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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-16 Daily Xml
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SUPPLY BILL 2013

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 2 May 2013.)

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:20): I rise to make some opening comments in relation to the Supply Bill 2013. As members would know, the Supply Bill allows the government to pay its bills and operate until the Appropriation Bill is passed with the budget. It is three weeks today, I think, when we will see the budget, and I am sure that will be a very black day for South Australia, but we will leave comments about the budget until it is presented.

As I have said, this bill is about supply. It is about providing the financial resources for the government to keep paying the bills—and let's hope that it does pay its bills to small business on time; this government has a track record of using small business as a bank and not paying their bills on time—and also paying the wages of public servants. On this side of the chamber, we are going to vote for this bill, but that does not mean that we necessarily support it any more than we support the government, whose bill this is.

Most South Australians have lost confidence in the state Labor government not, as some might believe, because of party politics; it is because, whether you support Liberal or Labor, you have to look at the economy through unbiased eyes. The picture is plain: South Australians pay more in taxes than anyone else in the country. In other words, if you moved interstate anywhere, to any state, you would pay less. We have not only the highest taxing state government but also the worst state services, and the state debt continues to grow.

The governing party is doing just what it did last year and the year before, that is, racking up ever-increasing bills while raking in ever more in taxes. Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor. Robbing Jay steals from the rich and the poor, and who does he give the money to? The banks, the richest of the richest, in interest payments.

South Australia's budget deficit is bigger than New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia combined. This government always talks about that it is all about a writedown in revenue—and we have seen its federal mates say the same in recent times—but, sadly, it is not about revenue; it is about not being able to contain their costs.

We have a massive state debt, and it will be some $14 billion at the time of the next election. When you add up the amount of interest we will be paying, it is $91,000 in interest every hour. The Speaker is up in the top gallery; it is very nice to see him paying some attention to the goings-on in the Legislative Council. Obviously, he is a little—

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): It is out of order to refer to anybody in the gallery, the honourable leader.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I couldn't resist, seeing his big smiley face coming through the door. I am sorry, Mr Acting President; I will take your advice.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): I think you should return to the Supply Bill.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: A debt of $14 billion, and that debt has been growing at $4 million a day. To try to put it in some context so that people can understand, I have measured a $1 coin, and it is 25 millimetres in diameter. If you laid four million of those side by side and made a line out of them, as often we do see on polling day, where there will be a gold coin donation for a charity or World Vision or something, that line would grow all the way from here to Murray Bridge every day; it would grow from here to Melbourne every week; and $14 billion would go 8½ times around the world. So, this government's problems are not about a drop in revenue; they are all about costs.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): The Hon. Mr Maher will get an opportunity to contribute to the debate.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: As I said, this government will be paying $91,000 interest every hour. Instead of providing services to South Australians and looking after our state, we will be paying more to the banks in interest every hour than a typical South Australian family earns every year. How is a typical South Australian family getting on these days? We pay the nation's highest taxes and some of the highest costs.

I want to touch on two areas of two ministers in this chamber, firstly, the Minister for Forests. I am just trying to explain to the chamber why they do not understand about costs and expenses. The minister recently announced the Forestry Advisory Council in the South-East. We had some questions about it last week and she very kindly provided us with the figure the chairman of the board is paid: some $250-odd for four hours, but a $50,000 retention and attraction allowance. We already have a board of ForestrySA that I know is paid quite well, yet this government has decided to establish another board. Surely it would make sense, if they were prudent managers of the state's resources, to tweak the personnel on the board of ForestrySA to be able to provide the sort of expertise, if that is what is required.

I am not convinced that the Forestry Advisory Council has any greater expertise than the board of ForestrySA, but that is the sort of mentality we see in this government. It thinks it is sensible to go and spend another few hundred thousand dollars to resource a board—some of those people live interstate; all of their travel and accommodation costs will be paid by this government—when we already have a ForestrySA board. I think it is a glaring example of how the government has simply lost the plot, thinking it is easier to spend more money rather than actually spend the money efficiently and sensibly and get true value for every South Australian taxpayer's dollar.

The other issue I want to touch on—and the Minister for Water has sadly left the chamber—is the desalination plant. We have one that is double the size we need, which has been closed down at the moment so we do not need it at all. Members would know that it was the Liberal opposition that very early in the period—we started in about 2006—realised we needed a desalination plant. It was the Liberal opposition that said—with our very limited resources of staff; I think we are outnumbered 30 to one when it comes to ministerial advisers and ministerial staff—we needed a 45 to 50 gigalitre plant. All our research and evidence showed that for a city of about a million people, that would give us the sort of water security we needed and that was all that was needed.

The government said, 'No, we don't need it'; in fact, it even said it was too big. One of the comments from minister Hill, when he was minister for the environment, was that it was too big and we did not need a desalination plant. The government appointed a taskforce to look at it and decide on a location. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know there are probably two locations: one is at Outer Harbor, perhaps near the Pelican Point Power Station because it is near an energy supply, and the other one, which is clearly where the opposition thought was the sensible place to put it, was at the old Mobil oil refinery at Port Stanvac. But, no, the government complained, said we did not know what we were talking about, said it was too big, appointed a taskforce and, two years later, announced it would be building a 50 gigalitre plant—the same as we had suggested to build—at Port Stanvac.

Then, of course, there was this bizarre decision to double it, and we have seen recently that there is no justification for the doubling of it; in fact, the commonwealth Auditor-General questioned all of the procedures around the decision to double the size of the desalination plant at massive cost to SA Water and the taxpayers. Of course, now our water prices are the most expensive in the nation.

In question time today I asked the minister a question regarding the supply of renewable energy to the desalination plant, because back then Premier Rann and then minister Weatherill and all of the cabinet thought they were just so clever that they had signed up to a power supply agreement that meant the desalination plant would be run on renewable energy.

Of course, we know that there are a whole range of contracts at the desalination plant that will be mothballed but there is a contract to supply electricity. I was very disappointed today when I asked the minister about that contract because in most of these cases there is an ongoing annual fee in these contracts. It depends on the amount of usage. If the thing is running at full capacity, obviously it will use a lot of electricity but, if it is not running at all, it will not use any, but there will be an annual fee to be paid.

The minister said he was unable to tell us today and that he would get an answer. Then the next answer he gave was that he had been fully briefed on all the costs of running the desalination plant. When I asked why he was unable to provide an answer, he was then smug and arrogant and said, 'I told you I would bring back a reply.' I am going to ask now in this supply speech that the minister bring back an answer on the annual cost of electricity supply to the desalination plant when the minister sums up the Supply Bill and all the comments.

Minister Hunter has already said today that he will bring me back an answer. The easiest thing to do now will be to bring it back when we sum up the Supply Bill before we pass it. It makes sense. He did not say he did not have an answer; he said he would bring back an answer, so it is clearly the sensible thing to do to bring it back in a timely fashion. I put that to the minister as a formal question during the Supply Bill: can you please bring back an answer to that question?

We have also in this country some of the worst business confidence and I think that as a state we have lost our way. Retail figures are slow, our export growth is slow, our economic performance is some of the worst in the nation, and I think what is missing here is a revitalised government, one that can actually show leadership and lead the state to better times. South Australia deserves better than the Labor government we have now. We deserve results. As a matter of fact, we deserve a Liberal government.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:32): I rise to speak in support of the Supply Bill 2013. I take this opportunity to remind members of what the Weatherill government has been doing—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: Jay Weatherill government.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: —in a number of—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: Jay Weatherill Labor government.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): Order! The Hon. Mr Kandelaars has the call.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: Thank you, Mr Acting President. I remind members of what the Weatherill government has been doing in a number of key areas in health that are dependent in terms of this bill. Health is an important focus of the Weatherill government. When we think of health, we instantly think about our hospitals and those doctors and nurses who provide front line services to the sick and injured in our state, but to have a good health system we must also have a focus on preventative health initiatives that remove pressure on our public hospitals.

I will take some time to talk about the excellent health programs being delivered by SA Health that focus on our community's long-term health needs. Whilst there are many varied important initiatives being run across different areas in health, I would like to draw the council's attention to what is being done to address obesity, falls prevention, mental illness and emergency department waiting times.

On the issue of obesity, we all know that obesity is increasingly becoming problematic. It is for this reason that the state government released the Eat Well Be Active strategy in 2011 which looks at ways we can encourage people in our community to live healthier lives. Individuals can change what they eat or how much physical activity they do but it is easier to change behaviour and adopt healthy living habits when people around us value and support good health. The more supportive the physical and social environment, the easier it is to be healthy.

Our government's initiatives aimed at addressing the obesity epidemic include Community Foodies, a statewide program aimed at people in disadvantaged areas which uses volunteers to run community based events such as shopping and cooking skills and creating vegetable gardens. Following the McCann review, this program will run by a non-government organisation but it will continue to be funded by government. The Get Healthy telephone information and counselling service is a new service that will provide one-on-one counselling to adults wanting to change their behaviours to improve their general health, lose weight and reduce the risk of or manage chronic disease.

The government is currently negotiating with NSW Health to purchase this service and therefore align with the ACT, Tasmania and Queensland. This service will operate between the hours of 8am and 8pm for the cost of a local call anywhere in the state. SA Health also runs campaigns such as the Be Active 'Walk Yourself Happy', which promotes greater physical activity in people's daily lives, and the Swapper campaign, which encourages people to make small changes in their lives to improve their overall health and wellbeing.

On the issue of falls prevention, falls and falls-related injuries are a serious health issue and a leading cause of injury hospitalisation for older people. Members of this council will be aware of our new approach to aged care, which has an emphasis on allowing elderly people with low care requirements to stay in their homes rather than move into residential nursing home care, but one of the concerns that results from allowing greater independence of our elderly loved ones is that they are prone to falls and accidents in the home.

In 2012, it was estimated that 9,000 senior South Australians were admitted to our public hospitals due to falls and a further 9,000 presented and were treated in the emergency departments before being discharged home. To help address this issue, SA Health last month participated in April Falls Awareness Month. April Falls Awareness Month is part of a national and international campaign that educates and raises awareness of falls prevention to help those at risk of falling in their homes to stay on their feet.

This campaign incorporates key messages from the SA Health Falls Prevention Program, which aims to reduce the frequency and severity of falls-related injuries amongst our elderly people. As part of falls awareness month, SA Health announced a new program which will screen elderly patients who present at emergency departments to determine the likelihood of falling again. I understand that people are likely to re-injure themselves through falls in the weeks following the initial injury, so this service will help by referring those who are deemed to be at risk of re-injury to falls prevention services in their local community.

The services can not only provide advice on ways to remove obstacles and potential hazards in the home but also help participants to improve their physical strength and balance so that they can avoid falls and severe injuries in the future. This program was trialled at the Flinders Medical Centre, where the number of repeat falls was reduced by 78 per cent. The program is now underway at Noarlunga Hospital and will soon commence at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, before being rolled out to other South Australian public hospitals.

On the issue of mental illness, a staggering one in five South Australians suffer anxiety or depression, and as a community we need to do more to support people we know who have mental illness. Often one of the greatest hurdles for people facing mental illness is the stigma surrounding it. Whilst attitudes are slowly changing for people suffering from mental illness, the lack of understanding about their condition often makes them feel isolated. The stereotypes and stigma about mental illness often create extra burdens for people who are trying to recover. The more hidden mental illness remains, the more people continue to believe that it is shameful and needs to be concealed.

SA Health's Rethink Mental Illness is a great initiative, which not only runs on an advertising campaign that role-plays real life scenarios but also has a website containing information and advice for people who have families, friends and work colleagues who suffer from mental illness. All people in our health system deserve the same support and respect, whether they are in our system for physical or mental illness. This campaign has been effective in helping South Australians think about how their attitudes affect others, and how positive change can improve other people's lives.

On the issue of our emergency departments: as winter approaches we have already started to see an increase in the number of friends, family and work colleagues struck down by a cold or flu. During the colder months our public hospitals see an increase in patient numbers as more people turn to emergency treatment for their minor ailments. This puts increased pressure on doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who find themselves under increasing pressure to see patients who are not suffering from a medical emergency.

SA Health's Emergency Departments are for Emergencies campaign is straightforward and effective in its message, urging people with common cold and flu symptoms to attend their GP rather than presenting to the closest emergency department. SA Health also provides support and promotes Healthdirect Australia, a 24-hour telephone health advice line staffed by nurses to provide expert health advice and information, and now also includes an after-hours GP helpline that can provide medical advice when GP services generally are not available, such as at nights, weekends and public holidays. These services provide support and advice to people who are unsure whether their illness or symptoms warrant a visit to an emergency department.

The state government has invested $111 million over four years into our public health emergency departments to ensure that all people who are critically ill or injured can receive the very best care. This has been a sound investment, with the most recent report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare ranking South Australia's public hospital emergency departments No. 1, with the shortest median waiting time of 15 minutes, that is, 75 per cent of patients seen within the recommended triage time, and 90 per cent of patients being seen within 90 minutes, almost half a hour less than the national average. Through the hard work of medical staff, as well as campaigns such as Emergency Departments are for Emergencies, and the promotion of Healthdirect Australia, this removes the added pressure on non-emergency illnesses from our public hospital emergency departments.

In conclusion, public health is an important priority of the Weatherill government, and the initiatives about which I have spoken in some ways help to provide greater levels of hospital and non-hospital-based health care. We cannot rely on a cure-based public hospital health system, but we must also find ways to prevent people from falling ill and needing to attend hospital to start with.

The initiatives I have spoken about today, that is tackling obesity, dealing with elderly falls and mental illness and reducing the number of non-critical patients going to our emergency departments, all pave the way for a healthier community and an efficient health system. There are obviously many other great initiatives that help create better community health, such as the Quit Smoking campaigns and resources, responsible drinking campaigns, immunisation programs, and the list goes on. They all serve as important reminders to us of the importance of looking after our health and wellbeing.

We have a strong public health system here in South Australia and I would like to finish by commending all of our doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who dedicate their lives to the health and wellbeing of our community. I commend this bill to the council. It will ensure the ongoing operation of government whilst the Appropriation Bill 2013-14 is dealt with by this parliament.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. K.J. Maher.

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