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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-17 Daily Xml
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Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Adjourned debate on motion for adoption (resumed on motion).

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:35): I will continue my remarks. After focusing on the privilege of being a minister in a Marshall Liberal government and some of the achievements and the legacy that I left in my time as a minister, I would now like to touch on and recognise some of the outgoing MPs who were in this place, particularly as part of the Marshall Liberal government's team.

Peter Treloar, who is a great friend of mine, was elected in 2010. The member for Flinders made way for the new member for Flinders. Peter has been a great friend. We have shared many good times together in this place and in our home electorates, whether it is on the mighty River Murray in front of my home or whether it is on the coastline at Coffin Bay or Port Lincoln. Stephan Knoll was a very good and effective minister for transport, infrastructure, planning, local government and other things. He decided that he would hang up the gloves and move on into the private sector.

Corey Wingard, the member for Gibson, was ousted through the state election process. He was a good minister and he also looked after the sport, racing and recreation portfolio. Dr Richard Harvey, member for Newland, also did an outstanding job as the Government Whip. He was a solid, steady performer who did outstanding work not only in his electorate but also here in the parliament.

Paula Luethen, the member for King, was an outstanding advocate for her community, but she was beaten at the state election. Carolyn Power, the member for Elder, also did a great job, but she was overcome, as I understand it, by preferences at the end of the day. I congratulate the incoming member for Elder now representing those good people. Rachel Sanderson, the member for Adelaide, had a very tough portfolio as Minister for Child Protection. She did an outstanding job in what was a very tight contest. She came into the parliament in 2010 and defied the odds in most ways because along the way most people said she would not survive more than one term. She stuck it out and survived three terms but was ousted at the last election.

Steve Murray, the member for Davenport, was also ousted at the last state election. He is now back into the private sector. Rob Lucas, the Marshall Liberal government's Treasurer in another place, had been in this place longer than most and longer than some of us have been alive. He was a very solid, diligent Treasurer and knew his brief very well. He decided it was time to hang up the boots and move along. Of course, John Dawkins was the President of the other place as well as a very strong advocate for suicide prevention. He has also moved on to other greener pastures. I would like to acknowledge those former members for the great work they did not only in this place but also for their communities.

Of course, we are back to what really matters, and that is the Marshall Liberal government's deliveries to the electorate of Chaffey. I was pleased to be part of a government that recognised the importance of what the regions were looking for. In four years, what we saw were great initiatives in education: the $7.5 million amalgamation to the Berri Regional Secondary College, and the amalgamated campuses for the middle campus at Glossop with the senior campus at Berri now houses 800 students and I think has been an outstanding success.

I mention the high-speed internet connections to 24 Riverland schools. It was a $130 million SWiFT program, which really brought our schools to the next level with digital connection and making sure that we did not have slow internet speeds that hindered the progress of classrooms particularly in our regional centres.

I also mention the $5.17 million capital works at the Renmark High School, which was a great initiative. Thank you to the former Minister for Education, who enabled me to open up that capital works program as well as the $5 million capital works program at Loxton High School. They were just great initiatives in Chaffey and much needed, as were some of the maintenance programs right around Chaffey. I think that at my last count there were 27 schools in Chaffey, and all of them needed maintenance upgrades for the betterment of the region.

With respect to roads, there was the upgrade to the Browns Well Highway reinstating 110 km/h. We saw a $15 million safety upgrade on that highway, which saw a lot of heavy vehicle activity with the cessation of trains both from Tookayerta to Tailem and Pinnaroo to Tailem. The $87.5 million to upgrade the Sturt Highway between Renmark and Gawler is still underway, and we are seeing major intersection upgrades as we speak.

There was also $1.5 million in the state budget towards the Mid Murray-Murraylands road upgrade, which was an eight-kilometre stretch between Blanchetown and Morgan. It was a great addition to upgrade that unsealed road to give carriage of freight that moved between Blanchetown and Morgan. Of course, there was the construction of the $202 million Truro bypass. That is purely productivity gain. It bypasses a significant town on the outskirts of the Barossa at Truro, and it was a much-needed bypass to create efficiency upgrades.

With respect to health, the $4 million MRI machine to the Riverland General Hospital was a great investment that has meant people have to travel less for imagery, going to the regional hospital rather than having to travel either to Adelaide or up to Mildura. The investment also allows a greater level of cancer treatment at the Riverland General Hospital, including the deployment of specialist staff. It is a great initiative that is saving people travelling and saving people the heartache of having to uproot themselves and move away from family, friends and their workplace to undertake cancer treatment.

In addition, the Allied Health Rural Generalist Pathway, introduced across regional South Australia benefiting the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network, was part of a $20 million rural health workforce plan.

Of course, the local infrastructure investment was just a great initiative, and what we have seen are some really, really good projects that will be game changers. We know that the $1.5 million Waikerie Riverfront Community Hub project is about building a new clubhouse for the Waikerie sporting precinct on the river. There are not too many sporting clubs that can lay claim to having a sporting precinct on the River Murray. I think that is just a great initiative.

The $600,000 to reinstate the Riverland Community Justice Centre was a great election commitment I made to the people of Chaffey. We also saw $1 million towards the Renmark town wharf upgrade. Sadly, we had seen a number of incidents with houseboats and watercraft that did not read the state of play when coming into that wharf, which really gave it some significant damage over time.

I have mentioned the Truro bypass, and I have mentioned the $87.5 million Sturt Highway upgrade, and we also saw the new mobile phone towers at Murtho, Murtho South, Mount Mary, Bower, Wunkar, Peebinga, Nildottie and Marama. They are just connections. It is about people being able to use not only their mobile phone coverage but some of the digital technology in our equipment, in some of our tractors and some of the modern-day equipment that we now use on farm.

Gone are the days of having to go to the furthest point up a hill and stand on the roof of your four-wheel drive, trying to get reception, trying to ring a truck, trying to ring the markets, trying to understand what commodities are doing and whether you should be putting grain or commodities onto that truck to get the best price. We upgraded the mobile phone towers, and that has been a real game changer. There is much more still to be done, but we did enhance that.

There is an enhanced safety hub for people experiencing domestic and family sexual violence. I think we have seen significant improvements in domestic violence in the electorate of Chaffey. There was $1.1 million invested through the Tourism Industry Development Fund and more than $800,000 invested through the Active Club and sports infrastructure grants. These are great initiatives. They are a great opportunity for small community sports clubs to receive small amounts of money so they can upgrade equipment and some of their facilities, making sure they can attract some of our young to come out and play sport because they have the equipment and some of the facilities that are attracters to playing sport. We all know that sport is a fabric of regional communities.

I am very happy about the $150 million of the Regional Growth Fund. That contributed $10 million to the Riverland in 2020 and it created 120 jobs. That is an outstanding success. There was a $2 million upgrade to the Yamba quarantine station. That is the entry point out of Victoria into the Riverland, which is the lens into South Australia from the east, particularly through the horticulture hub. We see there that the new quarantine bins as well as the upgrade to Yamba really do strengthen our biosecurity credentials.

We all know that being fruit fly free is a market advantage, and it also puts significant money back into some of those growers' bottom lines. Every carton that does not have to be treated for fruit fly is an extra $4 a case to the grower. In some instances, that can be $20 a tonne extra to growers. That is a game changer when it comes to putting new planting materials in, upgrading facilities, upgrading pack houses and making sure that we remain competitive. That is great.

For the Seasonal Worker Program, I was very proud to work with SAPOL, SA Health and the Coordinator in bringing our Pacific Islander worker program to the Riverland for quarantine. Once they had embarked on their quarantine process, they were then out into the paddocks, the orchards and the vineyards being productive, picking, harvesting and packing fruit, pruning and planting. It shows just how important it is that we now have a Pacific Islander program and just how reliable we will become.

We have seen that many Australians have become so city centric that they are not prepared to go out and do the hard yards in the elements, in the heat, in the cold, in the rain. What we are seeing now is that we have a workforce that is doing an outstanding job. It is an important workforce and it is a very important part of the Riverland and the electorate of Chaffey.

The Tourism Industry Development Fund contributed more than $3½ million for investment into the Riverland, all through a $900,000 funding program. That put a shot in the arms of a lot of our tourist operators. Tourism is one of the big industries in the Riverland, particularly reliant on the River Murray and eco experiences. What we saw there was a great shot in the arm for our tourist sector.

In mental health, there was the appointment of eight Family and Business Support mentors to support farmers impacted by droughts, seasonal conditions and commodity downturn. We have seen the impacts of China. We have seen the impacts of storms on not only the crops but the infrastructure that comes away with them. That further $2 million to provide mental health outreach services has been an absolute game changer.

I want to talk about the Murray-Darling Basin Plan before my time is up. I want to put the Minister for Environment on notice. She cannot continue to mislead this parliament. She cannot continue to mislead the people of South Australia. The 450 gigalitres is not for South Australia. The 450 gigalitres is for the southern connected system so, minister, read your brief because the people of South Australia are sick of being misled by a minister, by a government, that is pledging 450 gigalitres. The same goes to Anthony Albanese, the federal Labor leader. They cannot continue to mislead South Australians.

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:50): I am really just a warm-up act for what is following me, and that is two amazing women who will be giving their inaugural speeches, their maiden speeches, to the house, so I will speak very quickly on my Address in Reply to the Governor's speech to open this session of parliament.

In doing so, I also take this opportunity to thank the member for Dunstan, Steven Marshall, and I will use his name because it is important as a friend and someone who has given South Australia enormous opportunity. We know that we were a reform government. A lot of things changed in South Australia under the four years of the Marshall government and change is always difficult to manage.

The facts are that we really only had two years of doing that unencumbered because of course in March 2020 we had COVID-19, and the number one focus was keeping South Australians safe and as many South Australians as possible alive during this one-in-100-year pandemic that has taken millions of lives around the world. Where else would you want to have been living since March 2020 than here in South Australia because of the work and the leadership of Steven Marshall?

It was not just his leadership over the pandemic but his leadership the minute he became leader of the Liberal Party, turning an organisation, a political party, into a professional organisation that had plans and ideas for South Australia and then implementing those plans and ideas.

There were two areas that I was very fortunate to be involved in as the Minister for Innovation and Skills, and one is Lot Fourteen. When we came to office, Lot Fourteen was an abandoned hospital site that the previous Labor government had earmarked to be a development site, a real estate project. Steven Marshall, the member for Dunstan, knew there were better options for that project and we are seeing the benefits of that today, with 1,500 people working there every day. It is a catalyst for science, for startups, innovation, research and the space industry.

Every state competed for the National Space Centre to be in their state and the South Australian bid, driven by Steven Marshall, was the one that was accepted by the federal government. I spoke to a federal minister at that time who said, 'There were no political favours in that, David. South Australia got that bid because it was the best submission,' and that submission was signed, sealed and stamped by Steven Marshall.

Then I was given the privilege of moving from the shadow minister for transport and infrastructure into skills and innovation. I remember the commentary at the time. There were those in the Labor Party backgrounding the media: Pisoni has been demoted, he has those minor areas of skills. Look how important skills have become. They are the number one issue in Australia at the moment. Foresight again by Steven Marshall. That is why I took that challenge up and we delivered.

Not only did we deliver on increasing the prestige and the opportunities that vocational education through apprenticeships and traineeships deliver but we actually delivered more of them. There were over 20,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships within that four-year period—a 72 per cent increase over a three-year period against a 66 per cent decline under the previous Labor government over a six-year period. There is no doubt that the work that was done by the Marshall government in the innovation and skills space has set South Australia up to transform an economy.

For 16 years I sat here listening to those opposite. Whenever an old manufacturing firm, an engineering firm or a firm involved in the motor industry closed down we would hear Labor ministers come out and say, 'Yes, but we are in a transitioning economy.' Well, guess what happened during the Marshall government? The economy transitioned, and it transitioned to the modern economy we now have.

It took the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Croydon, to the dying days of the election campaign, when he was asked, 'What is one thing that the Marshall government has done well?' to concede: 'Lot Fourteen.' I am very pleased that that has been recognised, and it now has bipartisan support. We must remember that it was destined to be a condo for the East End rather than a hive of new industry and activity that will eventually employ 6,000 people in that space. It is a very exciting time here in South Australia, and it is exciting because of the work that was started and delivered under the previous Marshall government.

I am very concerned about the work we have done in rebuilding the skills base here in South Australia and rebuilding the non-government sector for delivering skills. We know that the non-government sector is the sector that is connected to industry. Many of the non-government providers—whether it be PIA, whether it be the Master Builders or whether it be HIA—are industry driven. They reflect exactly what industry needs. They need that industry. We went into partnership with those sectors with our Skilling South Australia program, which was extra money.

We were the first government to recognise and acknowledge that there is a cost to on-the-job training when it comes to apprentices and trainees, and we came to the party and supported businesses with their on-the-job costs in that area, and we delivered outcomes. We delivered outcomes within the first full quarter of launching Skilling South Australia. We reversed the decline that had started back in 2012 of fewer and fewer commencements year on year to increasing those commencements. Initially, it was only a small commencement. I can remember being ridiculed by the Labor Party for the small increase that we delivered, but that increase continued. It snowballed, and by the middle of last year, according to the NCVER, there was a 72 per cent increase—the highest growth in the nation over a three-year period.

We were able to convince the federal Morrison government how important skills training is for the economy and for opportunities for Australians. One of the code responses of the federal government was the Boosting Apprenticeship program, with a 50 per cent wage subsidy. Again, that recognised the cost of on-the-job training, and I was very pleased to hear that that has been extended. We have also seen incentives for the second and third year introduced, and those incentives continue. Of course, that will only happen with the continuation of the Morrison government.

We know what the Albanese government has in mind. It wants to lock away 70 per cent of skills funding exclusively for TAFE—in other words, taking apprentices out of the workplace where they are being paid to learn and putting them back in the classrooms in their own time. That is the Albanese model—not giving people opportunities for them to be paid to learn, which is what we are seeing happening worldwide. In Britain, we are seeing an explosion of white-collar apprenticeships where people are not doing university degrees in key areas, such as the IT sector: they are actually doing apprenticeships in that area.

We started that process here in South Australia with apprenticeships in the IT sector, traineeships in the IT sector. When we came to office, there were no traineeships or apprenticeships in the public sector. When we left office, there were over 2½ thousand trainees and apprentices in the public sector, all predominantly in white-collar areas—areas in which people had not had the opportunity to complete an apprenticeship or a traineeship while being paid, and earning a salary to do so. That was the commitment that the government made: to do our part to increase skills here in South Australia. We simply did not think it was acceptable to ask the private sector to do it without the government participating in that program at all.

I know that the people in the gallery are not here to hear me. They are here to hear some young and exciting members who have joined the parliament here in South Australia. I will finish by talking about the types of numbers we were able to deliver in the skills space: 53,000 apprentices and trainees from when we started our Skilling South Australia program to leaving office.

We also saw an increase in completions in the last NCVER figures. South Australia led the nation in increases in completions in apprenticeships. We dramatically increased funding to TAFE. I congratulate the member for Morialta, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition now, on his work in reforming TAFE and getting it back to focusing on students and on delivering.

Remember, there were two inquiries. We had a chair who was sacked. We had a CEO who resigned in disgrace. We had ASQA fail random audits of 10 courses, including Cert III in Individual Support. It was an absolute basket case, and that happened as a decision of the previous government in 2014 to shift funding from the non-government sector almost exclusively to TAFE while at the same time reducing staff numbers at TAFE by over 500 or, if you like, 25 per cent of their staff. It was not a targeted process; it was a real hatchet job.

We saw the closure of 17 TAFE campuses between 2013 and 2019: Marleston, O'Halloran Hill, Panorama, Croydon, Gawler, Rundle Mall, Roseworthy, Bordertown, Millicent, Naracoorte, Clare, Cleve, Kimba, Renmark, Waikerie, Kangaroo Island at Kingscote and Morphettville. Many of these were closed when the member for Frome, now the member for Stuart, was representing the regions in the cabinet; I did not hear anything from him complaining about those campuses being closed.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I call the member for Schubert, and I remind the house that this is the member's first speech and that she should be accorded the normal courtesies and respect afforded to new members on this important occasion.

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (16:02): I thank Her Excellency for her speech to open the Fifty-Fifth Parliament of South Australia. I am conscious of Her Excellency's achievements in the highest post of the Public Service in our nation and am grateful for her fresh, thoughtful leadership of the people of South Australia. Her mother was a health minister in a former Liberal government and a pathfinder for representation of women in the parliament.

It is an honour and a privilege to serve in the Parliament of South Australia, but above and beyond that it is an enormous honour to do so as the representative of my community—the people of Schubert, the family into which I was born, the community that raised and educated me and the region in which I am forming my own family. It is humbling to be the member for Schubert, representing some of the most hardworking, enterprising and innovative people in our state and nation. Their passion for what they do, what they produce and the community in which we live inspire me each and every day.

It is hard to describe the sense of community that imbues Schubert. For those of us who are fortunate to live in Schubert there is a deep and instinctive appreciation for the toil of many generations whose efforts have put our community onto the national and international stage as an iconic food, wine and primary production region. We are a region built on hard work and strong values of family, resilience and integrity, and it is these values that underpin our success as a regional powerhouse in Australia.

Geographically, the electorate of Schubert is a stunningly beautiful patchwork of communities and landscapes. Schubert is home to the entirety of the Barossa Valley, from Truro, St Kitts and Stockwell in the north, Nuriootpa, Tanunda and my home town of Angaston, to Greenock, Williamstown, Sandy Creek, Lyndoch and Seppeltsfield. It wraps around Moculta, Keyneton, Eden Valley, Springton, Mount Pleasant and into the beautiful northern Adelaide Hills of Birdwood, Mount Torrens, Gumeracha, Kersbrook, Cudlee Creek, Houghton, Paracombe, Inglewood and Upper and Lower Hermitage. In the south-west, it embraces Sampson Flat, Humbug Scrub, Yattalunga, Uleybury, Bibaringa and Kalbeeba.

The seat of Schubert is named after a genius in the wine industry, Mr Max Schubert. Max was the creator of Australia's most iconic and collectible wine, the Grange Hermitage. He had no formal training. Max started at Penfolds as a 15-year-old boy and was later tutored by the late Ray Beckwith. He famously persisted in secret with his early winemaking after the Penfolds board wanted to pull the plug, labelling it 'experimental'. How disastrous that would have been for us all.

Eventually, he changed the face of the Australian wine industry. Max Schubert's persistence and innovation paved the way for generations of winemakers. His determination and vision inspired many to have the confidence to challenge the status quo. As those who are brought up in the Barossa appreciate, the best way to sustain and honour our long-held values is to embrace new ways to express them. The people of the Barossa, the Adelaide Hills and the Liberal Party have done me the honour of being able to carry the name of Schubert in this place. I will strive to reflect the timeless values of Max Schubert and the region he embodies.

Throughout life, there are many people who have an impact on us and shape who we are. For me, those people are first and foremost my family. The Hurns have been in South Australia since 1850. That was when my great-great-great-grandfather, William Hurn, settled in Angaston from Bath, England. After five years of working for George Fife Angas, William had saved enough money to buy his own plot of land and start his own orchard. Over time, he expanded the property to 400 acres from where he grew and exported apples to London. My family has lived and worked on this same piece of land for over 170 years, with each generation building on what had come before them.

Growing up, my spare time was spent, like plenty of country kids from the Barossa, helping out on the farm, cutting apricots for drying, picking the ends of the grapevines just to get those last few kilos and working on the boards in the shearing shed, usually too slowly for everyone's liking. Every day, my mum and dad were working hard to provide for my brother, Shannon, and I. It is never more profoundly demonstrated than on a farm that you ultimately are only rewarded for the effort that you put in.

Communities across Schubert are generous to those in need, both within the region and beyond. But we know that that generosity is not possible without the hard work that builds a bounty that can be shared. This reality underpins my commitment to the Liberal Party. We are a party built on the philosophy that there is no greater driver of human endeavour than individual will. As the founder of our great party, Sir Robert Menzies, once said,

The best people in this community are not those who 'leave it to the other fellow', but those who by thrift and self-sacrifice establish homes and bring up families and add to the national pool of savings and hope some day to sit under their own vine and fig tree, owing nothing to anybody.

This perfectly epitomises my dad, William. He is a quiet man, a man whose hard work, conviction, thrift and genuine passion for the land have made him well known and respected in our community. My mum, Sandy, has equally dedicated herself to family and life on the farm. She has worked hard, juggling motherhood, life on the farm and various jobs, and of course running my brother and me around the place. She is intuitive and able to talk to people from all walks of life.

It is safe to say that mum and dad are my biggest supporters, and I am here today in large part due to their sacrifices, and I am delighted to see them in the gallery today with my nan Geraldine Zilm, who is one of the strongest ladies I know, and my brother, Shannon, is listening in from Western Australia. Shannon is one of the most grounded people you will ever meet, entirely unaffected by his achievements in life, and I want to thank him for his support and advice. This is their day as well as mine.

I also need to mention my gratitude to my late grandad Brian Hurn, who instilled in me the ethos of public service. Grandad served our community as chairman of the Angaston council and Mayor of the Barossa Valley for a combined 27 years. He was a man of principle and conviction. He did not want to just be involved in things. He was determined that through his involvement things would get done.

It astounds me that, although he served at the level of government dealing with some of the most bitterly fought over local issues like zoning and planning and development approvals, I have never heard a bad word said about grandad. He passed away in 2015. I miss him dearly. How good would it be to be able to pick up the phone and lean on his wise advice and counsel as I serve in this place.

I attended Angaston Primary School and Nuriootpa High School, and I am a proud recipient of an outstanding public school education. I firmly believe in quality education for all, as both the foundation of a civilised society and as the enabler of opportunity. Schubert is brimming with families like mine, whether it be the descendants of hardworking and trailblazing Germans who settled in the Barossa and the Adelaide Hills or those who came before or after. For almost 200 years in South Australia, people have moved to our regions with dreams of opportunity and prosperity, but no dream has a hope of success without hard work.

The challenges faced by our communities over the years have only strengthened our resolve and forged our character. Whether it be war, bushfires or drought, market downturn or poor government policies, we have emerged stronger through every challenge and not through luck but through resilience, enterprise and the sheer strength of our values and community spirit.

Let me illustrate this through the vine pull and the efforts of another trailblazer, Peter Lehmann. The late 1970s delivered a huge grape surplus that ultimately led to the state-sponsored vine pull in South Australia. In amongst all of that, Peter Lehmann established his namesake winery by himself, primarily to save dozens of generational grapegrowers in the region and our 100-year-old vineyards. He took the surplus grapes under an arrangement called The Futures. On a handshake deal, growers trusted him with their grapes on the understanding that he would pay for them in two years' time.

The late great Peter Lehmann's ethos was: my word is my bond. This is an idea that may send a shiver down the spine of lawyers, but it is an enduring Barossa value that came to the fore during the vine pull. My family has had a long connection with the Lehmanns. The Hurns have sold grapes to them for generations, not only out of a sense of obligation after my great-grandmother Dorothy once knocked Peter Lehmann off his bike in her car.

Beyond the Barossa, the northern Adelaide Hills are new additions to the seat of Schubert, and I am fascinated by the similarities between these two regional communities in my electorate, but they both have a very firm sense of identity and regional pride. The Adelaide Hills is a remarkable food bowl. It grows premium fruit that is exported right around the world, including cherries, apples and pears. The region is also full of passionate community-minded people who have provided me with great insight and valuable advice on my journey to this place.

Town pride can often be best seen at local sports games. I certainly know from my time playing sport how vigorous the contest is in the regions, and it is no different in the Adelaide Hills. I would like to particularly acknowledge Tony Hannaford from the Gumeracha Football Club, the 2019 premiers of the Hills footy league division 2, 3½ decades since their last premiership. I would like to thank Tony for his assistance throughout my campaign and, of course, for his delicious cherries.

For 35 years, much of the Adelaide Hills was represented in this place by Sir Thomas Playford. He was first the member for Murray for five years from 1933, and then the member for Gumeracha for the following three decades until his retirement in 1968. He served as Liberal Premier of South Australia for 26 years, the longest term of any elected leader in Australian history and in the wider British commonwealth, a record unlikely ever to be surpassed. Sir Thomas diversified South Australia's economy and we remain the fortunate beneficiaries of his bold vision. But first and foremost, he was an active local MP. He never lost sight of his community and why he was there, and nor will I.

Never forget where you came from, always fight for your community, stand up for what is right and act with integrity. These are the fundamental values across the communities of regional South Australia and that is why our regions epitomise the very best of our state. Regional South Australia contributes around $29 billion per year to the state's economy. The Liberals recognise the value of our regions and, in our recent term, invested more than $3 billion across 1,000 projects to create jobs and better lives for South Australians, with a focus on health, education, tourism, recreation and sport.

It has been a very long time since any South Australian government gave so much support to our regions and it is an important achievement that the new government needs to emulate if it is serious about supporting our regions and growing our state. I am particularly passionate about promoting and enhancing regional sport and investing in local sporting infrastructure. Sport has been a big part of our community and my family over many generations.

Participation in sport teaches teamwork, sacrifice and leadership. Getting better at sport requires training and dedication and taking nothing for granted. Growing up, I played netball for Angaston in BL&G and was privileged to represent my state and nation. Having been a participant, I know that modern sporting infrastructure is so critical to ensure that communities stay fit, healthy and strong. But more than that, sport is often the centre of life in regional towns. It is the foundation of a strong community and fosters volunteerism. Investment in sporting infrastructure is never a dollar wasted and I will be active in advocating that the regions continue to get their fair share.

There is no doubt that South Australia's future success and prosperity depends in large part on a strong and vibrant regional South Australia. We need a flourishing primary industries sector and successful small and family businesses. We need safer and better regional roads. We need individuals to have the freedom and incentive to make decisions that are in the interests of their family and their community without the burden of over-regulation and bureaucracy.

That was the hallmark of the previous government. Throughout South Australia, the Marshall government leaves a legacy that we can be proud of. That is why it is all the more disappointing to be on this side of the chamber after just one term in government. In four short years, the Liberal government achieved so much. We did more to transform the state's economic opportunities than Labor did in the 16 years it was in office before us. I would like to acknowledge my friend and mentor, the member for Dunstan, Steven Marshall, and thank him for his service as our state's 46th Premier and the confidence he showed in me as a member of his team.

The good work and sound investments made by the Marshall Liberal government will be paying dividends long into the future. I refer to initiatives like Lot Fourteen, a visionary, world-class start-up and growth precinct driving innovation and creativity in the city and beyond; a renewed focus on defence and space, bringing jobs and investment to South Australia and stopping the brain drain to other states, a remarkable achievement from where we were just four years ago; and beginning the long, complex process of reforming South Australia's health system after 16 years of mismanagement, cost blowouts, hospital closures and horror stories.

Strong progress was made but slowed by the unprecedented impact of the global COVID pandemic and the immense new challenges that came with it. I have no doubt that history will rate the Marshall government highly, in particular for its handling of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The virus has killed millions around the world and was better managed here than in any other state or country.

The Marshall government left an economy growing at a faster rate than at any time in the previous 30 years and delivered historically low unemployment. It is a legacy to be proud of, and the challenge for the incoming government is to continue building on what has already been achieved, and this includes in our health system. Words are cheap and they do not wipe out actions.

During the election campaign, Labor talked a lot about our hospitals, particularly ambulance ramping. Ambulance ramping in South Australia started 10 years ago on Labor's watch. While the member for Croydon was health minister, the Repat was shut and other hospitals were downgraded. These actions only added to the pressures across our health system inherited by the Marshall government.

We responded by providing South Australia with more doctors, more nurses and midwives and more ambulance officers than ever before in our state's history. South Australians are now being cared for by more health professionals in bigger and better hospitals. The question now for this Labor government is how it will keep the promises they made to the people of South Australia whilst keeping their commitment to not increase taxes.

The Liberal Party in opposition will be providing active accountability and a positive alternative. The new Leader of the Opposition, the member for Black, David Speirs, has made it clear that our team will not oppose for the sake of it, but we will hold this government to account for both their responsibilities and their promises. As a team, we will work around the clock to ensure that the Liberal Party is in a strong and competitive position in four years' time for the next state election, casting a bold vision for this state that is underpinned by positive policies and grassroots campaigning.

I am humbled to have been appointed by the leader to serve as the shadow minister for health. Health is a key foundation for people to be able to live their lives to the full. Health services are a critical responsibility of the state government and the largest area of expenditure. I look forward to being part of shaping health services for the future of this state.

As both the local member for Schubert and shadow minister, a key priority of mine is that this government must continue with the construction of a new Barossa hospital. Our community has been extraordinarily patient in waiting for this hospital, and I believe it is time to get on with it. Real progress has been made, and I will fight each and every day to ensure that Labor does not let our community down again and that this hospital is delivered.

Delivering this hospital is about ensuring that local families and our loved ones can get the health care and treatment that they need closer to home in a 21st century facility whilst also taking the pressure off our city hospitals. I will also be fighting to ensure that the reopening of the Gumeracha and Mount Pleasant emergency departments remain on track. I will work with passionate locals like Joel Taggart and Libby Barber, and others, to ensure this is achieved.

It is hard to reflect on the challenges and the opportunities of our region without acknowledging two generational battles that we are in the midst of fighting: climate change and mental health. Climate change and environmental issues are particularly close to the heart of our new Liberal leader, who was a very active and effective environment minister. Like our leader, I believe that the climate is changing and that we must take it seriously. Climate change has become variously framed as a social or a moral issue, but it is critically an economic one, too, and must be seen as such.

I know that many of our farmers see it that way. There are no more committed and effective environmentalists than our farmers. When your income and future depends on the productivity of your patch of land, it certainly makes you appreciate the necessity of preserving and protecting that land into the future.

My family and community have ingrained in me a deep sense of responsibility to preserve and protect our natural environment and water security. We must continue with plans to deliver a long-term water security solution for the farmers and the growers in our region. There is desperate need for this, and I will work every day with industry to ensure that it is delivered.

Mother Nature can also wreak havoc on the mental health of our regional towns. You can work as hard as you like on the farm, but without the right combination of sunshine and rain a farm can fail, and under the financial pressure that follows good people can often be pushed to breaking point. It breaks my heart to see so many people fall victim to the demons of the black dog.

Almost half of all Australian adults will face mental ill health during their lives, and whether it is in the regions, the towns or the cities across our state, young or old, no demographic is untouched by mental ill health and depression. I have met with many organisations in Schubert dedicated to providing support in the regions for mental health, such as Seeds of Hope, which is a support group that raises awareness. They do a remarkable job, but there is so much more to do and I look forward to championing this cause in this place.

Like all of us who come together in this parliament, I have been supported by an army of people along my journey, and many are here today in the galleries. They have made an incredible contribution and it would be impossible to thank them all individually. I would like to recognise my predecessor in this place, Stephan Knoll. Stephan served the community with distinction as the member for Schubert for eight years and was very generous with his support and assistance during this campaign for which I am very grateful. I wish him, his wife, Amy, and their children all the best for their future.

To the Liberal Party, my local state electorate committee, the Barossa branch and the Torrens Valley branch: thank you for your unwavering encouragement, support and assistance. The Liberal Party is a truly democratic party that empowers its membership with the choice of their local representative. I thank the local liberals who chose me to represent them and our region and who have backed up that choice by campaigning for me at the election. I would like to thank each and every one of them.

Thank you to my campaign team: Brian Barnett, Chris Pheiffer, Clayton Scott, Mark Grossman, Clementina Maione and my husband, Adam. Our campaign meetings may have been shorter without the wine, but little is done in the Barossa without one, so cheers! To my many dear friends from all walks of life who have helped and inspired me along the way: I see so many of you in the gallery and I thank you very much.

To Robert Brokenshire, Ann Ruston, Stephen Wade, Christopher Pyne, Simon Birmingham, John Gardner, James Stevens and Hannah March, to the federal member of parliament covering Schubert, Tony Pasin, and the new member for Frome, my great friend and colleague Penny Pratt: thank you for your counsel. To the late Professor Dean Jaensch who set me on this path over many long black coffees: thank you.

I would also like to recognise the many good people who, over the last four years and in some cases much longer, have made extraordinary contributions in serving our state but who were not successful at this election. I refer to people like Dan van Holst Pellekaan, Corey Wingard, Paula Luethan, Richard Harvey, Rachel Sanderson, Carolyn Power and Steve Murray. I want to thank them for their service and wish them all the best in their next endeavours.

To my parents-in-law, Colin and Julie Howard, who stood all day at the Mount Torrens booth and who would not take no for an answer thank you. To my husband, Adam: your love, patience, support and uncanny ability to never panic has helped guide me to this place and I am forever grateful. You are the love of my life, my partner, my teammate and my best friend.

Finally, I thank the people of Schubert, who have put their faith in me to fight for them in this place, and I will always do that. I will never lose sight of the enormous privilege and responsibility that it is to be their voice. As a farm girl, I am not prone to hyperbole. I call things as they are. You can therefore trust me when I tell you that it is absolutely no exaggeration to say that Schubert is the jewel in the crown not only of South Australia but of our entire nation.

Our outstanding reputation internationally is a testament to our community's passion for the land, our unique business offerings, our enviable lifestyle and our character. It is my home. It is my family's home. It is the place where I want to raise my children. I will always put Schubert first and am committed to being a vocal and unflinching advocate for them in this place.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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