INTRODUCTION
On July 2 millions of Australians will stroll into thousands of polling places around the nation.
They will line up outside school halls, community centres and municipal offices; enjoy fund-raising sausage sizzles and cake stalls; chat with neighbours, friends and strangers; and then, in the privacy of the polling booth, make a few pencil marks on a couple of ballot papers.
In this way, they will decide who governs this country for the next three years.
Installing a new government, peacefully and democratically, thoughtfully and quietly, with typically Australian laconic understatement.
They will carry out their democratic duty cheek by jowl with their domestic duties doing the shopping, running kids to sports, weeding the garden and walking the dog.
But their decision will be no less momentous for being sandwiched between the events of any ordinary Saturday.
For elections are important events in the life of our nation.
They allow the public to make democratic judgements and choices.
Judgements about the performance of the incumbent government.
And choices about the future of the country.
LIBERALS ABANDON SOUTH AUSTRALIA
In many ways South Australia is at the cutting edge of the judgements and choices to be made on July 2.
South Australias economic outlook is amongst the most fragile of any of the States and Territories.
The performance of the Abbott-Turnbull Government has taken an especially adverse toll on our State over the last three years.
And the choice between Liberal and Labor will have a crucial impact on our States future.
The Federal Liberals reckless disregard for South Australia over this term of government has been both unashamed and shameful.
South Australians remember a Liberal Treasurer standing on the floor of the House of Representatives goading Holden to leave. They did, and we see the loss of thousands of South Australian jobs.
South Australians remember a Liberal Defence Minister telling us our workforce couldn't build a canoe.
We remember a Liberal Leader promising to build the submarines here, then walking away from it.
And we remember the willingness of senior Liberal Ministers, from the Prime Minister down, to cynically and serially disparage management and workers at the ASC simply to try to justify the breaking of their submarines promise.
We welcome the election eve announcement to return to the Liberals original promise to build the submarines here. But this belated back down doesnt erase what preceded it.
After promising no cuts to health we have seen Liberal cuts to South Australian hospitals, meaning fewer hospital beds, longer elective surgery waiting lists and worse health outcomes for South Australians.
After promising no cuts to the ABC we have seen Liberal cuts which have hit South Australia much harder than they hit Sydney or Melbourne.
After promising no cuts to education we have seen $2 billion cut from SA schools over the next ten years cuts signed, sealed and personally delivered by South Australian Liberal Education Ministers.
LIBERALS ECONOMIC AND BUDGET MISMANAGEMENT
Last week we saw Jamie Briggs call in his old boss John Howard on an emergency mission to try to salvage his standing in the once-safe Liberal seat of Mayo.
This visit called to mind one of John Howards formulations on how to judge an incumbent government.
Mr Howard once suggested that people should ask themselves a simple question at election time are you better off now than you were at the last election?
So are Australians, and are South Australians, better off after three years of Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull?
Do they have better living standards, better job opportunities, and better economic prospects than they did when the Liberals came to office in September 2013?
The Liberals like to claim with a very liberal dose of complacency and laziness it must be said that they are the superior party when it comes to economic management.
But the facts show otherwise.
Since the last election, job opportunities and the labour market have deteriorated.
During the Liberals time in office the national unemployment rate has averaged 6 per cent under the former Labor Government it averaged 5.1 per cent.
And the jobs outlook has been worse in South Australia.
South Australias unemployment rate has averaged 7 per cent under the Liberal Government, more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average under the former federal Labor Government.
Since the last election, wages growth has slumped.
The ABS Wage Price Index has grown at an average annual rate of 2.3 per cent under the Liberals one of the slowest rates of wages growth on record.
By comparison, during Labors time in office wages grew by an average of 3.8 per cent a year.
Since the last election, living standards have fallen.
Real net national disposable income per capita the amount of money people have left in their pockets after taxes and transfers has fallen by 1.4 per cent a year under the Liberals.
By comparison, under Labor real disposable incomes increased by 1.1 per cent a year.
Since the last election, business investment has collapsed.
Business investment grew by an average of 6.7 per cent a year under the former Labor Government.
Under this Liberal Government, business investment has fallen by an average of 8.6 per cent a year.
And since the last election economic growth in South Australia has slowed.
The latest national accounts show state final demand in SA grew by just 0.5 per cent in the year to March much lower than the national growth rate of 3.1 per cent.
This outcome in no small part reflects the impact of the Abbott-Turnbull Governments policies on South Australia.
So when it comes to judging the government, I submit that on Mr Howards own are you better off test, the Liberals have comprehensively failed.
They have broken the promises they made at the last election.
They have failed the test of economic management.
And their policies have made Australians, and especially South Australians, materially worse off.
This Liberal Government has also failed the test of Budget management.
They claim again complacently and lazily to be the party of low taxes, small government and strong finances.
Yet again the facts show otherwise:
- Taxes are higher as a share of GDP under this Liberal Government than under Labor.
- Government spending is higher as a share of GDP.
- And the Liberals have tripled the budget deficit.
So much for judgement on past performance.
What of the choice for the future?
The election presents a clear choice between alternative visions for the future of Australia.
Between Labors fundamental values of securing economic growth with social fairness.
And the Liberal values of trickle-down, which will leave growth stalled while denying fairness to middle and working class people.
Between Labor investments in health, education, skills, productivity and nation building.
And Liberal cuts to hospitals, Medicare, schools and universities.
The Liberal cuts will make it harder for South Australians to afford decent health care and give their kids a decent education.
And the discredited Liberal economic policies will make it harder for South Australia to create jobs and growth for the future.
By contrast, the Labor agenda of investing in health and education will be good for ordinary people, good for skills and productivity, and good for business.
And Labors agenda of investing in infrastructure will be good for the South Australian economy.
Our investments for South Australia include:
- The 21st century transport infrastructure of AdeLINK, an investment which will create 2,000 jobs, increase demand for locally-made steel, and improve the economy by tackling congestion on our roads.
- The 21st century communications infrastructure of a Fibre-to-the-Premises National Broadband Network, an investment that will allow local businesses to tap into global markets, creating jobs and boosting the local economy.
- Unwavering support for the nations biggest defence manufacturing project, right here in Adelaide, creating manufacturing jobs and supporting South Australias advanced manufacturing and high-technology sectors.
- And ensuring 50 per cent of Australias electricity comes from renewable sources by 2030 renewable energy where South Australia has a comparative advantage, which means Labors policy will not only be good for the environment but will also be good for the economy.
A Shorten Labor Government will establish a Steel Reserve with the South Australian Government to secure the long-term future of Arriums steel operations in South Australia.
Federal Labor will provide up to $100 million in targeted grants and financing. This, together with a $50 million investment by the South Australian Government, and co-investment by the company, will see $300 million invested in new plant and equipment to make Arrium more productive and efficient.
Its a plan to secure jobs, and steel-making, in our state.
With investments like these, federal Labor will help South Australia to make the economic transition to a future based on advanced manufacturing, sophisticated services, renewable energy and agricultural exports.
Labors positive policies will generate the growth, innovation and jobs our State needs for the future.
CONCLUSION
So when South Australians make their way to polling places around the State on July 2 from the Coober Pedy TAFE to the Naracoorte Town Hall; from Leigh Creek Area School to Streaky Bays RSL Hall I would ask them to consider their choice thoughtfully.
For the way they mark their ballot papers will affect their living standards and their job opportunities, not just over the next three years but over the longer term.
It will decide whether the quality of their health care will depend on their Medicare card, rather than on their credit card.
It will decide whether their children receive the best possible schooling regardless of the postcode they live in and whether they face debts of up to $100,000 for going to university.
It will decide whether Australia invests in renewables or whether it continues to devote taxpayer funds to paying big polluters to continue polluting.
It will decide whether South Australia is an afterthought, an election eve problem to be solved.
Or is a State front and centre in the governments decision making.
Despite the challenges we face, I am optimistic about our states future. I am optimistic about South Australians capacity to navigate the change we are facing.
I am optimistic about:
Our peoples capacity to upskill.
Our firms capacity to innovate.
Our exporters capacity to grow.
But to meet these challenges, we need a government willing to work with us.
And a Shorten Labor Government will do that.
