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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-11-17 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

State Government

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (15:08): What a shambles it has been for the government this week. We found out a great deal about this government this week. We found out a great deal about this Premier.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: This is a government characterised by arrogance, a government who thinks it is all a big game, a government who thinks it is a bit of a frat party actually. They are in this for a laugh, not about serious governing for the state of South Australia.

This state has been dealing with the worst storms for six years, not the fault of the government but a response is still required. There is a cost-of-living crisis, a ramping crisis and a child protection crisis. We heard today from the member for Chaffey about concerns he holds for his community as rising floodwaters enter the Riverland. What do we have from the Premier and his arrogant team? We have posing for selfies with sports stars.

We have the announcement of the AFL Magic Round. That round has plenty of merit in its own right, but we do know—well, we think—$20 million will be handed to the AFL to run some extra matches in Adelaide. But it was what happened at the press conference that was of most concern. Yes, we are concerned about the lack of transparency around the money to the AFL, but it was the locker room language, which could have been dismissed with an apology from the Premier, but, no, instead he tried to cover it up with a smirk and a chuckle and probably a fist bump with his mates on the other side, the boys in the Labor Party. That is not what we want from our Premier.

I am not even going to say the icky, creepy, misogynistic words that he raised in that press conference last week when standing alongside the chief executive of the AFL. It is embarrassing, it got national coverage and it brought our whole state into disrepute and, when challenged, he came up with this strange definitional excuse. Quite frankly, it was an embarrassment.

Then we had the situation with the LIV Golf tour. I could prevaricate around this and I could say, 'It's okay. We're getting some tourism dollars into South Australia.' Yes, that will happen, but at what cost? Other jurisdictions right around the world are fleeing in the opposite direction from the LIV Golf tour because it is owned and administered by a tyrannical Saudi Arabian dictator—a dictator who believes that women should be under guardianship for their whole lives, a dictator who believes that marital rape is okay and a dictator who, until a couple of years ago, said that women could not front the wheel of a car in his jurisdiction.

But this government, again, have dug in, despite the member for Newland, despite the member for Elder, despite Irene Pnevmatikos in the other place and other members raising deep concerns about this and the government's appeasement of a tyrannical regime that treats women, people with a disability and people who categorise themselves as LGBTI as people who are of second worth. That regime has been endorsed by the Labor Party's appeasement of them.

If I were the Premier of this state, I would head in the opposite direction, but they have doubled-down and it was selfies with Greg Norman with the arrogance, the smirking and the chuckling of the Premier. They still chuckle and they still laugh. They lean back on their benches dripping with arrogance like a Christmas turkey. It is repulsive.

Then we had the CFMEU situation, a tyrannical militant union that is taking businesses in this state to the brink. What did the Premier say on 7 August? He said:

I have made it clear that intimidating behaviour is never consistent with the interests of working people. I will always call it out and stand against any behaviour that gives the union movement a bad name.

The Premier said:

I have been concerned from the outset that a bad culture within sections of the CFMEU could find its way over the border into SA. The prospect of that is something I will continue to remain vigilant against.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: By giving them money.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: By giving them money, by failing to call them out and by appeasing the domestic violence convictions against the head of the CFMEU. The Premier and the government have been shown up for arrogance this week. They have been shown up for a complete lack of compassion and they really have shown that they are not fit to run the state of South Australia.

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