12 November, 2025
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (22:11): I was hoping the Hon. Mr Hood would speak in favour, given his support for other crossbench motions. I might break the curse of the Hon. Michelle Lensink damning my bills to failure. At least the Liberal Party has been consistent in its opposition to this bill; the same cannot be said for the Labor government.
This bill has had several lives: it was introduced first by my colleague the Hon. Mark Parnell in 2018. It was reintroduced by myself in the old parliament. I took carriage of the bill and I did bring it to a vote in the previous parliament in the final days of the Marshall government. It is my recollection that the then Labor opposition supported the bill and indicated that it was something they were very interested in moving on, were they to return to government.
Of course it does not, as the Hon. Russell Wortley implied, ban gas connections—that is not what the bill does. The bill gives the purchaser of a property choice around whether or not they be connected to gas. That was a proposition that the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis in the other place was very attracted to, and a number of members in this chamber were attracted to at the time. They said, 'Oh, yes, we'll support it. When we're in government we'll have a look at it.'
I have waited for four years for the Labor Party to take this up. Having had their road to Damascus moment in 2021, it was my hope, once they found themselves in government, that this bill would find its way through to the top of the list. I believe the Hon. Tammy Franks even suggested a parliamentary inquiry as a mechanism to try to give the government an opportunity to look at the bill.
Well, here we are, in the dying days of this term and no action has been taken, so I have no choice but to bring the bill to a vote, and I suspect it will die tonight. Once again, the Labor Party has backflipped on this issue. It is a key issue in the Adelaide Hills, a key issue in that community. A lot of people there are concerned about being forced into taking on gas connections against their will. I will be sure to remind them of the Labor Party's about face when I am out doorknocking in the area.