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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-03 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Election Commitments

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (16:17): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier commit to deliver on every policy promise he and his party made in the lead-up to this year's election and during the campaign itself?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (16:17): I thank the member for Colton for his important question because the member's question implies, of course, that we did have a very substantial policy agenda that we took to the people of South Australia at the election. The answer to the member's question is that of course it is our intention—indeed, it is our commitment—to deliver on each and every one of those policies.

The thing that is not lost on us—and I certainly don't think it is lost on the people of South Australia—is that each of our policies has an element to it that seeks to tie into the next because what we took to the election wasn't just a policy but a vision for the future of our state. It was underpinned by a sense of ambition and optimism, I think, that exists within the South Australian community and an appetite for a policy to reflect that, to actually deliver us a better society in the long term.

There were other elements of our policy, as well, that were fundamentally important, and that was the long-term nature of them. Coming up with election policies to serve an immediate political end is one thing, something that has been for time immemorial, but what we did that I think is unique—if you don't mind me saying, Mr Speaker—was to actually come up with a set of policies that also sought to address long-term challenges, indeed structural challenges, that exist within the South Australian state and within our economy.

Take, for instance, a structural challenge that we have within our labour market. It is true that in 2018, when the state government changed, we didn't have the worst unemployment rate in the nation. It is also true that at the change of this government, of course, we do again inherit the worst unemployment rate in the nation. But it is also true that South Australia has on more than one occasion found ourselves not necessarily at the top of the pack when it comes to labour market statistics, whether it be the unemployment rate or whether it be the participation rate.

If we are going to take on the challenge of a structural failing within the South Australian labour market, then we have to think long term. That's why we have taken to the election a comprehensive policy regarding education, training and skills, because we believe in the power of education to not just empower South Australians to move up the value chain of the labour market, and be able to enjoy the benefits of a long-term job and secure employment with an adequate rate of pay, but also to see education as a tool to increase our participation rate in South Australia.

Mr TARZIA: Point of order, Mr Speaker. I have given the Premier a couple of minutes to warm up. The question was very specific. I draw your attention to standing order 98, sir.

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully. I believe the answer is germane to the question, but I will be listening carefully. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I invite the member for Hartley to go back to the beginning of my answer where I made it abundantly clear that we will be delivering on our election policies and commitments. Nonetheless, it was the long-term nature of some of our policies that makes us so determined to ensure that we deliver on each and every one of them, and that's not just true for the education policies. It's true for the health policy, it's true for the environmental policy, it's true for the industry policy—a comprehensive vision for the future of our state.

It certainly filled each and every one of us with a degree of pride that we earned the trust of South Australians at the election and that we earned their endorsement. But make no mistake I say to the member for Colton that this will bring with it challenges. When you have a big policy platform, when you have an ambitious agenda, there will be challenges and bumps in the road. It would be foolhardy not to acknowledge that. But that shouldn't be confused with an absolute and resolute determination to deliver on our ambition because our state has no choice.

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