Premier Steven Marshall’s agenda for the first 100 days of government in South Australia
A MONTH ago, Steven Marshall vowed to “hit the ground running” with ideas and initiatives to renew SA during his first 100 days in office. Here’s what he’s planned.
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INSPIRED by his mentor, John Howard, former businessman Steven Marshall has laid out a detailed plan for his first 100 days in office.
A month ago, he vowed to “hit the ground running with a suite of policy and legislative initiatives during the first 100 days in office to kickstart South Australia’s renewal”.
Two years ago, Mr Marshall released an 80-page blueprint for government, focused on the Liberal vision for South Australia by the time of the state’s bicentenary in 2036.
Derided by Labor at the time as a joke, the nine-chapter 2036 document focused on broad strategic outlines for policy areas including the economy, education, health, infrastructure, law and order, the environment and running an efficient government.
This approach was directly from Mr Howard’s playbook more than two decades ago, when the-then federal Liberal opposition leader made a series of “headland speeches” outlining the challenges facing Australia and his approach to them – before toppling Paul Keating in 1996 to become prime minister.
Releasing 2036 in March, 2016, Mr Marshall branded it the “foundation that all our policies sit upon”, which identified nine critical areas that good government is based upon.
The document, he said, identified Liberal values and principles, as well as the party’s reform agenda.
For example, chapter one on the economy declares: “South Australia needs a competitive, dynamic economy that provides new job opportunities, fosters entrepreneurialism and strengthens the future of our state”.
In the business terms familiar to Mr Marshall – a former Michell Wool executive and company director – 2036 was a mission statement. A month ago, Mr Marshall outlined his plan for the first 100 days of government, which he recommitted to in his first press conference as premier-elect on Sunday.
Key measures include:
AXING payroll tax for small business.
HALVING Emergency Services Levy bills.
REOPENING Daw Park’s Repatriation General Hospital, including starting the process to reopen operating theatres to reduce the elective surgery backlog.
INCREASING the number of apprenticeships and trainees by more than 20,800 over four years.
ESTABLISHING a regional roads and infrastructure fund.
CREATING a $100 million battery subsidy scheme for 40,000 homes.
FORGING a high-level task force to drive the co-location of the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital with the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
INTRODUCING legislation to enable the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption to choose to hold public hearings when investigating maladministration and misconduct.
DEREGULATING shopping hours.
START processes for a new western suburbs technical college and identifying four high schools to be designated entrepreneurial schools.
CAP local government council rates through new legislation.
START an independent inquiry into water pricing.
BEGIN preparation for a speed camera audit to ensure they are operating for safety, rather than raising revenue.
“My promise to deliver more jobs, lower costs and better services will frame every action of a Marshall Liberal government,” Mr Marshall said last month when launching his agenda for the first 100 days in office.
“A Marshall government will be on the job from day one, preparing to deliver half a billion dollars in tax cuts to South Australian households and businesses to grow jobs and ease cost of living pressures.
“Our $90 million cut in ESL bills, reductions in payroll tax and $100 million home battery subsidy scheme will be critical in providing the spark to reignite South Australia’s moribund economy.
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“Repairing the damage done to our health system by Labor’s catastrophic Transforming Health program is essential if South Australians are going to have shorter waiting times when they go to an emergency department or need life-changing surgery.
“Letting South Australians shop when they want ... will create new jobs for our kids and greater convenience for time-poor families.”
Having been formally invited by the Governor yesterday morning to form a government, Mr Marshall and incoming treasurer Rob Lucas began meeting executive teams from the Premier’s Department and Treasury to be briefed on SA’s finances.
Mr Marshall issued instructions for new ministerial and departmental arrangements, also providing charter letters for all ministers setting out the outcomes expected during the government’s first term.
Of the 14-person incoming Cabinet, only one, Mr Lucas, has ministerial experience. The veteran incoming Treasurer became Education and Children’s Services Minister almost 25 years ago, when Dean Brown was premier.
It will be his second stint as Treasurer — the first was from 1997-2002, when John Olsen – now the state Liberal Party president – was premier.
Mr Lucas’s experience, as Mr Marshall’s right-hand man, will be critical to the shaping the incoming Marshall government. It is likely Mr Howard, who Mr Marshall thanked in his Saturday night victory speech, will continue as a mentor.
Mr Howard’s advice would, almost certainly, reflect his own words after his first 100 days as prime minister, in an address on June 5, 1996.
He stressed the importance of reinvigorating the small business sector as the key to a successful economic future, which Mr Marshall’s rhetoric and policies have echoed.
In words which Mr Marshall might well pin to his new premier’s office wall, Mr Howard declared: “The most important thing that any government can do is retain grassroots contact with the people who elected them, and governments that don’t do that will pay very, very dearly in terms of lost electoral support.”
In 100 days’ time, Mr Marshall will be hoping he has been able to follow his mentor’s advice.
The to-do list
■ ISSUE instructions for new ministry and public sector arrangements.
■ SCRAP payroll tax for small business.
■ DISSOLVE TAFE board and appoint new members
■ MORATORIUM on fracking in South-East.
■ HALVE Emergency Services Levy bills from July.
■ RE-OPEN the Repat, plus development plan to zone site for health care.
■ TALKS with Federal Government on defence jobs and apprenticeship funding.
■ ISSUE instructions for $100 million battery scheme for 40,000 homes.
■ TASK force to drive relocation of Women’s and Children’s Hospital at RAH.
■ INTRODUCE legislation for public ICAC hearings.
■ DEREGULATE shopping hours.
■ DECENTRALISE health system.
■ SPEED camera audit.
■ SHARK-spotting drones.
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