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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-02-18 Daily Xml
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Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Debate resumed.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (11:13): I acknowledge the speech by His Excellency the Governor, and I also acknowledge all his hard work. I think the speechwriting could have used a bit of work, but that is certainly no fault of the Governor; it is certainly the fault of the Premier's office, which wrote the speech. I would like to add some contributions in terms of where this state is going, particularly in my portfolio of shadow minister for health but also in terms of my electorate.

First of all, I would like to make some comments in relation to the situation that has happened in regard to the member for Waite. Unfortunately, in this parliament we are now in the situation where the electorate of Waite is unrepresented. All 46 of us who are here are representing our electorates—representing the people whom we were elected to represent—but the people of Waite do not have a representative at the moment.

The government seems to think that this is an appropriate situation to be in. We have had a farcical process over the past two months, we have had weak leadership from the Premier on this issue, and it now means that the people of Waite—the people in the Mitcham Hills and on the Mitcham Plains—are unrepresented in this chamber. I think it is disgraceful and I hope that we will see proper action to ensure that somebody else is elected very soon to represent the people of Waite in this parliament.

In relation to the health area, this is an essential part of government. It is a third of the state's budget. It is one of the core services that people in our state rely on day in and day out, but it is needlessly suffering. Over the past almost two years we have seen that ambulance ramping has doubled. It has not increased by 10 per cent, it has not increased by 20 per cent, it has more than doubled. We saw significant ramping towards the end of last year, the worst ramping that our state has ever seen, and it was impacting on real patients. Real patients were being affected by this, real people, particularly elderly people, who are generally the ones stuck in ambulances outside emergency departments. They were stuck there for many hours waiting for the care they needed.

This government does not have a response to it. This government is supporting more and more cuts, which is making the situation much worse. It is not the fault of the paramedics who are trying to take people to hospital; in fact, it is not even the fault of the people in the emergency department who are working their guts out trying to help people as fast as they can. The issue is that people are stuck in the emergency department and unable to get out of the emergency department, to the point that on any given day now we are seeing significant numbers of patients stuck in emergency departments waiting to get a bed in the hospital.

Even this morning, I think 72 patients were stuck in emergency departments across our hospital system waiting for a bed in those hospitals. That number has been even higher in recent weeks, and this is generally a relatively quiet time of the year comparatively. Once we get to winter, if nothing changes, if the cuts continue, then that situation is going to get worse and worse. What is the government's response to this? It has not been to put in extra resources, and it has not been to open up extra beds or hire extra staff: they are cutting beds, they are cutting doctors and they are cutting nurses.

We had a situation in October last year when ramping was the worst it had ever been and the government announced the closure of 60 beds across central hospitals, across the Royal Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hampstead and St Margaret's in the Central Adelaide region. That made a real difference because it then meant that there was significant additional pressure on the emergency departments over those coming months. The government said, 'Don't worry about this because these are going to be flex beds. These will open up when they are needed.'

That was not the case because every time there was ramping, which was almost every single day, those beds were not reopened. They sat there closed. We have photos of some big pin-up boards brought to close those beds in the Royal Adelaide Hospital, to try to stop people getting into them. It got to the point where, a month ago, there were reports that the cancer ward in the Royal Adelaide Hospital itself closed, so cancer patients, who were used to having a dedicated ward and dedicated cancer nurses looking after them, were shunted into other wards to save money.

We currently have three health regions across the state that are going through voluntary separation processes. These are not to cut bureaucrats, these are not to cut head office executives, these are to cut front-line staff in those hospitals. They include doctors, they include nurses and they include allied health professionals. That comes just after 100 staff were cut in SA Pathology, which means that SA Pathology are currently under the pump, particularly now they are dealing with the coronavirus cases. The particular warnings I am hearing is that if we see this level of activity combined with flu activity later in the year, then they are not going to be able to cope.

Cutting staff across some of our major hospitals in Adelaide and South Australia is only making the situation worse. It is only pouring diesel on the fire of already significant ramping, significant overcrowding and significant delays for patients who need the care that they need. What else was the government's response? 'We are not going to invest more money in patient services; we are going to invest more money in corporate liquidators to come and cut health services.' So we now have KordaMentha, which is being paid up to $46 million over two years to go into central hospitals and cut funding from services—$46 million is an outrageous amount of money.

These are staff who are getting paid some $7,000 a day as part of their contracts. They have not released a second contract but we know from the first contract that some staff were getting paid $7,000 a day to go in, all fly-in fly-out, because this government does not give a rat's about supporting economic development in South Australia. It wants to bring in people from Sydney and Melbourne, none of whom were based here, fly in on the Monday morning, fly out on the Thursday afternoon and spend their time cutting staff, and the government is delighted with this.

In fact, we know that the Premier was out recently having drinks with KordaMentha in a swanky inner city bar, celebrating the fact that they have just got this contract extension for another $20 million of taxpayers' money which is not going into health services, which is about them coming in to run health services privately and to cut staff in the process of doing it.

This combines with what we saw last year in the dramatic report from the ICAC commissioner. The ICAC commissioner delivered a report that raised very troubling issues about what was going on in SA Health—troubling issues in terms of conflicts of interest, procurement management, private practice arrangements, a whole range of different issues within the hospital system of people doing the wrong thing, abusing trust and abusing taxpayers' funding.

What is the government's response to this? It has been extraordinary, to say the least. Firstly, they failed to provide the ICAC commissioner with the funding he requested to go after these people. He requested a couple million dollars to investigate these people and to get to the bottom of these issues so he could make proper recommendations to try to fix these issues, and the government refused to do that. They refused to allow the ICAC commissioner to get the funding he requested.

Secondly, when the report was eventually released, the minister went out and responded to it with a bevy of public servants behind him announcing his task force response before he had even read the report. The minister announced to the public a response to a report he had not read. That just goes to show the level of incompetence we are dealing with here in the Marshall government. You have this very serious report into the biggest area of government expenditure and the minister does not even take the time to read it before he goes out and tries to manipulate the media into his preferred response.

Add to that, we then had, in spectacular fashion, the Premier going out and meeting with the ICAC commissioner, not to say, 'Thank you, ICAC commissioner, for your great work. What can we do to improve the situation?' but to get stuck into the ICAC commissioner for daring to produce this report revealing what was going on in SA Health. The ICAC commissioner has revealed that the Premier was angry, that the Premier was not happy and that he thought the work the commissioner had done to look into these issues in SA Health was counterproductive, despite the fact that the Premier stood up in this parliament and said that he thought it was helpful, he thought it was a good report and that it was going to help them out.

We know with the shifty Premier here that he will do one thing behind closed doors and another thing to the parliament. He cannot be trusted in any way, shape or form, and this ICAC response just goes to show that. What is the government's response? It is not to have a proper investigation, not to have any independent oversight, but to have five public servants, 40 per cent of whom are from SA Health, looking into these issues. They released a very underwhelming report last month, which basically highlights the fact that they are not going to do anything to go after and remove from the system those people who have done the wrong thing. Not one part of that task force report does that.

For instance, where you have issues with people wasting taxpayer funding in areas like private practice, research funding or procurement matters, the government's response is not to say, 'We will investigate, we will find those people and we will weed them out of the system,' it is to update policies that were already being breached. Their response to people breaching policies is to update those policies, presumably for them to be breached again. It is wholly not good enough. Everybody, except for this government and this Premier, believes that it is not good enough. Everybody in South Australia, except for the government, believes that there should be a proper investigation into these matters. You have to ask why.

Over the past couple of months, we also had the complete farce of the situation regarding the Chief Executive of SA Health, Chris McGowan. It was found that Chris McGowan, who is paid $561,000 a year, was a member of a board of his previous company, Silverchain, while he was the Chief Executive of SA Health. That then led to a referral to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment.

The commissioner, despite the Premier saying, 'How dare you question whether she should do it,' decided that she had a conflict of interest in relation to this matter because she had been on the panel that appointed Chris McGowan to this position. She referred it to an independent investigator, Professor McMillan, a former commonwealth ombudsman, who has now delivered a report to the public, which the government tried to slip out at the start of the Australia Day long weekend.

That report says that Chris McGowan failed in a number of matters in relation to his duties and his responsibilities under both the law and various procedures. He did not inform the minister about various matters when he was meant to, he did not update his declarations of interest and he should have told people when he found out that he was the director of this company. He was told by his staff not to go to a meeting with Deloitte that was proposed to discuss partnerships between SA Health and Silverchain. He decided to do it anyway and ignore that advice, which the investigator also found was a problem.

In a whole range of different matters, this report reveals that Chris McGowan failed in his duties, and what the government has decided to do is basically give him a slap on the wrist. He has been given counselling from the Premier and he has been subjected to coaching from the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment. What Chris McGowan recently revealed in the Budget and Finance Committee was that this counselling basically consisted of just a bit of a chat with the Premier, where the Premier said, 'This is how you should behave in relation to a politically charged environment.' That is not at all what the commissioner recommended the counselling should be.

Chris McGowan believed that his coaching from the commissioner was just going to be catching up for a coffee, which goes to show the lack of seriousness with which this government deals with these issues, particularly when these are the same issues that the ICAC commissioner is raising on a macro level in terms of conflict of interest and procurement matters within SA Health and the failure to adhere to standards in relation to them.

What does the government think is appropriate to do? This guy, who has just had this report saying he failed in relation to those matters, is now going to be sitting on the task force that is responding to those issues of procurement and conflict of interest within SA Health, even though he now has to be subject to coaching about how he should perform his responsibilities in relation to those matters. It is a complete farce.

Adding to that farce is the fact that Chris McGowan said to the Budget and Finance Committee that, basically, he has not learned this lesson that he needs to improve his standing; he is now going to go the other way. He told the Budget and Finance Committee that he is now going to sign off on tenders that relate to his former company, Silverchain, even though that was part of the agreed management of this issue that he had been at least applying previous to this report. His interpretation of this matter is not to go further, not to try to address this issue further but to retreat and to not even comply with what the agreed procedure was before this report into his conduct came out. It is a complete farce.

There are so many other issues in health. Take the new Women's and Children's Hospital. This is the biggest project the government has proposed in health. It is going to be a very significant and complex project. The government originally promised that this project would be open by 2024, which of course is only four years away and which would basically mean that construction would have to be started now.

They promised that a task force (they love a good task force) was going to investigate this, was going to lead the project, was going to determine the price, was going to determine how many beds there should be, was going to determine the service mix in there, and was going to report publicly a year ago. We are now a year on and that task force does not seem to exist anymore. That task force has never given a public report. The government is refusing to release the task force report.

We know that there was a report, perhaps even two reports, given to the government—a public and a private one—and the government is refusing to release those reports so we can actually see what is going on. Further to that, they have basically dismissed the entire task force and hired some consultants to now do the work instead. So they are redoing the work that was supposedly already done. They have hired Deloitte and Aurecon to do this work, and the minister did not even know about it when they had been appointed.

You have the biggest project in the minister's portfolio, one of the biggest projects that this state will ever see, and the minister did not even know that the people who are leading the work to implement the government's policy had been appointed and did not know what the project was, basically because he does not know what is going on in his portfolio because his hands are completely off the wheel.

This is so disappointing. I think the people who were expecting this government to deliver on this hospital will be very let down, because it does not seem like anything is going to happen any time soon, and from what we are hearing there are serious doubts within the government as to whether they should go ahead with this project or not. I think the government should be honest with people about whether this project will happen, how many beds there will be, what services there will be, whether or not there will be car parking and when this project will actually happen.

This would have to be one of the only projects in the history of the state that the government are embarking on without actually having a budget for it. They have said that they have a bit over $500 million in the budget over the forward estimates that Treasury is keeping in contingency, but that is not going to be nearly enough to deliver on this project. The estimate is that well in excess of $1 billion is needed to do this project, and the government are starting it without even working out how much it is going to cost.

Nurses, cleaners, patients and other hospital staff all got a very rude shock on 1 January this year when this government decided to dramatically increase car parking prices. This is yet another broken promise from this government. This government, of course, promised and released a policy that says very clearly 'reducing car parking fees for patients and their families', and what they have done is the complete opposite. Patients are going to be stuck with paying 20 to 25 per cent more for car parking.

People at The QEH who are getting two hours of free car parking will have that removed whenever construction starts there, which is another issue—that that has been significantly delayed. In addition, and worst of all, is that nurses, cleaners and other hospital staff who have no option but to park their car at hospitals are this year facing an increased cost to them of 129 per cent. It is not 10 per cent, not 20 per cent, but it is a 129 per cent increase. There is no justification for this massive increase. It is none other than an attempt to claw back the wages of hardworking hospital staff.

These nurses, who every day go to work to save people's lives, who work in some horrid conditions and deal with some absolute rubbish, have to now pay $725 extra every year just for the privilege of getting to work. It is a pay cut for those nurses, cleaners, orderlies and other allied health staff. It is a broken promise by this government. Of course, the minister gets driven around. His advisers all get car parks; they do not have to work late shifts.

Adding insult to injury are the government's cuts to so many bus routes late at night and early in the morning. If you are hoping to potentially do a late shift and maybe catch the bus home, that is now impossible because one minister has cut your bus line and the other minister is increasing your car parking fee. Each and every way, this government is attacking workers in those hospitals. Add to the fact that they refused to put a plan in place, which the nurses federation has been calling for, to address violence against nurses in our hospital system.

They are failing to address issues that people are calling out for, to address violence in country hospitals, let alone the issues in the city and the continuous assaults we are seeing in places like the Lyell McEwin Hospital, particularly as somebody was recently stabbed. None of those issues are being addressed. You are paying more for your car parking and your bus routes are being cut—thank you very much. That is this government's approach to our hardworking doctors and nurses—'and, by the way, we are going to cut the beds and we are going to cut the staff and make you do more work with fewer resources.' That is how this government approaches the health system and our health staff. It is absolutely disgraceful.

In my remaining time, I would like to talk a bit about what is going on in the electorate of Kaurna. Kaurna of course is such a special part of our state, with our beautiful southern beaches and many great suburbs as well. One thing that is very significant to the people of Kaurna is our train services. They have always been important, ever since the train line was extended to Noarlunga—I think in the late seventies—but particularly over the past six years since the train line was extended to Seaford. It has opened up many more opportunities for people in my electorate. All of that is, sadly, under risk with this government's plan to privatise those services.

Since they were elected, we have seen them cut bus services. In my electorate, we now have bus stops that do not have any buses coming to them between 8am and 8pm. It is basically a zombie bus stop that does not really exist. If you went to it, you would be stuck there all day waiting for a bus. In addition to that, they are now privatising the trains that we rely on. We know what privatisation means: it means that people will have poorer services, that there will be staff cutbacks and that people will have to pay more in the end.

We have seen privatisation and its impact on other services in the past. We have seen the impact of privatisation on train services around the country—around the world, in fact—and we know what the impact will be here. We will be fighting very hard to stop that for my electorate and for the rest of the city. If we are re-elected, we will reverse that privatisation because of its importance to the people in Adelaide.

A number of key projects that the previous government committed to were set to significantly improve things for the people of Kaurna. Firstly, in relation to public schools there are significant projects the previous government put in place. In my electorate in particular, that has already delivered an upgrade to the STEM facilities at Seaford Secondary College and was slated to improve the facilities and deliver a much-needed performing arts centre for Seaford Secondary College in the second wave of works.

We are waiting to hear whether that will be delivered on time. We are waiting to hear that it will be delivered as it was fully intended. I will be keeping the government honest about that. Other schools around the area that service the electorate of Kaurna also had similar upgrades: Christies Beach, Wirreanda and Willunga high schools. I will continue to hold the government to account and ensure that the upgrades put in the budget by the previous government are delivered.

The biggest road project, on the edge of my electorate and going into the member for Mawson's electorate, is the duplication of Main South Road. This is an essential upgrade for the increasing population in the outer southern suburbs and all through the Fleurieu to Kangaroo Island. It is an essential project particularly because of the safety risks of that road.

We will be holding the government to account to make sure that road upgrade happens and also that it happens all the way to Sellicks, as this government put in its forward estimates in the Mid-Year Budget Review. This government seems to have slipped it out entirely with no commitment despite their pre-election promises for that upgrade to go all the way to Sellicks and be properly budgeted for. That is another key issue.

Particularly in relation to local council issues, I am delighted to report that something I have previously talked about in the house and delivered petitions on is in the works. Onkaparinga has now committed to fortnightly green waste collections, finally catching up with the rest of Adelaide. Despite our significant council rates, we were well behind everywhere else in the city. I congratulate the council and the leadership of Erin Thompson, the new mayor, on getting this important project done, which finally brings the services in Onkaparinga up to the scratch of services available for people in other councils. I also thank my colleagues the members for Hurtle Vale and Reynell and the federal member for Kingston for their support as we embarked upon that significant campaign.

Another key project, which we had committed to before the election but which has gone out the window now, is the coast path. There was a recent upgrade of the coast path, which the previous government completed, between Southport and Port Noarlunga, and which provides a massive upgrade for that area of the coast path. Little sections of the coast path here and there are complete, but two very significant sections are not complete. One is between Port Noarlunga and Christies Beach, which is known as the Witton Bluff Base Trail, and the other is from Moana down to Port Willunga and Aldinga, through Maslin Beach, which is not there whatsoever.

Both of those trails we committed to before the election. Both of those trails this government has no commitment to whatsoever, which is letting down the people who live in those areas and also depriving people of significant tourism opportunities and significant recreation opportunities. Coming with the tourism opportunities are the potential benefits for businesses in the area. Particularly those businesses at Christies Beach are calling out for this because it will help them significantly. We will keep up the campaign on those coast path upgrade areas to make sure that this government delivers on what is needed to get that coast path finally finished.

In my remaining time, I would like to touch briefly on planning. Planning is a significant issue not just in the middle of the city but in outer areas as well. The government are embarking upon their planning reforms and have released and now delayed the planning code. This will have impacts on every suburb across Adelaide. We will be applying a fine-tooth comb to make sure that this is not going to worsen the situation for people in my electorate, who are already facing some pretty disgusting planning code issues in Onkaparinga. They need to be improved, not worsened, through this process. I will continue to work hard to make sure that the people in my area are represented in that regard.

Ms LUETHEN (King) (11:43): His Excellency the Governor delivered his opening speech for our Fifty-Fourth Parliament. On behalf of the constituents in King, I thank him for his speech, for his leadership role in our state and for taking the time in his speech to acknowledge the impact of the bushfire crisis on our state and on our country. The Governor said that we think particularly of those who have lost their lives, including those who have come from overseas to help us fight our fires. We extend our deepest sympathies to their loved ones and to all those who have suffered. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to all those who have been supporting the rescue, recovery and relief efforts. So many wonderful families have been involved.

I take this opportunity to applaud people living in King for supporting the various bushfire activities and appeals. We have been told there are two very valuable ways we can help right now. One is by giving financial donations, which will help disaster-affected communities recover, as people can buy exactly what they need and spend locally. Every contribution, no matter how big or small, makes a difference to those most affected by this tragedy. Every dollar donated directly to the SA Bushfire Appeal goes to those affected by the fires, with the South Australian government absorbing all administration costs.

Secondly, we can all help by spending some time and money in the SA areas where the fires have been, as this directly supports our families, employees and small businesses in these regions, which is why we have been promoting the #BookThemOut campaign. A drive to Yorke Peninsula, a coffee in the Adelaide Hills or a short trip to Kangaroo Island will all help. I have already spoken to a few local constituents in King who are off to KI, and I thank them, as this will mean a great deal to our local bushfire-impacted families and economies.

I was in KI recently with my colleagues and so much of the island is untouched. So many of the attractions are new—new wineries, new gin distilleries—and the same wonderful parks are untouched. They are supported by services provided by small family businesses and they need our support right now. I thank all South Australians for reaching out to those affected by the summer's bushfires. We have a wonderful sense of community in South Australia. This morning, the Nepalese community shared how 101 people just went over to KI to show their solidarity. Thank you.

I will now respond directly to the Governor's comments that were related to our state government's vision and achievements so far. I am so proud to be part of a government that is led by a Premier who works tirelessly and is a role model for keeping everyone focused on outcomes for South Australians. We are focused, we are disciplined and we are delivering. On their doorsteps, I often tell people living in King how seriously I take my role in representing them and how I will fight for my constituents and their needs to be realised in our state's plans.

As the Governor outlined, this government is delivering on its commitments made to the people of South Australia at the 2018 election. Costs to families and businesses are being lowered. Last week, we announced that two separate reports by the electricity regulator show that electricity prices in South Australia are going to fall further for households and businesses this year. The Australian Energy Regulator has determined that the default market offer for electricity will be cut by between 4.4 per cent and 7.1 per cent for households and small businesses respectively. As a result of the AER's ruling, more than 75,000 South Australian households and small businesses are set to receive significant cuts in their electricity bills from 1 July this year. What a contrast to what we have seen under the Labor government.

Furthermore, I am proud to provide an update on our state's budget—that is, since the 2018 election it has delivered the funds needed to deliver the local King projects that my constituents told me mattered most to them. These include the Golden Grove upgrade, an upgrade that was ignored by the previous Labor government for over 16 years. The upgrade is finally underway, and anyone who lives in King can see it taking place. People locally are commenting to me on how much easier it is already to see the traffic now that some of the trees have been removed that were obscuring their vision. This is important to the tens of thousands of people who drive regularly on this section of road each day.

The construction of the Hancock Road roundabout is taking place right now, and the drainage is being built right alongside the road. People whose houses are adjacent to the side of the Golden Grove Road have told me they need adequate drainage to stop the stormwater from flowing into the sides of their homes. I have seen the stains on the retaining walls where the water flows right in and is only stopped by makeshift mounds put there by the local government.

These roadworks should be complete around the middle of this year, and I cannot wait to see the improvement in safety along this road for cars, trucks, buses, cyclists, commuters and pedestrians. I am looking forward to seeing locals walking safely and jogging safely down the new path alongside the Golden Grove Road, which residents have been waiting for for over 25 years. Like many locals, I am sad that there has been a loss of trees alongside the road. It is hard to watch these big trees go. I am glad the government has set aside significant funds for revegetation, and I am advocating to DPTI and to the Tea Tree Gully council for the community to have the opportunity to actively take part in the revegetation program.

My promises in 2017-18 have been and are being delivered. I have had great community feedback about the improvement in safety through the delivery of the Skyline Drive slip lane; great feedback about the delivery of the smooth resurface of Black Top Road, where there was previously a rollercoaster; the completion and delivery of new car parking for SADNA users, where more than 400,000 people attend each year; as well as a turning lane out onto Atlantis Drive. This traffic flow improvement will benefit users of the courts, the local park and local residents who are often blocked from getting back into their streets. Also, the exit onto The Golden Way will soon be delivered.

We are delivering much-needed local school upgrades. At the recent Golden Grove High School governing council AGM, the principal spoke positively about the upgrade and the new facilities occurring at our large local school—a high school from which my daughter successfully graduated and a school which is growing as we transition year 7 students to the high school. Finally, we are the last state in Australia to transition and deliver the best educational outcomes locally and across the state.

We have listened to local residents in King. The expansion of the Golden Grove park-and-ride is coming, and we will soon hear more about the North East Public Transport Study outcome, too, as we deliver further public transport reforms. I have actively been working with Housing SA tenants in my electorate to address and deliver maintenance upgrades that people have told me they waited for for many years under the former government.

For too many years people had waited to have their views heard and delivered upon by the previous government. Now we are listening. My constituents only have to drive past our two local hospitals, Modbury and Lyell McEwin, to see our huge multimillion dollar investments in health taking place. Modbury Hospital is an extremely important part of the north-eastern community, and the investment being made by this government is something the residents from across King have told me they are very passionate about. The $96 million upgrade of the Modbury Hospital will see important services restored and expanded upon at the site, which is something the local community has been calling for.

Finally, they have a government who is listening to their priorities and putting health care at the forefront. Highlights of this fantastic investment include the expansion of the surgical floor to allow for more surgeries to occur in our local community, eight additional beds being created in the extended emergency care unit and the co-location of the EECU with an upgraded 26-bed, short stay medical general unit. A new purpose-built 20-bed palliative care unit to ensure patients are cared for in a suitable environment will also be established, as will a four-bed high dependency unit. The most obvious change, which some residents are already noticing, is the much-needed upgrade to the outer facade of the facility. No longer will there be a risk of bricks falling on the head.

These improvements will help to modernise one of our local hospitals and repair the damage that was done to it through the former Labor government's destructive Transforming Health reforms. At the same time, these construction projects are creating local jobs. The expansion of parking is also underway at Lyell McEwin, which is a need of many of the nursing staff, volunteers and patients living in King.

I was heartened to hear the Governor say that two very important measures—important to people living in King—which were not passed by the Legislative Council during the first session of parliament, will also be revisited. I refer to bills to extend the hours shops can trade in the Greater Adelaide shopping district and proclaimed shopping districts, and, secondly, capping local government council rates, which will save our ratepayers money and make sure that ratepayers' money is spent on those projects which matter most to them—things like kerbing, guttering, local roads and paths, things that people are bringing to my attention all the time. Our government believes that very strong community support has been demonstrated for these bills, for these changes to take place in South Australia. Accordingly, they will be presented for the parliament's further consideration during this session.

Additionally, I am proud that our government has secured unprecedented cooperation from the commonwealth for the accelerated delivery of major productive infrastructure for our cities, our towns and our regions. South Australia has a fully funded pipeline of infrastructure works worth $12.9 billion over four years. As I speak with my constituents, they tell me they are pleased that our government has a plan for ongoing infrastructure works rather than piecemeal projects that happen on an election cycle.

Our government is focused on long-term sustainable plans and proposals that will be identified in Infrastructure South Australia's first 20-year strategy, which is to be published soon. Targeted investment in priority infrastructure projects is creating jobs, a pipeline of jobs that will strengthen our economy and get people home sooner and safer. People in the north have told me that they are very pleased that we are finally delivering the electrification of the Gawler railway line. I have received positive feedback because we are upgrading seven major metropolitan intersections.

People are pleased that we are extending the Paradise and Golden Grove park-and-rides, and they tell me that they are pleased that our government is repairing more than 1,000 kilometres of regional roads, not to mention the local roads in King. When I was travelling up Black Top Road on the weekend, it was great to see the extra shoulders that have been bitumised and the road improvements we have promised. As well as improving our transport infrastructure, our government is also determined to deliver better and more customer-focused services. It is apparent that east-west connections across King must be improved in relation to public transport and I am advocating strongly for this.

People living in Salisbury Heights should be able to simply catch one bus to Salisbury, and people living in Salisbury East should be able to easily catch one bus to Golden Grove and Tea Tree Plaza. People in Salisbury Park should be able to catch one bus up to the Golden Grove Shopping Centre. It makes sense for commuters, it makes sense for businesses and we need to make this happen. People deserve modern, cost-effective transport solutions—something that was ignored for many years under the previous government—and I am glad I can say that we are focusing on this now.

The Governor spoke about a vision for our state to be dynamic, vibrant and enterprising with the confidence to embrace big thinking and bold change, a state where effort, planning and persistence are rewarded by success, where your future is not limited by the suburb, town, region or nation in which you were brought up, where you are just as likely to reach the top in a profession if your education has been at a state school rather than a private one, and apprentices and trainees, as well as university graduates, can look forward to satisfying, well-paid careers, a state where home owners can maintain their mortgages without constant worry about making ends meet and where other cost-of-living pressures are eased. These are certainly our focus. We have made some progress but we have a lot more to do, and I am focused and energised—as I know my colleagues are—to keep delivering on our plan for South Australians.

In relation to our plan for families in this state, we have already made some progress as we continue to lower costs for South Australian families and businesses. Payroll tax on small businesses has been abolished and emergency services levy bills have been significantly reduced. From July, there will be lower water costs, and land tax reforms will benefit 92 per cent of smaller investors and 75 per cent of company groups. Further cost relief includes lower electricity bills for households, reductions in compulsory third-party insurance premiums, doubling the value of the sports vouchers for primary school-age children, and free screening checks for volunteers.

It was great to hear the Governor tell us that the government has received independent research which concludes that living in Adelaide is 16 per cent more affordable than Melbourne and 28 per cent more affordable than Sydney—just one more reason that South Australia is a great place to live and raise a family. This advice also shows that Adelaide has considerably lower office rental costs and other business outgoings. Our government will use this research to present a compelling business case for commonwealth government departments and private businesses with large white-collar support service functions to relocate to Adelaide.

People in the King electorate told me that more jobs were also one of the top state priorities for them, and we are making progress. Our state's economy is maintaining a solid level of employment and rising levels of business investment. With lower costs and a more efficient regulatory environment, all businesses will have the incentive to grow and employ more people.

I want to get some good news on jobs on the record today in response to the Governor's speech. The Marshall government took to the election a promise to deliver more jobs for South Australia, and since March 2018 the government has continually worked towards the goal of growing the state's economy and creating more opportunities for local people to secure jobs in South Australia.

Specifically, through Skilling South Australia we are focused on apprenticeships and traineeships. Skilling South Australia was set up by the Marshall government to promote apprenticeships and traineeships to skill up young people and create a more skilled workforce in South Australia. Since this initiative began, South Australia has experienced a significant increase in apprenticeships and traineeships across a number of sectors, with 13,000 commencements occurring in the first year of Skilling South Australia and more than 700 businesses taking on apprentices for the first time.

There is also the innovation at Lot Fourteen. The transformation of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site to Lot Fourteen has seen a number of high-tech companies set up offices and create jobs in South Australia. Adelaide was selected as the headquarters for the Australian Space Agency, with its premises to be located at Lot Fourteen, and international space and cyber companies Tyvak and Squad have committed to create a collective total of 70 jobs over the next three years. Other high-tech industries include Myriota, Inovor Technologies, Neumann Space and SmartSat CRC. I recently took Greenwith resident Katherina, who is interested in a career in space, on a tour of Inovor, and it was great to see up close the new workforce building satellites.

We are also becoming a leader in cybersecurity, with one of my own King constituents leading a growing workforce in cybersecurity. The Marshall government has established the first training centre at TAFE SA that is designed to provide hands-on experience for South Australia's next generation of cybersecurity professionals. A $71,000 investment from the Skilling South Australia initiative has been greenlit to provide 140 people with industry skills in cybersecurity, IT and other high-tech sectors.

What does our plan for job creation mean for the north? The north of Adelaide was hit hard by the closure of the Holden manufacturing plant at Elizabeth in September 2017. But since the closure of Holden, there have been a number of positive stories coming out of the north which have helped us create confidence and certainty for the north. There has been Sonnen at Elizabeth. Following the closure of Holden, the Lionsgate Business Park was established with a view to creating an innovative business park with a mix of construction, engineering, advanced manufacturing, automotive and industrial tenants.

German battery giant Sonnen has opened its assembly and manufacturing facility in Elizabeth at the site of the old Holden factory. Sonnen has created approximately 50 jobs in the north and is contributing batteries, manufactured right here in South Australia, towards the Marshall government's Home Battery Scheme. The battery stores clean energy and it makes it available to home owners around the clock. Sonnen's investment in South Australia is growing the industry, delivering work for those living in the north.

Then there is Bickford's. Bickford's bottle facility at Salisbury recently announced a $20 million investment in new aseptic filling line technology, which is both world class and world leading. The new production line increases the capacity of the facility from 6,000 bottles an hour to 18,000 bottles and helps improve productivity, enhance capabilities, and allows new and innovative beverages to be manufactured in South Australia. The business is growing, creating jobs and investing in South Australia's bright future.

There is Drakes' distribution centre. The recently developed Drakes supermarket distribution centre at Edinburgh North has helped create a significant number of opportunities in the north. Around 150 new traineeships have been created, thanks to the Skilling South Australia initiative at the centre. Approximately 70 people will undertake warehouse traineeships while another 80 people will upskill through high-level retail management and through leadership traineeships.

Scania Australia and Precision Buses are also good news stories. Scania Australia won the contract to supply the Marshall government 340 new Adelaide Metro buses over the next 10 years. As part of the contract, a minimum of 29 of the 34 buses constructed annually will be built in the north by Precision Buses. This contract supports 100 local jobs and creates 40 new positions. Precision also has created an apprenticeship academy to skill new automotive manufacturing workers, with the support of Skilling South Australia.

Other job-creating projects include 65 construction jobs, created as part of the Golden Grove Road project; 78 full-time equivalent roles, created through construction of the Paradise park-and-ride; and the Gawler rail electrification project, which created 250 jobs. While checking up on the Modbury Hospital expansion at the end of last year, we were informed that there are approximately 70 people working on the project site and this will grow to approximately 200 by March.

Our government firmly believes South Australia has a future full of opportunity and prosperity and that our community is responding to this potential. A quality education for every student is a key focus for me and, last week, at Golden Grove High School, we celebrated and recognised the high completion rate in 2019 and those who excelled. I must say there were many girls and young women on the stage who excelled.

Our King families and students are aspirational and this is being reflected in the very high completion rates across the electorate of King. Looking across the state, the South Australian Certificate of Education completions are at their highest in nine years. Over the past year, 700 South Australian businesses have taken on an apprentice for the first time. What a great story! The loss of younger South Australians to other states and elsewhere to seek careers has reduced significantly. The Marshall Liberal government sees indicators like these as reflecting growing anticipation and confidence about South Australia's future.

I will continue to work hard, to listen and to deliver on the priorities which matter most to people and every person living in King. I am excited that we are now becoming the growth state. We are aspirational, just like the aspirational families living in King. I am so proud to be part of this government. My colleagues and I are securing a new economic future and new opportunities for South Australia. I look forward to delivering and continuing to communicate throughout this year our achievements, the progress we are making, and the good news as we deliver our real plan for change for South Australia. How good is South Australia? How good is King?

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