Labor reply: Budget trashes Libs’ promise of lower living costs and will drive up council rates

The State Budget has trashed Premier Steven Marshall’s election promise of “lower costs”, and will drive council rates up despite a pledge to keep them down, the Opposition says.

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Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas says the State Budget has trashed Premier Steven Marshall’s election promise of “lower costs”, and will send council rates even higher despite a signature pledge to keep them down.

In his formal Budget reply to Parliament on Thursday, Mr Malinauskas sounded the alarm about a huge spike in state debt and renewed concerns about higher household costs. The Government went to the election promising to cap council rates, but its plan to do so has stalled in Parliament.

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas says the State Budget has trashed Premier Steven Marshall’s election promise of “lower costs”, and will send council rates even higher despite a signature pledge to keep them down. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Mr Malinauskas yesterday said: “The irony of the Government once being for lower council rates, then in their second Budget delivering council rates going up without any notice is not going to be lost on South Australian families.”

A 40 per cent increase in the cost of rubbish dumping has led councils to warn of significant increases in rates to cover the higher charge. The Government says it should amount to just a few dollars a household each year.

Mr Malinauskas said the Government was also punishing households with a range of other fee increases that were well above the inflation rate.

“People care about jobs, they care about how to pay the bills, they care about important government services, so it was easy to see how the member for Dunstan (Mr Marshall) came up with the promise of more jobs, lower costs and better services,” Mr Malinauskas said. “It is also easy to see why the promise would be well received in the community.

“But there is one problem. ‘More jobs, lower costs, better services’ now appears to be a slogan that is just another promise delivered by just another politician. It is a promise without a policy.”

Mr Malinauskas also took a shot at Mr Marshall’s record on employment, saying the “news has at best been mixed” for people seeking a new job.

He said the Government had also abandoned a long-held position on frugal debt, as SA’s borrowings are projected to nearly double over four years to a record $21 billion.

“The SA parliamentary Liberal Party has almost overnight changed their guiding economic philosophy,” Mr Malinauskas said. “All those John Howard acolytes who were elected last year rushed into the parliamentary library and swapped their Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek texts for masterpieces by John Maynard Keynes.

“Watching these leopards change their spots is honestly a sight to behold.”

He said Labor would strive to ensure more people were able to get ahead if the party was returned to power in 2022.

“Labor can and will have a policy at the next election that does (offer) a policy for the present focused on jobs and people’s health, a policy for the future focused on education and health. It’s an exciting proposition, let us begin.”