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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-26 Daily Xml
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Statutes Amendment (Budget Measures) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 12 September 2023.)

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (11:06): On this occasion, it would be remiss of me to miss the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the sixth occasion on which the Glenelg Tigers have achieved the ultimate in the SANFL, defeating the Double Blues on Sunday afternoon. As a proud Bays supporter—albeit as someone who grew up with the Bays, and I cannot claim to have been there in the bulk of the 21st century—it is the time of one's life that is perhaps most memorable, in terms of the dreams and aspirations that one takes through the balance of life.

I want to recognise all the players and, of course, the club's leadership who have brought them to this most significant of occasions on Sunday afternoon—a very happy day indeed. Because they might not be particularly singled out in other ways just at this time, I want to make special mention of Rob Gillies and his fellow board members but Rob in particular, who is an example of someone who really exemplifies that character of community contribution.

In the same way, I want to mention 'Super' Peter Carey, who is well known to all of us. If you are looking for a childhood hero who then carries through a lifetime of legacy, look no further than Peter Carey. I still have the Ross Faulkner football from the testimonial dinner for Peter Carey on his retirement. It was a very special occasion indeed for me to go along with dad to the testimonial dinner back in the day. The football is signed by all those eighties legends from Glenelg, many of whom have now gone on, and indeed generations have—the Maynards, the Seebohms, Scott Salisbury, and many of the Stringers are well known—but none better than Peter Carey. I recognise him, his life's work and his contribution to so much in our community beyond football.

The fact that the SANFL has continued to thrive and to show the best of South Australian football on the great stage, on Adelaide Oval in the sunshine on a late September afternoon, in this age that is increasingly so headed us with a focus towards the national stage and the AFL, is a testament to all those who are involved in the league across the board. When we reflect, as we do, on this occasion about those responsibilities that we have towards the state's budget and what we will do to ensure that the range of necessary provision is made in all sorts of public ways, it is good that we look at what is still being achieved by the SANFL.

To bookend it on this morning after the AFL's biggest night, in many ways, when we celebrate Kyby's own Lachie Neale winning the Brownlow for the second time, it was well that the chair of the AFL at the end of that night, in celebrating Lachie Neale's great achievement, recognised those at the grassroots in the South-East, in Lachie Neale's case, but grassroots football that we know is the source of those great champions who make their way. Lachie Neale is no better example of a grassroots footballer who did the hard work in order to keep pursuing his dreams and, from Kyby via WA to Brisbane, he is still South Australia's own and we are all very proud of him.

We here, when we are making decisions about the provision for sports and activities for young people throughout the state, ought to bear in mind that, whether it is with a view directly to funding the work of SANFL clubs or whether it is with a view to celebrating those who go to the very highest levels in the AFL and nationally, it starts with strength in the grassroots.

For me, it is always about the Hills and my local area. The Hills Football League is at the core of footy for me and for the nearly thousand square kilometres of Heysen. I know there have been some struggles in recent weeks, as well as victories; I am not going to single out any of them today. We know that we have great Hills clubs, and the strength of the women's and the men's game is something that we all work to continue to foster, as well as, of course, the possibilities for the kids via the Moddies programs.

Perhaps if I might just mention one, it is that through all the range of challenges—we know it is always difficult to get enough volunteers, it is difficult to raise money and it is always a challenge to make sure that the best of facilities are available—it is a really good thing for me to see that the children who are participating in Moddies, often taking advantage of facilities that might have improved lights or better change rooms that make it possible for families to bring the children along, are thriving.

Whether it is from Bridgewater or Maccy or Meadows or Hahndorf or Mount Lofty or Echunga or any other one of the other great Hills clubs, it is because of the work that is being done at that very early level that leads to the possibility that one of those Hills kids might eventually make their way to playing in an SANFL grand final and, what do you know, maybe one of them might find their way into the AFL and, like Lachie Neale, take out that highest individual honour that we were all so proud to see last night.

For now, we will all look ahead and I am sure a lot of us will be spending some time having a look at the AFL grand final on the weekend. I hope, as the reminder that Glenelg's great win on the weekend showed us, that we can keep in mind that great legacy of Aussie Rules strength that has come out of South Australia since the very early days. I wish the teams that are yet to play in this grand final season all the very best, and I congratulate once again the mighty Tigers. Carn the Bays!

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:15): I will continue the theme that the member for Heysen has given us this morning. I, too, want to pay tribute to the Glenelg Football Club, because they are a great institution that I was once a part of as a junior footballer. I was a very proud participant down at the Bay.

Back in those days, I attended Paringa Park Primary School, which is a Somerton primary school, a state school. I went to school with some of the quite notable players who went on to greatness, and no more so than the Kernahan brothers. I went to school with Gary, who was always considered the best footballer in the family—even over Harry, the father. There was Gary and there was Stephen and there was also the younger brother, whose name escapes me right about now. They were always great mentors, particularly Harry, back in those days of running out onto the Bay oval to represent the club.

One of my fondest memories as a spectator then was in 1973, when most people in this place were not even born. I attended Adelaide Oval to watch Glenelg knock off North Adelaide. I will never forget sitting on one of the old timber benches there, watching that grand final. Of course, Studley Cornes—Graham Cornes as most people know him—took a screamer in the forward pocket and kicked a goal, and that was the clincher that got the Bays up.

As the member for Heysen has said, we have celebrated a lot of grand finals over the course of the last few weeks, none more so than on the weekend when we saw the A-grade get up, again at Adelaide Oval. I think there were 24 points in it, and it was just a great moment for a great club. The club has had to work pretty hard for its wins over the years, and to have six successful grand final outings really does sink deep into what is taken for granted in some instances but what I see down at the Bay.

Darren Reeves, who is the current A-grade coach, was installed only at Christmas time, but he has done an outstanding job. I was quite moved when after their win he noted that he has never seen his father cry. He did see his father cry for the very first time with that win. I also want to pay tribute to the B-grade, because they also got up down at the Bay. It would have been a very Mad Monday yesterday, noting the As and Bs got up.

I would also like to pay tribute to the board members at the Bay footy club. Obviously, 'Super' Carey is one of those and so is Catherine Sayer, who has been there for six years. She was the CEO of Food South Australia, but she has now moved on. What a way to go to, to see Catherine at her final game as board member down at the Bay—a fitting tribute for dedication and great work.

I also want to pay tribute to Neil Kerley, a great South Australian. He was a constituent of mine in Chaffey. He and Barb spent the majority of their time at Walker Flat, and he was the 'mayor' there. He was a great motivator, he was a great doer, no more so than for his beloved Swan Reach Golf Club. If you wanted to get anything done down in that neck of the woods, you would go and speak to Neil first and he would give it a clear pathway, whether it was an upgrade at the golf club or getting things done at Walker Flat or just being a great community person.

I must say, some of those childhood memories were really reignited after yesterday's win. It has been quite a busy time the last couple of Saturdays and Sundays with footy. The electorate of Chaffey encompasses quite a few footy leagues, and the Riverland Football League has seen a really competitive season this year. I went to a number of games. My role as the local member is to make sure that I get to see every team for at least one home game. Most people say that is not really supporting the league, but there were 16 teams in three leagues that I had to support, as well as soccer and other codes.

What I saw at the grand final within the RFL was that Barmera-Monash got up over the Renmark Rovers. It was a great feat. On the day, Barmera-Monash definitely wanted the ball more than Renmark. Renmark were going for their third grand final win, but they just did not have it on the day; nevertheless, it was a good game. It was a very low-scoring game but we saw Barmera-Monash get up, as did a number of their junior teams. I think there were three junior teams that got up. Again, it would have been a very robust Sunday and Monday after that win.

The independent league, the Murray Valley Football Netball League, also had their grand final, but this time we moved to Wunkar. Wunkar has a pretty good deck considering it is out in the Mallee. We saw Sedan Cambrai playing Brown's Well, but my beloved Brown's Well Bombers just could not get the job done on the day. Well done to Sedan Cambrai for the great work they did in coming together and securing the grand final win.

This weekend just gone I was also able to go to a number of grand finals. I have been a great parent supporter of the Prince Alfred Old Collegians Football Club. We saw a number of games played at Norwood Oval, where the first game was the PAC C-grade. My partner is the very proud mother of Tom Brinsley, who has been captain of the A-grade for a number of years, but he is starting to weary with injury and is now a great leader in the C-grade. They managed to get up over Sacred Heart, and it was a great win for the Reds and really did start the theme of the day. In the A-grade, we saw the Reds get up and perform extremely well, as they have over the last number of seasons, so it was a fitting tribute for the As to get up.

Then I travelled to Lyndoch for another grand final, to see South Gawler up against Nuriootpa, the Blues versus the Tigers. I was there to support a cohort of family friends, the Bentley brothers, Scott and James, who are captain and vice-captain at Nuri. They are boys from Port Pirie, but they are engineers living and working in Adelaide who have a passion for their football, probably second only to that of their father and mother, who travel great distances to give their boys support. We got to the quite picturesque backdrop at Lyndoch to see South Gawler get up over Nuri, and it was a very seesaw event. I think the lead changed a number of times, but South Gawler managed to get the chocolates on the day.

This shows that country footy is alive and well. Not only are we seeing some good footy in the AFL and SANFL but the country footy leagues seem to attract a great standard of footy. We saw over 30,000 people at the SANFL grand final. We saw a packed house at Waikerie to watch the RFL grand final, as we did at Wunkar to see Sedan Cambrai get up over Brown's Well. Even at Lyndoch, we saw great numbers of people supporting the country footy code. It really does show that it is alive and well.

In my capacity as a local member, I am able to travel to a lot of the country footy venues, making sure that we get a good standard of footy. They are country lads in most cases; there are some who are jetsetted in from afar to come and play for those footy codes. We are seeing a great standard of footy. It gives hope to our juniors rising through the ranks that they are playing a good standard of footy. They have a good volunteer base, and I think that is really important, particularly for regional sporting codes. Whether it is footy, whether it is the netball season that is currently underway or whatever sporting code it is, it is really important that we have that volunteer base that continues to underpin successful clubs, successful town sporting codes.

I think it has never been more important that we have those volunteers continue to come through the ranks. We all know in this place that it is becoming harder and harder to secure volunteers. The volunteer base is getting older, so it is really important that we have the younger ones step up. They need to raise their hand and go to support a sporting code, and none more so than those codes when they get to a grand final.

It shows that town, that team, that they have good support behind them, raising the capacity for that town to showcase what they do so well. What I must say is that all the country footy finals were supported by great footy clubs. When we get back to those clubs, it is pretty important that those clubs put on a show. They support their teams and they make sure that those teams have a great support base and that the volunteers are recognised for their great work over the course of the season.

It cannot be overstated that, without a big, strong community volunteer base, you do not really have a footy club or a sporting club code. It cannot be overstated how important it is that we have good volunteers and young volunteers coming up through the ranks as well as the younger teams, making sure that they do their communities proud, and no more so than what we have just experienced at a number of the grand finals I have attended in the last couple of weeks.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (11:28): I rise on this budget measures bill. Certainly, one aspect of any budget is the contribution to sporting clubs because they are so very important to our community. It is worth saying that one of those great sporting clubs in the electorate of Morphett is, of course, the Glenelg Football Club, who had a fantastic day last Sunday, two days ago, with not only the senior men's league team winning but also the senior reserves team winning as well. It capped off really a fantastic season for the club.

Of course, the season started off with the women's team getting their season underway back in February. What is great about the Glenelg Football Club is the synergies in place between the men's and women's programs. The leaders of both the men's and women's teams go through leadership programs together, and there is really a sense of camaraderie between those two. In other clubs, I have seen basically two streams working in silos, but what has been magnificent with the Glenelg footy club is how they have embraced women's football and sought to grow it at a grassroots level as well.

The women's team started off the season. They just missed out on finals, going down to Sturt in the last minor round game, and whichever of those teams won that game—it happened to be Unley—got through to the finals. There is great rivalry between Sturt and Glenelg at both the women's and men's level.

Certainly from the men's perspective, the season was a really strong one, with both the reserves and the senior men's team winning through to the grand final, but at the same time through the season winning also the Stanley Lewis Trophy, which basically recognises consistency across all grades, so it takes into account wins in the junior teams, wins in the men's teams and wins in the women's teams. That was the first bit of silverware for the club to win that one across all grades. Of course, when it gets to the finals, yes, the minor rounds are important, but it is like a whole new campaign.

The men's program really played terrifically in the finals. The men's team finished top of the ladder at the end of the minor round, and they did this under adverse circumstances. Their new coach came in only in January this year and basically had to set about new strategies, making sure the team was working together, so it is a massive credit to not only the senior coach but also the fitness staff, who would have been doing the preseason already through October to December.

As it turned out, Glenelg won through to the grand final by winning the second semifinal against Adelaide Crows, their state league side, so that gave them two weeks to prepare, two weeks to get their bodies right, for the ultimate game that happened last Sunday. In the lead-up to that, it gave the club time to prepare and certainly it was great to see a lot of supporters come down to watch the final training session. The main final training session was on the Thursday prior to the grand final, and there was the captain's run on the Friday as well. It was great going to the club and seeing so many of the supporters coming to watch the training session.

Amongst them were many former players as well, and one of the club's legends, Peter Carey, was there. It was great talking to him. He played against Sturt in grand finals in 1974, which was the last time Sturt and Glenelg met in a grand final. Peter described the game and how, during that season, Glenelg during the minor round had won the chocolates against Sturt and went into the grand final very confident, but anything could have happened in the grand final in 1974, and it ended up that Sturt won.

Since then, Glenelg has not played Sturt in a grand final—until last Sunday. There was a fair bit of nervousness amongst many of the former players who played in the era of the late 1960s and the 1970s, because not only did Sturt beat them in 1974 but also beat them in two of the preceding finals as well—certainly in 1969 and potentially 1970 as well.

In terms of the day itself, it started off with the reserves having a pretty even game against Sturt. In fact, Sturt was up at three-quarter time by about nine points and looked as if they could potentially come away with a win, but Glenelg had a fantastic final quarter, scoring four goals and holding Glenelg to only one goal.

That said, in the dying minute Sturt had a great opportunity to go forward and kick the winning goal. A diving Sturt player just missed taking a mark and the ball spilled out and was grabbed by one of his teammates, who tried to get a dribble kick through to the goal and it was saved on the line for a rush behind instead of a goal. Ultimately, that would be the last time that Sturt scored in the game and allowed the Glenelg reserves team to run out victorious.

Next, of course, was what most of the crowd was there for. It was quite a big crowd—33,000-plus—and it was great to see the usual Crows or Port colours at Adelaide Oval replaced with the yellow and black for the Tigers and the double blues for Sturt, and the cheer squads at each end cheering their teams.

Ultimately, Glenelg played a fantastic game, you would have to say, from the first bounce, led by the opening goal by the winner of the Jack Oatey Medal, Hosie, who kicked a fantastic snap from the boundary. Glenelg was never headed for the whole game. There were times when Sturt looked to come back. In the third quarter, they mounted a challenge and got to within four goals.

You would have to say the rub of the green went Glenelg's way. There was a goal by Glenelg where they kicked it from about 80 metres out to a pack 20 metres from goal, and the ball cleared the whole pack and continued bouncing on and ran through for a goal. While the game is never dead, at that stage you really did think that Glenelg was going to go on to become the eventual winners.

I give bit of a shout-out to one of the Sturt players, Will Coomblas, whom I coached in school football. He is a great mark, a great kick. He kicked a goal on the day, which was from outside 50 and a reasonably skilful kick to be able to get that goal. He is an important part of the Sturt defence and all credit to him for his efforts.

As I said, Glenelg ended up winning the grand final and of course proceeded to go back to Brighton Road, where the team could celebrate with so many supporters. There were fantastic scenes at Glenelg, with quite a few thousand there to see the team presented and get the accolades they deserve. Even though they are semi-professional, you would have to say that their training regime takes a lot of time for them to do what they do. They have great skills and great fitness and they were certainly worthy winners of this year's SANFL premiership.

Congratulations to all the players, especially their captain, Max Proud, who is going to be retiring, and also to the coaching staff. Importantly also, congratulations to the support staff, the president at the club, all the board and the staff who also work tirelessly to keep the club going not only throughout the football season but also in the off-season. Congratulations to the Glenelg Football Club on a fantastic season.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (11:38): I thank members opposite for their contributions. I grudgingly admit that it is important to reflect at some length on the success that the Glenelg Football Club had on the weekend. I wholeheartedly, though, endorse the sentiments of the member for Heysen, recognising particular luminaries of the Glenelg Football Club. I have very fond memories of going to football games, both at Alberton Oval and at Football Park, and seeing Peter Carey play. If Peter Carey was not an imposing enough figure on any other oval, he was particularly imposing at Football Park because of the ever so slightly domed surface of that playing surface, which only served to accentuate his height.

By the time I really started paying attention to SANFL football I was about 10 years old, and that was in 1988, which of course was the first of a run of almost consecutive premierships for the Port Adelaide Magpies—six won in a period of I think eight years. That was so five minutes ago for the purposes of this contribution.

Those days, I would say particularly the late 1980s and early 1990s, are in my memory the glory days of the SANFL when those teams of Port Adelaide Magpies, Sturt, Glenelg and Norwood—particularly those four, and maybe in fits and spurts North Adelaide—really were very strong football clubs. You could go to a minor round game and still sometimes, particularly if it was a game between any of Norwood, Glenelg, Port and Sturt, you could expect a crowd of well over 10,000 often, even 20,000 for a minor round game.

Of course, being a Port Adelaide supporter I went to many grand finals at Football Park and there were in the high 40s nudging 50,000 people there—really wonderful days of the SANFL. Many of those people who were mentioned in the contributions of the member for Heysen, the member for Morphett and the member for Chaffey are responsible for delivering the current day success of the Glenelg Football Club, and I think that should be recognised and celebrated.

Perhaps now we reflect on the SANFL and the games there as being a slightly less corporatised brand of football we can feel a little closer to that is a little bit more accessible and a little bit more affordable for South Australian families to go to see. That is not to detract from what the AFL does, and the participation and performance of the Adelaide Crows and Port Power, but the SANFL for a lot of reasons will always remain very important to many South Australians and in particular South Australian football lovers.

So I echo the sentiments of those three members opposite for their contributions, and I should also recognise in particular the member for Morphett being the local member for the Glenelg Football Club and quite comfortably the most experienced footballer out of House of Assembly members. There is no question about that. Thank goodness we do not have these sporting fixtures amongst MPs anymore, lest we all be humiliated by the member for Morphett.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Yes, a self-confessed pretty average footballer, the member for Croydon. I thank members for their contributions and their attention to the budget measures bill. Sometimes there is not even a budget measures bill; sometimes state budgets do not require any legislative change. But when there is legislative change, members, in my experience, have always been not only particularly attentive to what the government of the day is trying to do but have engaged quite closely in the process, and there is no exception with this bill.

In particular, I think the most significant change—not the only change but the most significant change—is the change to the First Home and Housing Construction Grants Act and also the Stamp Duties Act to give effect to the government's policy to abolish stamp duty for first-home buyers who are building a new home or buying land with a view to build a new home up to a threshold of $650,000 for their house and land, or $400,000 for land.

All of us across all of our electorates, no matter where we are in South Australia, know that our constituents are experiencing the sharpest edges of a housing crisis at the moment, and this is yet another initiative by the Malinauskas government to provide safe, secure and affordable housing for South Australians. As I have said, since we first announced this measure, for many young South Australians in particular, the idea of home ownership never felt further out of their reach, and I think in many ways this is putting home ownership, particularly for those young South Australians, back within their grasp.

The statistics that we have seen reported since the government handed down its budget, particularly from the Housing Industry Association nationally, showing the huge spike in the number of homes that are being committed to or being constructed shows that measures like these, if they are well calibrated and targeted, can make a real difference to people getting into housing, and that is a good thing.

The other amendments, of course, are perhaps not quite so significant. In particular, I should point out that there is a small amendment to the Land Tax Act, which will give effect to a measure which was actually announced by the previous Liberal government, and that is to provide a land tax exemption for build-to-rent properties.

This is a measure consistent with moves in other states and territories to try to better incentivise the investment in housing for people to rent, and we hope that this a success. This is a relatively new area of initiative and incentive for governments of all political persuasions around the country to try to better incentivise that. We hope that this makes some progress towards getting more housing constructed and, in this case, housing constructed for people to rent at affordable levels.

Of course, we reiterate our willingness and appetite to work with the commonwealth government to pursue the Housing Australia Future Fund initiatives, which are a significant contributor to the federal government's target of 1.2 million additional homes to be built between 2024 and 2029. I think the most euphemistic way I could describe that ambition is as a stretch target for the nation's housing construction industry.

It will require a significant step up in the number of dwellings being built across all parts of the country, but particularly here in South Australia. That means that, while the federal government has money on the table, there is a significant corresponding responsibility for state governments, local governments and the housing construction industry to do their bit in order to realise that ambition. I reiterate that this government is absolutely committed to doing all we can to see that ambition through to fruition.

With those brief remarks, can I once again thank members for their consideration of the bill, for their close attention to what the bill seeks to achieve, and also some of the other matters that have been canvassed, particularly in this morning's debate reflecting on the success of the SANFL as a competition and the Glenelg Football Club in the most recent season as premiers.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (11:49): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

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