Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-18 Daily Xml

Contents

Election Commitments

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about the government's pre-election promises.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: The government's pre-election promises exceeded $3 billion in costing, with multiple claims that it could be paid without increasing amounts paid by taxpayers. With the recent increase in interest rates and the extravagant commitments, can the leader please explain to the house how they will ensure that taxes will not increase in South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Attorney-General, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think I can say that there is going to be a big difference between this government and the last one. The last government just didn't keep their promises; they had a habit of breaking promise after promise after promise. Very early on you looked at the government and there was an absolute commitment for a right-hand turn from North Terrace for a tram—dropped like a hot potato, an absolute rolled gold broken promise. Then you looked at one of the absolute signature policies designed to try to hold seats in the Adelaide Hills. I think it was our former colleague the Hon. David Ridgway's GlobeLink project that sought to take transport around the back to the Murray Bridge area. They dropped GlobeLink like a hot potato, a rolled gold promise—

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Point of order, sir.

The PRESIDENT: I will listen to the point of order.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: The question was specifically about the Labor Party, who are now in government.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! There is no point of order. The minister is answering the question. I am sure he is going to bring it back to the substance of the question. You asked the question and it is his prerogative to answer it, with some relevance.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Thank you, sir. I am pleased that the honourable member allowed me the opportunity to talk about all the broken promises on her side over the last four years. In relation to the question she asked, she is exceptionally fortunate because it is only a couple of weeks and the budget will reveal all.