The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (11:27): I welcome the opportunity to speak on the government's Supply Bill. As is, of course, the convention in this place, I will be supporting it. I think it is fair to say the Supply Bill reflects the priorities of this Labor government, and the priorities I think are lacking; the vision is lacking when it comes to providing sufficient focus on cost of living.
One of the areas that I have spoken about extensively in the parliament over the last four years that I have been here is the failure to take sufficient action on spiralling rent prices. Yesterday, I spoke about the need for Labor to finally support a rent freeze to provide some relief to renters who are doing it tough at the moment and yet we still see no leadership from the Labor government when it comes to rent prices.
Another area that I think has been neglected by Labor is public transport. We are not seeing that get the focus it requires. Where is the funding for regional rail? Rather than pumping billions and billions of dollars into the north-south corridor project, federal and state money, where is the money being put in to transform our transport system in South Australia to provide more options to commuters so that they are not forced to take a car in to work? Where is the investment in regional public transport? Where is the focus on reducing public transport fares?
While other states, like Queensland for instance, have rolled out 50¢ public transport fares, which have resulted in a significant increase in public transport users, SA Labor have hiked up public transport fares, and South Australians are now paying the highest public transport fees in the nation. Labor should instead be committing to rolling out 50¢ public transport fees. That would save South Australian commuters, on average, close to $3,000 a year for families. That is a significant saving. That is more money in the hip pocket of families, it reduces congestion on our roads and, importantly, it reduces carbon emissions at this time of climate crisis. I urge the Labor government to finally take some action on that.
Where is the action on power prices? The Labor Party took to the last election a plan for green hydrogen. We know that the devil is always in the detail with these plans, and what they put to this parliament was actually a pathway for more dirty gas and blue hydrogen. When the Greens tried to scrutinise it, that was shut down by the Labor government working in concert with a few members of the crossbench to prevent this proposal from getting the scrutiny it deserves. We know now, of course, that that plan has blown up in Labor's face, and they have totally abandoned it.
What comes next in terms of a proposal to reduce power bills? When the Labor government came to office, they scrapped the subsidy scheme for home batteries and for solar. Those schemes had actually been multiparty schemes in South Australia. They were supported by the previous Marshall government as well and I recognise that, yet when Tom Koutsantonis—
The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Tom Koutsantonis.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: —the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis, Minister for Energy, returned to the government benches, he took swift action to junk those subsidies. He claimed at the time that it was some form of middle-class welfare. What has the Labor government come up with to replace those schemes? Where is the investment in alternatives to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels? What Labor should be doing is rolling out a battery incentive scheme to plug the gaps of the federal investment—which, of course, I welcome—and continue to offer solar subsidies, but particularly targeted at low income earners who are doing it tough and who are struggling with soaring electricity bills.
Where is the action in our health system? I recognise that the Labor government has invested a significant amount of money in health over this term, and I know that Minister Picton is committed to trying to get the health crisis under control, and I understand that this is a challenging area. But at the same time, ramping continues to skyrocket out of control, and the recommendations of the Ambulance Employees Association have still not been implemented in full.
We also have South Australian pensioners paying the highest fees for ambulance call-outs in the country. We know that every other state has provided free ambulance cover to pensioners; why won't the government do so? Also, where is the leadership on things like access to vital medications, things like the HIV prevention medication PrEP? We have a small population in South Australia; we could make that free so that we could finally eliminate HIV in our state and significantly reduce the risk of transmission.
Where also is the leadership from this Labor government on ending the harm caused by pokies? The Labor government continues to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars of pokies revenue. We know that poker machines literally trade off human misery. We also know that for every dollar of revenue that comes in, the state ends up paying an additional $1.20 in support services to deal with the social harms that flow from gambling. It is morally wrong that so much of our state budget is reliant on revenue from poker machines.
It is morally wrong. It is reprehensible. That is money that is being drawn from vulnerable South Australians. It is money that is being made off these machines that literally destroy lives. Over the years, I have met with many constituents who have lost everything as a result of these machines, yet the argument from the government seems to be that these machines bring in a lot of revenue, therefore we have to keep them. I find that morally wrong, and I think most South Australians would agree with the Greens that now is the time for us to get rid of pokies and to have a long-term plan to get our state off pokies.
The Hon. C. Bonaros: Just the Greens?
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I recognise other members have been talking about it, too, and they will have an opportunity to talk as well. Once again, in this Supply Bill, there is not the leadership that is needed to deal with this critical question. Where is the leadership from Labor on gambling revenue? The government will say it cannot take action on pokies, it cannot fund some of the things that I have talked about in my speech. Well, budgets are about choices. I know that the government is going to be handing down a budget later today, and that will reflect its choices, but this Supply Bill also reflects the priorities of the Labor government.
What is clear is that rather than providing the funding for the services that we need—in terms of ensuring that an ambulance is there when you need it and you are not going to have to pay through the teeth to get one, investing in the public housing that we need, breaking our state's reliance on gambling revenue—instead, what the Labor government is doing is shelling out millions and millions of dollars of subsidies to fossil fuels. Indeed, over the last four years, there have been $100 million worth of subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. That is money that should be invested in dealing with the effects of climate change, invested in dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, providing the services that we all need.
We have also seen this Labor government fail to take action in terms of getting corporations to pay their fair share of tax. When the Weatherill government was in office, they rolled out a plan for a big bank levy that would have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars a year. That was killed off here in the parliament as a result of a ridiculous scare campaign that was waged by vested interests, and some of the crossbenchers in this place at the time caved into that vested interests campaign. I thought that was very disappointing. I urge the Labor government to support a big bank levy so that we can get more revenue for the services that we need and to help the government in making the right choices.
We do not have to be reliant on gambling revenue, for instance, in order to bankroll public services. I find that suggestion morally reprehensible. I hope that, as we head towards the next election, we see some action from the Labor government on these important matters. Luckily, the Greens are here—the Green is here—to continue to push the government to take action on these issues. I will continue to do so between now and the next election and look forward to being joined by hopefully a few other members this time next year.