SA Election 2022: Marshall and Malinauskas face off at Building a Bigger, Better SA event

Steven Marshall and Peter Malinauskas have outlined competing visions for the future of our state, covering issues ranging from population to Putin. See how the discussion unfolded.

Steven Marshall and Peter Malinauskas will discuss the future of our state at The Advertiser’s Building a Bigger, Better SA event.

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Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas has pledged to immediately stop state government funds and public sector superannuation being invested in Russian assets.

Speaking at The Advertiser’s Building a Bigger, Better SA event on Friday, Mr Malinauskas said there was a “solemn obligation” on everybody in the community to be sending a “very clear message” on the Ukraine invasion.

Citing Treasurer Rob Lucas, he said FundsSA had $60m invested in Russian entities.

“That will not happen under a government I lead because I would change the legislation to ensure it doesn’t,” he said. “The South Australian government needs to catch up to the private sector in this regard, and a government I lead would do exactly that.”

Asked whether he would make the same commitment to a Russian boycott, Premier Steven Marshall said this would require a change to legislation which would be “months and months away” and therefore ineffectual.

WATCH THE FULL REPLAY OF THE EVENT BELOW.

The stance on Russia was one of three key points of difference between the two leaders, who also disagreed on population growth and the future of nuclear capabilities in the state.

On population, Mr Marshall said growing Adelaide’s population to two million people was a “reasonable target”, and would not rule out bringing that timeline forward to 2030.

“We’ve got to do it in a sustainable way,” he said.

Mr Malinauskas said the state should pursue a population growth strategy but a two million target was a “reckless number” and “pretty dangerous proposition”.

“The state isn’t equipped to be able to handle that level of growth in the space of eight years,” he said.

The leaders were also asked whether the state should develop a nuclear industry.

Mr Marshall said “absolutely not”, but Mr Malinauskas said he thought there was “a lot of merit” in developing a nuclear industry around the AUKUS security pact arrangements.

The leaders told a packed lunch at SkyCity of their plans to pay off the state’s soaring debt by boosting the economy and the skilled workforce.

“We have to invest productively, we have to invest wisely, and the most wise investment is to invest in our people and in training and skills,” Mr Malinauskas said.

Mr Marshall said his government had made it easier for businesses to operate in South Australia, and jobs in hi-tech sectors were more available than ever.

He acknowledged current payroll tax policy puts some regional businesses at a disadvantage, but said there were other incentives on offer.

“Things that are going to grow regional South Australia are improved infrastructure,” he said.

Mr Malinauskas said he would not halve payroll tax in regional SA because the budget was not in a position to support the policy.

Premier Steven Marshall and Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas will face off at the Building a Bigger, Better SA event at SkyCity on Friday.

Participants in panel discussions will include Santos chief executive officer Kevin Gallagher, who heads the state’s only top 20 ASX-listed company, Elders chief Mark Allison, SkyCity Australia chief David Christian, Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, Hickinbotham Group managing director Michael Hickinbotham and Committee for Adelaide chief Bruce Djite.

The event is the finale in The Advertiser’s Building a Bigger, Better SA campaign, which has directly confronted the state’s challenges and opportunities in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has also included a teen parliament, when students from years 10 to 12 shared their ideas for the future.

The leaders conversation comes at the crucial halfway point of the election campaign, and days ahead of the opening of early voting on Monday.

So far, the Liberals’ have focused on pledges that will grow the economy as it recovers from the pandemic, while Labor has concentrated on health commitments to upgrade the hospital network and fix the ramping crisis.

The event will begin at noon. Santos, Elders and SkyCity are partners in The Advertiser’s campaign.