SA’s leaders have squared off for the first time, in a debate at the SA Press Club today. Watch the replay and read the live blog to see how the debate unfolded.
Premier Steven Marshall and the man who wants his job, Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas, have squared off today in a live debate triggering the countdown to the next state election.
The Liberal and Labor leaders will start the SA Press Club debate at 1pm - watch the replay below.
The debate, moderated by Advertiser columnist Tory Shepherd, touched on topics including the COVID-19 pandemic, jobs, election promises, parliamentary behaviour scandals - plus their signature policies of a $700m Riverbank arena and a $593m hydrogen power plan.
A heated, yet respectful debate has now ended.
SA Press Club president Mike Smithson said they won't be adjudicating a winner, saying he would leave it to the political commentators in the media.
"Both leaders certainly got in the spirit of the occasion and we thank them for that."
Peter Malinauskas says Labor has always been ready to "compromise" on shop trading hours, after a question from the audience.
"The only reason supermarkets are closed at 9am on a Sunday is the Premier of South Australia," he said.
"In the first week that I took on the leadership of the Labor Party, I said to the Premier, we're ready to support a compromise on trading hours."
Mr Malinauskas said Mr Marshall "refused" that because he "wants to pursue an ideological position of total deregulation.
Mr Marshall said the people of SA want deregulation of shop trading hours.
"We believe it's important not just for consumers, but also for jobs."
In a final two-minute speech, Premier Steven Marshall said he came into power with a "strong plan for real change and more jobs".
"Nicola Spurrier is famous for saying there is no such thing as a neat and tidy pandemic, but the reality is South Australians are feeling more confident about the future," he said.
"If you need proof of that, take a look at the net interstate migration, what we had when we came to the government was an exodus of young people and capital out of this state."
ABS figures showed for the June and September quarters last year, Adelaide's "brain drain" had reversed – with more people entering SA from interstate than leaving it.
Labor had been working on the $593m hydrogen jobs plan for two years, Peter Malinauskas said.
"The race is on for hydrogen around the world … we have this unique opportunity here in South Australia, because we have abundant renewables, unlike any other jurisdiction around the country, let alone the world."
Premier Steven Marshall has been quizzed about his promised $700 million inner-city stadium on the rail yards near the banks of the River Torrens.
He said it will create more jobs and drive up the economy.
"After a basketball match, or after a concert or an exhibition, people will be able to flood into our CBD."
Peter Malinauskas said it was a "nice idea but the wrong priority" – suggesting Mr Marshall should prioritise announcing a location for the new Women's and Children's Hospital.
The debate has moved on to the topic of the state's health system.
Premier Steven Marshall said his government had been working "diligently" to expand the state's ambulance service and eliminating ramping.
"There's not a simple solution, there's no silver bullet."
Mr Marshall said the previous Labor government had "downgraded services and closed hospitals".
"Since that time we have significantly increased the budget for the SA ambulance service (and) in our first two years put an additional 187 ambulance officers."
Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas said the health system was an example of the Premier being "completely bereft of leadership".
"Ramping has doubled during the course of this term of government and it's not an accident, it's happening because the decisions that this Premier has made."
"People are literally losing their lives as they're waiting for an ambulance".
He accused Mr Marshall of treating it no more than an industrial dispute.
"He rolls out the Grim-Reaper-in-chief Rob Lucas … this is not about enterprise marketing, this is about people's lives."
Premier Steven Marshall said MPs need to be "role models" for the state and that parliamentary standards needed to improve.
"I think the standards in parliament need to be improved, particularly things like question time," he said.
"I think overall, we need to be a role model for society. It's one of the reasons why we made sure that we ot the Equal Opportunity Commissioner to do a review into the practices and standards that exist within our parliament."
Labor leader Peter Malinauskas says he hasn't witnessed any extremely concerning behaviour, but agreed question time behaviour needed to improve.
Mr Malinauskas recalled "one time" there was a gender-themed comment that was fired across parliament during question time.
"One time is too many."
Peter Malinauskas has slammed the Liberal government for driving up the state's debt.
Mr Malinauskas said in the first two years of its government, the SA Liberal party took the debt to revenue ratio from 28 per cent to 51 per cent.
He said that happened "long before COVID had left the bat in China".
Answering a question about what he would have done differently during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Malinauskas admitted to being "sidelined".
"There's no doubt about the fact that if you are the leader of the Opposition, and you decide to back the government of the day in, you get sidelined."
"I was more than happy to put the state's interests ahead of my own political interests.
"But … We're coming out of the COVID emergency and … we desperately need a vision."
Premier Steven Marshall said his government's plan in his first three years in power was to "grow the economy and create more jobs".
"And that's what I think we've delivered."
For the next 30 minutes, both the Premier and Peter Malinauskas will answer tough questions from host Tory Shepherd.
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