Thursday marks five years since Jay Weatherill succeeded Mike Rann as South Australian premier
PREMIER Jay Weatherill has named “expanding the scope of what South Australians see as possible for themselves” as the major achievement of his five years in the job. How do you rate his effort? — VOTE NOW.
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PREMIER Jay Weatherill has named “expanding the scope of what South Australians see as possible for themselves” as the major achievement of his five years in the job — and predicts the next election will be fought over which party is most willing to stand up for the state’s interests.
Mr Weatherill said their foray into national and global debates like climate change, the nuclear storage, tax reform and defence helped to expand the “scope of possibility” and “lift the quality of public discourse”.
In the exclusive interview with The Advertiser, Mr Weatherill also admitted his party was “losing bark on a range of things” including health and power prices.
Opposition Leader Steven Marshall, in a column published today, says he is “convinced that Jay Weatherill doesn’t want to be Premier” and his rival has put far more effort into “being a commentator and blaming others for what’s happening in SA”.
Tomorrow marks five years since he ousted ex-premier Mike Rann, with Mr Weatherill saying Labor was in a “dark place” at that time, with a public perception the Government had stopped listening to them.
Mr Weatherill said strong campaigns aimed at winning a deal to secure the future of the River Murray and the future submarines contract, as well offering people more say over public policy, had repaired the Government’s position.
“I think the dominant mood of the age is lack of trust in politicians,” Mr Weatherill said.
“What I’m trying to do is turn that question around and say that maybe the problem is that politicians have lost the willingness and capacity to trust people.
“We’re asking big questions that are difficult and don’t always reflect well on the Government.
“Traditionally what governments do is say that everything is all right, and try to distract or spin to just try and get everybody to think that things are not as bad as they are.
“It’s a different and more honest approach to share the problem and say ‘we are all in on this together’.”
The latest Advertiser-Galaxy poll showed the Liberals leading Labor 53-47 on a two-party basis, a position which is unchanged since the Government’s unexpected return in 2014.
“I think we recovered our position and I think we’re gradually building on that position, which I think is quite extraordinary for a long-term government facing the kind of challenges our state is,” he said.
“We had been a good government, but certainly had created an impression that we weren’t listening, and that was something that I had wanted to remedy.
“I think the public appreciated the change in tone from what had happened earlier.
“But it’s a shared endeavour. There’s not some great saviour that’s going to come in and invent a new future for our state.
“It’s a collective responsibility. I believe in collective leadership.”
“People will see (by the next election) a high-quality, more efficient healthcare system that will frankly save lives and improve their quality of care,” Mr Weatherill said.
“It is going to be a communication challenge, and we can lose our nerve.
“If you’re going to spend political capital, do it on something that counts because ultimately people respect that.”
Mr Weatherill insisted a clear contrast was emerging between his government, which had taken on both the Coalition and federal Labor Party in Canberra over issues including tax reform and industry policy and a state Opposition that “won’t and can’t stand up to the federal Liberals”.
He said this failure from local Liberals had given rise to the Nick Xenophon Team phenomenon.
Mr Weatherill said the single biggest issue at the election would be jobs, and Labor’s challenge was to show it could deliver renewal and change in a transitioning economy.