Labor vs Liberal: this week's announcements

Key Campaign Commitments

Liberal

• A re-elected Liberal Government will provide an additional $12 million to extend the Skilling South Australia program for another 12 months, which will deliver another 12,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships — delivering jobs for young people and ensuring businesses have the skilled workforce they need.
• The Liberal Party has committed to remove Payroll Tax on all trainees and apprentices for two years, saving employers an estimated $18.2 million. The pledge is an expansion of an existing, temporary scheme and would be applied to wages paid to trainees and apprentices who take-up a contract between July 2022 and June 2024.

✅This aligns with our Charter22 recommendation to reduce the general rate of Payroll Tax from 4.95% to 4.85%, but is also a response to consistent advocacy from South Australian Business Chamber.

• The Liberal Party have pledged to open three new international trade offices in key markets (Germany, India and South-East Asia) and establish an $18 million Direct Flights Fund that will seek to lure flights from key strategic tourism and trade locations. Target destinations include the US, Japan, New Zealand, Vietnam and Singapore. This will increase visitors into Adelaide and exports out of Adelaide.
• The Liberal Party has outlined a new Small Business Support Package. They will employ ​“Small Business Support Advisors” at Service SA centres in Prospect, Modbury and one in an as-yet unannounced regional area to provide free support and guidance to small businesses; set-up a multi-channel concierge service (email, web, video chat, face-to-face) for small business that includes dedicated case managers; and make it easier to do business by creating a one-stop, whole-of-government digital portal where grant applications, funding and other business transactions can all be done in one place. A new $2.3 million fund would also be established to provide subsidised assistance of up to $2000 for 1000 small businesses to access cyber awareness training.
• A re-elected Liberal Government will construct a multipurpose indoor arena for sport, entertainment and conventions to be built between Adelaide’s railyards and the River Torrens – the Riverbank Arena. An underground tunnel below the Morphett St bridge would provide a direct link between the 15,000-capacity arena and the Adelaide Convention Centre. Construction is not expected to start for another four years (in 2025). This new arena will replace the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, which will then be developed into film and television studios.

Labor

• Labor has pledged to work with Government-backed lender HomeStart to develop a low-deposit home loan specifically tailored for first home buyers. In addition to helping more South Australians to enter the housing market, this initiative would also provide additional support for the local construction industry, which may see a slump following the end of the Federal Government’s Homebuilder scheme.
• Labor will invest $8.7m to produce specific apprenticeships and courses, designed in conjunction with TAFE SA and CITB. A further, $1 million investment in the Master Builders Outreach Program will seek to increase the amount of students pursuing trades, especially Aboriginal and female apprentices.
• Labor has committed an additional $40 million over 4 years to the Major Events Fund and an additional $20 million to the Tourism Marketing Fund over the next 2 years. They will also provide $1.6 million over 4 years for the Tourism Industry Council of South Australia (TICSA) to provide capability building through workshops and one-to-one business coaching as well as a program to encourage young people to consider a career in tourism.
• Labor in government will establish a University Merger Commission to chart a path. It will include the leadership of the three universities and be headed up by an eminent commissioner with higher education experience. Its task will be to determine how the state can be best served by the university sector. Should the independent Commission determine that a university merger is in the interest of the South Australian economy and the welfare of the people of the state, then a merger will be a first term priority for a Labor Government.

✅This aligns with our Charter22 recommendation – Continue to investigate options to merge local universities.

• Labor has announced a Hydrogen Jobs Plan, which seeks to unlock the development of $20 billion pipeline of renewable energy projects in our state, deliver lower electricity prices for business and industry in South Australia and deliver thousands of new jobs for South Australians. The Plan includes the construction of one of the world’s largest hydrogen electrolyser facilities and hydrogen power stations.

✅This aligns with our Charter22 recommendations to develop an all-electric or hydrogen public transport fleet with supporting infrastructure and introduce a registration incentive for hydrogen and electric vehicles.

• Labor has detailed a comprehensive industry participation policy. This includes:
  • an increase of $425 million per year in Government spending going to SA businesses away from interstate/​overseas suppliers from the current annual government procurement spending (currently $8.5bn per year on goods, services and infrastructure, so a 5% increase), as well as ensuring the Auditor-General reports annually on how much is spent on South Australian and non-South Australian goods and services

✅[Charter22, 15.2: Increase transparency of future government procurement needs]

• • requiring Chief Executives to sign off on procurement outcomes where the successful tenderer is not South Australian.

✅[Charter22, 15.7: Introduce an Exception Notice written by Chief Executives of Government agencies for the selection of non-South Australian businesses in State government tenders]

• • publishing an annual project pipeline of coming infrastructure projects over $10m over the next three years, to enable lead contractors to prepare thoroughly; ensuring that public projects above $500m are broken up into smaller stages or components to allow multiple SA companies the opportunity to participate on projects, unless the nature of the project makes this unfeasible; and broadly publicising government procurement opportunities three months in advance to enable local businesses to prepare for tender opportunities

✅[9 Point Plan: Unbundling of Government Contracts]

• • mandating that SA workers deliver at least 90 per cent of labour hours on major infrastructure projects
  • re-establishing Brand SA to raise the profile of South Australian businesses to guide customer choices; establishing a Buy Local Campaign; re-introducing requirements on all government agencies to place government notices and advertisements in regional newspapers; and ensuring 10% of all government advertising is spent in regional media.