Festival state eyes climate summit amid debt concerns
A state budget investment will kickstart preparations for Australia to potentially host the world's biggest annual climate change conference.
South Australia's budget, to be handed down on Thursday by Treasurer Stephen Mullighan, will commit $8.3 million for Adelaide to get ready for the UN's COP31 summit.
The federal government has selected Adelaide as its preferred city to host the event, if Australia's bid for the conference is successful.
Analysis shows hosting the event would deliver a potential benefit to SA of $512 million.
The budget will fund significant planning for security, transport and infrastructure at COP31, which Premier Peter Malinauskas said would be bigger than the AFL's Gather Round, LIV Golf, the Adelaide Festival and Fringe combined.
"To deliver it will take a monumental logistical and planning effort … it is vital that we accelerate that effort and that is exactly what the state budget will do," he said.
The budget is the last before the state election in March 2026.
Sweeteners are unlikely with the government already locked into two big-ticket, long-term infrastructure projects: the $15.4 billion Torrens to Darlington tunnels project and the $3.2 billion new Women's and Children's Hospital.
Those projects are the main reason SA's debt is heading towards $46 billion in four years.
Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said the government must prioritise cost-of-living relief.
"The Labor government has so far failed to deliver where it's most needed, with South Australians paying record high power bills and struggling with a housing affordability crisis," he said.
"There are practical solutions that the Liberal Party have put forward, including stamp duty relief, reintroducing the home battery scheme and scrapping the GP payroll tax grab."
The government will be expected to respond to calls for increased support for farmers and rural areas, amid the state's worsening drought.
With dams running dry, no sub soil moisture, hay stocks at critical levels and farmers selling livestock, the agricultural sector will be hoping for an increase to the $73 million of support already announced.
The impact on the budget's bottom line of the joint state and federal $2.4 billion support package for the Whyalla steelworks, announced in March, will also be monitored.
The government has already announced $125 million over five years to remove a level crossing on a key northern suburbs thoroughfare, matching a federal funding commitment to the project.
A further $171 million will go towards the expansion of a non-government school loan scheme, to increase eligibility for preschool infrastructure projects before the introduction of preschool for three-year-olds from 2026.
The government will spend $13.9 million over five years to expand the Mental Health Co-Responder Program across Adelaide, in which mental health clinicians are paired with a police officer respond to mental health triple-zero callouts.
A security task force to combat antisocial and violent behaviour across the Adelaide Metro network will also be rolled out as part of a $9.6 million investment in transport safety.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Premier cans privatisations amid political turmoil
No state-owned businesses will be sold off, the Tasmanian premier has declared, following a week of political turmoil. Liberal leader Jeremy Rockliff has ruled out privatisations in an attempt to diffuse opposition attacks, with the possibility of selling some government entities among Labor's reasons for moving a vote of no confidence against the premier. Prominent economist Saul Eslake had been preparing a report on viable opportunities to sell government-owned businesses to support the state's troubled finances. Mr Rockliff has now put a stop to that work. "Labor has forced this early election on the deceitful campaign that our government intends to divest government-owned businesses – before Mr Eslake's work is even completed," he said on Saturday. But Labor shadow treasurer Josh Willie said privatising government assets was "in their DNA" regardless of the latest statements from the premier. "They didn't take it to the last election and they tried to sell Tasmanian assets," he told reporters in Hobart on Saturday. "So they will try to do it again, and the only way to stop them is to not vote for them." The political ructions look to set send Tasmanians back to the polls for the fourth time in seven years unless the Liberal party opts to remove Mr Rockliff and negotiate a new deal with crossbenchers. An election could be called on Tuesday. Senior Liberal figures including Senator Jonno Duniam are calling the prospect of a snap election "nuts". "I would have thought every effort should be put into not going to an election ... the people that lose out most in all this - forget the parliamentarians - it's the people of Tassie," he told ABC Radio. Analysts tip an unpredictable campaign given the nature of the political drama, with candidates from the federal election in May adding another dimension. Ex-federal Liberal MP Bridget Archer is viewed as a likely candidate in Bass should Mr Rockliff hang on. Anti-salmon independent Peter George, who ran Julie Collins close in the safe federal seat of Franklin, told AAP he was considering his options. Opposition leader Dean Winter moved the no-confidence motion due to the state budget, which included ballooning deficits and debt forecasts and the proposals to privatise state assets. However, it's the stadium that looms as the biggest issue. Veteran political campaigner Brad Stansfield, who has worked on the Liberals' last four election wins, said it would be issue No.1. "At the last election ... we mostly kept it hidden from the campaign," he said on his FontCast podcast. "This campaign is going to be the referendum on the AFL stadium that we haven't yet had. It is coming like a steam train." The roofed Macquarie Point stadium is a condition of an AFL licence, with the state government responsible for delivery and cost overruns. But recent polls suggest Tasmanians are not sold on the need for a new stadium. Labor and the Liberals support the stadium, but Mr Stansfield said Mr Rockliff would be the one to pay the electoral price. "If you don't like the stadium, you will vote against the Liberals," he said. Roland Browne, spokesperson for the anti-stadium Our Place group, told AAP they would campaign if there was an election. Mr Browne said he could see a scenario where one or both of the major parties would join the Greens in opposing the project. No state-owned businesses will be sold off, the Tasmanian premier has declared, following a week of political turmoil. Liberal leader Jeremy Rockliff has ruled out privatisations in an attempt to diffuse opposition attacks, with the possibility of selling some government entities among Labor's reasons for moving a vote of no confidence against the premier. Prominent economist Saul Eslake had been preparing a report on viable opportunities to sell government-owned businesses to support the state's troubled finances. Mr Rockliff has now put a stop to that work. "Labor has forced this early election on the deceitful campaign that our government intends to divest government-owned businesses – before Mr Eslake's work is even completed," he said on Saturday. But Labor shadow treasurer Josh Willie said privatising government assets was "in their DNA" regardless of the latest statements from the premier. "They didn't take it to the last election and they tried to sell Tasmanian assets," he told reporters in Hobart on Saturday. "So they will try to do it again, and the only way to stop them is to not vote for them." The political ructions look to set send Tasmanians back to the polls for the fourth time in seven years unless the Liberal party opts to remove Mr Rockliff and negotiate a new deal with crossbenchers. An election could be called on Tuesday. Senior Liberal figures including Senator Jonno Duniam are calling the prospect of a snap election "nuts". "I would have thought every effort should be put into not going to an election ... the people that lose out most in all this - forget the parliamentarians - it's the people of Tassie," he told ABC Radio. Analysts tip an unpredictable campaign given the nature of the political drama, with candidates from the federal election in May adding another dimension. Ex-federal Liberal MP Bridget Archer is viewed as a likely candidate in Bass should Mr Rockliff hang on. Anti-salmon independent Peter George, who ran Julie Collins close in the safe federal seat of Franklin, told AAP he was considering his options. Opposition leader Dean Winter moved the no-confidence motion due to the state budget, which included ballooning deficits and debt forecasts and the proposals to privatise state assets. However, it's the stadium that looms as the biggest issue. Veteran political campaigner Brad Stansfield, who has worked on the Liberals' last four election wins, said it would be issue No.1. "At the last election ... we mostly kept it hidden from the campaign," he said on his FontCast podcast. "This campaign is going to be the referendum on the AFL stadium that we haven't yet had. It is coming like a steam train." The roofed Macquarie Point stadium is a condition of an AFL licence, with the state government responsible for delivery and cost overruns. But recent polls suggest Tasmanians are not sold on the need for a new stadium. Labor and the Liberals support the stadium, but Mr Stansfield said Mr Rockliff would be the one to pay the electoral price. "If you don't like the stadium, you will vote against the Liberals," he said. Roland Browne, spokesperson for the anti-stadium Our Place group, told AAP they would campaign if there was an election. Mr Browne said he could see a scenario where one or both of the major parties would join the Greens in opposing the project. No state-owned businesses will be sold off, the Tasmanian premier has declared, following a week of political turmoil. Liberal leader Jeremy Rockliff has ruled out privatisations in an attempt to diffuse opposition attacks, with the possibility of selling some government entities among Labor's reasons for moving a vote of no confidence against the premier. Prominent economist Saul Eslake had been preparing a report on viable opportunities to sell government-owned businesses to support the state's troubled finances. Mr Rockliff has now put a stop to that work. "Labor has forced this early election on the deceitful campaign that our government intends to divest government-owned businesses – before Mr Eslake's work is even completed," he said on Saturday. But Labor shadow treasurer Josh Willie said privatising government assets was "in their DNA" regardless of the latest statements from the premier. "They didn't take it to the last election and they tried to sell Tasmanian assets," he told reporters in Hobart on Saturday. "So they will try to do it again, and the only way to stop them is to not vote for them." The political ructions look to set send Tasmanians back to the polls for the fourth time in seven years unless the Liberal party opts to remove Mr Rockliff and negotiate a new deal with crossbenchers. An election could be called on Tuesday. Senior Liberal figures including Senator Jonno Duniam are calling the prospect of a snap election "nuts". "I would have thought every effort should be put into not going to an election ... the people that lose out most in all this - forget the parliamentarians - it's the people of Tassie," he told ABC Radio. Analysts tip an unpredictable campaign given the nature of the political drama, with candidates from the federal election in May adding another dimension. Ex-federal Liberal MP Bridget Archer is viewed as a likely candidate in Bass should Mr Rockliff hang on. Anti-salmon independent Peter George, who ran Julie Collins close in the safe federal seat of Franklin, told AAP he was considering his options. Opposition leader Dean Winter moved the no-confidence motion due to the state budget, which included ballooning deficits and debt forecasts and the proposals to privatise state assets. However, it's the stadium that looms as the biggest issue. Veteran political campaigner Brad Stansfield, who has worked on the Liberals' last four election wins, said it would be issue No.1. "At the last election ... we mostly kept it hidden from the campaign," he said on his FontCast podcast. "This campaign is going to be the referendum on the AFL stadium that we haven't yet had. It is coming like a steam train." The roofed Macquarie Point stadium is a condition of an AFL licence, with the state government responsible for delivery and cost overruns. But recent polls suggest Tasmanians are not sold on the need for a new stadium. Labor and the Liberals support the stadium, but Mr Stansfield said Mr Rockliff would be the one to pay the electoral price. "If you don't like the stadium, you will vote against the Liberals," he said. Roland Browne, spokesperson for the anti-stadium Our Place group, told AAP they would campaign if there was an election. Mr Browne said he could see a scenario where one or both of the major parties would join the Greens in opposing the project. No state-owned businesses will be sold off, the Tasmanian premier has declared, following a week of political turmoil. Liberal leader Jeremy Rockliff has ruled out privatisations in an attempt to diffuse opposition attacks, with the possibility of selling some government entities among Labor's reasons for moving a vote of no confidence against the premier. Prominent economist Saul Eslake had been preparing a report on viable opportunities to sell government-owned businesses to support the state's troubled finances. Mr Rockliff has now put a stop to that work. "Labor has forced this early election on the deceitful campaign that our government intends to divest government-owned businesses – before Mr Eslake's work is even completed," he said on Saturday. But Labor shadow treasurer Josh Willie said privatising government assets was "in their DNA" regardless of the latest statements from the premier. "They didn't take it to the last election and they tried to sell Tasmanian assets," he told reporters in Hobart on Saturday. "So they will try to do it again, and the only way to stop them is to not vote for them." The political ructions look to set send Tasmanians back to the polls for the fourth time in seven years unless the Liberal party opts to remove Mr Rockliff and negotiate a new deal with crossbenchers. An election could be called on Tuesday. Senior Liberal figures including Senator Jonno Duniam are calling the prospect of a snap election "nuts". "I would have thought every effort should be put into not going to an election ... the people that lose out most in all this - forget the parliamentarians - it's the people of Tassie," he told ABC Radio. Analysts tip an unpredictable campaign given the nature of the political drama, with candidates from the federal election in May adding another dimension. Ex-federal Liberal MP Bridget Archer is viewed as a likely candidate in Bass should Mr Rockliff hang on. Anti-salmon independent Peter George, who ran Julie Collins close in the safe federal seat of Franklin, told AAP he was considering his options. Opposition leader Dean Winter moved the no-confidence motion due to the state budget, which included ballooning deficits and debt forecasts and the proposals to privatise state assets. However, it's the stadium that looms as the biggest issue. Veteran political campaigner Brad Stansfield, who has worked on the Liberals' last four election wins, said it would be issue No.1. "At the last election ... we mostly kept it hidden from the campaign," he said on his FontCast podcast. "This campaign is going to be the referendum on the AFL stadium that we haven't yet had. It is coming like a steam train." The roofed Macquarie Point stadium is a condition of an AFL licence, with the state government responsible for delivery and cost overruns. But recent polls suggest Tasmanians are not sold on the need for a new stadium. Labor and the Liberals support the stadium, but Mr Stansfield said Mr Rockliff would be the one to pay the electoral price. "If you don't like the stadium, you will vote against the Liberals," he said. Roland Browne, spokesperson for the anti-stadium Our Place group, told AAP they would campaign if there was an election. Mr Browne said he could see a scenario where one or both of the major parties would join the Greens in opposing the project.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Budget blowout, $1b stadium and new ships sink premier
HOW JEREMY ROCKLIFF'S MINORITY LIBERAL GOVERNMENT WAS LEFT IN TATTERS ELECTORAL REFORM * On taking office in 2022, one of Mr Rockliff's first acts as Tasmanian premier was to back the return of a 35-seat House of Assembly, up from 25, to reduce the workload on ministers and MPs * Given Tasmania's Senate-like lower house, this made it easier for independents and Greens to win seats, producing a hung parliament at the 2024 election MINORITY MAYHEM * Mr Rockliff's Liberals suffered a 12 per cent swing against them at the 2024 poll but remained parliament's biggest party, with 14 MPs to Labor's 10 and the five Greens * To govern, Mr Rockliff signed deals with five other crossbenchers, including various promises he has struggled to fulfil, straining relationships SPIRITS SAGA * The biggest turbulence for the Rockliff government has been its botched replacement of Spirit of Tasmania ferries, the critical sea link to the mainland * Two Finland-built ships were due in 2024, but the new berth in Devonport won't be ready until 2026, with costs blowing out from $90 million to $495 million * Michael Ferguson took the fall, resigning as infrastructure minister in August and then, as a no-confidence motion loomed, as Treasurer in October AFL ASPIRATION * An Australian Rules state to its boots, Tasmania has always coveted a place in the AFL and got it in 2022 when a bid championed by former premier Peter Gutwein was realised by Mr Rockliff * The deal came with strings attached - the AFL will pay the least, but demands a roofed stadium close to the inner-city * The federal government does not pay as much as the state government, which also crucially, is on the hook for cost overruns - already into the hundreds of millions STADIUM STRUGGLES * The huge stadium project has drawn opposition, with some saying it's in the wrong spot, including Hobart City Council and the RSL, given the proximity to heritage and a nearby war memorial * Economists attack dubious return-on-investment projections; engineers doubt the feasibility of the Macquarie Point site, and those outside of Hobart feel it's an over-the-top investment, especially given the state's health and housing woes BUDGET BLOWOUT * The final straw - at least to Labor - was new Treasurer Guy Barnett's budget unveiled in May * The Liberals unveiled deficits as far as the eye could see and ballooning debt to $10 billion - a huge amount for a state of 550,000 people * The blowout drew huge criticism inside and outside parliament LABOR EMBOLDENED * The Labor opposition has suffered four election defeats in a row, the past three under Rebecca White, but has enjoyed a poll uptick under new leader Dean Winter * Mr Winter sees a government on the ropes and enough of the crossbench agree * Labor was emboldened by the huge support Tasmanians offered to candidates in the federal election, with four of the five seats now in Labor hands DEADLOCK BROKEN * After two days of debate, a vote on Mr Winter's motion of no confidence was finally taken * With the result locked at 17-17, Labor speaker Michelle O'Byrne cast a deciding vote with her party, ending Mr Rockliff's premiership * Mr Winter ruled out forming government in a deal with the Greens - without which Labor doesn't have the numbers - in effect making an election a certainty WHAT NEXT? * Parliament will resume to pass an emergency funding bill so essential government services can continue beyond July 1 * Once the bills pass both houses of parliament, Mr Rockliff says he will visit Governor Barbara Baker to call an election, likely in late July * There remains the prospect that Mr Rockliff - who is wedded to the stadium project - could depart as leader, allowing the Liberals a fresh chance to cobble together another minority government without an election, and perhaps the stadium HOW JEREMY ROCKLIFF'S MINORITY LIBERAL GOVERNMENT WAS LEFT IN TATTERS ELECTORAL REFORM * On taking office in 2022, one of Mr Rockliff's first acts as Tasmanian premier was to back the return of a 35-seat House of Assembly, up from 25, to reduce the workload on ministers and MPs * Given Tasmania's Senate-like lower house, this made it easier for independents and Greens to win seats, producing a hung parliament at the 2024 election MINORITY MAYHEM * Mr Rockliff's Liberals suffered a 12 per cent swing against them at the 2024 poll but remained parliament's biggest party, with 14 MPs to Labor's 10 and the five Greens * To govern, Mr Rockliff signed deals with five other crossbenchers, including various promises he has struggled to fulfil, straining relationships SPIRITS SAGA * The biggest turbulence for the Rockliff government has been its botched replacement of Spirit of Tasmania ferries, the critical sea link to the mainland * Two Finland-built ships were due in 2024, but the new berth in Devonport won't be ready until 2026, with costs blowing out from $90 million to $495 million * Michael Ferguson took the fall, resigning as infrastructure minister in August and then, as a no-confidence motion loomed, as Treasurer in October AFL ASPIRATION * An Australian Rules state to its boots, Tasmania has always coveted a place in the AFL and got it in 2022 when a bid championed by former premier Peter Gutwein was realised by Mr Rockliff * The deal came with strings attached - the AFL will pay the least, but demands a roofed stadium close to the inner-city * The federal government does not pay as much as the state government, which also crucially, is on the hook for cost overruns - already into the hundreds of millions STADIUM STRUGGLES * The huge stadium project has drawn opposition, with some saying it's in the wrong spot, including Hobart City Council and the RSL, given the proximity to heritage and a nearby war memorial * Economists attack dubious return-on-investment projections; engineers doubt the feasibility of the Macquarie Point site, and those outside of Hobart feel it's an over-the-top investment, especially given the state's health and housing woes BUDGET BLOWOUT * The final straw - at least to Labor - was new Treasurer Guy Barnett's budget unveiled in May * The Liberals unveiled deficits as far as the eye could see and ballooning debt to $10 billion - a huge amount for a state of 550,000 people * The blowout drew huge criticism inside and outside parliament LABOR EMBOLDENED * The Labor opposition has suffered four election defeats in a row, the past three under Rebecca White, but has enjoyed a poll uptick under new leader Dean Winter * Mr Winter sees a government on the ropes and enough of the crossbench agree * Labor was emboldened by the huge support Tasmanians offered to candidates in the federal election, with four of the five seats now in Labor hands DEADLOCK BROKEN * After two days of debate, a vote on Mr Winter's motion of no confidence was finally taken * With the result locked at 17-17, Labor speaker Michelle O'Byrne cast a deciding vote with her party, ending Mr Rockliff's premiership * Mr Winter ruled out forming government in a deal with the Greens - without which Labor doesn't have the numbers - in effect making an election a certainty WHAT NEXT? * Parliament will resume to pass an emergency funding bill so essential government services can continue beyond July 1 * Once the bills pass both houses of parliament, Mr Rockliff says he will visit Governor Barbara Baker to call an election, likely in late July * There remains the prospect that Mr Rockliff - who is wedded to the stadium project - could depart as leader, allowing the Liberals a fresh chance to cobble together another minority government without an election, and perhaps the stadium HOW JEREMY ROCKLIFF'S MINORITY LIBERAL GOVERNMENT WAS LEFT IN TATTERS ELECTORAL REFORM * On taking office in 2022, one of Mr Rockliff's first acts as Tasmanian premier was to back the return of a 35-seat House of Assembly, up from 25, to reduce the workload on ministers and MPs * Given Tasmania's Senate-like lower house, this made it easier for independents and Greens to win seats, producing a hung parliament at the 2024 election MINORITY MAYHEM * Mr Rockliff's Liberals suffered a 12 per cent swing against them at the 2024 poll but remained parliament's biggest party, with 14 MPs to Labor's 10 and the five Greens * To govern, Mr Rockliff signed deals with five other crossbenchers, including various promises he has struggled to fulfil, straining relationships SPIRITS SAGA * The biggest turbulence for the Rockliff government has been its botched replacement of Spirit of Tasmania ferries, the critical sea link to the mainland * Two Finland-built ships were due in 2024, but the new berth in Devonport won't be ready until 2026, with costs blowing out from $90 million to $495 million * Michael Ferguson took the fall, resigning as infrastructure minister in August and then, as a no-confidence motion loomed, as Treasurer in October AFL ASPIRATION * An Australian Rules state to its boots, Tasmania has always coveted a place in the AFL and got it in 2022 when a bid championed by former premier Peter Gutwein was realised by Mr Rockliff * The deal came with strings attached - the AFL will pay the least, but demands a roofed stadium close to the inner-city * The federal government does not pay as much as the state government, which also crucially, is on the hook for cost overruns - already into the hundreds of millions STADIUM STRUGGLES * The huge stadium project has drawn opposition, with some saying it's in the wrong spot, including Hobart City Council and the RSL, given the proximity to heritage and a nearby war memorial * Economists attack dubious return-on-investment projections; engineers doubt the feasibility of the Macquarie Point site, and those outside of Hobart feel it's an over-the-top investment, especially given the state's health and housing woes BUDGET BLOWOUT * The final straw - at least to Labor - was new Treasurer Guy Barnett's budget unveiled in May * The Liberals unveiled deficits as far as the eye could see and ballooning debt to $10 billion - a huge amount for a state of 550,000 people * The blowout drew huge criticism inside and outside parliament LABOR EMBOLDENED * The Labor opposition has suffered four election defeats in a row, the past three under Rebecca White, but has enjoyed a poll uptick under new leader Dean Winter * Mr Winter sees a government on the ropes and enough of the crossbench agree * Labor was emboldened by the huge support Tasmanians offered to candidates in the federal election, with four of the five seats now in Labor hands DEADLOCK BROKEN * After two days of debate, a vote on Mr Winter's motion of no confidence was finally taken * With the result locked at 17-17, Labor speaker Michelle O'Byrne cast a deciding vote with her party, ending Mr Rockliff's premiership * Mr Winter ruled out forming government in a deal with the Greens - without which Labor doesn't have the numbers - in effect making an election a certainty WHAT NEXT? * Parliament will resume to pass an emergency funding bill so essential government services can continue beyond July 1 * Once the bills pass both houses of parliament, Mr Rockliff says he will visit Governor Barbara Baker to call an election, likely in late July * There remains the prospect that Mr Rockliff - who is wedded to the stadium project - could depart as leader, allowing the Liberals a fresh chance to cobble together another minority government without an election, and perhaps the stadium HOW JEREMY ROCKLIFF'S MINORITY LIBERAL GOVERNMENT WAS LEFT IN TATTERS ELECTORAL REFORM * On taking office in 2022, one of Mr Rockliff's first acts as Tasmanian premier was to back the return of a 35-seat House of Assembly, up from 25, to reduce the workload on ministers and MPs * Given Tasmania's Senate-like lower house, this made it easier for independents and Greens to win seats, producing a hung parliament at the 2024 election MINORITY MAYHEM * Mr Rockliff's Liberals suffered a 12 per cent swing against them at the 2024 poll but remained parliament's biggest party, with 14 MPs to Labor's 10 and the five Greens * To govern, Mr Rockliff signed deals with five other crossbenchers, including various promises he has struggled to fulfil, straining relationships SPIRITS SAGA * The biggest turbulence for the Rockliff government has been its botched replacement of Spirit of Tasmania ferries, the critical sea link to the mainland * Two Finland-built ships were due in 2024, but the new berth in Devonport won't be ready until 2026, with costs blowing out from $90 million to $495 million * Michael Ferguson took the fall, resigning as infrastructure minister in August and then, as a no-confidence motion loomed, as Treasurer in October AFL ASPIRATION * An Australian Rules state to its boots, Tasmania has always coveted a place in the AFL and got it in 2022 when a bid championed by former premier Peter Gutwein was realised by Mr Rockliff * The deal came with strings attached - the AFL will pay the least, but demands a roofed stadium close to the inner-city * The federal government does not pay as much as the state government, which also crucially, is on the hook for cost overruns - already into the hundreds of millions STADIUM STRUGGLES * The huge stadium project has drawn opposition, with some saying it's in the wrong spot, including Hobart City Council and the RSL, given the proximity to heritage and a nearby war memorial * Economists attack dubious return-on-investment projections; engineers doubt the feasibility of the Macquarie Point site, and those outside of Hobart feel it's an over-the-top investment, especially given the state's health and housing woes BUDGET BLOWOUT * The final straw - at least to Labor - was new Treasurer Guy Barnett's budget unveiled in May * The Liberals unveiled deficits as far as the eye could see and ballooning debt to $10 billion - a huge amount for a state of 550,000 people * The blowout drew huge criticism inside and outside parliament LABOR EMBOLDENED * The Labor opposition has suffered four election defeats in a row, the past three under Rebecca White, but has enjoyed a poll uptick under new leader Dean Winter * Mr Winter sees a government on the ropes and enough of the crossbench agree * Labor was emboldened by the huge support Tasmanians offered to candidates in the federal election, with four of the five seats now in Labor hands DEADLOCK BROKEN * After two days of debate, a vote on Mr Winter's motion of no confidence was finally taken * With the result locked at 17-17, Labor speaker Michelle O'Byrne cast a deciding vote with her party, ending Mr Rockliff's premiership * Mr Winter ruled out forming government in a deal with the Greens - without which Labor doesn't have the numbers - in effect making an election a certainty WHAT NEXT? * Parliament will resume to pass an emergency funding bill so essential government services can continue beyond July 1 * Once the bills pass both houses of parliament, Mr Rockliff says he will visit Governor Barbara Baker to call an election, likely in late July * There remains the prospect that Mr Rockliff - who is wedded to the stadium project - could depart as leader, allowing the Liberals a fresh chance to cobble together another minority government without an election, and perhaps the stadium
ABC News
9 hours ago
- ABC News
With a 'direct ear' to the treasurer, have police outranked paramedics as the SA government's top priority?
"Having the direct ear of the treasurer certainly is an advantage for me as a chief executive and it's my job to make sure I exploit that." One day after the South Australian government handed down a budget with law and order as its centrepiece, SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens smiled as he summed up the fortuitous position he finds himself in, just nine months out from the next state election. "It's one of those few occasions where we have a senior cabinet minister as the minister for police," he told reporters. "I'm grateful for that level of focus that the government is putting on law and order and policing in South Australia." Mr Stevens was referring to Stephen Mullighan — a long-serving Labor cabinet minister who happens to not only be police minister, but treasurer too. Having a cabinet boss who is also in charge of government spending gives Mr Stevens a unique opportunity to wield influence, and the latest state budget could be seen as a case in point. Hundreds of millions of dollars for more police officers, firearms and infrastructure formed part of what Mr Mullighan described as "the largest boost to police funding in the state's history". As ABC News previously noted, there was no mistaking the budget message the government was trying to send, with photos of police officers splashed across the budget papers and projected onto screens around the budget lock-up room. But turn the clock back three years, and the government was keen to spruik a different kind of frontline worker, whose presence was keenly felt at the last state election, and whose absence from the latest budget front-page raises questions about the government's priorities going forward. "Labor will fix the ramping crisis." It was an election mandate that brought the party to government in March 2022, and which has since become an annoying itch for MPs forced to defend the government's progress. When the Malinauskas government handed down its first budget in June 2022, a photo of a nurse, paramedic and doctor graced the front-page — a nod to the $2.4 billion in health spending budgeted that year. But in 2025, ramping remains high. Ambulances spent 3,700 hours waiting outside emergency departments in April, a decrease on the month before but still much higher than the worst month under the previous government. Despite the government's latest budget tipping an additional $1.9 billion into the health system over the next five years — $1.7 billion of which is just to address increasing demand — health unions were not too pleased. "This budget is strong on crime but soft on health," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation CEO Elizabeth Dabars said. "We know that they've put additional investment into health, but the reality is that the demands in the system on nurses and midwives are far too great to endure." Paramedics were equally scathing. "It is inconceivable that we are nine months out from the next election, and the government that promised our community that it would fix the ramping crisis, has not budgeted for any additional ambulance resourcing, or to address ramping and response times," Ambulance Employees Association general secretary Paul Ekkelboom said. "The best this government can do is reframe the narrative away from ramping, and abandon on its commitments to the people of South Australia." But Premier Peter Malinauskas said health remained one of the government's top priorities, and budgeted spending on health eclipsed spending on police. "Let's take nurses for instance: We committed at the last election that we would employ an extra 300 nurses. We've smashed those numbers out of the park by the tune of many, many hundreds," he told ABC News Stateline. "Similarly with doctors, we said we'd employ an extra 100 doctors into our system over the life of our time in government. Last year alone, we increased it by over 300 over and above attrition." When questioned on his progress on "fixing the ramping crisis", Mr Malinauskas pointed to ambulance response times. "They're rolling up to triple-0 calls on time and that is the difference between life and death," he said. "We have made inroads (in fixing the ramping crisis), notwithstanding the fact that clearly, we still would like to see ramping improve. "As those new beds come online that we've invested in so heavily and quite dramatically — and there are hundreds coming online over the next couple of years — we hope it improves." So, if health is still a priority for the government, what has prompted it to deliver a budget so heavily focused on law and order — especially when overall crime rates have dropped across the state? According to Mr Malinauskas, SA Police has a "genuine need" for more resources. "They've seen demand grow not in crime in the traditional sense and how we might think of it, but more through the burden of increasing demands around domestic violence responses … also with call-outs to mental health cases," he said. "We've seen that demand grow and we've also got a growing population. "We haven't had that big uplift in police numbers in our state now for quite a long period of time." "Tough on crime" policies are considered politically popular, but Mr Malinauskas denied crime would become an election focus for his government. "I'd much rather have elections focused on other matters — education for instance, rather than crime — but that doesn't mean there isn't a need that we have a responsibility to address." But that is also the case for the health system, which continues to struggle through ambulance ramping and bed block. Without a "direct ear" to the treasurer, it is yet to be seen whether doctors, nurses and paramedics will receive the same level of attention from Labor in the months leading up to March 2026, as they did ahead of the last state election.
