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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-27 Daily Xml
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Kangaroo Island Country Cabinet

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:49): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about the recent and very successful visit to Kangaroo Island for the government's latest country cabinet?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for his question and his very close connection with Kangaroo Island, as other members of this chamber also have. I am very pleased to share with the chamber and with you, sir, the country cabinet that occurred last week. I am very happy to share with the members opposite because it's something that any of those who have served as ministers would be entirely unfamiliar with, having scrapped country cabinets in their term of government. We jumped on the ferry at Cape Jervis, with many of my cabinet colleagues, and headed across to Kangaroo Island—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —for this government's fourth country cabinet, which would therefore be four more than the last government engaged in in their four years in government.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: It was remarkable but entirely unsurprising to see how the local community of Kangaroo Island responded so positively to a government that took the interest in visiting them to hear directly, as a cabinet, their concerns, as we found—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —at our recent country cabinet on the Yorke Peninsula. It was, again, remarkable but entirely unsurprising that people in that area responded positively, after a Liberal government for four years didn't even care enough to visit them as a cabinet. It's little wonder sometimes—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —as I have said, that people had that feeling, given it was four long years of a Liberal government where that was scrapped and sent a very, very strong message to people in country South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —about how they are cared about. I hope I may have a chance to talk about some of the—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —things in more detail that we saw on Kangaroo Island, but I will just share some of the highlights from that country cabinet now. It was pleasing to have an opportunity to meet with members of Regional Development Australia and the Kangaroo Island Business and Brand Alliance with my colleague Minister Andrea Michaels (the member for Enfield) to discuss the promotion of local businesses and engagement in things like SafeWork SA's wellbeing programs.

I was also very fortunate to see the excellent work of the company Kangaroo Island Ocean Safari, an Aboriginal-owned and operated business that's based in Penneshaw, offering a choice of different tours that showcase the natural beauty of the island. It was also a pleasure to catch up quickly with the president of the Dudley United Football Club in Penneshaw to learn a bit more about the highly successful Aboriginal programs that the football club run to include Aboriginal players from remote areas around Australia.

Despite the very cold conditions and rain, the community barbecue and forum on Thursday night were a huge success, with a large turnout at the Kingscote school Performing Arts Centre, demonstrating that the local Kangaroo Island community really do appreciate it when a government gives that little bit of respect and turns up and makes an effort to hear directly from them their views.

Some of the views that were put and responses to questions talked about just how forgotten Kangaroo Island had been by the previous government—not just forgotten but completely ignored and completely taken for granted. One thing that came up was a decision, I think it was in the very first budget of the former Liberal government, to get rid of the 50 per cent reduction in registration for vehicles from Kangaroo Island.

What the former government did, how they thought they would show their appreciation to the residents of Kangaroo Island: not turn up as a cabinet to listen to them but double the cost of their registration of vehicles. This had a huge impact; for example, one freight company on Kangaroo Island found their registration increasing by $70,000 a year. What that meant was those costs were passed on to local residents of Kangaroo Island. So not only did the former government have the lack of respect to even show up as a cabinet but they doubled the registration for vehicles on Kangaroo Island. I hope to revisit later in the week or the next sitting day—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I'm watching the clock. Everybody, stay calm.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —some of the comments the member for Mawson, the local state MP for Kangaroo Island, has made over his time about the views that he saw from members of the former government, who would land in a plane, get out and take photos for two hours during the bushfire crisis. I'm going to be very happy over the next few days to relay some of those, but that's for another time. Many were concerned at people landing on the island, getting out for photos and then returning. That was the level of respect the people on Kangaroo Island were shown before—

The PRESIDENT: Your time is about up.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —and I'm very proud to be part of a team that shows much greater respect and hears directly from the community.

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