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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-04-03 Daily Xml
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Country Cabinet

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (16:13): I move:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges that community cabinet meetings were first introduced in South Australia by the Rann Labor government in 2002, with such meetings including both metropolitan and regional locations;

2. Acknowledges that country cabinet meetings were established by the Weatherill Labor government five years ago;

3. Recognises that country cabinet visits were linked to the Fund My Idea initiative, which involved local people in local decision-making about grants; and

4. Calls on the Liberal government to show respect for regional South Australia by reinstating country cabinet meetings.

The Marshall Liberal government and, in particular, the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development often ends his speeches in parliament by saying 'regions matter', reminiscent of #RegionsMatter. This has been happening for a year now, but hashtags do not help people. Hashtags do not listen to people and hashtags do not visit the state's regions in a way that is open to all residents. Instead of spruiking his empty hashtag catchphrase, the minister should spend more time encouraging his leader, the Premier, to follow Labor's lead and hold regular country cabinet meetings.

Refusing to hold cabinet meetings in the regions is a slap in the face to people in the regions who voted for a Liberal government and expected to see that Liberal government in their regional town or city. They expected to be able to speak to cabinet ministers who visited them, not to have to travel hundreds of kilometres, hoping they are seeing the right minister for their issue.

The Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, who is also the local MP in a regional area, will tell you time and time again that his government's ministers do visit the regions. Local people in my home area, Mount Gambier, are complaining they have barely seen the Premier in the area at all since the election.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Indeed. As the Hon. Mr Hanson mentions, it is outrageous. And as the Hon. Ms Bourke says, North Terrace and South Terrace is the government's view of where people should visit.

These things do not go unnoticed in the regions. There is a growing resentment against the Marshall Liberal government for their lack of interest in the regions now they are in government. Absolutely no money was allocated in the 2018 slash-and-burn budget for country cabinet meetings. Clearly, what that means is the Marshall government does not care about the regions and what people living in those regions have to say.

If they held country cabinet meetings around the state, they would get a much better understanding of issues facing regional residents. If they held country cabinet meetings, the Marshall Liberal government would understand that residents in Kalangadoo are crying out for support after the state government slashed the female facilities program, which has put their planned $300,000 facility upgrade in jeopardy.

If they held community cabinet meetings, the Marshall Liberal government would learn about the Nangwarry Football Club, which tragically suffered a fire late last year. The opposition leader and I visited this club last month and were told about just how much this club pulls the local town together and the need to keep the club operating. Sports minister, Corey Wingard, has been urged to come down and meet the club but has not done so.

If they held country cabinet meetings, the Marshall Liberal government would understand how important it is for the town of Kalangadoo that their police station stays open. Instead, Kalangadoo now relies on police patrols from other towns. This is despite the Liberals' promise prior to the election and despite the current police minister finding extra resources for police stations in Adelaide.

If they held country cabinet meetings, the Marshall Liberal government would understand how angry the South-East was when the health minister cut the community paramedic program, despite pleas from local health professionals and residents and despite the results showing how useful that program had been. It was only reinstated after a strong local campaign with the local GP and community members.

There is a constant pattern emerging from the Marshall Liberal government of cutting services, making bad choices for regional residents and then making their backbenchers bear the brunt of residents' anger. I am sure the member for MacKillop in the other place in particular is quickly becoming frustrated with his Liberal Party colleagues' attitudes, where ministers do not want to take the time to get in their car or catch a flight to listen, as an entire team, to the needs and concerns of people in every corner of South Australia. Instead, they fly in for the day, shake a few hands, have a few photos and then hop on a plane and are back in Adelaide for dinner. In the case of the member for Unley, they do not even bother to respond to contacts from local media when they are visiting the regions.

The Hon. J.E. Hanson: Bingo!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: 'Minister Pisoni bingo' is what I think I heard from the Hon. Mr Hanson. That is how much this Marshall Liberal government cares about the regions. Regional communities have been dudded by this government's broken promises, undelivered policies and a lack of funding, including cutting funds to Primary Industries and Regions South Australia SA (PIRSA) and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).

This government broke its promise to increase rural road speeds to 110 kilometres per hour, despite campaigning heavily on this in the lead-up to the election—this is a backflip that will not be forgotten by the community or by regional media. It cut $26 million from regional road funding; it has given no direct financial support to producers affected by the drought; it has cut the female change rooms funding; ignored the state's 277,000 recreational fishers in its first budget; and closed TAFE facilities in Roxby Downs and Coober Pedy.

As we have heard today from the Hon. Ms Bourke, it is threatening to privatise SA Pathology, undermining the important work this service provides in regional communities, and, of course, it has scrapped country cabinet meetings. The Marshall government is proving over and over again that regional communities are not a priority, they are just a hashtag for opportunistic campaigning.

The year 2019 is the five-year anniversary of when country cabinet meetings first began under the Labor government. Over four of those years, premier Weatherill and his entire team listened to the concerns of 6,200 people who attended country cabinets in regional South Australia. Country cabinet meetings were held in every region in South Australia. The public forums were very popular and gave all members of the community the opportunity to directly question ministers in a very open way.

Also throughout that time, more than 22,000 votes were cast in the Fund My Idea initiative. The Liberal government, which continuously claims that #RegionsMatter, scrapped this very worthwhile initiative. Up to $50,000 was allocated by Labor through Fund My Idea at each country cabinet for projects assisting the region to meet its economic and social needs. Project proposals were received from communities and voted on by those communities. Anyone from the country cabinet region could submit an idea if the project and applicant met the eligibility criteria. The idea behind the initiative was to fund local projects that would help local communities thrive, projects that would deliver ongoing economic development or that would support communities address a key social issue.

Examples of some of the projects that were funded under Labor include Gener8 Theatre, which received $30,000 to finalise a program working with young people and community groups to use theatre as a way of raising awareness of the harm caused by the drug ice. A total of $20,000 went to the Firefighters Memorial Wall, which was established in Naracoorte, paying tribute to those volunteer firefighters who lost their lives while fighting bushfires around South Australia.

There was $26,000 for the Far West Mojo project, which was to share a local voice in West Coast Aboriginal communities, providing digital journalism skills that can lead to commissioned works and recognition by mainstream media, the Red Cross leading the project and joining forces with Youth Hub.

Funding of $30,000 was provided to the Loxton Stadium redevelopment to assist in stage 1 of the redevelopment, replacing the ageing infrastructure of the existing indoor and outdoor courts, the work contributing to a broader plan of redeveloping the entire sporting complex over several development stages to create a premier sports and recreation hub in Loxton.

A grant of $18,350 was provided to the Fox Creek Mountain Bike Park Trail Extension. The Human Projectiles Mountain Bike Club will extend the popular Fox Creek mountain bike trail. The grant allows trails to be built for intermediate riders, with a focus on cyclists aged 12 to 18—particularly important to keep the youth in our regional areas active and involved—as well as developing family-oriented park facilities, including playground equipment.

The decision to scrap Fund My Idea and country cabinets should not come as a surprise. In the last state budget, the Marshall government ripped more than $36 million from Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, the key government agency that has a focus on the regions and regional development. I can guarantee that the South Australian farmers and pastoralists who live in drought-affected areas would very much welcome a visit from the Liberal cabinet so they can show all ministers firsthand just how extreme their situation is.

The Marshall Liberal government should follow New South Wales' lead and provide immediate and tangible help to communities in drought-affected areas. Recently, we received a letter from a pastoralist 400 kilometres north of Port Augusta, Sharon Rankin. She and other pastoralists in a similar situation want to know why South Australia is so different from our neighbouring states in desperate need of drought relief. Why is there no freight, fodder or supplement subsidy for South Australia? Is there any help with agistment and is there anything for fuel, apart from the government rebate scheme?

It is time minister Whetstone and the entire cabinet visited South Australians in need and answered these questions face to face. I urge the Liberal government to show real respect for regional areas and visit them firsthand as a cabinet through a country cabinet process. Just a few weeks ago, we saw in New South Wales the result of the Liberal National Party ignoring, neglecting and taking for granted regional residents in New South Wales.

We saw double-digit swings in many Liberal-National seats, where the party put them in the 'held' bracket before the polling stations had even closed. Why did they experience such large double-digit swings? Because the Liberal-National parties stopped listening to regional residents, they stopped working for regional residents and that resulted in regional residents abandoning them in large numbers.

If the Marshall Liberal government continues to treat regional residents as they currently do, they may find a similar response from the voters it is taking for granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Rubbish!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: The Hon. Mr Dawkins says that the way the Marshall Liberal government is treating regional residents is rubbish, and I must agree.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Point of order: I did not say that, and you know it. Mr President, I ask the member to withdraw.

The PRESIDENT: I ask the member to withdraw.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Mr President, if I misunderstood his use of the word 'rubbish' when I said that the Marshall Liberal government continues to treat regional residents as they currently do, then I withdraw.

In contrast, Labor is taking its shadow cabinet to regional areas, and we will continue to do so. We call on the Marshall Liberal government to reinstate country cabinets and show regional people the respect they truly deserve.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. D.G.E. Hood.

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