and equitably amongst the community. It is important to make sure that the response from governments ensures that the most vulnerable get the support they require. These lockdowns are for the common good and so our support must also be for the common good.

Support must go to those most vulnerable and they must be supported first. Whether that be a young person who loses their casual job, a small business teetering on closure or the person who is homeless, we, as a civil and modern society, must look after those in greatest need first. It is not a time to boost the profits of the most wealthy in our society. That is also a reason we segue into this budget, because I do not think this budget does much to help the most vulnerable in our community. This budget certainly does not do a lot to support the most vulnerable in my community in the electorate of Light.

When we look at the horizon, the horizon does not look that good either. The latest gross state productivity figures released show that South Australia had the worst annual economic growth in the nation at 1.4 per cent for the 2019-20 financial year. It was 2.4 per cent for 2017-18, the last year of Labor. It was 1.1 per cent in the first year of the Liberal Party, and at 1.4 per cent in 2019-20 it was the worst in the country. According to the budget itself, employment growth is forecast to be 2 per cent in 2021-22 and then trending down to 1.25 per cent in the following financial years. These are not figures that are going to help those young people leaving school or people seeking work.

South Australia currently holds the unenviable title of having the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.8 per cent and the highest youth unemployment rate, with Western Australia, at 11.8 per cent. The unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent at the 2018 election. South Australia also has the highest median wait for a job of all states at 34 weeks, and 58 weeks in the north of Adelaide. That is right: the wait for the people in the north of Adelaide is 58 weeks. That is part of my electorate and those of my colleagues, as is the area around Gawler.

In terms of a local response, there is little good news for the local community in the Marshall Liberal government's fourth state budget. Looking at the Gawler Health Service emergency department, the commitment to expand the emergency department at the Gawler Health Service is welcome, but only $2.4 million of the $15 million allocated to the project is budgeted to be spent in the 2021-22 financial year. According to the budget papers, the new ED will not be operational until June 2024—that is right, after the next state election at the earliest—assuming that things go on time, and that does not look to be the case.

Interestingly, the state government has refused to release documents regarding the planning and construction of the expanded ED, which makes it difficult to assess whether additional staffing will also be made available. An expanded ED without additional staff will just lead to internal ramping and will be of little benefit for patients requiring urgent medical attention. It puts additional stress on clinicians in that hospital. You get them in the front door, you put them in an ED, but there is nowhere else for them to go. That has been, if you like, the pitch right across the health system in our state. I am hoping that at some point the government will have the courage to release those details, because, as I said, an expanded ED without additional staffing will be of no benefit to my community.

With regard to ambulance services, which has been a major issue in my local community, people have actually died waiting for an ambulance when they should not have done. No additional funding has been announced to increase the ambulance presence in the town and surrounding districts. We just heard that the additional 74 positions the government has now agreed to fund would not be enough to actually provide an additional unit or additional relief staff funding in my area. The paramedics in my region will again be understaffed, working hard, working long hours, risking their own health and, just as importantly, putting local community people at risk as well.

It is also welcome news that the government has announced that it will undertake a study to establish an SES unit in Gawler. The budget does include an undertaking for planning and design for a joint incident management facility, CFS regional headquarters and SES unit, at Willaston, in response to Labor's 2020 commitment to build a dedicated SES unit, if elected in 2022. While the announcement is good news, there is no commitment actually to fund over the next four years. Construction of the SES unit will not start until after the 2026 election at the earliest, based on budget figures provided.

I have been working with the Salisbury SES unit for some years to explore the feasibility of opening a satellite unit in Gawler under their auspices. The unit will be initially under the management of the SES unit until enough members can be recruited to ensure its long-term viability. In 2019, the SES acquired land on Gawler River Road at Willaston for that purpose, yet not one brick has been laid to build a new facility in an area of Gawler.

The establishment of a local SES unit in Gawler is vital, as the nearest unit is in Kapunda, apart from Salisbury. Having a local presence will be very important in attracting new volunteers to the service and also protecting the community. A preliminary investigation indicates that a capital cost of about $2 million will be required to establish the unit. The North Para and Gawler River systems are known as a flood risk area that floods every 10 years, and so having a local SES unit is very important to the safety of my community.

There are a couple of other issues that I would like also to touch upon. One has actually been touched upon also by the member for Hurtle Vale, but this is an issue that is of a growing crisis in my community and I am sure right across the state, and that is homelessness. The number of inquiries my electorate office gets about people who are homeless has grown exponentially by a whole range of factors. It has been made worse by the fact that now, with booming house prices, a number of landlords are taking the opportunity to sell their properties at higher prices, and unfortunately the tenants are being evicted.

Only last week I had a family of five come and see me. They have been excellent tenants, they have been in the same place for five years, they have a good rental record, etc., but now their landlord has sold the property and, like most landlords, they think it is a better sale if it is vacant possession, which means the tenants have to go. The family of five have to go. They have three weeks to find a new place. There is no public housing, there is no social housing and they have to go into the private market.

The private market at the moment is very difficult. The fact remains that at every open inspection for a rental there might be 30 or 40 different people. In fact, an auction then starts of who can actually pay the most rent to get in the place, which means it leaves the poorest and most vulnerable out in the cold once again.

The impact of homelessness is often not well understood. If you are homeless, you are not able to look after yourself. You cannot wash your clothes, you cannot get yourself clean and you cannot go looking for work either. There is a lack of resources and the ability to look for work to get yourself back on your feet. Having a home is the first step to getting your life back on track, and I think we need to understand that as a community.

In my case, the government's response has been as follows: to close the Housing SA office in Gawler. That is the government's response: to close the Housing SA office in my community. Under the cover of COVID, they have closed it down. Now they have taken down the signage and closed the office and people in my community have to go to Elizabeth—the closest place—to get any support for housing. That is treating the most vulnerable in our community with the greatest contempt. The people who need the greatest support are being treated with the greatest contempt by this government.

Fortunately, we have good relationships with a number of NGOs who have come and filled the gap to some extent. Anglicare homelessness services are now providing services locally, and Lutheran Care services are providing financial counselling and support services, but these are basic services in our community which government used to provide but which they have now just walked away from, and this government's record when it comes to supporting the most vulnerable in our community is not good.

It does not help the most vulnerable in our community that we do not have a train service at the moment. I do understand the service needs to be closed down while it is electrified, and I have no criticism of a government doing that, not at all. I think it is great they are doing that, but I do have a legitimate criticism of their response to substitute services. They have improved some. I must confess that I assume the department has listened to my feedback and they have improved some, but they do not go far enough.

First of all, there are still a number of people who say, 'Look, we don't go to work just at peak times.' We have now a 24-hour economy almost, and there are people who go to work at different times. There are no express services from Gawler apart from at peak times, so those people who only have the GA1 or the GA2 take hours to get to work in the city and hours to get home. These people who are already under the most pressure actually incur greater pressure still and additional cost etc., away from their families and away from their communities.

I call on and implore the government to revisit this and see if they can improve the availability of substitute services. The number of people using the substitute service has increased, which is good because they have improved, but I think the government can do better in this regard. People will accept the closure of services if there are reasonable substitute services in their place.

At one stage, the government was going to reduce the other bus service in this town. Fortunately that matter was scrapped by the government. Now we have an increasing number of complaints about the 495 on-demand service, which is a service that has been around for some time, and has some different names, but increasingly I am hearing complaints about people not being picked up or being picked up late, and that is really a question of resources. It is clear that the model is not working because it is not funded properly.

The on-response model is a good model in areas with smaller populations but it has to be funded properly and run better. At the moment it has been late, it is not picking up people, it is not a home-to-home service like it used to be, obviously because of cutbacks to funding for the service, so the government needs to do better in that regard.

Just across the boundary, though, in the Barossa, they had a huge trial with the on-demand service and then they cut it back. It is interesting they cut it back during the COVID period. Again, under the cover of COVID, the government has done a lot of things to undermine the social infrastructure in our communities.

In terms of physical infrastructure, there is no money in this budget to upgrade the roundabout at Redbanks Road. Why is that important to my community? There are hundreds and hundreds of students who cross that roundabout to get home or to get to buses, etc. What they do now is that at peak time they just walk across the roads. They play Russian roulette with their own personal safety because there are no footpaths and there are no crossings at this roundabout. The students have to do the wrong thing to get home.

There is a solution, but the government refused it. In fact, sadly, the minister wrote to me recently and said that the roundabout is operating quite safely, quite well—to the horror of the parents and the school community who have seen it. It is sad that the government cannot invest in some minor upgrades to make life safer.

Regarding the Dalkeith rail crossing, for a while it was a ping-pong game between local government and the government, saying, 'Who has responsibility?' Clearly, this crossing is the responsibility of the government because the crossing has failed in between the lines. It is clearly the responsibility of the state government. I have had complaints from a whole range of local residents.

It is interesting that they have now had to reduce the speed at this crossing from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. On one hand, they say it is quite safe, but now the minister has written back and said, 'Well, we have reduced the speed now. It's safer.' It is interesting that the government claim, with rural roads, that they can increase speeds because they have made them safer. In my community, we have had to reduce speeds because the speeds are not safe, yet the government do nothing to invest in that public infrastructure.

It is not only ordinary people who use it. The emergency services in the area who use it have complained about the risk it poses to their members—some volunteers—by crossing that crossing at a speed that reflects the emergency. This government is not doing well enough.

In terms of rail electrification, as a cost-saving measure what the contractors have done—I suppose they have to work within the budget given to them by the government—is close a number of pedestrian crossings along the way rather than create alternative crossings so that people can still cross safely. The result is that people have been walking across roads to go that way.

It was no surprise to me earlier this week that on ABC radio 891—on the Jules Schiller show I think—they talked about some of the key issues in the north, and one of the key issues is Curtis Road and the congestion and safety around that road. It is interesting that when asked about this issue in the recent Budget and Finance Committee the head of the department said he was unaware of any issues with Curtis Road—no issues. This is a road that has been highlighted by residents as being the number one infrastructure issue in this community, which abuts both my electorate of Light and the adjoining electorate of Taylor. It also impacts on the electorate of Elizabeth, for people from Blakeview, etc.

The issue is that there is a new population base and new schools in the area, and that creates additional traffic. People also try to access the Northern Expressway and the Northern Connector, two great projects of the previous Labor government with support from the previous federal Liberal government under Tony Abbott. It was one of his last promises before they ditched him. People are using this road a great deal.

It is not an upgrade the local community can afford in terms of its council. Some preliminary estimates say that it requires about $200 million, so I think it is important that state, federal and local governments work together to upgrade this road and bring it up to a standard that is appropriate. Not only is it an issue of people spending endless time on the road but there are also safety issues when people get very agitated and start doing silly things. It is an issue that needs to be addressed.

What we find in this budget is a lack of investment in the northern suburbs and also in Gawler—and that is certainly how my community sees it. For example, I welcome the investment in expanding the Mark Oliphant College. That is welcome expenditure to cater for the new year 7s next year. However, what has not been made available is additional infrastructure for the additional traffic that will be generated and the additional parking. Congestion around that school at peak times is a huge problem that is raised by people.

Another issue in my community in terms of transport is taxis. I get endless complaints about the lack of taxi services. The government has effectively deregulated the industry in that local community, but what it did not work out was that deregulation killed off some of the local players, and the big players will not come for the small fees, for the smaller trips. The older community, who need public transport services, have been hit heavily by this lack of transport services. All in all, unfortunately this budget has very little for my community to be happy about.

Ms MICHAELS (Enfield) (11:45): I rise to speak to the Appropriation Bill. I had to put some thought into this speech because I left the chamber after budget day a little disappointed. I felt like asking, 'Where was the big killer punch from the Treasurer for his last budget, and a pre-election budget at that?'

All we got was confirmation of a basketball stadium costing almost $700 million that no-one really wants; some tunnels that are going to cost even more than we were told last year—and being so far away from reality, so what?—a Women's and Children's Hospital that has been delayed but is totally inadequate, and the government only need ask people working at the current Women's and Children's Hospital to find that out; nowhere near enough money going into health, be that mental health, ambulance ramping, or emergency departments; and an $87 million school that is not being built where it is needed. The list goes on.

In my electorate, it is pleasing to see that Nailsworth Primary School is getting much-needed funding, but Blair Athol North Primary School and Northfield Primary School are still suffering from the cuts they faced in their funding this year. Moreover, there is a desperate need for a school in the inner north and that is sadly missing from this budget. Instead, it has been bumped by an $84 million school in the Minister for Education's own eastern suburbs electorate. This is despite education officials previously citing the need for a new school in the Prospect area, following capacity concerns at both the Adelaide High School and Adelaide Botanic High School shared zone, and Roma Mitchell at Gepps Cross. Ignoring the advice of the department has left my constituents up in arms that they are missing out on what is needed.

For small and family businesses, which today are more than ever feeling the pain, unfortunately again there is not much in this budget for them. Business groups, including Business SA, have lamented the lack of support programs that the Marshall Liberal government has put in place in this budget, particularly in the event of the lockdown we are facing today. We have seen the devastating effects of lockdowns and border closures on small business both here and interstate. We have seen it today particularly in Sydney and Victoria, and it is only going to get worse if we cannot shut this down and get it under control quickly.

This budget does not provide the necessary peace of mind to thousands of small business owners that they will be able to survive this happening in terms of lockdowns. The restrictions this week, without government support yet being announced, will be enough to spell the end of some small businesses, particularly in retail and hospitality.

The Treasurer, in his budget speech, said that a critical feature of ongoing economic recovery is increasing confidence in businesses and households, confidence in businesses to invest and help create jobs and confidence in households where workers have jobs to resume spending at pre-COVID levels, rather than increasing levels of savings. How can businesses, especially small and family businesses, have that confidence to invest and employ more staff when they could be forced to shut up shop at a moment's notice, as we have seen just today with another COVID outbreak, not knowing if funding is available to them and not knowing that there is a safety net for them there?

Business SA had previously called for a funding scheme to protect SMEs from future lockdowns, as is happening right now. With the protracted vaccination rollout this state continues to be plagued by, we are far from out of the woods and we know that things are changing at a moment's notice, and that is a very heavy weight for small and family businesses to bear. For some 15 per cent of local businesses, we know that pre this week's lockdowns revenue is still down by more than 50 per cent from pre-COVID levels, and many of these are from our hardest hit industries, bricks-and-mortar businesses that cannot easily pivot online, those who are more susceptible to social distancing restrictions and border closures—hospitality, tourism, travel agents, and I have heard that even dry cleaners are struggling.

I recently visited the historic Prince Albert Hotel on Wright Street in the city, which reopened after COVID closed it down very early on. Darren has invested in South Australia by renovating the hotel and has plans to employ some 10 young South Australians in that business. He has put everything on the line. He is risking his family's future, yet he has absolutely no certainty that that will not all come down to nothing.

The Adelaide CBD we know in particular is struggling to be reactivated, as many people continue to work from home. Our small businesses—the coffee shops, the bars, the restaurants and the retail shops that we used to visit on our way to work or during our lunch break—need all the help they can get right now. It is incredibly sad to see so many empty shops in areas such as the Regent Arcade, as small businesses and family businesses are no longer operating out of this once historic and thriving shopping centre.

The arts, entertainment and events industries have also been doing it really tough over the past 18 months, and this week is another kick in the guts to them. Critical challenges remain while the market regains confidence for people to be able to plan, deliver, book, pay and attend events across the country.

The Business Events Council of Australia said that its revenue streams have been decimated by between 75 and 100 per cent. A recent industry survey found that in the next six months 23 per cent of businesses will be closing their doors and 32 per cent of businesses are questioning if they have the means to be able to survive. Forty-seven per cent of businesses think they will only be able to survive if they let more staff go.

Last month, I met with the South Australian Meetings and Events committee, and they told me that many of their members' businesses were close to falling over and were lagging way behind other states, including New South Wales and even Tasmania, in terms of government support to attract business events, conferences and the like. They reported to me that they were even losing South Australian conferences to interstate because of incentives being provided by other governments.

We risk losing those skills and jobs if we do not come up to par. They reported to me that the bid fund is not properly targeting the small to medium conferences that give these businesses regular turnover and enable them to survive. Just to be clear, they were very clear to me that they are not looking for a once-in-10-year Land Forces conference to keep them surviving. Many have already laid off staff and are likely to undertake more cuts and even closure in the next few months.

Business SA called for a de-risk fund for event organisers to insure them against COVID contingencies. This would be an insurance scheme to help event operators offset their fixed costs during COVID closures and it would go a long way to create certainty and confidence for these businesses—again, often small and family businesses which, in the current climate, are putting their livelihoods on the line every time they try to inject some sort of vibrancy into the local economy through events and activities.

We are asking so much of our small business owners during these troubling economic times and this government is not doing enough to help them out, not by a long shot. There were a lot of flashy infrastructure projects announced—in fact, reannounced—in the budget. Of course, Labor welcomes investment in essential infrastructure and the economic stimulus that it provides but it needs to be the right infrastructure and at the right time, and that is where this budget fails.

The Marshall Liberal government's budget is cutting $274 million in health funding by 2022-23, cutting 371 jobs, outrageously delaying the building of the Women's and Children's Hospital to 2027, yet the Premier has locked in a $662 million basketball stadium. At a time when our state debt is ballooning to record levels and our health system is at an absolute crisis point, the Premier is choosing to spend $662 million of taxpayers' money on a basketball stadium. That is something we think should be left on the backburner until we can put money towards health, as our leader, the member for Croydon, stated in his budget reply speech.

Some things are more important and health is one of those things. Housing is another. We are in the middle of a housing crisis and yet there is almost nothing in this budget to deal with it. There is a land tax discount for build-to-rent properties but not until 2022-23. First of all, this is only likely to help large property owners and, secondly, the crisis is happening now. We need to address our housing supply issues now. We have seen property prices jump through the roof and rental availability plummet, combined with rents increasing. Housing stress is at critical levels and there is nothing in this budget to address that, which would inevitably lead to greater reliance on public and social housing. Again, nothing is done to address these critical issues. Where is the investment in public housing stock and where is the desperately needed investment in public housing maintenance?

All the while, organisations like Catherine House are seeing their homelessness funding cut. The only women's homelessness service in this state is losing $1.2 million, money that is desperately needed to keep emergency crisis accommodation open for Catherine House. This is where the fastest growing cohort of people entering homelessness are: women over the age of 50. This is a horrific situation and it is just plain cruel.

We have a regional housing problem as well, but nothing has been done for that. I have heard this time and time again from regional businesses that I have been speaking to. They cannot get staff, not because people do not want to live in the regions but because there is actually nowhere for them to live. The regional housing problem is holding the regions back from stronger economic growth, and this needs to be addressed immediately.

We also have no money in this budget to fix urban infrastructure to cope with urban infill. This is a problem identified in the government's own Land Supply Report for Greater Adelaide issued in June, which tells us that at least 30 per cent of our required housing is going to come from general urban infill, the subdivided blocks we see, the two and three-storey places we see down our street, with ageing infrastructure in these areas being identified as the hotspots for infill.

As with last year, the most disappointing thing in this state budget is the lack of vision that the Liberal government has for this state. I cannot actually tell from this budget what the Premier's vision is for this state. Where are we heading? What are we doing to improve the health, education and housing of our people? What is being done to help small business? Where is the long-term plan to grow the jobs and to get the investment we need to get South Australia on the path to succeeding?

Unfortunately, to me this budget has no sensible long-term plan for this state. We need to spend money encouraging locals to buy local services and locally made goods, and we need serious attempts at investment attraction. We have people all over the world looking at Australia as a place to come and call home, and as far as I can see this state budget does nothing to make sure that South Australia is number one on their agenda.

We cannot ignore the long-term issues that South Australia is facing. Dealing with the most vulnerable people in our community, as I have already mentioned, we have seen significant delays in promised public housing builds. We need to give the people of South Australia the dignity of a stable, decent house, with the opportunity for dignified work. Those issues have both been largely ignored in the state budget.

Nor is there anything, yet again, that deals with the elephant in the room, which is our ageing population and the impact that will have on our health system in the long term. All of this has been largely ignored by a budget that achieves very little in the short term. We need a plan for repaying the massive $33 billion debt that we are facing, and nothing in this budget indicates to me what that long-term plan is either.

As disappointed as I am in this state budget, I think it is an appropriate time to acknowledge the Hon. Rob Lucas in the other place handing down his final budget after 39 years of public service. Whether we agree or disagree, he deserves our gratitude for the contribution to public life in South Australia that he has made through those 39 years.

Mr BOYER (Wright) (11:58): I rise to make some short remarks on this Appropriation Bill. Indeed, they are not the remarks that I thought I would be making, even just yesterday, but I appreciate the opportunity to speak briefly on behalf of the people I represent in the north-eastern suburbs and also as shadow minister for education.

My own perspective on how South Australia and South Australians see themselves as a state is possibly somewhat different from that of other people in this chamber by virtue of the fact that I did not grow up here but grew up just over the border in south-west Victoria and moved here lately. I certainly identify as a proud South Australian now. My perspective on how South Australians view themselves has been informed by growing up in a different state, although it was only just across the border, and my perspective has always been that we are an incredibly proud state.

We have always seen ourselves as being a state that bats above average in many ways. We are small and do not have some of the advantages that the bigger Eastern States have had, and we are always fighting for scraps at the national table, often regardless of who may be in power. We see ourselves as smaller, nimble and proud but also as a really smart state as well. The reason that we can and have led the way in so many different areas of public policy over many decades now is that we are a smart state and make the most out of the relatively smaller and fewer opportunities that we have when compared with Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and maybe even Western Australia.

To all those South Australians today, particularly those I represent in the seat of Wright in the north-eastern suburbs who are certainly feeling the pinch today because we have many of the hotspots that have come to light in the last 48 hours in our community, including areas in and around the seat of Wright: I know it is confronting for local people when they see news conferences in which parts of their community—areas they know incredibly well, possibly just around the corner from where they live, and I mean places like the Wynn Vale Dam, Golden Grove Village and places like that—are being mentioned on newscasts on national television.

It is confronting, and I know that people are concerned. I share that concern with them, not only as their member of state parliament but as a resident of the north-eastern suburbs and as the father of three young daughters who go to a public school in the seat of Wright. They will be fortunate enough to be homeschooled by my wife and me over the next few days. We will see how that goes for all of us.

My message to the people in the north-east and more broadly across our state is: see this as an opportunity. As best you can, see this seven-day lockdown—and I know I am asking a lot of you—as an opportunity to prove to other South Australians, and to the rest of Australia and the nation, particularly those Eastern Staters who sometimes like to hold it over us a bit, that we can do this lockdown business as well as anyone in the world. See this as an opportunity to prove that we will be the state that avoids panic buying and puts the welfare and wellbeing of our neighbours and other people in our community ahead of our own selfish interests and that we will set an incredible example, an example that we can all be proud of in terms of how we deal with this incredible challenge.

As the shadow minister for education, I would like to add that my thoughts are also with schools, which I know are going to be operating with, in most cases, a skeleton staff in order to be able to make sure that kids are not turned away. I would like to acknowledge that I had a call this morning from the minister, who is always very good in that regard, to make sure that if I had any questions as the shadow minister he could seek answers for me. He reassured me that skeleton staff will be at schools to make sure that they are open in some capacity, I guess, for students or kids of essential workers and those people who need to be there.

My thoughts are with those teachers who will spend the next 24 hours preparing a curriculum for the kids who will be home, like my own. I know, as do many other members of parliament who have young children, that those teachers at short notice will now be preparing a curriculum that can be used at home for parents like me to teach their children.

I know we have asked so very much of our teachers throughout this pandemic. It is a story that I often recount when I go to a school, either locally as the member for Wright or outside my area as the shadow minister for education. I always share my own feelings of guilt that I felt last year when so many of us were being asked to work from home or work remotely and to follow the appropriate medical advice, which we did, while schools were asked to basically carry on as per normal.

I understand there was no other way we could do it. I do not in any way criticise that advice and I do not criticise the way that was handled, but I simply recount that story whenever I am able, to emphasise with people and with our educators, whether they be teachers, SSOs or other support or administrative staff at our schools, that they have our undying respect for the way they handled that.

I know I speak on behalf of many other people in this chamber when I say that we do acknowledge that we ask them to go above and beyond, that we do acknowledge that we ask them to stay at work and teach our children when other people in our community are given the option of going home and they are not. My message to schools, principals, educators, teachers, SSOs and other support staff is that we know we are asking a lot of you again. Those of us in here who, like me, will be home educating our children will try not to let you down with whatever curriculum it is that you provide me.

I think for many of us probably the scariest thing about this lockdown is the idea of having the kids at home and trying to teach them at the same time, but I take this opportunity this morning, rather than speaking as I was going to about other concerns that I have in terms of this budget and the announcements the minister made—I feel that now is not the time for me to air those—to provide my own perspective on how I think we are going to handle this seven-day lockdown, and to encourage the people of the north-east and, more broadly, South Australians, to treat this as a challenge to show the rest of the nation how well we can do this, how good we are at following advice and how good we are at looking after our neighbours and people in our community when times are tough.

I think that was a hallmark of how we dealt with the pandemic last year. In many respects, I think the pandemic forced us into a more old-fashioned forgotten type of communication with our immediate neighbours. Something that is often shared with me by the older generation is how no-one knows their neighbour anymore, we do not speak to the people who live next door to us, and how that has all changed. Despite the fact that in many ways we are more connected than we ever have been as a society, due to the wonders of modern technology, we are also, by the same token, more disconnected from those people who live in our immediate proximity than we ever have been.

One of the characteristics of the way the pandemic was dealt with, the way people got through those hard times—and the way I have no doubt people will again get through this next seven days—was by leaning on the people near and dear to them, whether that is family or the neighbour next door. I encourage all South Australians to take the time to touch base with your community, whether on the phone or on social media, to check in on people.

There are a lot of vulnerable people in our community who get by thanks only to the support of the many agencies in our community that come to their homes, whether it be Meals on Wheels, NDIS providers. All that kind of stuff will become a little more complicated now. People will be scared and concerned about what the lockdown will mean for them, and we should all do what we can to reassure them.

I know from my own perspective as a volunteer with the Modbury Meals on Wheels, there will be people we deliver to every day—people who would not eat if it were not for the Meals on Wheels volunteers delivering those meals—who will be wondering what the next seven days will be like for them. We should do everything in our power to get around those people, make contact in an appropriate COVID-safe fashion to reassure them that there are people who still care, that there are people, including organisations like Meals on Wheels, who will find a way to make sure they are serviced in a COVID-safe fashion, and that together we can all get through this.

I hope to have an opportunity, once we are past this lockdown, to speak in more detail about issues within this Appropriation Bill insofar as they affect education. There are a number of important issues, especially when one contemplates that in about seven or so very short months we are going to see the transition of year 7 into high school commence on the first school day, the final day of January next year. There are many questions and issues I would like to raise, and I will raise those at a different time in my remarks here.

I am sure we will do our state and our nation proud in the next seven days. I want all those out there in the north-east and more broadly to know that we are looking out for you and that we stand with you. I hope to speak on this topic again when the lockdown is finished and we have accomplished the task at hand.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (12:10): I rise to make some comments on the Appropriation Bill. I feel quite circumspect doing so in the current circumstances when it has just been announced that the state will face a seven-day lockdown and a lockdown where for many families, unlike previous restrictions and periods of lockdown, it will be somewhat more onerous, for example, with schools closed.

I do not really want to take too much time because, like everybody else in the community, all the people who work in and around this building will have the considerations about making arrangements for themselves and their families, and the sooner we rise the better. I did want to say, though, that I do hope that, as promised by the Premier in a media conference this morning, we have a response from the government that is a little more fulsome and forthcoming than we have seen previously about support to those individuals and to those small businesses in the community that are going to be knocked around very significantly as a result of this closure.

We have been through this before. We had a snap lockdown in November of last year, and we have had different periods of different levels of restrictions imposed on the community over the course of the last 16 months. I would like to think that we should all be used to not only listening to the public messaging, taking heed of the public messaging and obeying those directions, but also having a government that has the wherewithal to acknowledge that there will be people impacted significantly in the community and that extra measures will be put in place to assist those people.

While there are some perhaps I can call them concessions to the restrictions—the ability for some limited capacity to leave home for specific purposes to do essential grocery shopping, for example, to provide care for others, to go to medical appointments and, importantly of course, to get tested—we should also recognise that for many being stuck at home unable to engage in their livelihoods will cost them very significantly.

In my view, this has been badly handled for the benefit of the Eastern States in recent weeks, and I would have thought that, with the initial announcement of level 4 restrictions yesterday afternoon, we would have had the government out on the front foot in that regard. But, as I said, perhaps this will be corrected in the next 24 hours and that for the first time we will have some meaningful, targeted but, most of all, effective support to those who are impacted in the community.

Just briefly on this budget, we only had a budget eight or so months ago, in November last year. That was a necessarily a delayed budget and a budget the principal task of which was to respond to the COVID pandemic by providing not only the resourcing required for the health system and those other elements of responding to the pandemic itself but also an opportunity to provide immediate economic support to those people affected by the community.

Fast-forwarding those eight months to the current budget, which was released in the last few weeks by the Liberal government, this was the opportunity to do the next stage of the state's response to the pandemic—that is, rather than deal with the day-to-day difficulties of the pandemic, rather than provide those necessary financial supports to respond to the pandemic and provide some transitional assistance, the task of this budget was to collectively lift the state's eyes and start looking over the horizon at how we as a community, collectively, would go on and prosper into the medium and longer term.

I was absolutely flabbergasted to see that this budget did very little of that. This budget provided virtually no future direction about how we would carry forward in trying to increase the living standards, the prosperity, of our state. That is remarkable, but it is doubly remarkable given that it is the last state budget we will have before the next state election.

There does not seem to be any sort of platform in here for this government to provide a compelling case to the people of South Australia that they should be trusted with another four years on the treasury bench because if it was not for this pandemic, if it was not for the people of South Australia feeling that they wanted to provide their government with the best possible chance of succeeding in getting us through this pandemic, this government has virtually nothing to show for the last four years.

The two centrepiece announcements of this budget were $9.9 billion for the South Road tunnels, which have been progressively promised in each and every one of the four budgets of this state government, yet no progress has been delivered over that entire four-year period. In fact, we are told that work will not proceed in any significant form until 2023, more than a year after the coming state election.

Even if this government were to be returned after the election, it would be a full five years before they made any progress on its centrepiece infrastructure project, the infrastructure project that was meant to provide the greatest amount of economic activity and stimulus and support to our community. That is quite simply unforgivable, but it is endemic to how this government has managed infrastructure investment in this period of government.

Every project they have handled has been delayed and, if not just delayed, its cost has blown out as well. It has achieved the remarkable feat of not only having signed contracts for the delivery of infrastructure projects but allowing those contractors to not only delay the delivery of those projects but increase the cost of those projects. Outside demonstrable and quantifiable delays and cost increases as a result of COVID, that is simply inexcusable—and the list is a long one and growing.

The Gawler line electrification, a contract signed in January of 2018, is not only still delayed but being delivered in a way where there are inadequate substitute bus services. Aside from what had been committed by the contractor when the contract was signed by the former Labor government, that services would still be able to run on a limited basis during that project's delivery, there are no services at all. We now hear rumours of a further delay in the delivery of this project, treating the communities of the northern suburbs with complete contempt.

You only have to look outside at the building behind here. There was an 18-month down tools period as soon as this government was elected to delay the Festival Plaza upgrade, something that looks years off completion. Even the first stage of it, the car park, is riddled with water leaks because it has been inappropriately and insufficiently delivered.

We should not be in a position where we are complaining about things in South Australia because we are in the period of the most remarkable effort to stimulate the national economy this country has ever seen. Half a trillion dollars of stimulus is washing through the national economy, with $300 billion of fiscal stimulus measures from the federal government and $200 billion of monetary stimulus measures washing through the national economy at the moment.

It is no surprise then that, up until the events of the last few weeks across the Eastern States and now here in South Australia, the national economy has been absolutely flying. The national unemployment rate is now under 5 per cent. That main target was identified not only by economists but by federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, as the reason why we should be stimulating the national economy—to try to get that level back down. National economic growth has rebounded strongly.

The question has to be asked: if the national economy is performing so strongly, why is South Australia once again lagging at the back of the pack in economic performance? We have the highest unemployment rate in the nation. We have had the slowest economic growth in the nation leading into the pandemic. We have retail sales, while stronger after the pandemic, still lagging behind the nation. Our state final demand is similar, once again lagging the nation.

You would think that, with the community's willingness to give governments the benefit of the doubt, the allowance from communities and the permission that has been given to governments across the country to spend money to stimulate the economy, and to borrow money in doing so, this government should have all the tools that it possibly needs in order to deliver better outcomes from our state.

As a result, we are going to see an absolute record in the amount of borrowing over the next four years—$33 billion, just under 25 per cent of gross state product. That is a level we have not seen since the post World War II reconstruction period. It is far more than it was at the GFC, far more than it was at the recession of the early 1990s and far more than in any other period, of course, except the post World War II reconstruction period.

What are we getting for it? Think about the challenges that have had to be faced in responding to the pandemic. Do we have dedicated, safe quarantine facilities here in South Australia, let alone anywhere else in the nation? No, of course we do not. Do we have dedicated and functioning mRNA vaccine manufacturing centres? No, of course we do not. We temporarily had some improved medical device manufacturing, with Detmold receiving a government grant for mask supplies, but is that a sustainable industry on its own two feet now? No, of course it is not. Do we have dedicated, undercover, accessible testing clinics that can handle the demand the community places on them from time to time? No, we do not.

We have the Adelaide Convention Centre and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre putting demands for business interruption payments to the government because they do not have enough to do down there. They have lost money and they have had to lay off staff. They are undercover and with dedicated car parking and they are not being used by the government to respond to the pandemic. It just seems inexcusable that the government cannot think through these sorts of simple solutions logically and provide the support the community need when they need it.

Of course, with the run-up in debt, not only can few people nominate what that additional debt will go towards, as we understand—not even half-delivered tunnels under South Road, only half of a new Women's and Children's Hospital and not even any of the new $660 million basketball stadium that has been touted by the Premier—but in order to complete those projects we will need to take on approximately an extra $5 billion worth of debt. We are told, 'Don't worry. Money is cheap. It is absolutely fine. We can afford this.' That might be the case right now, but we see from the budget papers that the cost of that debt will increase—an extra $300 million a year in interest payments on virtually the same amount of debt.

That will come right at the time when South Australia loses its guaranteed share of GST payments from 2027. This Premier and this state Treasurer, Rob Lucas of the other place, have signed South Australia up to a new GST deal that does away with our guaranteed share. It acknowledged that South Australia would be worse off because it required the commonwealth to guarantee that we would not be worse off for the period that deal was first implemented in 2020 until when that guarantee runs out in 2027.

Whoever the future Treasurer will be after the next state election, towards the end of the next term they will be handing down budgets with interest costs going through the roof by hundreds of millions of dollars a year extra and fewer GST payments in order to fund them. Saul Eslake, a respected economist nationally, has estimated that South Australia will be up to $258 million a year worse off—absolutely extraordinary.

Then, of course, while we have less money to play with in the future, we have a health system begging for more resources. We have a Treasurer who thought it was a good idea to have a protracted 12-month industrial blue with ambulance officers, not only in the middle of a pandemic but while hospital ramping, with fewer presentations to hospital, had doubled its previous peak. Hospital ramping is out of control and the state Treasurer's approach is to have an industrial dispute with ambulance officers. It is absolutely extraordinary and, to my mind, unforgivable.

This lack of judgement has meant that while our community is being protected and kept safe by senior public servants like Nicola Spurrier and Grant Stevens, those people who are responsible for government and political decisions, like the Premier, the member for Dunstan, and like Rob Lucas, the state Treasurer, continue to make short-sighted, poor judgements. It is simply not good enough.

I was hoping that this budget would provide some vision, some direction for this state in the medium to long term. I was hoping that it would contain a series of key initiatives that would set our state up for future prosperity. What I now realise, of course, is that not only do we not have that but we have a state budget that will be burdened by less revenue and higher fixed costs as a result of this government's mismanagement and the extraordinary escalation in debt that will cost us hundreds of millions of dollars more.

This has been undoubtedly one of the most disappointing budgets we have seen in the lead-up to a state election, but I have to say it is one that rings true to form for the state Treasurer, Rob Lucas. The member for Enfield made reference to the fact that this is not only Rob Lucas's last budget but it is also his last period in state parliament. He was elected in 1982, 40 years before retiring from parliament in 2022.

It is no coincidence, of course, that 27 of those 40 years in parliament were spent in opposition. That is known by statisticians as a direct correlation. The longer Rob Lucas was in, the longer the Liberal Party spent in opposition. The longer he has been Treasurer, the longer the state's finances have declined. A lot of heavy lifting was done after the early 1990s by his predecessor, the Hon. Mr Baker, to try to restore the state's finances. Rob achieved the extraordinary feat of selling ETSA to pay down state debt and at the same time deliver four consecutive budget deficits, which served only to worsen the state's finances—a remarkable achievement.

What did he do here? Not only did he have a massive surge in revenue in 2018 but he immediately spent it all, so when revenues started to recede the budget declined far more than it should have. He has managed to convince many people in the community that he is an astute financial manager. Only the most cursory look at his financial record and the budgets he has handed down would demonstrate the complete opposite. Every time he has had his hands on the financial levers of the state budget, its condition has deteriorated significantly.

He says he is optimistic about the future. I am sure he is—for himself. He will ride off into the sunset after 40 years on the public purse, with generous ongoing entitlements, while the rest of us will have to deal with a state lacking economic vision and leadership from the Liberal government without the resources to implement it and with what will be a period of difficult budget management needed to ensure that whatever growth in revenues we get exceeds any growth in expenditure that future budgets might provide. That will make financial management very difficult for the next Treasurer, if not me then presumably someone from the other side if the Liberals are returned after the next state election.

I am about to conclude my remarks, but I did want to echo the sentiments of the member for Wright. This is going to be a difficult week for our state. It is going to be a difficult week for people in all positions, whether they have ongoing responsibilities in responding to the pandemic or whether their family members, even if they are schoolchildren, are disrupted in their normal terms and have to stay at home with undoubtedly some frustrated and highly stressed parents. I hope that we not only show each other as much support and compassion as we are able, but that it is also echoed by the government in providing every assistance the community may need to get through what will be a very difficult time.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (12:31): I would like to put my thanks on the record to all members opposite for the speedy passage of this stage of the bill, the second reading contributions. These are very unusual times. The lockdown, which has been announced this morning, has changed things enormously and I would like to put my thanks on the record to those members opposite, and particularly the leader of opposition business, for agreeing to complete this part of the passage of the bill very quickly today.

Bill read a second time.

Estimates Committees

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (12:32): I move:

That this bill be referred to estimates committees.

Motion carried.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: By leave, I move:

That a message be sent to the Legislative Council requesting that the Treasurer (Hon. R.I. Lucas), the Minister for Human Services (Hon. J.M.A. Lensink) and the Minister for Health and Wellbeing (Hon. S.G. Wade), members of the Legislative Council, be permitted to attend and give evidence before the estimates committees of the House of Assembly on the Appropriation Bill.

Motion carried.

Appropriation Grievances

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (12:33): I move:

That the house note grievances.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (12:33): I would like to round off my appropriation remarks by talking on a few other topics, jobs and training and TAFE being one. I often talk about the chicken and egg concept, and you need both a job and secure accommodation to have a reasonable standard of living. We are being told more people than ever are employed, but that does not equate to the problems I see in the community. I am also told we are not seeing the numbers of people job ready with the right skills in the right areas, and this must be addressed.

It is very disappointing then to see that in 2020 the government decided to no longer fund various courses through TAFE SA in both metropolitan Adelaide and the regions in South Australia, including certificates in business operations and administration, human resources, project management, leadership and management, early childhood education, and care and individual support. This means many courses have been removed where jobs exist and are needed, especially in early childhood and health care. Taking these courses away from TAFE and allowing only private providers to service the market cuts out many of the popular courses, reducing TAFE's ability to thrive, which may in turn affect the quality of courses delivered by everybody.

TAFE faces further constraints due to stringent minimum course numbers. While there are small groups of students who want to take courses in areas of allied health assistance, catering operations, commercial cookery, health services, horticulture, salon assistants and dental health, many courses are cancelled because minimum student numbers are not reached. This limits the opportunity for students to continue their tertiary education. It would be more beneficial to students if regional and metropolitan classes were able to combine or run online when class numbers are not met separately instead of cutting the courses completely.

TAFE continues to see an increase in applications each year; however, the budget cuts led to 1,100 fewer offers in 2021—a 13 per cent reduction compared with 2020. Further budget cuts in 2021-22 will see 73 jobs cut from TAFE SA, further impacting upon student learning and their ability to enter the workforce. TAFE SA has provided quality vocational education and training to metropolitan and regional South Australia for many years. It continues to be the preferred training provider for many industries, with industry groups working with TAFE to deliver and develop innovative programs that meet employer demands now and into the future.

In the particular area of Aboriginal Affairs, the budget allocates $200 million over the forward estimates for the development of the arts and cultural centre, while I understand discussions have commenced to place Tauondi College as the preferred training and employment service provider. Tauondi College had its grant funding cut on 30 June 2020. Since then, it has begun a transition to a fee-for-service business model.

The benefit of a grant funding model is that many of the courses offered and successfully run by Tauondi are community education courses, accounting for the complex literacy needs specific to the South Australian Aboriginal community. These courses may not fit into the formulas used to determine tertiary education funding, as Tauondi courses have no prerequisites, irregular study hours and flexible class numbers. They are mostly at a certificate I level, not the sort of courses that typically turn a profit.

You cannot measure the valuable community service provided by Tauondi by enrolment, participation or completion rates, yet the college lost $2.2 million of its funding because these elements could not be guaranteed. The rhetoric used to justify these cuts are the same old buzzwords: 'modernisation', 'financial viability' and 'meeting and exceeding market requirements'. The focus seems to have shifted away from providing basic community education for Indigenous people, further entrenching disadvantage, while also exacerbating cultural loss. Formal certificates III and IV or diploma courses are only useful if you can read and write.

We also see $10 million allocated in the budget to implement strategies to reduce the rate of Aboriginal reoffending and over-representation in the criminal justice system. A key plank of this has to be raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people are over-represented in the youth justice and child protection systems, a legacy of historical and ongoing trauma, dispossession, marginalisation and discrimination.

The government must work in partnership with our local Indigenous communities, developing lasting and comprehensive solutions to ensure appropriate support for every child at risk, while also safeguarding the community by responding adequately to harmful behaviour. Both Aboriginal people and the wider community must have confidence there are systems in place to care for young people before they enter the criminal justice system.

In relation to safer communities and helping SAPOL with crime, local neighbourhood watch groups are struggling to keep going for a number of reasons. In areas of high crime stats this is regrettable and I know many local people are doing what they can to keep information going through to help police. The use of public and private CCTV and Facebook groups is becoming more and more beneficial and I know this will assist with the clear-up rate. However, as social conditions change, there will be people continuing to be willing to take the risk of reoffending.

On the subject of courts and the Coroners Court in particular, the closure of the Holden Hill courthouse in 2015 by the then Labor government at the behest of the Chief Justice remains an issue people in the north-east still talk about. It was an efficient court and enabled people access to justice closer to home, particularly victims of domestic violence. The court system today continues to struggle, with long delays being the norm and justice delayed is justice denied. It would be worthwhile for the government to consider reopening the Holden Hill courthouse.

The Coroners Court is another court that sees people often under great distress, waiting for death certificates and other important information. Many of my constituents tell me of their pain waiting for their matters to be dealt with, and this is another area that needs urgent attention. While on the matter of best assisting people dealing with the death of a loved one, other jurisdictions have various systems of streamlining advice to authorities of deaths, allowing one notification to flow through to many departments. I will be looking at something like that in the lead-up to the election.

This brings me to my favourite topic, which is health and Modbury Hospital. Never have local health services been more important. Today especially I want to put on record my thanks to the staff and volunteers at Modbury Hospital, especially in the ED, who have been exposed to the harshest effects of this COVID outbreak. I wish them all well as they eventually return to work. NALHN, SA Ambulance Service and the staff at COVID testing stations all over Adelaide, not to mention retail staff and those involved in essential services, are now stepping up, as are the people of the Modbury region, who are today being called upon to do the right thing.

Modbury Hospital has seen many changes since those first dramatic days brought about by the Liberal government through its Healthscope proposal. Since then, we have seen the Generational Health Review and then the Transforming Health program, which wrought havoc.

I have concerns about the regrading of the specialist Central Sterile Services Department being treated as cleaners yet doing highly qualified work. This anomaly must be addressed for a handful of workers who must be regraded to recognise their skill level and bring them into line with their counterparts at other metropolitan hospitals.

The reinstatement of the ICU will mean there is opportunity to explore the return of obstetrics through the low-risk birthing unit and perhaps even a paediatric service to take pressure off the Lyell McEwin health service and the proposed Women's and Children's Hospital. I have heard disturbing reports of the inadequacies of the planning for the new Women's and Children's Hospital, especially around the implications for birthing centres and the midwifery group practices, inpatient and outpatient clinical areas for maternity and neonatal services. I look forward to making further contributions about these services and many others in the lead-up to the next election.

Motion carried.

Estimates Committees

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (12:42): I move:

That the proposed expenditures for the departments and services contained in the Appropriation Bill be referred to Estimates Committees A and B for examination and report by next day of sitting, in accordance with the timetables to meet on days to be determined by the Speaker which are being distributed so I will not read the detail.

APPROPRIATION BILL 2021

TIMETABLE FOR ESTIMATES COMMITTEES

ESTIMATES COMMITTEE A

DAY ONE AT 9.00 AM

Premier

Legislative Council

House of Assembly

Joint Parliamentary Services

Administered Items for Joint Parliamentary Services

State Governor's Establishment

Auditor-General's Department

Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Administered Items for the Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Premier Other Items

Defence SA

South Australian Tourism Commission

DAY TWO AT 12.00 noon

Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development

Department of Primary Industries and Regions

Administered Items for the Department of Primary Industries and Regions

DAY THREE AT 9.00 AM

Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services

Department of Infrastructure and Transport (part)

Administered Items for the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (part)

Administered Items for the Department of Treasury and Finance (part)

South Australia Police

Administered Items for South Australia Police

Department for Correctional Services

Minister for Child Protection

Department for Child Protection

DAY FOUR AT 1.00 PM

Attorney-General

Minister for Planning and Local Government

Courts Administration Authority

Attorney-General's Department

Administered Items for the Attorney-General's Department

Electoral Commission of South Australia

Administered Items for Electoral Commission of South Australia

DAY FIVE AT 9.00 AM

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

Department of Infrastructure and Transport (part)

Administered Items for the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (part)

Minister for Energy and Mining

Department of Energy and Mining (part)

ESTIMATES COMMITTEES

DAY ONE AT 9.00 AM

Treasurer

Department of Treasury and Finance

Administered Items for the Department of Treasury and Finance (part)

DAY TWO AT 12.00 noon

Minister for Education

Department for Education

Administered Items for the Department for Education

DAY THREE AT 9.00 AM

Minister for Human Services

Department of Human Services

Administered Items for the Department of Human Services

Minister for Health and Wellbeing

Department for Health and Wellbeing

Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health

Wellbeing SA

DAY FOUR AT 1.00 PM

Minister for Innovation and Skills

Department for Innovation and Skills

Administered Items for the Department for Innovation and Skills

DAY FIVE AT 9.00 AM

Minister for Trade and Investment

Department for Trade and Investment

Minister for Environment and Water

Department for Energy and Mining (part).

Department for Environment and Water

Administered Items for the Department for Environment and Water

Motion carried.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: That Estimates Committee A be appointed, consisting of Mr Whetstone, Ms Luethen, Mr Knoll, Mr Malinauskas, Hon. A. Koutsantonis, Mr Szakacs and Mr Treloar.

Motion carried.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I move:

That Estimates Committee B be appointed, consisting of Mr Cowdrey, Mr Murray, Mr McBride, Mr Pederick, Hon. S.C. Mullighan, Mr Brown and Hon. A. Piccolo.

Motion carried.

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