Doomed Service SA offices at Mitcham, Modbury and Prospect together raked in almost $60m for State Budget in 2018-19
Last year Premier Steven Marshall revealed plans to shutter three Service SA centres – but today, the Opposition has revealed documents showing how much money they really make.
Three Service SA centres slated for closure raked in a total of almost $60 million for the State Budget over the past financial year, Freedom of Information documents obtained by the Opposition show.
Premier Steven Marshall revealed plans to shutter the Mitcham, Modbury and Prospect offices in his first Budget after winning the election last year and is pledging to maintain services for the affected communities with other options.
Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas on Monday released documents showing the three doomed offices drive significant taxpayer revenue.
The Prospect office was the second-most lucrative centre in the state and raked in $25.1 million in the 2018-19 financial year.
Modbury earned $17.4 million for the Budget, and Mitcham made $16.5 million.
The Government had previously said that delivering Service SA functions like registration renewals through offices is the most expensive way to deliver them, and costs can be cut by making those transactions by phone or online.
Mr Malinauskas said the high revenue figures in those three offices showed that they were highly-frequented by the public, who wanted an ongoing walk-in service. He said the Prospect centre, which services Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson’s marginal seat of Adelaide, was one of the busiest in the state and conducted 190,000 transactions.
“This is yet more evidence the Marshall Liberal Government has made the wrong call closing Service SA centres,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“Demand is clearly high.
“Steven Marshall promised better services, yet he’s closing Service SA centres.”
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll said there was “no doubt that we can improve the quality of services delivered through Service SA”.
‘That’s why we’re undertaking these reforms, to deliver a better service and help prevent people having to line up at a Service SA centre,” he said.
“At the moment, around 80 per cent of all transactions can be done online. Our reforms are looking to deliver better and more convenient services.
“We have made it very clear that these centres will not be closing until an alternative service delivery model is in place.”
Mr Knoll has previously said he is considering bringing in third-party operators as part of reforms to Service SA.
In July, he told Parliament that the former government’s decision to sell the Lands Titles Office left a “booby trap” which required him to consider selling the motor vehicle registry system, a key function of Service SA operations.
