Media Mike Rann is ducking for cover at a time he needs to answer questions about the behaviour of one of his senior advisers in relation to the Premier’s appearance at the Ashbourne trial, Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today. “We now know that the DPP Mr Pallaras has stated that this issue is of…
Liberal Upper House Leader Rob Lucas has called on Premier Mike Rann to explain why one of his senior advisers: ‘behaved in a verbally aggressive and intimidating manner with a DPP officer on the issue of Premier Rann’s appearance at the Ashbourne trial’. Hansard June 30 2005. Mr Lucas told Parliament today that staff from…
The Rann Government has conceded for the first time that total job losses from the Mitsubishi downsizing will be at least 3,600 jobs, according to Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas. “In Question Time today, senior Minister Paul Holloway revealed that the government believed the 2,000 direct jobs remaining at Mitsubishi sustained a total of 6,000 direct…
Labor Treasurer Kevin Foley could not rule out further blowouts in the costs of the Port River Bridges project in Budget Estimates hearings today, according to Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas. “Mr Foley could provide no satisfactory answer as to why the cost of the project – including the opening bridges – had actually blown out…
Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas today described as unbelievable Rann Government decisions to spend $566,000 on consultancies led by a man continually attacked by Kevin Foley as practicing ‘voodoo economics’. “Last year Kevin Foley launched a series of attacks on local consultant and researcher John Spoehr and on the quality of the work and analysis undertaken…
Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today this week’s budget estimates committee process would be the last major opportunity prior to the election to probe Rann Government waste and election slush funds totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Detailed analysis of budget papers shows three separate Treasurer’s contingency lines totaling $230m for 2005-06 compared to only…
South Australian taxpayers will not be bought off by a cynical pre-election handout after three years of being ripped off by the highest taxing government in South Australia’s history, according to Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas. “Mr Foley claims supposedly the biggest ever tax cuts this year,” Mr Lucas said today. “But this has only occurred…
Q. What do you do when your budget surplus is going to turn into a budget deficit? A. Move the fiscal goal posts! Just change the definition of a budget deficit and magically turn it back into a surplus! Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today that Kevin Foley’s claimed future budget surpluses were actually deficits…
Members of the media, in considering today’s budget numbers, should be aware of significant errors by Kevin Foley in each of his three budgets, according to Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas. “For example, in the 2003-04 budget papers Mr Foley actually made an error of $794 million in the estimate of total revenue in the State…
Thousands of South Australian small businesses are being forced to pay payroll tax while similar businesses in all other states are payroll tax-free, according to Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas. “The payroll threshold in South Australia below which small businesses pay no payroll tax is the lowest of all states and territories in Australia,” Mr Lucas…