SA Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas on 2020: Achievements, challenges and plans for 2021

It’s been an undeniably difficult year, but SA Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas picks out some of the traits and moments that have got us through it.

SA Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Sam Wundke

An end of year Q&A between Advertiser political editor Matt Smith and SA Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas.

Matt Smith: What has 2020 taught you?

Peter Malinauskas: I think 2020 has taught me – and taught us all – how lucky we are to live in a country with the values that we do, and a state that upholds those values dearly.

This year, South Australians have shown just how resilient we are, and that our value system ensures that we are willing to put the interests of others ahead of ourselves.

Watching businesses shut their doors, workers give up income for the sake of other people’s health, is a real demonstration of our egalitarian spirit. There has been a care for one another that has been profound. I think we talk about that often but this year, we have really put it on show.

Occasionally, people question whether that brotherhood still exists but this has taught us it absolutely does.

What is the moment you will not forget from 2020?

In the northern part of Prospect, a young fella, who was six or seven, was watching the TV news and saw koalas in trouble from the bushfires.

There was a call out for donations so this kid wrote a note, photocopied it and delivered it around the neighbourhood, asking people to use his family’s front yard as a drop-off point for bottles and cans. Within days, the whole front yard was filling up with bottles and cans.

He never put it on Facebook or anything, he just hand-delivered it and raised a heap of money that he donated to koala fundraising charities. It was just amazing.

His mum just couldn’t believe how instinctive it was.

This kid just did it all off his own back, it was just amazing.

What is the thing you would do differently?

I certainly would like to have avoided getting knocked out while playing footy for the (Adelaide University) Blacks. That one was not ideal.

What is your proudest achievement for 2020?

I cannot go past the birth of my daughter. When you bring a child into the world, it is a pretty proud moment.

Professionally, I would say it has been good to see the government change its position on a number of issues that we advocated for.

Obviously, there was the massive cuts to public transport that we got the government to backflip on. We worked for two years on that issue and it was a wholesale change of policy from the government. And that means a lot of people – working people, vulnerable people, elderly and disabled – are now going to be able to continue to rely on a service that is the difference between them being engaged in society or not. The closures of Service SA, which we got the government to backflip on.

Other ideas we have put forward the government has taken up, whether it be around medi-hotels or others.

A COVID vaccine is top of most people’s list to see a return to normal but, outside of that, what’s your blueprint to move the state on from the pandemic?

We have all got our fingers crossed that the vaccine works effectively, it is rolled out swiftly here in Australia and allows us to transition to a more normal set of circumstances.

But our challenges as a state remain around this question of work and the economy. We need to continue to ensure that our economy is evolving. A lot of people have been displaced as a consequence of this virus and our challenge is still very substantial. In our Budget reply, we started to articulate a few things that we would do differently to try to stimulate our economy.

Are you making a New Year’s resolution and, if so, what is it?

Run more.

What are your priorities for 2021?

Next year, as we get closer to the election, I am looking forward to rolling out policies that we have been working on for the last 2½ years.

There is still some work to be done but we are a lot further advanced than we have been in previous elections.

Some of those policies are oriented towards our No. 1 priority – providing quality jobs for future generations.

The government has fallen short on infrastructure and we will have our own policy that is actually about delivering.

We have already announced our policy to look at how the higher education system is working in our state.

We punch below our weight when it comes to research funding. We know that for every dollar that goes in, it creates $10 in economic activity, particularly if that research is effective.

A lot more can be done in terms of local procurement for both government and the private sector.

We should be re-establishing Brand SA. We know it had a lot of momentum before the government cut it.

We think a lot more work can be done in tourism to try to drive a recovery. We believe there still is a future in major events and a vaccine would help SA to be a world leader in the area.

What I am looking forward to next year, more than anything else, is being able to start rolling some policies out.

If an election were called tomorrow, how confident would you be of winning?

We saw a poll earlier in the year that demonstrated that we are incredibly competitive.

Of course, a global pandemic has elevated government of the day.

I made a decision to put the state’s interest ahead of any political questions by providing bipartisan support to the government and that has had the impact of elevating the government, but I did that because is the right thing to do.

Ultimately, if Steven Marshall wants the next election to be about a virus, that is entirely up to him.

I want the next election to be about who’s got the best vision for the future of our state.

The task for Labor is tough. Beating an incumbent government is difficult.

We have been constructive and where the government have done things wrong, we have been able to change their position. I think that puts us in a good place to be a credible alternative.

What did your opposing counterpart do this year that you most admire?

If you look around the world, the countries that are best placed in the management of COVID have been where the health advice has governed the policy response.

This is a position that I have supported all the way through and that is a position that Steven Marshall has had.

And that is a good thing.

Matt Smith’s interview with Premier Steven Marshall here.