5 June 2025
The Greens say that Labor has delivered a State Budget for police, prisons, and pokies while failing to tackle the major issues facing South Australia.
Key features of the budget include:
- Public transport fares set to increase by 20 cents for all passengers except school kids
- Additional $5 million in revenue this year from pokies – soaring to $460 million a year.
- Over $200 million being spent on prisons and police
- No action on ambulance call out fees for pensioners
- No subsidies for solar or home batteries
Quotes attributable to Robert Simms MLC
“This is a budget for police, prisons and pokies that fails to tackle the housing, climate and cost of living crises. This budget reveals Labor’s warped priorities for our state.
25 cent public transport fares for schoolkids is a step in the right direction — but they should have listened to the Greens and gone much further with 50 cent fares for all. Instead fares for everyone else are going to increase. In fact, most South Australians will see their fares go up by 20 cents.
State Labor is still failing to tackle the housing crisis. There appears to be a slight of hand from the Government on housing. Increased investment from the Commonwealth is not being matched by the state.
Labor continues to subsidise the polluting fossil fuel industry while failing to put anything new on the table to reduce household power bills and encourage South Australians to make green energy choices. The Government should have revived the solar and battery storage incentive schemes they axed in their first budget and tailored them to renters and those on low incomes.
Labor is continuing its love affair with Pokies. The budget includes a spike in pokies revenue. This is money made off the backs of vulnerable South Australians. Labor needs to back the Greens’ plan for a phase these out by 2030.”
Quotes attributable to Melanie Selwood, SA Greens Lead Candidate for the Legislative Council:
“Our environment is in crisis, and we need to invest accordingly. The Department for Environment and Water will not be fully funded to care for our precious places. The State Government has decided that it doesn’t see protecting our environment as a priority.
Instead of pumping millions of dollars into a doomed AUKUS plan, the Government should be reinvesting in future-focused green projects - such as grid-scale battery storage, home battery schemes and ending all subsidies to fossil fuels.”