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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-05 Daily Xml
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Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Debate resumed.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (16:32): I rise today to provide my contribution to the Address in Reply to the Governor. I will begin, like many have, in congratulating and welcoming all the new and re-elected members to this place.

It truly is an honour to represent the people of South Australia here. I know I thanked the people of Colton earlier this week in a grievance debate but I cannot begin this contribution without doing that again. It has been and will continue to be an honour and privilege every day to represent my community, and it is one that I certainly do not take lightly. Can I again say thank you to the people of Colton for putting their faith in me.

My approach as an MP is to be the local representative, to be present, to be accessible and to live and breathe my electorate, to make genuine connections with the groups, the sporting clubs, service organisations and community leaders who are the fabric of the western suburbs. Just as important is for people to feel comfortable coming up and having a chat to you as their MP. So, for every wave and toot on the Kidman Bridge on Henley Beach Road, for every door knocked and for every conversation had, I had the opportunity to know my community better and my community had the opportunity to know me better.

Electorates and local areas are not static: they change over time and Colton is no exception. Boundary changes occur, but also there are changes to the demographic as people move in and out of the area for whatever reason. It is why our work as MPs is so important over time and that we deeply understand the views and opinions of the people we represent.

I know these speeches often include a reference to the electorate you represent as being the most beautiful place in South Australia but, frankly, I do not feel the need to make that argument for our part of the world. We already know that to be true. There is one golden rule that is always applied to our beachside haven: once you are in, you never leave.

I would also like to take the opportunity to recognise the immense contribution to our state of the former Premier, the member for Dunstan. I am lucky enough to call the member for Dunstan a friend. He is someone from whom I have learnt much, someone who has guided my career and someone who our party is indebted to. His work ethic is legendary and his ability to see the best in every situation is unparalleled.

In challenging and unprecedented times and circumstances, South Australia stands as a jurisdiction that has weathered the health and economic crisis that COVID-19 presented, better than near any place around the world. The member for Dunstan, as a leader of our state during this time, will be remembered for his contribution.

In regard to the electorate of Colton and the local area, so much was delivered and progressed under the previous Liberal government. We returned 24/7 cardiac services to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital after they were cut by the Labor Party, and the hospital downgraded through their failed Transforming Health experiment. We redesigned and funded the biggest upgrade in The Queen Elizabeth Hospital's history, which is presently emerging out of the ground at the site.

The $314 million upgrade will ensure that The QEH hospital is fit for purpose not just in the immediate term but for years to come. The new clinical services building will be home to a new and expanded ED, ICU, outpatient clinic, operating theatres, day surgery suite and clinical support services, such as medical imaging, pathology and pharmacy. The number of ICU beds was due to reduce under Labor's Transforming Health downgrades. In contrast, the Marshall Liberal government design will include a new 14-bed ICU, along with more recovery spaces. The number of treatment bays in The QEH ED will also significantly increase.

We also funded and started the Breakout Creek project, which will complete a 30-year redevelopment and revegetation program along the River Torrens from Lockleys to the sea. The $12 million environmental partnership project, stretching from Tapleys Hill Road to the Torrens outlet at West Beach, will see the artificial channel transformed into a naturally flowing and healthy river system. Land and water revegetation will be undertaken. There will be new seating, picnic areas, access trails, upgrades, two new river crossings, lighting and amenity improvements at nearby Apex Park. It was a complex design project, and it needed to balance so many factors: environmental benefit, recreation and the needs of the local Lockleys Riding Club.

Personally, I think we have landed with a very exciting project and a vision, and I look forward to seeing it completed. I know I have said it before in this place, but my son and daughter now love popping down to see the horses at Breakout Creek, and I know so many other families in the local area feel the same. I am glad that the horses are staying and that their historic connection to the area continues. For those who are unaware, a number of horses were responsible for dredging the original channel many years ago.

At Henley High, we delivered a $12 million upgrade that has completely transformed the school, both from an aesthetic standpoint and a learning environment perspective. There are now more than 20 new learning areas that supported the year 7 to high school transition—another Marshall government initiative that brought South Australia in line with the rest of the country.

The upgrade at Henley included new buildings to provide additional contemporary general learning spaces, science, health, arts, home economics, possibly one of the best school gyms I have ever seen in my life—it rivals SASI down the road, to be completely honest—new teacher preparation and storage areas, and a new admin facility at the front of the school. There is also new feature screening, which has completely changed the look and feel of the school along Cudmore Terrace.

We returned the opening hours at the Henley Beach Police Station. Upon coming to government, they were returned to 8am to 11pm seven days a week from business hours only. The unfortunate decision was made by the previous Labor government to cut back operating hours to nine to five, Monday to Friday soon after the brand-new police station was opened and finished. It was met with pretty significant opposition from our community at the time.

We resurfaced playing courts at West Beach Primary School and delivered new family friendly female changerooms at Henley Memorial Oval, the home of the Sharks and the West Torrens Eagles. We upgraded lighting and fencing at the Henley South Tennis Club, installed a pedestrian crossing at Kidman Park Primary School, provided new line marking and improved safety along Rowells Road and Findon Road, resurfaced Henley Beach Road and Sir Donald Bradman Drive, upgraded and replaced the West Beach boat ramp, and much, much more.

Importantly, we consulted, had coastal experts design and funded a solution to the longstanding issue of sand drift for the northern section of metropolitan beaches running from West Beach north. For the first time in 20 years—and I am incredibly proud to say this—there is a beach in front of the West Beach Surf Lifesaving Club and substantial dunes further to the south. The proposed solution was based on the solution put forward by the Weatherill government and implemented on our southern beaches.

However, this Labor government opposes this solution and, in one of their first acts, tore up a contract, halted the mass replenishment and has removed all certainty around the future of West Beach, Henley South, Henley and Grange in the longer term. They are not proposing a solution. They do not have a detailed plan, just another review. After 25 years with review after review conducted, frankly, my community is sick of it. They just want to see action on the issue addressed.

It is my duty, on behalf of my community, to ensure that this government is held to account for any degradation that occurs on our beaches due to this decision. Under Labor governments, sand volumes have decreased in the West Beach and Henley South areas, and it is no secret where it is accumulating. I, and I know my community, do not want to see the good work undertaken to rebuild West Beach go to waste because, frankly, that would be a travesty.

The legacy of the Marshall Liberal government in terms of my portfolio responsibilities is clear. When we came to government in 2018 South Australia's economy was lagging behind. That was because our taxes were too high, and it was the same with our water prices: far too high for far too long. Under Labor, payroll tax, a tax on jobs growth, was paid by all SA small businesses with a payroll under $1.5 million, costing businesses up to $44,500 extra a year. This was abolished in our first year in government, saving around 3½ thousand SA small businesses from a job-wrecking tax. Our abolition of payroll tax for small businesses was an $157 million investment in the engine room of our economy.

We cut ESL bills by $95 million a year, averaging savings of $184 per household—an approximate 50 per cent reduction—compared with the former Labor government's position. From 1 July 2020, average households began saving approximately $200 each on water bills, while average businesses saved $1,350. An independent inquiry into water pricing in South Australia was conducted in 2019 and found that the former Labor government ignored advice and criticism by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) and other stakeholders by deliberately inflating the value of SA Water's opening regulated asset base (RAB) by at least $520 million, driving up water bills for South Australians.

At the same time as lowering costs for South Australians, we have done more to transform our state's economic opportunities than Labor did in 16 years when it was last in office. In four years, we delivered near record low unemployment rates and historically high economic growth, and we saw the opportunities for continuing growth in digital technology, defence, space, cyber, renewable energy, high-tech, food, wine and agribusiness and other creative industries.

You just have to take a look down the street from here at Lot Fourteen to see the new sectors and industries that now call South Australia home. When we came to office, all Labor had planned for that site was high-rise apartments. In contrast, we had higher ambitions. In less than one term of government we transformed this prestigious CBD location into a beacon for our future. Lot Fourteen already has more than 1,300 people working and collaborating on the site: a startup and growth hub, innovation centre, the national Space Agency, the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre, the Digital Technologies Academy. These are just some of the activities that are taking place right here in South Australia right down at Lot Fourteen.

Lot Fourteen, and our broad economic growth, provided opportunities for young South Australians to pursue their ambitions right here in our state. This is something else that had turned around over the past four years. We are no longer losing population in droves to other states, because we are not just anecdotally the best place to live, we are officially the most livable city in Australia and the third most livable city in the world.

During the election campaign, the Labor Party went to great lengths to paint a picture that a change to Labor would mean minimal change to our economic direction, but there are some stark realities. In politics, it is not about what you say that counts, it is what you do. Recent Labor governments have come to office in South Australia promising not to raise taxes, but they did. So South Australians must ask themselves in four years' time: did Labor keep their promises?

The Labor Party have made many lofty promises through the campaign and in the four years prior, but when it comes to delivery we will be watching and holding them to account because any backward movement on jobs, on growth, on exports, on opportunities for our young people, is a failure—more than $3.1 billion worth of promises over this term of government. We suspect—and I suspect that we are not alone—that these can only be funded in part by higher taxes or more debt. We, and I suspect the people of South Australia, will wait and see whether Labor can somehow remove jacking up taxes from their DNA.

It would be remiss of me at this point not to acknowledge, as many others have, my staff and campaign team, volunteers and supporters. To Meg, Jarryd and Tom, to all of my trainees over the past four years: thank you for your support and assistance. For many of us in this place, our staff are an extension of ourselves. They are often the first people constituents reach out to, whether over the phone or by coming into the office. It is the good work they conduct that often is a reflection of us as MPs and people, so I thank them for their time, support and assistance over the past years.

To Andy, to Rosemary, to Alex and countless others who gave their time on prepoll, on election day, to put up posters, to letterbox and to help in every way and just about with every opportunity through the campaign: a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you. To my wife Lizzy: thank you for your patience, for your understanding of the late nights, the unpredictable hours and my inability at times to put my phone away and switch off. I could not do what I am doing without you and your support. We have two beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed children—Fletcher and Macey—and they have changed our life, but it also demonstrates just how much can change in four years.

The world, and life in general, is more unpredictable than ever before, and serving during these times is not easy. In returning to where I started, I commit to serving my community to the very best of my ability, and I honestly thank again the residents, the electors, the people of Colton, my friends and people for putting their trust and support in me.

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (16:48): I begin as others have done, by acknowledging that we meet in this place on stolen Kaurna land and that the sovereignty of the Kaurna people on whose lands we meet have never been ceded. I pay my respects to Kaurna elders, past, present and emerging, and I acknowledge their continuing spiritual connection to their lands and waters and the ongoing importance of that spiritual connection to the living Kaurna people today.

In doing so, I would love to give a nod to my friend in the upper house the Hon. Kyam Maher. I am so proud to be working alongside you, Kyam. To have your cultural authority present in this parliament, in our caucus and in our cabinet, as well as in our community, as an initiated man is something that is not lost on me. The privilege is enormous.

Mr Acting Speaker, congratulations to you and to the Speaker of the house on the election. Both of you are welcome back in this place.

It is a tremendous honour to address this parliament as the Minister for Human Services. On this occasion, I will use this as an opportunity to nail my colours to the mast once again and offer a broad indication of why I am here, what I believe the Minister for Human Services has a responsibility to do and the sorts of outcomes I aim to achieve in collaboration with the Department of Human Services and the South Australian Housing Authority with agencies, service providers that deliver programs in human services, the social housing sector and with our community, especially our community with lived experience.

The election campaign that Labor ran was ambitious; however, it was straightforward. We were very clear about our values and our intentions. Our new Premier, the Hon. Peter Malinauskas, has always been very clear that we are a government about long-term vision. We are not a quick, pointscoring government. We are thinking about real investments in long-term health, education and social services. We are addressing the issues of today, but we are investing in the future of our people.

For my part, I think the numerous ways in which I believe that David Speirs' Liberal Party and its then Minister for Human Services let down the South Australian community while it was in government were quite clear. So many of our marginalised cohorts of people were really left to fend for themselves during the global pandemic. As crises worsened in homelessness, domestic violence, the cost of living, disability support and many other areas of the portfolio, these people's cries for help went begging.

We have already begun to undo some of the damage of the long four years of chaos spent under the former Liberal government, then under the member for Dunstan, Steven Marshall, but now the same party is clearly displaying the same lack of compassion, lack of direction and lack of party unity under the now leader, David Speirs.

I am working to restore care, empathy and humanity to the human services and social housing sector in South Australia and to the way that the South Australian government delivers policy, the way we deliver services and the way we work towards outcomes for our state's marginalised people—those we have an elected obligation to serve and protect.

To the countless South Australians whose experiences and circumstances in life lead you to need supports within the human services portfolio: my ambition for you is a simple thing to express. My ambition for each of you is to have a good and fair life. My intention as the minister is also to make this ambition much easier to achieve; for you to be safe in your homes, in your families and in your communities; for you to have equitable and inclusive access to life's opportunities; and for you to be respected, valued and welcomed into the world around you.

My intention is for you to have the ability and the opportunity to live in safe housing and positive family environments, to access education, to undertake meaningful work, to enjoy good health, to live independently, to connect with culture and to be supported to heal past traumas. I want you to be empowered to determine what your future looks like and in choosing which steps you take on the path along the way. These are not my personal ambitions only, and they are not only driven by my own progressive values. The fundamental responsibilities of the Minister for Human Services are to meet the obligations and to pursue the courses of action that will lead to these outcomes being achieved.

To the service providers, sector professionals, agency staff, advocates and supporters of the people I am here to ensure are best served and protected: I want you to feel listened to, to be fully supported by me to undertake the important, life-changing and life-saving work that you have dedicated yourselves to do in the careers you have chosen and the roles you have taken on. I am here to deliver meaningful policy, reform and services for people living with disability, people experiencing homelessness, young people, carers, vulnerable families, people who are diverse in gender or sexuality, people who are in financial hardship, people who are isolated, or people who are experiencing any number of other challenges at any point during their life.

It seems appropriate to give an example of an initiative I have kicked off as a new minister in the Malinauskas government to demonstrate that we, as a team, are really here for change. Nearly a year ago now, the Hutt St Centre, Catherine House and Vinnies had their funding slashed by the Marshall Liberal government. There was a resounding outcry against this baffling decision, not just in our services sector but right across the community. Mr Acting Speaker, you would be aware that I doorknocked from south to north, and these issues came up in every single electorate I was in.

You have to ask yourself: what kind of a government in the middle of a global pandemic, when we know women are trapped in their homes suffering greatly increased domestic violence, slashes funding to women's crisis accommodation beds? What kind of a government, when the cost of housing shoots up by 25 per cent in one year, responds by cutting specialist homelessness services?

Some of you may recall a public appeal by Losa, a remarkable Islander woman who has survived extreme family violence, cancer and other serious trauma, and ultimately homelessness—complete despair. Incredibly, she has now started her own business, works as a motivational speaker, manages her own household and has made huge strides forward in her physical and mental health. Losa publicly begged the Liberal Party to consider people like her and the way that a service like Catherine House can completely transform lives. Unfortunately, this appeal was not heard. I think this really says something about the values of the people making those decisions, and this was those on the other side.

As soon as we came to government, the Premier and I stood with the member for Adelaide and announced a $6 million funding boost for these highly respected organisations so they can do what they do best and help us end homelessness in the CBD, in the heart of Adelaide, in the member for Adelaide's seat. I congratulate the member for Adelaide on her election to this place. I could not be happier.

We are funding these organisations not only to help people find homes but also to provide the wraparound supports needed to improve their disability, mental health, emotional supports; educational and employment prospects; and overall life outcomes. It is an early example of one of the many promises that the South Australian community and our human services and social services social housing sector can look forward to seeing us bring to fruition.

Over recent weeks, I have heard people say, 'How good are elections?' quite a few times. I might have said it myself. Never let it be said that elections do not make a difference, because I will tell you: this election has already made a difference. I am extremely proud to live in a jurisdiction where democracy rules and where a person's vote, no matter where they live, can directly change their own life.

I want to take this opportunity to say to our human services sector and to the people in South Australia experiencing hardship that our human services sector supports: your days of being made to feel that you are the one who is wrong because you need more support, because you need better services, your days of being made to feel that you are the one who is wrong because you cannot get by on the level of funding that you are allocated—and that goes for both service providers and for individuals—I will do everything to ensure that those days are over. I know you need to be heard, you need to be understood and you have a right to be involved in the decisions we make as a community. I am not a minister who sits in or will sit in an ivory tower. I am a minister who is genuinely here to represent you and what you, as the people of South Australia, tell me you need.

Many, or indeed most of you, know this, but for anyone new to the room I began my career as a nurse. Being a nurse, a good nurse, requires certain characteristics. You have to care about people first and foremost. You have to be a problem solver. You have to be organised. You have to be prepared to do the messy jobs—although I would have often liked to pay someone else to do some of the messy jobs, let me tell you. You have to pay attention to detail. You have to be flexible where it is appropriate, but you also have to know exactly where to draw a hard line.

I wish to thank the people who taught me all those lessons early in my career and to my government colleagues who continue to demonstrate these values to me now. I also learned how to function on a pretty sketchy sleep pattern. Nightshift is not good for the health. I am ready for this role. Seriously, I cannot stress enough how dedicated and determined we are as a leadership team.

As part of our range of policies we took to the election, we made a number of meaningful, tangible commitments in the human services and social housing space, and I want you all to understand what these commitments are. I note that on the opening day of parliament the opposition opened question time by asking the Premier whether our government would keep all its election commitments. Well, of course.

An opposition that when in government broke massive election commitments such as GlobeLink, right-turn trams, a whole range of things as soon as they came into government, are going to ask that question. But we are different. It illustrates the difference between the Labor Party and the Liberal Party better than anything else, that they asked whether election commitments are promises to be kept. Well, we will let our actions speak for themselves.

Here are actions already underway: doubling the Cost of Living Concession for 2022-23. This commitment is so important as it goes towards supporting many South Australians on a low and fixed income, who in many cases were already struggling but whose hardship has intensified, sometimes to unbearable degrees, through the past two years. The cost of living continues to rise and no South Australian on a fixed or low income should be forced into poverty due to circumstances such as those we continue to live in today. It is a core business of government to provide adequate support to South Australians on low and fixed incomes. It is the right thing to do. This is one way that we can get it done.

We will also be reviewing the state's concession system and investigate how we can better provide help to those finding themselves in tough situations through no fault of their own. Our many concessions have been designed and deployed at different times and for good reasons, but the result is a system where support is not always offered to those in greatest need and where the historical reason for a certain concession may have changed.

Community organisations such as SACOSS have done outstanding work in analysing our concession system and I thank them for their input at times when we need good sound advice and frank and fearless advice. I look forward to working with them as we do a stocktake of what concessions we offer, why we offer them and what impact they have.

We are investing $1 million into expanding the important role of the Community Visitor Scheme to ensure people who receive disability support services in private homes or in non-government provided supportive environments can also be included in the scheme. The tragic death of Annie Smith showed South Australia, not for the first time but unequivocally, that appropriate oversight can make the difference between life and death for people receiving disability support services. The role of the Community Visitor is far more than looking into service plans and their implementation. Community Visitors look at health outcomes, housing and tenancy rights, transport issues, education, training and community participation. This results in better outcomes and better lives for people living with disability.

The independent monitoring of services that people receive in their homes will help us to ensure that people are getting the appropriate services at the appropriate value for money also, that they are enabled to exercise genuine choice and control over their lives, as intended by the NDIS written by Labor. These are crucial measures in ensuring safety, wellbeing and quality for South Australians living with disability.

We committed to developing a state autism strategy. This will work within the state disability plan, with all government agencies to sign up to an autism friendly charter. As our understanding of autism increases, as diagnostic processes become more nuanced, as the needs of autistic people become better understood and as growing numbers of South Australians are recognised as being on the autism spectrum, developing a state autism strategy is one way to make our schools, our community, our economy and our society more inclusive towards autistic people, to support them to participate in education, to access opportunities and employment and to succeed and thrive in life on the same terms as their neurotypical peers.

Our state autism strategy will relate to building inclusivity for autistic South Australians of all ages and will be developed in close consultation with autistic people, their families, their advocates, their supporters, our community. The Autism Friendly Charter is an initiative of Autism SA, which focuses on training staff in autism awareness, implementing inclusive communication and reasonable adjustments and creating a supportive working environment for autistic staff members. This initiative will make our state government workplaces better, easier and more inclusive places for autistic people to work and will help increase the South Australian Public Service's awareness, understanding and acceptance of autism.

We will be providing more than $2½ million in funding towards community centres and a grant scheme to help set up women's and men's health sheds across South Australia. South Australia provides already more than $3 million in ongoing funding every year to help community centres do excellent work, and in the 2022 election we committed additional funding to build and upgrade some critical pieces of community infrastructure.

My colleague the Minister for Education, Training and Skills has committed an extra $1 million per year to community centres to restore funding that was savagely cut by the Liberal government. Community centres play a fundamental role, providing access for all and keeping our neighbourhoods connected. These outcomes are core to communities and core to Labor.

This is my big one, the one that I am so proud of: the $180 million in new funding for housing. Labor has committed more than $180 million of new money—new money, member for Dunstan, new money—to build 400 new homes and bring 350 empty public housing homes back up to standard, some that have been empty for the entirety of the Liberal government term of four years, so that these homes can provide shelter to those in need.

We will also conduct a maintenance blitz on an additional 3,000 homes, homes that we need for decades into the future to be of good quality and a good standard for people to live in. It is not a shell game like the Liberals used to play with housing. This is not bringing forward any money that impoverishes the Housing Trust in years to come. This is new money. This additional help will create real change. We often talk about the jobs that are delivered through housing projects, but even more important are the lives that are saved and transformed from a safe and stable place to call home.

Having a safe and suitable place to live is a fundamental human right. It is unacceptable for people, particularly children, older people and people living with disability, to be in insecure or unsuitable housing, or to be in crisis. Everyone—at least, everyone who is not a state or federal Liberal member of parliament—acknowledges that Australia is in the grip of a worsening housing crisis and that it is brutally affecting far too many South Australians. Our investment in South Australia's public housing infrastructure will support those who need help most urgently, people at risk of homelessness and people in crisis.

Labor will also ensure that public housing support is better linked to other critical government services, including health, justice, child protection, early intervention and community safety programs. Some of these new homes will help to alleviate bed block in our hospitals, getting long-term patients with disability out of hospital beds and into suitable homes that can accommodate their needs through independent supported living arrangements. It is a bit of a long wrap-up, but it is indeed a wrap-up.

I am genuinely excited to be working with the Department of Human Services and the South Australian Housing Trust to deliver these important policy changes, changes that will make meaningful and enduring impacts on the lives of so many South Australians. We cannot achieve everything straightaway. It will take both time and teamwork to wind back the damage of four difficult years of state Liberal government to begin the process of healing from the harm to the dignity, the morale and the spirit of marginalised South Australians.

Make no mistake, I am ready, the Labor government is ready and we have been waiting. I want to assure the people of South Australia, particularly those people who receive support of some kind across the human services landscape, that the resounding support you gave us at the election reflects a hope and a faith in us that will prove again and again to be a wise choice. Perhaps soon, all going well, we will no longer have to fight against the tidal wave of disregard at best and deliberate cruelty at worst that has been shown towards marginalised people and has characterised nearly a decade of federal Liberal government.

Hang in there everyone. I believe a sorely needed change is coming. I have the faith. We need a society that has a greater concern for the most marginalised and the worst off. We need a government that has values rooted deeply in compassion and inclusion. We need a parliament that better reflects the community it represents.

I could not have got back into this place without the support and love of my family: my husband, Neil, and my children, Sheree, Ty—who drives us crazy but we love him dearly—Sid and of course the inspiration of Sam. I could not be here without all of those people. Thanks also to my friends who occasionally text me and say, 'Hey, don't forget us. Let's catch up.' We get together and it reminds me who I am. I have so much love for those people who still stay connected with us and support us on our journey to change the world one conversation at a time.

Thanks to my staff, Katherine, Tyler, Mikaela and Emma. At the moment, the electorate office has been chaotic in this transition period. To my staff in my office in the city, including Anna, Lorraine and Kyall and of course Hicksy: I am blessed to have such a wonderful team. Kylie has just come on board, and the departmental staff who have been supporting us to make sure we can start delivering our election commitments straightaway are second to none.

In the 2022 election, we saw this huge shift in this parliament. Let's consider this now. Our parliament first gathered here in 1856. We were the first place in the world that allowed women both to vote and to stand for parliament, and that was in 1894. Despite that amazing achievement, it was not until 1918 that a woman took the stand to sit in this place. It was not until 1959 that a woman took a seat in the chamber. It was not until 1986 that a woman was elected as the first Presiding Officer of the other place, the Hon. Anne Levy, who still supports us women at everything.

In 1989, Anne Levy was also the first woman in Australia to be appointed as a Minister for the Status of Women. This was almost a century after women were allowed to stand in this place. I have not even mentioned Molly Byrne, who is just the most amazing woman, and all the other trailblazing women. It was not until 1985, 90 years after the law was changed to allow women to run, that the seventh woman was elected to this parliament.

Mr Acting Speaker, you are a parliamentary—I will not say 'nerd'; yes, I will—nerd of some standing in our party. You would know that seven is an important number. In 2022, we saw something extraordinary happen with the number seven. We saw the class of 2022, the magnificent seven, enter this parliament, seven new women elected on just one side of the house, the Labor side of the house, seven extraordinary women.

Some might even say they were a lucky seven women—well, they were not. They were marginal seats, seats they had no right to win, but they are so wonderful, they are so connected to the community, they are brilliant. These are some of the most brilliant and dedicated women I have had the pleasure to know and now they are part of my friendship group, the sisterhood. I am so pleased. There is no fluke in this group of people being here. They earned the trust of their communities and they will be here for years to come and we will make sure of it.

In one election, we have achieved what it took 90 years to achieve. I knocked on doors, I made phone calls and I went to community meetings with these women for months. I wore out pairs of sneakers. For more than a year, I doorknocked with some of these women. I tried to do everything I could to help them get elected. In my wildest dreams, they all would have been elected—and here they are. More than half the Labor MPs in this house are women, 14 out of 27, half of whom have been elected for the first time in one fell swoop on 19 March.

I pay tribute to each of them now: the member for Adelaide, Lucy Hood; the member for King, Rhiannon Pearce; the member Davenport, Erin Thompson; the member for Waite, Catherine Hutchesson; the member for Elder, Nadia Clancy; the member for Newland, Olivia Savvas; and the member for Gibson, Sarah Andrews. Long after I leave this place, these women will carry the legacy that was born here in 1894—and may many more join them.

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (17:17): I am privileged to be able to rise to respond to the Governor's opening remarks to this session of parliament. I commend her on the job she is doing as Governor; it is a tough role. I would certainly also like to recognise the previous Governor, Hieu Van Le, for the wonderful work he did as Governor. He is a fantastic South Australian and his efforts in that role should be remembered by all.

I also want to congratulate all those who have been elected to this place. It is a privilege to be a part of parliament and to be part of this process, so a big congratulations to all those members, newly and re-elected members of this place. I would also like to acknowledge those who were not re-elected who stood: Frances Bedford, Sam Duluk, Steve Murray, Carolyn Power, Richard Harvey, Rachel Sanderson, Dan van Holst Pellekaan and Corey Wingard. They were very much committed to this place, particularly Frances—her service here was long and very valued by this place. In my time as minister, I very much enjoyed answering Frances's questions about fruit fly. I always knew that when she was asking a question of me it was going to be about fruit fly. It is sad to see these members leave, and it is nice to have some legacy from their time here as well.

I would also like to acknowledge the advisers in my office in my time as minister: Sara Bray, Trudy Huczko and Brad Perry. I would particularly like to acknowledge my former Chief of Staff, Simon Price. Simon and I go back a very long way. He and I first met when he was with the VFF, and then he went on to work for Peter Walsh with the National Party in Victoria. We crossed paths many times in my roles in the dairy industry and as he worked for many different politicians over time, such as Barnaby Joyce, David Littleproud, etc. I found it an absolute privilege to have him as my Chief of Staff with his long knowledge and understanding of politics, and I thank him very much for his service.

I would now like to touch on some of the important things that have happened in Finniss over the term of my being in this place. One of the major investments in Finniss was very unforeseen as we went into government, and that was the need for the upgrade of the Granite Island-Victor Harbor causeway. Unfortunately, the causeway had reached its end of life. On 2 January 2019, when the horse-drawn tram was travelling across, one of the pylons snapped. Thankfully, no-one was injured, but it certainly highlighted the state of the causeway itself.

Thankfully, we have made sure the causeway is preserved going forward in the fact that we have been able to build a new one to ensure that connection is there for another 150-plus years. The causeway that has been built is fantastic. I must very much congratulate McConnell Dowell construction, who have been putting the causeway in place. They have been amazing. They have been working with the public and working with the local operators down there very much where they could. They also engaged local tradesmen to do some of the work, so they have had a really good relationship with the local community.

They were happy to stop and talk to people asking questions about the build. It was quite a fascinating leapfrogging process in the build as it worked its way out to the other side and, amazingly, was built on time, even with some COVID shutdowns in the middle of the building process. It was tight. I was extremely impressed that, on the Sunday before it was due to be opened, I think, on the Tuesday, there were still about half a dozen tradesmen out there at 9 o'clock at night, just doing a few finishing touches to make sure everything was right for its opening.

We have also seen the start of the decommissioning of the old causeway. As we see that progress, we see the poor condition it has been in. They removed the top deck, and I think it was in 2012 that the top deck was replaced and put on top. Underneath that, the termites and borers have done so much damage that there are a few places where they have actually fallen through to the previous deck. The crews, as they are pulling it down, are having to be extremely careful.

We have also seen other fantastic funding in the area. At the Victor Harbor R-7 school, the opening of the new STEAM building was a $5 million commitment from the state government that was finished late last year. It has opened and is of great use to the kids and they are certainly very much enjoying it. Other funding was $400,000 that went towards the Encounter Bay sporting complex. It had some Morrison federal government funding as well for the stage 1 of its build.

What that community do is amazing. They get these grants and they literally start the next day. They are out there with their concrete teams getting everything they can out of the volunteer labour they can get to do this build. For the just under a million dollars' worth of funding they got, they delivered well over what it would normally cost for that to be done.

There are also some major projects, some of which I mentioned yesterday, in relation to the Victor Harbor area: the Mainstreet upgrades that have been going on. It is fantastic to see. In particular I think the biggest improvement is around the Victor Harbor railway station. The area through there has a Moreton Bay fig tree, and there are always huge issues when you have pavement underneath those trees, and certainly it has been neglected over many years. To see the $2.3 million invested in that space as part of the COVID stimulus package and now see a lovely usable area for many events is certainly fantastic and opens it up to great use.

One of the things I am very proud about is one of the things that was an election commitment back in 2018 from the Marshall Liberal government. It is something that I was certainly fighting for, and that was a new roundabout to be put in place at Torrens Street and Crozier Road. The area there is very difficult to manoeuvre through, particularly during the holiday periods. This has just let people make traffic move so much more freely through the town, get into shopping centres, get out of shopping centres, where that opportunity certainly was not there before. So I am very pleased to see that project up and going.

Another project I think is fantastic to see is bringing a new national park in Hindmarsh Valley to life. It is a $3 million project up at the Hindmarsh Tiers Road area, where a property of 423 hectares is being converted. It was SA Water land, and it is now being converted into a national park. This used to be part of a dairy farm owned by the McEwin family, and the owners, the McEwins—he was the grandson of Mawson. So, with right connections back to many early exploring families of South Australia, to see a national park in that space is fantastic.

We have also seen upgrades at my old primary school, the Mount Compass Area School. I was there from year 3 through to year 7. When I went back there early on in my term, I was not sure they had even painted the buildings, let alone done any upgrades much there at all. But, with $11.1 million, we have seen an amazing transformation of that school, with new tech studies facilities and art buildings. I went into the tech studies room of the building, and the tools were still hanging on the wall exactly where I had probably left them. It is amazing to see the infrastructure and improvement, and it is certainly a school you will get very fit at: there are lots of stairs going up and down between the new buildings.

Another project that has certainly been so important for the town of Goolwa is their sporting complex. This was again with the federal government: the Marshall Liberal government and the Morrison government have put significant funds into an upgrade there. Certainly, they were some of the worst changing rooms I have ever seen still in operation. They still had a shower pole where all the shower roses came out of one pole and you stood cheek to cheek at the shower after the game, which was an interesting sort of arrangement. The visitors' change rooms had floorboards with holes through many parts of those floorboards, where you could easily put your foot straight through.

Probably the thing I am most proud about in my time and through my advocacy is the opening of the new Goolwa Secondary College. Goolwa had not had a high school ever, and it was by far the largest regional town in South Australia that did not have a high school. I saw that in the fact that Investigator College, which had a private school operating there, had decided they would consolidate across to their Victor Harbor campus there was an opportunity to take that asset and turn it into something that would enable Goolwa to actually have a high school.

The principal, Bec Moore, certainly embraced the opportunity to have a new school and the opportunity to understand that she is setting with her staff the new culture of this school. She says the fact that you are starting from scratch is delightful. She said she has taught elsewhere and all the kids want to do when they first get outside in high school is to pull out their mobile phones. Interestingly, because they were all coming from a primary school age where they were not allowed mobile phones, there was no desire to have a mobile phone, so they were playing outside. It is amazing to be able to have that sort of influence so early on.

We have also seen some great tourism investments across the region as well, with $500,000 going towards a build of $1.7 million in Port Elliot from the South Australian Tourism Commission's Tourism Industry Development Fund, which will see the building of a new hub on the land next to the Hotel Elliot. There will be training kitchens, bars, outdoor dining and decks, increased car parking and it will be a great opportunity for people to have functions right next to the pub. It is a great investment in the region.

Also, we are now seeing, travelling backwards and forwards between Adelaide and Victor Harbor, the works on the Victor Harbor Road duplication from Old Noarlunga through to McLaren Vale. I know those works are going to frustrate many for the next few months, but it is certainly going to make a significant improvement by duplicating that section to get people down to the South Coast and able to enjoy the beauty of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

It is an absolute privilege to be a member of parliament and to be party to these sorts of works and the opportunity to assist communities and stimulate the local regions with this sort of investment. I am extremely proud of what I have been able to achieve with the Marshall Liberal government in my time. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve my community.

I thank the member for Dunstan, the previous Premier, for the opportunity for me to serve in his government as a minister. I was certainly not expecting to end up being a minister in my first term, and I was very privileged to have that role and I very much enjoyed that role and having an understanding of how the executive of government works and working as a team to try to improve the state of South Australia.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. A. Koutsantonis.


At 17:33 the house adjourned until Tuesday 17 May 2022 at 11:00.


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