Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Judging by this year's budget, there is likely to be one particular group of people that is more disappointed than anyone else. That is the Liberal MPs, both state and federal, representing South Australia. That is because they need to go back to their electorates and explain why this Liberal coalition government completely ignored South Australia in the budget last night. If there was ever any doubt, the 2017 budget has confirmed this government's utter contempt for South Australians. There is absolutely no contribution for South Australian infrastructure projects. There is $70 billion for roads, rail, ports and airports across the country, but not one single dollar for South Australia. This means there is nothing for our roads and certainly nothing for the roads in my electorate—like Marion Road, which prior to the 2016 election the Prime Minister and the then member spruiked as one of their big developments. There is no money for South Road and certainly not for Oaklands Crossing.

The Civil Contractors Federation of South Australia's CEO, Mr Phil Sutherland, said today:

Make no mistake—despite all the rhetoric to the contrary, SA has been severely short changed on funding for major infrastructure projects needed in this state.

Other states have received billions of dollars in the budget, while SA—again, the poor relative—receives a pittance.

The state's peak transport industry lobby group, the South Australian Freight Council, today released a statement expressing their disappointment as well. Their statement says:

There is no new South Australian road infrastructure funding, no funding for SA freight rail projects, and no guaranteed funding for new passenger rail in SA—including the proposed AdeLINK tram network.

The AdeLINK network is a perfect example. It is proposed to go through the centre of my electorate, extending the tram to the beachside suburb of Henley Beach and, of course, to the Adelaide airport. This would create hundreds of jobs and boost the local economy, the local area and transport in the western suburbs. It is estimated that it would create 2,000 jobs over the life of the project. Clearly, we are now not important enough for the Turnbull government, because South Australia will have to jump through multiple hoops to have any chance of funding, while other states just get their projects funded. That does not seem fair at all.

There is also nothing in the budget for the Brown Hill Keswick Creek Stormwater Project within my electorate of Hindmarsh. This is despite the fact that doing nothing to address flooding puts residents and businesses in great danger. It is despite the fact that doing nothing could jeopardise important federal infrastructure, such as the Adelaide Airport and the Keswick rail interchange. It is despite the fact that addressing the flooding problems would yield over $240 million in community and economic benefits and jobs for the state of South Australia. It would create hundreds of jobs and secure, most importantly, 2,000 households and businesses in my electorate from flooding.

There is also absolutely nothing in the budget to help local industry and manufacturing. There is nothing in it for Whyalla and the steelworks. There is certainly nothing for Holden workers or associated automotive workers, and we all know how they were chased out by the then Treasurer, Mr Hockey, in 2013. And there is nothing for smaller manufacturers who are providing much-needed training and employment opportunities, like Rossi boots in my electorate of Hindmarsh. The federal government failed to give them a contract last year to locally produce boots for the defence forces, choosing instead a company that manufactures overseas—so much for jobs and growth, so much for the rhetoric we heard before the election. All we heard was 'jobs and growth' but here are some classic examples that could create jobs and growth for the economy. This budget adds insult to that injury and it hits Australians with higher taxes and cuts to schools. (Time expired)

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