SA Premier Jay Weatherill takes on Treasurer portfolio in a big gamble to win next state election
THE battle lines are drawn and the sound bites are flowing - Premier Jay Weatherill's reshuffle gives him the team he wants to take to the election and beyond, if they win.
THE battle lines are drawn and the sound bites are flowing - Premier Jay Weatherill's reshuffle gives him the team he wants to take to the election and beyond, if they win.
It is an energised, trimmed-down team - cut from 15 to 13 ministers, with no women added - that carries an element of gamble along with generational change.
In taking on the Treasury portfolio, Mr Weatherill gives himself a huge workload and nowhere to hide should the economy falter.
He is now a sort of super-Premier, trying to leap tall deficits in a single bound.
Other premiers have been satisfied to play the statesman in contrast to the treasurer, who often is seen as the bad-news man, raising taxes and cutting services. But Mr Weatherill is keen for the dual responsibility, plus the extra job of making the public sector more efficient.
Mr Weatherill was at pains yesterday to contrast his line-up and philosophy with that of the Opposition.
He repeatedly used the line that Labor invests in the future through job-creating infrastructure while maintaining services, compared to the Liberals, "who want to cut the public service by 25,000 to 35,000 jobs".
It is a powerful point, even if Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond says the 25,000 job cut was a line made in error and is not party policy.
For her part, Ms Redmond emphasised that Labor has delivered record debt and deficit levels, but she now faces the challenge of trimming her own 15-member front bench at a time when her personal support base remains delicate.
In taking on the Treasurer's job, Mr Weatherill is backing himself as a winner, and if the gamble fails, the fault rests squarely with him.
"A central element of new team is the combination of Premier and Treasurer under my leadership," he said. "Bringing these roles together means we will be best placed to seize the opportunities and respond to the challenges that will emerge this year."
It is big-picture stuff, but Mr Weatherill needs to deliver more than good speeches. Some of the key things worrying people in the wider community are the rising cost of living and the spectre of debt and deficit levels being bequeathed to future generations.