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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-10 Daily Xml
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LIBERAL PARTY

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:13): I rise today to bring to the attention of fellow members yet another instance of Liberal Party arrogance, which we have come to know so well. I am talking about the 2010 election, when the representation in this chamber will consist of no rural members and only one female member. As you would probably appreciate, Mr President, this chamber should reflect—

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: On a point of order, Mr President, this is not information; it is just a load of crap.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Stephens—

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Mr President, I will get to the facts right now. At its last preselection council meeting, the Liberal Party put its sole country representative at No. 7 on its ticket. As members would realise, that is a totally unwinnable position. In relation to its female representation, the Liberal Party put its female member at No. 5. Considering that the Liberal Party won only three seats in the Legislative Council at the last election, I would have to say that No. 5 is an unwinnable position. So, after the next election, the only party to have representation from the rural constituency in this chamber will be the Labor Party, with the Hon. Bernie Finnigan.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Mr President, I seek your protection. I have only three minutes and 35 seconds remaining to expose the hypocrisy of the Liberal Party. As I said in my opening remarks, this is yet another instance where the Liberals have shown their arrogance. Do rural and regional constituents register the contempt in which they are held by their party? Of course they do. Does the opposition feel a bit sensitive about this issue? Of course it does—and so it should. The Liberals have abrogated responsibility for the bush. Surely, the voters of regional and rural areas are entitled to expect better than this from the outfit that offers itself as the alternative government.

We are not surprised—far from it. We are used to it. As I said recently in a speech, it is only a few short years since the Rann government took up the task of alleviating the damage done by the previous Liberal government—damage done over years of underinvestment, disinvestment and a profligate sale of our state's assets. There were years of decline in our regional areas and years of neglect in health, education, transport and many other vital areas.

It is not only in the state arena that the Liberals have demonstrated their disinterest in the voting public, except when it suits them. The commonwealth Auditor-General made it clear last year in a particularly scathing report that the old pork barrel was well and truly rolled out prior to the recent federal election. These scandalous regional rorts have been widely acknowledged. Meanwhile, our education sector suffered and our skills base was eroded almost beyond saving. Hospitals—where those in the front line of the health system spend their working lives serving the community—were used as pawns by Howard in a desperate ploy to retain office. The plight of our indigenous citizens was ignored until political expedience brought it to the Liberals' attention.

Despite having been so rudely interrupted, I will move on in my speech. As the Premier has noted, our regions truly do punch above their weight in terms of their contributions to our economy. As the engine room for our exports, regional areas produce more than one-third of our state's export product. This is a constituency that those opposite will now abandon with their typical contumelious disregard—not to mention their trademark poverty of thinking.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Obviously, Mr Stephens does not know what it means. It means 'having or showing an insulting, scornful or contemptuous attitude'. That exactly describes members opposite. So you have fallen flat on your face, Mr Stephens. You often sit there with a dumb look on your face; well, you have fallen on your face.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I rise on a point of order, sir. The honourable member knows that he should not be pointing, whether or not he has a piece of paper in his hand. He has been here long enough to know that he should direct his remarks through the chair.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley will stick to his speech and not respond to the bereaved opposition.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: We will improve access to health care and skills training. We will promote our regional products to overseas markets. We will help to create attractive business environments to assist in the creation of regional industries, particularly mining. We know that South Australians who live in regional communities are critical to the sustainability of the state. Labor will not forget—as members opposite have—and will not treat them as undeserving of representation in this place.

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