1 September, 2026
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (15:59): I also rise to speak in favour of the Appropriation Bill. As is the convention, of course the Greens will not frustrate the Appropriation Bill, but we do of course have some concerns with the budget and with some of the priorities that we think are not being given due attention by the new Labor government.
It is fair to say that this Labor government still has the wrong priorities for South Australia. It is telling that over the last few days we have seen the announcement of the course or track plans for MotoGP involving a $96 million investment—$96 million being put on the table—to demolish almost 400 trees. That is on top of the Mali chainsaw massacre we saw over in North Adelaide, that is on top of the almost 600 trees that were on the chopping block over in North Adelaide—nearly $100 million of taxpayer money being spent on this project. That is money being spent on the Premier's vanity project, while we have a record number of South Australians sleeping on the street and a health system that is buckling under pressure.
What does this say about the priorities of this Labor government? When I was growing up, my mum used to always say to me, 'Sure, Rob, you can have your dessert, but you've got to eat your mains first.' You have to get the basics right first before you start focusing on the beer and skittles, and that is where Labor has got it wrong. The Greens took to the election a very clear plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis through increased investment in housing. We were campaigning for a public builder to build 20,000 public homes so that we could slash the public housing waitlist. We have been campaigning for real action, real relief, for renters, who we know are doing it tough at the moment, and just this week I have introduced a private member's bill for a two-year rent freeze and to cap future increases in line with inflation.
We also campaigned for a portable bond scheme. In politics, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and we welcome the Labor Party copying that policy and announcing it as their own, despite opposing efforts in the last parliament by the Greens to legislate to implement such a scheme. We certainly stand willing to work with the Labor government to legislate for that during this term.
We are also campaigning for more of an investment in homelessness organisations. It is really concerning that organisations like the Hutt St Centre, which provide vital support to homeless communities here in South Australia, are still not getting the guaranteed funding that they need. The Aspire program, for instance, which has really positive outcomes in terms of connecting people who are experiencing homelessness with a range of supports, is still subject to short-term, uncertain funding agreements. Once again, Labor's budget fails to address that.
We were also campaigning for more support for organisations like Foodbank so that they can provide low-cost food to South Australians who are struggling—once again, no action from Labor. We continue to advocate for public ownership of electricity. We want to see a commission of inquiry to examine how we might take control of electricity here in South Australia. We know that it has been a disaster since the Liberals privatised it during the 1990s, and since then we have seen prices going up and up and up. We need to see public ownership of our electricity. Let us give the community back the power.
We also, during the election campaign, outlined a very clear plan to provide free ambulance cover for those on the aged pension and other concession holders. This waiver would have benefited 215,000 households in South Australia. It is pretty concerning that in South Australia, aside from their fear of being ramped, a lot of older South Australians are concerned about calling an ambulance because they could be stung with a huge call-out fee if they do not have insurance. Other states provide free ambulance cover for pensioners and concession holders, yet in South Australia we expect them to pay through the teeth if they find themselves in trouble.
Labor's budget is also far too reliant on pokies revenue. We know that over the last financial year for the first time in South Australia $1 billion was lost to the pokies. That is $1 billion that is ripped out of our economy and that is made off the back of South Australians who are struggling and doing it tough. Labor's budget is far too reliant on revenue from pokies and gambling.
We are also seeing, of course, more and more money being pumped into the fossil fuel industry, and the Greens have been campaigning to axe the subsidies that are provided to the fossil fuel industry and put that money into other projects that are in the public interest.
We have also been campaigning for free school breakfasts and lunches. I had the privilege of being on a parliamentary committee that examined this during the last term. It made some very sensible recommendations. The report was handed down and, as is unfortunately so often the case with this Labor government, was no doubt received by the minister, put in a filing cabinet somewhere and is now gathering dust.
We have heard crickets from Labor when it comes to free school breakfasts and lunches. This is despite the fact that we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and we have more and more South Australian families struggling to put food on the table than ever before. Free school breakfasts and lunches would provide real, tangible relief to families that are doing it tough. Once again, no action from Labor.
The Greens also campaigned during the last election around increasing the tree canopy and taking action to enhance our green spaces so that we can deal with the climate emergency. That is vitally important at a time when Labor is going to be taking the axe to even more trees as part of its Orwellian Parklands reinvention strategy. I mean, really, since when did reimagining the Parklands involve cutting down a record number of trees? 'Reinvigorating the Parklands' is apparently Labor speak for chopping down mature trees. It is an outrage, and that is why climate change initiatives are more important than ever.
During the election campaign we did not just identify things that we could spend money on. We also identified a range of revenue measures. We have been campaigning for a long time to bring back the big bank levy. This was an initiative of the Hon. Tom Koutstantonis MP when he was Treasurer in the Weatherill government, I believe. He proposed a big bank levy on the profits of the big banks. That was opposed in this chamber by the Xenophon team, I understand, for very self-interested reasons when there was a big campaign being run by the big banks.
The Greens have indicated on multiple occasions that we want to see this made a priority. It would generate a lot of revenue. We also want to increase the taxes that are being paid on betting operations. We want to raise the taxes being paid by those corporations that extract and make money off our natural resources. Let us raise the petroleum royalty rate to 25 per cent. And we should of course dump the Premier's vanity projects, the $50 million on the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment and the $100 million on MotoGP. This is money that could be spent on the other priorities for the people of South Australia.
It is telling that we seem to have such a threadbare agenda from this Labor government that we are spending so much time on the Appropriation Bill today. I do hope that we see a little bit more legislative action from the government in the days ahead.
The Greens will continue to outline plans to deal with the cost-of-living crisis that is engulfing our state and to deal with the climate crisis during this term. We stand willing to work with the government, and we hope that they come to the table with some initiatives that are going to offer the kind of tangible change that South Australians are looking for.