Liz Penfold Maiden Speech
15 February 1994

Mrs PENFOLD (Flinders): I move:

That the following Address in Reply to Her Excellency’s opening speech be adopted:

May it please Your Excellency—

1. We, the members of the House of Assembly, express our thanks for the speech with which Your Excellency was pleased to open Parliament.

2.We assure Your Excellency that we will give our best attention to the matters placed before us.

3. We earnestly join in Your Excellency’s prayer for the divine blessing on the proceedings of the session.

In the year of the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage, it gives me great pleasure, as a woman, to move the motion for the adoption of the Address in Reply. I follow in the footsteps of some very influential women including Mrs Jessie Cooper, Mrs Joyce Steele and Ms Jennifer Cashmore, all of whom I understand gave their maiden speeches as the Address in Reply. I express my condolences to the family of Mrs Jessie Cooper.

I congratulate Her Excellency on her speech and I support her words, particularly those on the importance of women being given greater opportunity to participate fully and equally in all levels of decision-making. On election night I was particularly pleased to hear the new Premier, Mr Dean Brown, in his acceptance speech support the importance of the family to South Australia. To me it is of great significance that the Year of the Family has coincided with the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage. It will provide an opportunity to give greater prominence than perhaps would otherwise have been possible to those issues that are so closely related—women and the family, and their position in modern society. To bring balance and a different perspective, women from all walks of life must be heard within all forums. As a farmer’s daughter, a former schoolteacher, a public servant, a small business person, and a wife and mother, I believe that I and my women colleagues in both Houses will be able to help provide this balance and perspective and therefore add to the greater understanding of the problems we face today and, through understanding the problems, help solve them.  

My predecessor, Mr Peter Blacker, who was the sole National Party representative in this House, is to be commended on his representation of the electorate of Flinders for over 20 years. He worked hard to serve his constituents and I wish him well in his new endeavours. There is great need for change in South Australia, and the people of Flinders have shown very clearly that they have faith that I and the new Liberal Government team will best be able to achieve this change. We will not let them down.

For the first time Kangaroo Island has been included in the rezoned seat of Flinders. This is an historic change, as Kangaroo Island has always been represented by a member from the Fleurieu Peninsula. However, I accept the challenge and the chance to represent fully in this Parliament the people from Kangaroo Island. The electorate includes most of the Eyre Peninsula and all Kangaroo Island—a total of nine council regions. I consider it a great honour to have been elected by these people, and I undertake to represent them to the best of my ability. I take this opportunity to thank them for putting their trust in me. I would also like to thank my husband Geoff, my daughters, Susan and Katrina, and the many relatives, friends and Liberal Party members who supported me. These people supported me when others had lost confidence in the possibility of bringing Flinders back into the Liberal team.

I believe that a major contribution to the real economic recovery of this State and this nation will come from the country regions. It always has in the past and it will again this time. The potential of our State depends on providing people with the opportunity to develop our resources in an environmentally sustainable manner. We must not take as narrow a view of this development as we have in the past. We must realise that, if we are to sustain our rural communities, we must broaden their economic base.We must see that our rural towns are no longer solely dependent on one or perhaps two products. We must increase the range of products we produce, and we must take control of the processing of these products—at least where there is an economic gain—before they leave our towns. This will enable us to keep our Government services in these towns, and become price makers and not just price takers.

Our country towns have tough, resilient, innovative and determined people living in them, and they have the infrastructure in place to readily develop value-adding industries, but to the extent this has been encouraged it has involved large industries in Adelaide and regional industrial cities. For years the country people have paid their taxes and got on with life. They expected that they would be treated at least equally with the people in the cities and that the importance and value of their product to the State and to the country would be recognised, but their trust was misplaced. Federally, in recent years, the Labor Government has raised interest rates and pushed up exchange rates without considering the effect on our rural Australia and its exporters, who cannot increase their prices.

The Federal Labor Government has now increased fuel prices, ignoring the heavy penalty people in isolated areas suffer when they cannot pass on these costs. In South Australia we have suffered a similar fate from our past State Labor Government. Over many years our regional arterial roads have been neglected. Education and health funding has been concentrated in the cities, and Government advisers to our major export industries have been withdrawn. Regional development is a priority of the new Liberal Government, and some positive discrimination must occur to put the country regions back in a position once again for them to be recognised as generators of new wealth.

While the member, I will be encouraging each town to develop some form of alternative income source to provide jobs and money to keep alive their town. What we have seen happen in the regions with the downturn in farming is the young leaving to find work. This is illustrated in two of the district council areas by the fall in population, within one decade, of approximately one quarter. The average age of farmers is now around 57 years. The people leave, and with them go their families, the Government services, teachers, police and health workers and their families. Soon the businesses in the town close. Once gone, these people are very difficult to get back because the town no longer has the services to provide an attractive place to live. This must stop. All businesses, both great and small, need to be encouraged within the country regions in order that the downturn in the major industries never again affects so greatly the viability of our towns. 

The importance of small industries must be recognised as they are critical to the survival of the country towns and collectively have a significant economic impact. Within Flinders, we already have alternative farming of deer, goats, emus, ostriches, marron, yabbies, wild flowers, exotic flowers, grapes and native trees. Once legislation has been introduced, farming kangaroos and wallabies will be possible. Kangaroo meat is very low in fat and cholesterol, and I am not one to shy away from an industry just because it means farming our wildlife. They are naturally suited to their environment and will do far less damage, with potentially less disease, than the European animals we now farm. Europe is crying out for game meat, particularly as theirs has been polluted by radiation and chemicals, while our meat is some of the best in the world. New value-adding and manufacturing industries are also starting with biscuits, jam, clothing, eucalyptus oil and honey, just for starters.

The initiative of the businessmen in Kimba, in starting the Sturt pea growing venture, is a prime example of what I believe must happen everywhere. They now have a successful small business employing local people and adding to the economy. In addition, it has been the catalyst for another business person to look into providing potting mix. This mix is now being produced using, in part, the grain dust that was only recently being dumped at the rubbish tip. More jobs are thus created, and a waste product is being recycled.

The main industries on Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island have been farming and grazing. However, because both areas have extensive coastlines and clean water, fishing and aquiculture have become very important. Light manufacturing can be developed much further, while mining, based on past and planned survey work, may have tremendous potential.

I now turn to the cereal industry. Only a few years ago, Eyre Peninsula as a whole produced 10 per cent of the nation’s wheat harvest. That gives some idea of just how important one part of the grain industry is to the electorate of Flinders. The very size and nature of Eyre Peninsula’s and Kangaroo Island’s grain industry underlies my concern that the farmers get the support necessary to continue. The future of Flinders lies in maintaining its farming and grazing industries. We all recognise that it is much easier to maintain an already efficient industry than it is to create a new one and attract investment to it. These farmers are some of the most efficient in the world, and this industry and its people must still be there to help produce the wealth for our State when the inevitable improvement in price occurs.

Farmers have suffered from a run of poor seasons and low prices. Many of these farmers have now had two disastrous seasons where their incomes have been slashed. Excellent crops have been devastated by unseasonable rain, followed by mice and then frost. It is normal to have a periodic bad season on Eyre Peninsula, with one year in five being expected. Farmers could plan and adapt to this in the days when the margins on grain were much higher than those of today. This year the wheat price dropped by one-third from the level in 1985 in real terms. What other industry has had to survive under these conditions? Ownership of the shipping belts, which move our grain from the silo system to the waiting ship, is important in minimising costs for these cereal growers.

The logical outcome would be for these to be sold by the Department of Marine and Harbors to the South Australian Bulk Handling Cooperative. I would be concerned if a third party gained ownership and control of these shipping berths. When this Government is contemplating selling assets in its debt reduction program, I would mention that the shed used by Elders at its Gillman wool store is also now owned by the Department of Marine and Harbors. Why the previous Government purchased wool stores from private companies at Gillman is beyond my comprehension.

Whilst on the subject of wool, I would be remiss if I did not mention the plight of the graziers who are reliant on the price of wool and point out that there is a difference between those industries that produce real export income for this country and those that do not. Kangaroo Island runs 1.3 million sheep and produces approximately 10 per cent of our State’s wool clip. It is necessary, during this time of adjustment, to ease the pressure on these people where possible, while their industry adjusts to the new circumstances. They have been a major source of wealth for this country; they will be needed again and cannot be discarded like used rags now that times are tough.

An alternative area for growth in the sheep industry that is at an early developmental stage is antibody production for serum vaccine. Sheep have many advantages over horses, and South Australia is a leader in this field due to our relatively disease free environment. Future production could involve perhaps 50 000 sheep producing for local and overseas markets. Sheep milk and cheese production potentially worth many millions could also be developed. A farm on Kangaroo Island is already a leader in this industry.

Rural South Australia is undergoing a rapid and forced change in line with other farming regions of Australia. Low commodity prices and international best practice policies are forcing many farming families into new and alternative lifestyles. In the electorate of Flinders, families are either choosing new directions or being forced into shifting away from their family and friends into new and uncharted lifestyles. New jobs, new careers, new schools and, often, totally new environments many miles away from former homes have considerable impact on rural families. Funding for rural counsellors and, where there is a complete breakdown, for women’s shelters and social workers must be maintained.

Where it is inevitable that people have to leave the land, grief counselling needs to be provided. There is major grief and loss where farms are sold that have been in families sometimes for many generations and people feel that they are failures. In the case of bushfire the whole country is sympathetic, but of the plight of those leaving the land little notice has been taken, yet one is fast and clean cut while the other is slow and agonising and, in terms of anguish, far greater.

A major industry within the Flinders electorate is fishing. Port Lincoln is home to the biggest fishing fleet in Australia. The electorate produces some 60 per cent of the State’s fishing income. Seafood produced from the waters around Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island includes abalone, rock lobster, oysters, pilchards, prawns, shark, tuna and whiting. The industry has been particularly enterprising over the years with development into new fisheries and, now, into tuna farming and aquiculture.

The Port Lincoln tuna farming industry has developed over the past four years to the point where it is employing at least 400 people directly and many more indirectly. The value adding through farming the southern bluefin tuna for a minimum of three months is enormous. By feeding the tuna in enclosed nets until their skin size, colour and fat content suit the market, the value per kilo can be increased from $1.50 to about $50 per kilo. The industry is expected to export over $50 million worth of tuna in 1994, much of which is air freighted chilled direct to the Tokyo markets. I am pleased to say that the Liberal Government has already planned well ahead with this industry.

In September 1993 the Liberals signed an industry agreement with the tuna farmers, providing for the pilchard catch to feed the tuna to be increased under controlled conditions to minimise the imports from interstate and overseas; to undertake a comprehensive research program on the impact of tuna farming; and to encourage the development of a pellet feed plant to supplement the pilchards. It is anticipated that in future additional jobs will be provided through greater processing of the tuna before export. With the export of most of the bluefin tuna catch, the Port Lincoln cannery has developed a wide range of products based largely on imported fish.

Abalone is a major wild fishery for Flinders. In addition, with some Government assistance plus venture capital, Port Lincoln businesses are developing a hatchery and aquiculture industry that intends to breed and grow abalone to 90 millimetres for specialised markets. The northern zone of the rock lobster industry of South Australia is a very well managed industry, which currently exports large quantities of crayfish, both live and frozen. This industry, in conjunction with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and the southern zone, has undertaken a $3.5 million research project to gain a better understanding of the life cycle and development of lobster.

The Spencer Gulf and West Coast prawn industry has a history of sound and efficient self-management. This industry has provided leadership in management of this type of industry, and its methods have been adopted by other State fisheries. It is recognised nationally and internationally as one of the world’s best managed fisheries. Continuing research is being undertaken by the industry to optimise the harvest. Pilchards have become important with the development of the tuna farming industry, and the legitimate interests of the people who have pioneered the industry will have to be taken into consideration with the issuing of future licences.

I must raise another issue of great concern to me and to many people in the electorate. There are many groups with competing interests in our inshore scale fishery. Activities of the professional net and line fishing industry, combined with those of the local and tourist recreational fishermen, have seriously depleted the fish stocks. Besides causing a fall in professional line fishing incomes, this has adversely affected the tourist industry, which is based on recreational fishing. People are no longer making places such as our delightful Coffin Bay their holiday destination. I seek support from this House and from this Government to put in place controls to preserve what fish stocks we have left. The King George whiting stocks, for instance, are estimated to be down by more than 90 per cent to between 4 and 7 per cent of the original stocks. Experts consider that anything less than 20 per cent is dangerously low.

Oyster production commenced in a small way in Coffin Bay many years ago, replacing the natural oyster that had been fished out. There are now approximately 81 leases in South Australia, most of which are in Flinders. These have the potential to produce over one million oysters a year each within two or three years. An oyster hatchery should soon be able to provide local spat, bringing both greater convenience and a reduction in the risk of importing diseases. To enable the industry to expand fully, it is essential that the clean water program be completed to allow the ready export of oysters interstate and overseas.

In light of the above existing potential development, I wish to express grave concern over the potential for the discharge in ballast water of algae, Japanese sea stars and other exotic creatures with the potential to ruin all these shallow water based industries. I believe that the first action should be to increase the existing penalties from $200 to a more realistic $200 000.

I turn now to mining. The geology of Flinders is very complex. There have been small mining operations in the past, the latest being the graphite mine south of Port Lincoln, now on a care and maintenance basis due to poor prices. There are substantial reserves of gypsum, mainly near Streaky Bay, which could be developed with an improvement in price. Thanks to new technology, the mining potential of both Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island has recently been recognised and detailed surveys are being done near Streaky Bay and on Kangaroo Island. The potential for another Roxby Downs or Kimberley diamond mine is now possible.

With respect to tourism and retirement, Flinders has a vast tourism and retirement potential. We just have to let the world know what we have, provide the necessary facilities to accommodate them and convince them to come. Superb national parks, coastlines, beaches, sailing, boating, fishing and flora and fauna—we have it all. The distance from population centres resulting in higher transport costs is a problem for both Kangaroo Island and Eyre Peninsula. However, the exploitation of tourism will employ more people within our towns and provide another source that will help reduce the effect of the severe rural downturn we are currently experiencing.

According to the Bureau of Industry Economics, the multiplier effect means that every dollar spent by a visitor generates income of $2.62 in the local economy. Already tourism, which injects $55 million into the region, is the third ranking industry after grain and fishing on Eyre Peninsula. With Seal Bay, Remarkable Rocks and Flinders Chase National Park, the potential on Kangaroo Island is just as great.

The Liberal Government has placed the management of funds in the hands of the regional tourism organisations, so it is now up to us to decide how we are best able to use those funds to promote our regions. Most of the visitors to Flinders come from within the State, and the people of Flinders must take up the challenge to entice these tourists to stay an extra day or two and encourage them to return. Statistics show that most of them do.

It is also for the people of Flinders to build on the very favourable response to the region and encourage people to make their homes there. On Saturday nearly 400 people arrived in Port Lincoln in 54 yachts. At the presentation of prizes for this 45th Adelaide to Port Lincoln yacht race the Commodore of the Port Lincoln Yacht Club appointed me the Commodore of the North Terrace Yacht Club. As Commodore I will soon be issuing invitations for you to visit our fair city as my contribution to encouraging the members of this auspicious House to live there.

I turn now to manufacturing. Enterprise bargaining will be a tremendous plus for people living in country areas. The smaller businesses and the resulting closer relationship between the people in these businesses has resulted in lower unionisation and a much reduced tendency to strike action. With the high cost of infrastructure we cannot afford to run our plant and machinery for only eight hours a day. If we can double its usage, we will be able to employ twice as many of our people and improve the viability of our industries.

The incentives offered to expanding export oriented businesses by the Liberal Government, including a 10 per cent payroll tax rebate for existing exporters and a 50 per cent rebate on new exports, combined with the WorkCover rebates, will stimulate additional activity especially in the larger firms, with a flow-on effect to the smaller firms. The shipbuilding of Port Lincoln Ship Construction is of world class and, although currently in hard times, I am confident it will recover to take its place as a major industry within South Australia.

I turn now to Kangaroo Island. Although Kangaroo Island has only just over 11 per cent of the population of my electorate, I believe it deserves special mention. In my campaign I made a commitment to do what I could to have the island incorporated in the electorate of Finniss. The reason for this commitment is that, although the island and Eyre Peninsula have similar problems resulting from isolation, similar industries in farming, grazing, fishing and tourism, Kangaroo Island’s natural association has always been with Fleurieu Peninsula.

While the grazing, agriculture and fishing industries on the island will continue to be the backbone of its economy, tourism has considerable potential to provide employment. Kangaroo Island is a tourist destination of world class, with visitor numbers tipped to double in the next 10 years. Seals, wallabies and a wide array of native animals thrill visitors from around the world. The romantic nature of being on an island adds further to its charm as a tourist destination. It has a fox and rabbit-free environment and, with the elimination of feral cats and the restriction of house cats, it could be further developed as a refuge for a wide range of endangered native animals. This would enhance its attractiveness for tourists. The absence of predators could also make the island suitable for special livestock projects.

For tourism, Kangaroo Island being an island is an advantage; for the other industries it is a major disadvantage. While the air links with Adelaide are excellent, it is the sea links that are critical for maintaining viable businesses on the island. The people are entitled to the same links with the rest of South Australia as other cities, towns and regions.

The island is currently served by three efficient ferry services: two private enterprise operations between Penneshaw and Cape Jervis; and the third, the Island Seaway, is a heavily subsidised service between Port Adelaide and Kingscote. Many people on the island want all services retained as they are complementary to one another. The Island Seaway, with direct links to Adelaide, thereby avoiding the narrow roads north from Cape Jervis, is particularly suited to heavy freight. Naturally the subsidy paid to support the operation of the Island Seaway will come under very close review by this Government, and I support this. I have written to the Minister for Transport (Hon. Diana Laidlaw) seeking the financial figures in relation to the Island Seaway’s operation. While there is a strong argument that funding this service is as much a Government responsibility as providing roads, I believe that, if this operation is to survive the more stringent tests for the expenditure of Government funds applied by a Liberal Government, it must be made viable.

Before the election I researched recommencing the Island Seaway’s operation from Kingscote to Port Lincoln, thereby linking two great primary industry and tourist destinations with synergistic benefits to both areas. Properly marketed, I believe this could benefit the abattoirs on Kangaroo Island and the sheep industry on Eyre Peninsula, and also the tourist industry in both areas. I will also seek to have the Island Seaway berth at Outer Harbor, saving considerable time and cost on the journey between the mainland and the island.

Kangaroo Island has many other advantages that I would like to outline for members. I need not remind members that the clean environment of the island enables the production of free range and organic products which now attract very large premiums in the marketplace. The island has an excellent climate for timber production, and plantings are increasing in this industry. Besides the value of timber production from the plantations, they will make a significant impact on lowering the watertable on Kangaroo Island and help correct some salinity problems.

While on the subject of water, I point out that the island is ideally suited to marron farming, with production already being sold on the mainland. Many of the island’s bays and estuaries are also suited to oyster farming, and there is potential for widespread seeding of scallops, razor fish and abalone. This technology has already been proven. It is an exciting new industry, one which because of our clean image we can fully exploit, creating further wealth and growth for our State.

Despite the high rainfall in parts of Lower Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, much of the electorate has relatively low rainfall, and like the rest of the State it will increasingly suffer from water shortages. The new Liberal Government has already approved a new scheme to provide high quality filtered water to Kingscote using innovative Australian technology. I must mention the work being undertaken at Streaky Bay, where there is a particularly bad water supply problem. To overcome its water shortage it is presently conducting a feasibility study into the use of solar energy to distil sea water, as well as other options of turning brackish water into drinkable water. With Government support it could be successful in solving its water supply problems. This investment in new technology could bring huge benefits to South Australia.

I refer now to Aborigines. As there is a large population of Aborigines in the city of Port Lincoln, I would like to spend some time outlining some of their recent achievements. There is cause for much optimism in the way in which the Port Lincoln Aboriginal community is tackling its problems. It has an effective organisational structure with some very worthwhile corporate plans and achievable goals and some outstanding leaders who are working to improve their lot. It has its own sporting club and its own football team which is affiliated with the Port Lincoln Football League. This team has had considerable success, having won more than its share of premierships.

The Aboriginal community has in place its own community infrastructure which is tackling women’s issues, crime prevention and substance abuse. The Port Lincoln Aboriginal Organisation (PLAO) has recently taken control of the nearby Wanilla Forest. It has ambitious plans to develop the forest, to treat and sell the timber and to value add some of the more exotic species. There are plans for a tourism development within the forest. It has also bought some of what was Poonindie Mission land, and it has a management plan and a development plan formulated for this area. Poonindie Mission was the first native training institution in Australia. These plans demonstrate the Aboriginal community’s interest in commercial enterprises and will go a long way to achieving its goal of getting off the welfare system.

A large number of the community now participates in the work for the dole program, a Liberal initiative which started in closed Aboriginal communities many years ago. Port Lincoln was the first city in Australia to pioneer this community development employment program called CDEP. I strongly support this being extended to the rest of the State’s unemployed and would be happy to see a pilot program in Flinders. The benefits to the self-esteem of the participants and to the community are immeasurable. I commend the work carried out by the Port Lincoln Aboriginal community.

I turn now to transport. I believe the isolation of both Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island justifies my spending some time discussing the question of transport. Roads in both areas have been significantly neglected over the past two decades of mainly Labor Government. Therefore, it is particularly pleasing to have the promise of the new Liberal Government to seal all rural arterial roads within a decade. I am in the process of preparing a submission to have the major roads in both areas included in this program.

The railways on Eyre Peninsula are probably the only Government run railways in Australia that operate at a profit. While the profit in past years appears to be due partly to inadequate re-investment in the maintenance of rolling stock and tracks, recent statistics show much improved efficiency and a substantial investment in track maintenance. With theadvent of the National Rail Corporation and the emasculation of Australia National, I urge the Government to be vigilant regarding the future of this system. In 1990 it appeared there was a chance that this railway would be closed, as have so many of our small rail systems.

With respect to ferries, Kangaroo Island has been adequately covered, so I will concentrate on Eyre Peninsula. The proposal to link Eyre Peninsula with the South Australian mainland via a ferry link through Cowell toWallaroo is one of the most exciting announcements for Eyre Peninsula for many years. There are many potential benefits from reducing the relative isolation of this region, including direct and indirect employment, increased tourism and the development of a retirement market. The road trip from Adelaide to Port Lincoln is equivalent to driving from Adelaide to Melbourne. Therefore, if this venture can be viable it has my full support. Eyre Peninsula has traditionally been linked by sea, and funding of the infrastructure should be considered on the same basis as arterial road funding.

With respect to air freight, both Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island have an increasing dependence on air freight to transport live or chilled sea produce and flowers to overseas markets. Products of this nature gain premium prices on these markets only if they arrive in premium condition. I strongly support all efforts to improve the air freight service from Adelaide Airport as a matter of urgency as transhipping goods of this type at other airports can result in considerable loss to our exporters.

I refer now to centres of excellence and, first, tertiary education. Few people in the city would appreciate the cost and sacrifice that country people incur in order to send their children to tertiary study in the city. There is not only the financial cost of accommodation and fares never covered by the reducing benefits under Austudy but also the trauma of forcing immature children to fend for themselves in a foreign environment. The success rate of country children is much lower than that of city children through starting with both a lower standard of education and lack of parental support.

I believe that TAFE colleges should be able to provide at least the first year of education, and that over time Flinders University should develop in Port Lincoln a full university campus specialising in marine studies. Port Lincoln which, as I stated earlier, has the largest fishing fleet in Australia, a very wide range of wild fisheries and now the development of fish farming and aquaculture, all centred around a harbour five times larger than Sydney Harbour, should become a centre of excellence for marine studies for this State, Australia and internationally.

Accommodation on a commercial basis should be provided for both people on the coast and those from countries in Asian regions who seek to obtain an education in an English speaking area. They often prefer their students to study in English speaking countries because English is the main science and business language. Proficiency in English is therefore essential. This would provide a major new industry for the town and very relevant research and courses for people in the industry.

I refer now to the marine science laboratory. Flinders University has recognised the importance of the fishing industry in this region by the establishment of a small marine research laboratory in Port Lincoln. This may be contrasted with the siting of the marine laboratory at West Beach at, I understand, double the original budgeted cost of $8 million. While the Port Lincoln laboratory has clean water, the West Beach facility is sited next to the Patawalonga outlet, the Glenelg sewage works outlet and the Torrens River outlet. The decision to construct this expensive facility at West Beach instead of at Port Lincoln appears to have been an attempt to offset another of the previous Government’s bungles. This decision has denied Port Lincoln much needed technical expertise based in the region. The management costs of the West Beach facility are funded by a policy of loading licence fees, with more than 50 per cent coming from this electorate.

I turn now to dry land farming and, first, the Minnipa Research Station. This research station provides valuable research for the rural sector. The marginal farming areas desperately need any information that will assist them to improve productivity and reduce costs. These skills are needed throughout many areas of the world. We presently lead the world in dry land farming technology and as such we should be maximising our opportunities to promote and sell this technology to others. It is interesting to note that the Leader of the Opposition (Hon. Lynn Arnold) said in 1989 that this station would be funded to become a centre of excellence in dry land farming. I strongly support this concept and look forward to its development during the term of a Liberal Government.

Another establishment that provides excellent services to the farming community is Sims Farm in Cleve. This is a 355 hectare farming property donated by the late Clarence Gordon Sims. It provides the State of South Australia with a teaching resource for dry land agriculture equal to any in Australia. Cleve Area School has a successful two-year certificate in agriculture course for years 11 and 12 students based around Sims Farm. Sadly, the previous Government did not fully recognise the value of Mr Clarence Gordon Sims’ gift to the South Australian people, and Mr Sims’ will is open to interpretation. The previous Government used this fact to attempt to sell off part of this valuable gift.

While representing the seat of Flinders it is my intention to see that the Government introduces legislation casting in stone ownership of Sims Farm, thereby making its bequest to the people of South Australia safe. I will be endeavouring to see that the Cleve Area School and the Minnipa Research Centre become renowned as world class centres of excellence for research development and education in dry land farming.

I wish to comment briefly on the importance of the State Bank to the people in the electorate of Flinders. Whatever decision is taken on the future of the State Bank, I want to place on the public record my concern that competition be maintained in the provision of banking facilities to rural South Australians. In the electorate of Flinders, the State Bank presently operates branches at Cleve, Cowell, Cummins, Port Lincoln, Streaky Bay, Tumby Bay, Wudinna and Kingscote. Altogether, the State Bank employs about 80 people in my electorate. Some of the commercial banks have recently closed their branches in the rural towns. I would be concerned if any plans to restructure the State Bank or find new owners also included any lessening of representation in the areas covered by the electorate of Flinders.

In my campaign I said that I would make Flinders important again. To the people who live in Flinders and to me it is already the most important electorate, with vast untapped potential. We must communicate more with our city cousins. It is very apparent that the city has little understanding of the country regions, yet the country regions, I believe, are so important to our economic survival. Therefore, I suggest that the city and the country editions of the Advertiser should be combined with a compromise on content so that the city people learn more about the realities of the country regions and not just hear about them when there is a major disaster. ABC television could concentrate some prime viewing time on the positives of country life.

The importance of the income from the country regions needs to be further recognised and rewarded if the country is to fulfil its potential as a major real income generator for this State. An investment in our country regions will be bountifully returned to South Australia and the nation. Without this investment the country regions will continue to wither and die, and Australia will suffer the consequences. People ask,

‘What can you achieve with so little money?’ I reply that to cut red tape costs little and will go a long way to returning some of the incentives for people to go out and to achieve great things. The change in attitude towards business by the Liberal Government is, again, free of cost, yet it is so encouraging for the people who have been striving to achieve, almost in spite of the former Labor Government. A change in the emphasis of Government expenditure and the elimination of the waste of public money will help to build confidence in our Government.

It is time to remember that we must become profitable again. It is also time to remember that taxes are paid on profits and that without taxes we cannot afford all the things we want for ourselves and our communities. Teachers, nurses, police and pensions are all paid from the public purse. I do not believe that Governments can tax profits more: the answer is to make more profits. This will provide more jobs and will help to solve many of the social and physical ills of our people.

The Liberal win in South Australia has clearly introduced a new feeling of hope after the despair resulting from our failure in the Federal elections. We must build on this to provide a future for our children.

I conclude with a quote from Abraham Lincoln that I have carried with me for many years. He said:

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing what they could and should do for themselves.

It has been my honour to move this Address in Reply.

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E-mail address:  flinders.portlincoln@parliament.sa.gov.au