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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-08-28 Daily Xml
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Global Liveability Index

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:28): For the second year in a row, Adelaide has improved its position high up on the list of the world's most liveable cities. Two years ago, we were the 12th most liveable city in the world, this year we came in at 11. That is based on the Global Liveability Index, an assessment done by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranking 172 cities from around the world. We are ahead of many major destination cities, including London, Paris, New York and Tokyo, and a long way in front of all US cities. Adelaide is also ahead of Perth and Brisbane. We have been consistently in the top 20 cities—I cannot recall a time when we have not been—and have been as high as third on the list in the past. These ratings are based on five main factors: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

There was a time, before the Rann Labor government made sweeping changes, less than 20 years ago, when we would not have been rated very highly at all on the infrastructure measure. Until the Rann government helped Adelaide realise its potential and drag it—sometimes kicking and screaming—into to 21st century, we were a long way behind many other Australian cities.

The changes SA Labor gave the Adelaide CBD and skyline alone took it from a very pleasant but increasingly tired city to a dynamic place, one that not only attracts international visitors but one that makes people want to get out of their homes and spend a day or night out on the town. Improvements include the Torrens Riverbank Precinct and Convention Centre, the laneways, the opened up and revitalised restaurant streets, and the completely revamped and modernised Adelaide Oval, with a footbridge that links into the city centre. These are among the major infrastructure projects that have improved our lifestyle.

Adelaide Oval is a great case in point. Its history and recognition as the best cricket ground in the world was not compromised when it was being upgraded to a destination arena. Major road improvements, including a system that is about to link Gawler to the South Coast on one streamlined expressway, is world-class infrastructure at its best.

Getting around Adelaide is among the most efficient and least expensive tasks in the world. We have the O-Bahn busway from the north-eastern suburbs and the upgraded tram system from the south-west, which now extends past the city. Both programs were the work of Labor governments. That, of course, is just the infrastructure component.

As the capital of South Australia, Adelaide has world-class education and health care, as well as culture and heritage around every corner. This City of Churches is known around the world for its Colonial, Victorian and Federation architecture. We have a rich history but also a thriving modern culture as home to the Adelaide Festival, the Adelaide Fringe, WOMADelaide, the Cabaret Festival, the Tour Down Under, and a range of other artistic and sporting events.

SA Labor cannot take credit for all these events, but we can put up our hands for cultivating and supporting them. Our thriving theatre, arts and sporting landscapes have been given great support and been taken to new levels by Labor, and I am pleased to report that this is continuing under a Malinauskas government. Sometimes it is almost too easy, as a Labor representative, to talk about improvements that have made Adelaide the city it has become. Labor has been at the forefront of most things that make us the 11th most liveable city in the world. Let us hope that by next year we will be back in the top 10.

We can be proud of our very high rating on the world stage. Even those who did not vote for us, and who did not want the footbridge or the Riverbank Precinct or the O-Bahn—the list goes on—now recognise these improvements. While there will always be the argument from the other side about what progress costs, everyone now recognises that these initiatives have been more than worthwhile. They have helped make Adelaide the city it is today, one of the most liveable cities in the world.

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