5 February 2025
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:13): I thank all members for their contribution: the Hon. Mr Martin, the Hon. Jing Lee and the Hon. Ben Hood. In addition, I thank the Hon. Mira El Dannawi for her contribution to the committee. As other members have observed, I think this committee was an example of actually what this chamber does well, and that is all of us of different political perspectives coming together to confront a challenging problem.
Of course, there is no greater problem facing the people of our state at the moment than the cost-of-living crisis. It is front and centre for so many South Australians, and so many people in our community are doing it tough at the moment, in particular when it comes to being able to put food on the table for their families, so grocery prices are a really important issue for us to confront as a parliament. We know of course that it requires leadership from politicians in Canberra. That was one of the things that was identified in the report. But there are also some things that can be done here locally within our jurisdiction, and the recommendations of the report speak to that.
I want to thank all of the members who engaged with the committee for the collaborative and collegial way in which they engaged. In particular, I want to thank the Hon. Ben Hood for his work in assisting us in Mount Gambier and finding people for the committee to meet with. That was very helpful, and I do appreciate that. I look forward to being able to engage with the government around the recommendations in coming months, but also there are things that the opposition and indeed all members of the parliament may wish to take up as we head towards the next state election. I look forward to engaging with members around the recommendations.