The Weatherill Labor Government has launched another costly advertising campaign against the Federal Government’s pensioner concessions, costing South Australian taxpayers $1.1 million. At a cost of $1.1 million to South Australian taxpayers, Premier Weatherill could have actually given 5,700 South Australian pensioners their $190 concession instead of paying for another ad campaign. More than $4…
DetailsThe State Liberals are calling on the Weatherill Labor Government to reveal the cost of government ads promoting its tax reform discussion and Transforming Health plan. In a Tax Review paper released earlier this month, Premier Weatherill has suggested introducing a broad-based property tax be introduced to replace conveyance duty, costing South Australian families $1,200…
DetailsPremier Weatherill has shown his ‘warped priorities’ by giving a former Labor staffer a $125,000 pay rise as the boss of his Department. Contract details revealed under FOI laws show Mr Weatherill has appointed Kym Winter-Dewhirst as Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) Chief Executive on a five year contract worth $550,000 p.a – more…
DetailsShadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today the release of the controversial Gillman deal contract had now revealed critical public assurances by the Government about jobs and the oil and gas hub were untrue. The Government’s defence for its Gillman deal has been primarily the 6000 jobs it claims will come from a proposed oil and…
DetailsA number of experts have cast doubt on claims by Mr Weatherill and Mr Koutsantonis that their controversial Gillman deal will create 6,000 new jobs. When Mr Weatherill first announced the deal in December 2013 he claimed it would generate 6,000 new jobs. In responding to recent criticism by Justice Blue and the Auditor General…
DetailsMr Weatherill and Mr Koustantonis have deliberately misrepresented a finding by Supreme Court Justice Malcolm Blue on a critical Gillman Cabinet submission. Justice Blue noted the 2 December 2013 Cabinet Submission approved by Mr Weatherill and Mr Koutsantonis contained a ‘limited number of changes to the draft provided by Mr Hansen.’ When challenged by journalists…
DetailsShadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today that Premier Weatherill had now conceded he had been warned about possible probity issues over his controversial Gillman deal four months before he appointed a probity advisor to monitor the deal. Yesterday Mr Weatherill released a part of the original letter to him from Adelaide Capital Partners on 18…
DetailsPremier Weatherill must reveal the cost to taxpayers of the decision to axe 11 senior government executives in his Department. Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said with several of the executives being paid more than $200,000 per year, individual payouts including termination payments and accrued recreation and long service leave could be more than $400,000. One…
DetailsPremier Weatherill and Treasurer Koutsantonis should now be forced to provide evidence to support their claimed key reason for their decision not to go to a competitive tender at Gillman. Mr Weatherill and Mr Koutsantonis have argued the Government couldn’t go to competitive tender because Adelaide Capital Partners would have withdrawn their offer. On ABC…
DetailsTreasurer Koutsantonis has been left red faced by having to admit his bizarre and unrealistic revenue assumptions he included in this year’s budget papers were wrong. When the budget was released many critics including Julie Novak from the IPA and Adjunct Professor of Economics Richard Blandy attacked Mr Koutsantonis’s revenue estimates as misleading, fraudulent and…
DetailsThe Auditor-General has stated that the submission presented to Cabinet regarding the Gillman land deal signed by Premier Weatherill and then Minister for Urban Development Tom Koutsantonis was “misleading”. The Auditor-General’s Report says that the Renewal SA Board expected that Cabinet would be advised by the Minister that the Board had advised the Minister to…
DetailsThe Supreme Court has found that the Weatherill Labor Government’s decision to sell 400ha of land at Gillman without going to tender was “irrational”. On 23 December 2013, the State Government announced it had signed an agreement with Adelaide Capital Partners (ACP) to sell 400Ha of the former Multi-Function Polis site at Gillman. Following the…
DetailsTreasurer Koutsantonis’s decision in the MYBR to raid MAC reserves to prop up his budget will cost taxpayers at least $69 million, and possibly up to $128 million, in lost Federal funding. Under Treasurer Brett Rowse has given evidence to the Budget and Finance Committee that the Government believed its MAC privatisation would comply with…
DetailsShadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today Treasurer Koutsantonis had spent $162.6m last year to reduce the number of public servants but had actually ended up increasing the number significantly over the original budget. Treasury has confirmed that in 2013-14 the Government had given TVSPs (Targeted Voluntary Separation Packages) to 1479 public servants at a cost…
DetailsShadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today Premier Weatherill had deliberately delayed gazetting and releasing publicly salary increases for his spin doctors and staffers to avoid scrutiny and criticism. Yesterday’s Government Gazette (11 Dec) which includes massive increases in salary packages for some Ministerial spindoctors and staffers was finally released 5 months late and after Parliament…
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