The SA Liberals are already back to their reckless spending habits, announcing more than half a billion dollars of policy on the run.
Parliament has only just returned but already in this term of Government, the SA Liberals have racked up $624 million in spending commitments, including:
- $200m raising the payroll tax-free threshold from $1.5 million to $2.1 million
- $173m incentives for midwives, nurses and GPs
- $100m fuel response
- $80m payroll tax exemption for apprentices and trainees
- $38m free flu vaccinations
- $30m free public transport for three months
- $3m algal bloom royal commission
In addition, the Liberals want to make it harder for farmers to access low interest loans by expanding the eligibility criteria which will result in more people bidding for the same pool of money.
During the election campaign, the SA Liberal Spending Tracker meticulously documented almost $6 billion in Liberal election commitments - a staggering figure that dwarfed every previous election platform in the state's history.
At the time, Shadow Treasurer Ben Hood explained away the Liberals enormous spending platform with the use of imaginary contingencies and unconfirmed GST revenue.
South Australian voters saw through it. On 21 March, they delivered their verdict in emphatic fashion, serving the Liberals one of the most decisive electoral defeats in the state's history.
But rather than reflect on why voters so comprehensively rejected them, the Liberals have dusted themselves off and gone straight back to making expensive promises.
As put by Tom Koutsantonis
During the election campaign, the SA Liberals racked up almost $6 billion in promises with no credible plan to fund them.
Voters punished them for it. And yet here we are, just over a month later, and they're already back at it.
The SA Liberals haven't learned a thing. They are addicted to announcements and allergic to accountability.
This is a party that has five seats, finished behind One Nation on primary votes, and is behaving as though none of it happened.
The last few weeks have shown us that the Liberals are still as much of a shambles as they've ever been.
