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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-25 Daily Xml
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APPROPRIATION BILL 2013

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading (resumed on motion).

The Hon. J.S. LEE (12:16): I would like to start by congratulating and thanking the Leader of the Opposition in the other place, Mr Steven Marshall, for his excellent budget reply speech. He began by setting out a plan and a vision of how the future Liberal government would structure the state and address the productivity issues that are holding South Australia back. I also congratulate my Liberal colleagues on this side of the chamber on their excellent contributions to date.

It is time to reflect on this budget. After 11 years of the Labor government, what do we have? We have the largest debt in the state's history, the largest deficit in the state's history, and the worst credit rating in Australia. At the same time, the government is collecting the highest taxes in Australia and the highest WorkCover levy in Australia, and South Australians are suffering a high cost of living compared with the rest of Australia.

The 2013-14 budget is an accumulation of economic mismanagement over the past 11 long years of Labor government. This is a terrible budget, delivering the largest deficit in this state's 176-year history. This budget shows that Labor has lost touch with the constituents it represents. This budget provides no relief for households struggling with ever-increasing cost of living pressures.

This budget offers no incentive to provide relief for businesses here in South Australia, it provides no plan to support economic development and regional development in South Australia. Instead of moving the state forward and providing essential services to our community, the budget delivers cuts to police, health and education. It is going to put South Australia further and further behind the rest of the states in Australia.

On Thursday 6 June, the Treasurer, who is also the Premier, confirmed that this year will record the largest deficit in this state's history: $1.314 billion. Two years ago, we had a budget deficit of $53 million. Last year, the government delivered a budget deficit of $258 million, and now it is sitting at $1.3 billion. This was the year that the government promised that we would be returning to the black. This is the year that it promised a surplus; instead, the government has delivered the largest deficit in this state's history.

How can you ask the people of South Australia to trust this Labor government? Let's face it, the Labor government is addicted to spending. Almost half the budget deficit this year is on unbudgeted expenditure. The government blew its budget this year by a staggering $626 million that was never even in its budget. Over the last 11 years, this equates to a total of $3.8 billion. How can we trust this government to have any control over its spending?

As a taxpayer, it is important that we understand how much the government borrows on our behalf over the course of a year, and this year alone the net lending deficit will hit $1.376 billion. To put it simply, that is $3.8 million per day, for every day of the year, the government is borrowing on behalf of you, me and the people of South Australia. The budget will deliver the largest debt in the state's history, a staggering $13.75 billion. The problem with any mounting debt is, of course, the interest. The Premier (yes, also the Treasurer; the same person) is too ashamed to inform taxpayers, so he did not include it in the Premier's speech to the parliament and you will not be able to find it in his budget summary. But we found it. Hidden deep in his document, page 155 of budget paper 3 reveals that the government has the audacity to burden us with a debt that is paying a staggering $952 million per year in interest.

The Labor government is so addicted to wasteful spending that it sees no opportunity for reforming its performance and getting the state back on track. It continues to put danger signs across all sectors in South Australia. The budget provides a convincing picture that Labor, in particular this Premier, who is also the Treasurer, has no credibility to manage our money and no ability to charter a course for our economy to prosper.

South Australians are disappointed by this budget. Every day people inform me that they simply cannot believe the government has decided to put all cost pressures back on to them, affecting the household budget. How irresponsible is this government? South Australians are paying more in bus fares, licence fees, car regos, and water and electricity bills. Water prices are up 249 per cent under Labor. Electricity prices are up 150 per cent under Labor.

To make matters worse, not only is this government increasing tax rates and fees, but it is actually introducing a new tax. Yes, the car park tax. The same government wants to increase city vibrancy. The same government wants more people in the CBD. Yet, what does it come up with? It wants to charge people $750 a year for car parks. It is a crazy cash grab. Interestingly, in the budget it is called a transport development levy.

The business community is suffering under the Labor government. South Australia remains the highest business taxed state in the nation. We have the highest electricity prices in the nation. We have the highest water prices of any capital city. We have the highest WorkCover rate in the nation. It is not 5 per cent more than the national average; it is not 10 per cent more than the national average; it is over double the national average. It is the worst performing scheme and it is the most underfunded scheme in the country.

The small business and family business sectors are the driving force of the economy. Many of these business operators come from the multicultural sector, so I see them regularly and work closely with them. These business people are doing it really tough. Collectively, the sector is the largest employer for the state, so it is important that they stay viable. They need to survive in order for many individuals to have jobs to cater for their family needs.

To demonstrate how tough it is out there, let us look at the ASIC insolvency appointments statistics for the March quarter. There were 264 insolvency appointments for the quarter. That is three companies per day. Many companies are in terrible situations similar to Spring Gully. Three companies from South Australia have made insolvency appointments with ASIC in the first three months of this year. That is up 118 per cent on the previous quarter, while the rest of Australia has gone down by 2 per cent.

As the shadow parliamentary secretary for education, I would like to refer now to the education sector. The way this government manages education is a disgrace. Can anyone tell me how many Labor education ministers have been appointed over the last 11 years? How many? There have been five Labor education ministers. As a matter of fact, in the same period there have also been 10 CEOs or acting CEOs in the education department. We are looking at nine or 10 restructures of the department and they still cannot get it right.

If you listen to Labor ministers over the last 11 years, they will tell you that they are spending more money than ever on education, yet the facts are that when Labor came to office about 24.5 per cent of the state budget was spent on education. Guess what? That has not changed. Still now, about 24.5 per cent of the budget is spent on education. There have been significant differences and significant changes in the last 11 years under Labor. The most significant change is that, when Labor came into office in 2002, only 30 per cent of families sent their children to the non-government sector—now it has gone up to 37 per cent.

Let us look at the performance of students across the board. South Australia, unfortunately, has consistently fallen near the bottom compared to other states. South Australia has been below the Australian average every year and in every year level to date. Key performance indicators show that Labor has a poor record on education.

Let us look at some statistics presented by Mr Costello in his PowerPoint presentation to principals across South Australia. Over 16 per cent of year 11 students failed to meet the numeracy requirement; over 41 per cent of South Australian students passed pattern and algebra testing compared with 51 per cent nationally; and only 37 per cent of year 3 students in South Australia passed the recall questions compared to 49 per cent Australia-wide.

In the latest education department annual report, further statistics have shown that there has been a 16 per cent drop-off in the number of students getting a pass mark or equivalent for their ATAR, which is the year 12 score they need to get into university. This further demonstrates that Labor does not take education seriously.

As the shadow parliamentary secretary for families I, along with many others, am extremely concerned about the way that the Labor government handled child protection issues. How can this government allow a staggering 75 cases of alleged child sexual abuse, inappropriate behaviours by teachers and other school staff to happen under its watch? Seventy-five cases were identified by the education department in just four years. Even more disturbing, of those cases, 21 involved teachers having sex with their students.

The Debelle report showed that the 75 cases occurred between 2009 and 2012. The Debelle report also examined the age of the victims in each of the 75 cases. For some unexplained reason, the department did not know the ages of the victims in seven of those cases. Of the remaining 68 matters, 38 involved students aged 14 and over, and 30 involved students under 14. It is time the Labor government had a serious look at child protection issues and provided confidence back to parents and children in the public system.

Let me now turn to the multicultural affairs portfolio. As the shadow parliamentary secretary for multicultural affairs, I have been contacted by community leaders about the uncertainties facing Multicultural SA. On 8 May 2013, on 891 ABC radio, it was reported that the staff of Multicultural SA had been told that half of their jobs would go, and they are going to be merged into the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

I received a number of concerned emails that day from community leaders expressing their disappointment that it appeared that Multicultural SA was being shut down. Some of the leaders called the minister's office for clarification but were not able to get a response. They also called Sophia Poppe, who was then the director of Multicultural SA, who was apparently at a conference in Melbourne. She later advised that she had been relocated to the newly-established South Australian NDIS office.

Once again, the Labor government has taken the DAD policy—decide, announce and defend. The government did not consult with the culturally and linguistically diverse communities before announcing that Multicultural SA would join the Policy and Community Development Division of the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion. The government also did not consult with the multicultural communities when it transferred Multicultural SA's Interpreting and Translating Centre to join the Youth Justice, Community Engagement and Organisational Support Division. Transferring the functions of Multicultural SA to other departments and divisions is really taking the multicultural communities for granted; it is taking away the identity of Multicultural SA from the culturally and linguistically diverse sector.

As the Liberal Leader of the Opposition outlined in his speech in the other place, the Liberal Party does not accept that we should have the highest business taxes in the country; it does not accept that we take education and multicultural affairs for granted; it does not accept that we should have the highest utility prices in the country and that we have the worst WorkCover scheme in this country. We want to get off the back of the productive component of our economy and grow South Australia.

The Liberal Party has a plan to get this state back on track. Our approach revolves around three core strategies: to return our budget to surplus, to grow our economy and to make this a more attractive place for the next generation to live. With those remarks, I support the Appropriation Bill.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. R.P. Wortley.

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