2018 South Australian State Election

[Jaymz]

There have been some good things happened under this Labor Government, but at the same time.
With Families SA, Oakden, Energy Crisis.

It's highly unlikely that this Labor government will make it through the election.

The sad reality unfortunately is they probably will make it through. Throw in the Gillman land debacle too, this Govt. seems to be teflon coated. Also, there seems to be daily good news stories of late, all at the most convenient of times with the election coming up. You'd think our state was on the cusp of an economic boom! Hardly. Case in point is today's announcement that the Currie Street Sofitel hotel is going to magically kick off in May this year. Good news of course and it's a great development for Adelaide. But upon reading the article it's only due to a $5 million low interest loan from our State Govt. to Palumbo. Another case of picking winners no doubt and getting another feel good story in the news.

We can only hope this groundhog day ceases on the 17th of March.

[Goodsy]

There have been some good things happened under this Labor Government, but at the same time.
With Families SA, Oakden, Energy Crisis.

It's highly unlikely that this Labor government will make it through the election.

The sad reality unfortunately is they probably will make it through. Throw in the Gillman land debacle too, this Govt. seems to be teflon coated. Also, there seems to be daily good news stories of late, all at the most convenient of times with the election coming up. You'd think our state was on the cusp of an economic boom! Hardly. Case in point is today's announcement that the Currie Street Sofitel hotel is going to magically kick off in May this year. Good news of course and it's a great development for Adelaide. But upon reading the article it's only due to a $5 million low interest loan from our State Govt. to Palumbo. Another case of picking winners no doubt and getting another feel good story in the news.

We can only hope this groundhog day ceases on the 17th of March.

hopefully it will show just how teflon coated the state government is.. If they win a clear majority this election then serious questions need to start being asked around the Liberal HQ

[Waewick]

There have been some good things happened under this Labor Government, but at the same time.
With Families SA, Oakden, Energy Crisis.

It's highly unlikely that this Labor government will make it through the election.

The sad reality unfortunately is they probably will make it through. Throw in the Gillman land debacle too, this Govt. seems to be teflon coated. Also, there seems to be daily good news stories of late, all at the most convenient of times with the election coming up. You'd think our state was on the cusp of an economic boom! Hardly. Case in point is today's announcement that the Currie Street Sofitel hotel is going to magically kick off in May this year. Good news of course and it's a great development for Adelaide. But upon reading the article it's only due to a $5 million low interest loan from our State Govt. to Palumbo. Another case of picking winners no doubt and getting another feel good story in the news.

We can only hope this groundhog day ceases on the 17th of March.

hopefully it will show just how teflon coated the state government is.. If they win a clear majority this election then serious questions need to start being asked around the Liberal HQ

or how truly deluded people in the state are...if it were to occur you would start wondering if the term brain drain was literal

[Jaymz]

I think it's more the fact that this Labor Govt. has become so engrained into the people's psyche that many can't imagine a life without them. It's almost like they're hypnotised....... or something funky has been added to the water for the past 5 or 6 years

[Llessur2002]

or how truly deluded people in the state are...if it were to occur you would start wondering if the term brain drain was literal

I ask again - what is the Lib's (or anyone else's) plan that's going to magically boost the State's economic standing? I've not heard a single thing that stands out as a bold idea, regardless of whether or not I agree with it. All I've heard is a few ideas that at most chip away around the edges, a couple (such as the innovation hub at the oRAH) which are very similar to Labor's and a few which seem completely at odds with the new industries which are beginning to flourish here. It's all well and good to bag people for voting for the other guys but what's the alternative plan? What am I missing? Genuinely curious here...

[Waewick]

I dont know what bold means to you so i cant answer that for you.

Incumbent governments also get judged on performance. And quite frankly they stink.

Edit- to be fair on your question, being bold really isnt the answer the Libs or Mr X are offering in my opinion.

Just getting the basics right, changing some really stupid stuff (like trading hours) and a focus outside city limits is at their core of their pitch.(along with defence) which isnt incompatible with emerging industries.

[Nort]

I dont know what bold means to you so i cant answer that for you.

Incumbent governments also get judged on performance. And quite frankly they stink.

Depends on your perspective. Here's another:

Adelaide stumbled for years in the early 2000's, and during that time the government made mistakes for sure. They grew, especially after Rann left. In recent years the government has found a groove of what Adelaide could be and is actively working to grow that. They are heavily supporting the growth of the medical research district by building a state of the art new hospital next to it, it's having some teething problems but every similar project does. They are heavily investing in infrastructure, including progress finally being made on fixing South Road.
They are encouraging high tech IT enterprises to set up in Adelaide through investment in internet infrastructure and support programs for the interactive and VFX industries. South Australia is quickly becoming a global example of how to do the transition to renewable energy with direct government investment in the power grid and plans to heavily invest in growing the renewable power grid across Adelaide.

The fact the Labor government has been in for so long with a bunch of stuff taking forever to happen does give cause for concern. Whenever things become too stagnant it's good to look at the alternative voices and see what the fresh blood can bring.

Problem is when I look to the state Libs I hear nothing new or exciting.

I'll take the plan that has been done wrong at times in the past but is now good and continuing to get better over the vision that doesn't seem to exist at all.

[Jaymz]

Edit- to be fair on your question, being bold really isnt the answer the Libs or Mr X are offering in my opinion.

Just getting the basics right, changing some really stupid stuff (like trading hours) and a focus outside city limits is at their core of their pitch.(along with defence) which isnt incompatible with emerging industries.

Exactly!! I'm no political expert and I can't even rattle off too many policies of the Libs.

Liberal Governments, both State and Federal, are generally better economic managers. It's their bread and butter so to speak. They usually achieve this without being "bold" or "exciting", but through providing better conditions for private enterprise, cutting taxes, removing red tape, streamlining the public sector etc etc...... grass roots stuff.

S.A has been on this Labor rollercoaster for a long time now, and some of it has been a success. Some good infrastructure has been built and no doubt the city of Adelaide has never been more vibrant. Our uptake of renewables is far ahead of every other state, so why not now shore up and bulletproof our electricity supply and try to make it cheaper?? I'm pretty sure a Liberal policy is an interconnector to N.S.W. A sensible policy to me, now that we're close to 50% green power.

[Nathan]

Liberal Governments, both State and Federal, are generally better economic managers

That's a widely held belief, but does it actually play out in practice? Looking federally, the Liberals have managed to double government debt that occurred under the previous Labor government — and that was without a GFC to contend with.

[Nort]

Liberal Governments, both State and Federal, are generally better economic managers

That's a widely held belief, but does it actually play out in practice? Looking federally, the Liberals have managed to double government debt that occurred under the previous Labor government — and that was without a GFC to contend with.

Federally I think it's a myth, at least for the past 25 or so years. Keating did what he thought had to be done economically for Labor, even if it got him some bad press. Howard presided over some good times. Some a result of policy, others a product of being at the helm during a resources boom. Good times in terms of economic growth, bad in terms of ballooning house prices. Rudd/Gillard/Rudd presided over the GFC and racked up debt, but the country came through the GFC better than the vast majority of developed nations. Abbott/Turnbull promised to turn things around only to be shocked when it turns out the economy had changed dramatically since they were last in government and some trends were out of their control.

[Waewick]

Sorry Nort i cant work out how to quote your post only.

I understand your your perspective, but im not sure what you mean by growth ? We've gone backwards over the last 16 years. Our cost of living has gone from being an advantage to crippling businesses and househoulds.

Labor has delivered on somethings for sure, although even their flagship hospital has been shrouded in controversy (lets not even talk about transforming health).

I also disagree with your electricity view point, we have the highest prices in the world at times. Not exactly the way Governments should be doing things nor an example anyone in the world is taking on.

As i said the Libs and Mr X are focusing on what they see as lags on our economy and they are ones i agree with. Those emerging industries are going to emerge whomever gets in (or not which is the general record here).

[bits]

So the definable lags you are pointing to are
-payroll tax for big small businesses.
-trading hour restrictions, although I don't recall libs actually releasing figures for what they would do
-public sector size, although I don't recall libs actually stating any actual figures regarding how much they would reduce this by
-nsw power interlink, however nsw is about to close a large power station also so by the time the link is built there will not be cheap power there.

I struggle to see much clear policy of what the libs are saying they would do for the economy.

Labor announced they will build tram lines and build more renewable power and to boost the economy.
I believe they also said they would reduce the public sector size, but again new good figures of by how much.

[Llessur2002]

I dont know what bold means to you so i cant answer that for you.

Incumbent governments also get judged on performance. And quite frankly they stink.

Edit- to be fair on your question, being bold really isnt the answer the Libs or Mr X are offering in my opinion.

Just getting the basics right, changing some really stupid stuff (like trading hours) and a focus outside city limits is at their core of their pitch.(along with defence) which isnt incompatible with emerging industries.

So in summary, they don't offer anything grand, but they'll aim to get a few of the little things right?

How does this make a voter who votes for big ideas, some of which seem to be on the cusp of snowballing into something economically significant (e.g. renewable energy, electric vehicles, battery production etc) deluded?

People moan that Adelaide's stagnated and is 'going backwards' and yet the apparently sensible solution is to vote for the guys who'll offer some small-fry policy changes (e.g. trading hours), a lot of frankly outdated changes (e.g. cracking down on marijuana possession when the general trend seems to be moving towards legalisation) and lack any big ideas whatsoever?

I'm not sure who's deluded here.

[Waewick]

I dont think their plans are bold in what you are looking for.

But ill be honest im looking for good governance.

[Llessur2002]

I dont think their plans are bold in what you are looking for.

But ill be honest im looking for good governance.

But if you think the State is going backwards then do you think that overall good governance and minor economic tinkering is good enough to turn it around and put it on a significant upward trajectory?

I'll take the big ideas about high-tech industries and working to attract young people by competing with some of the best cities in the world through lifestyle, vibrancy, public transport etc over a 'let's tighten the purse strings and not rock the boat' approach.