The cause of SA's plight under its current Labor government - a former Liberal Premier

Whilst the plight of South Australia is due to the malpractice and mismanagement of the current 14 year old Labor government, it is useful to reflect on who gave the government its start.

This person is in fact John Wayne Olsen, former SA Liberal Opposition leader, Federal Senator, and finally SA Premier.

Mr Olsen's other claims to fame include bare-foot water-skiing on the River Murray, and his full post-nominals of NIA (National Institute of Accountants, the lowest rung of the profession).

When he returned to the SA parliament he expected that he would become Opposition Leader, and then Premier at the 1993 Labor-wipeout election, in the aftermath of the State Bank debacle. He was beaten to this position by Dean Brown.

Mr Olsen white-anted the government in which he was a senior minister. He became the first person to overthrow a sitting Premier in their first term, more than 15 years before it was done to Rudd, Gillard and then Abbott.

As Premier, Mr Olsen privatised ETSA having promised not to.

He also alienated Peter Lewis, a conservative independent MP, which eventually rebounded when Mr Lewis accepted the Speakership, allowing Mike Rann to form a minority government.

Finally, a District Court judge (Clayton) found against Mr Olsen in an enquiry into Mr Olsen's use of public assets in seeking to bring Motorola to Adelaide. Mr Olsen said later that '...the only thing I was guilty of was trying to bring jobs to SA...' Unfortunately for him, he lost the Premiership as a result of this finding.

He was given the job of consulate leader in Los Angeles, and now he is back in Adelaide, he is president of the SANFL. Rewards for the failed.

Further reasons why the South Australian State Government MUST GO!

Not only has this government presided over the 'achievement' of worst measures on most important measures as outlined in my previous post, but it has evolved into something very much UNLIKE what I understand Labor government to be.

J’accuse! (I accuse!) the 14 year old-and-tired state government currently led by Jay Weatherill, of behaving without traditional Labor values, examples being:

• Significant payrises and side-benefits to political-position employees (eg Winter-Dewhirst as CEO of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, a journalist and lobbyist by profession...$500,000+ pa, and a BMW thrown in, without being disclosed)

• Jobs-for-the-boys-and-girls (eg Grace Portelesi, Chloe Fox...the MP's who lost their seats)

• Bread and circuses (eg the Rolling Stones, Liverpool FC…literally millions of dollars paid to mega-multi-millionaire individuals and organisations)

• $14 billion of public sector debt…and stuff-all all to show for it…sticking this dead-weight debt on our children and their children

• 500 more deaths in the state public hospital system than external benchmarks would indicate (where is the uproar?!?...10 South Australians each week have been dying unnecessarily…)

• WorkCover declared ‘buggered’ after 12 years of Labor oversight…before anything is done about it

• Spending significant public dollars to gain/sustain government (eg appointing Martin Hamilton-Smith as an extra Cabinet member, at a cost of $8 million)

• Quarter-baked economic development ideas (eg Positive Psychology Institute, and SA as the ‘well-being’ state)

• Treatment of high-profile distinguished South Australians who dare to speak truth to power (eg Justice Blue who described, in a judgement, the Gillman transaction as ‘unlawful’, ‘irrational’ etc and was then backhanded by the Premier as ‘some judge’; Professor Richard Blandy as ESCOSA commissioner pointed out that water charges were significantly inflated due to government fiat, and was the backhanded as a right-winger…)

• Passionate only about politics and politicians – deliberately and cold-bloodedly saying that there ‘was a special place in hell’ for those seek to use child abuse for political purposes…and directing this at members of the opposition and independents – reserving anger for political enemies, instead of those who perpetrated the abuse on poor Chloe Valentine, and those who were charged with preventing such abuse ie the government and its department

The SA Labor Government must GO!

After almost 14 straight years of a Labor government in South Australia, we now have the worst, or nearly worst, position in the following very important areas (on an 'apple-and-apples comparison):

• The highest unemployment

• The highest public sector debt

• The highest taxes

• The highest electricity prices

• The highest water prices

• The oldest population

• The worst educational standards

• The largest public sector

And, of course, nothing much to show for it.

They must GO!

Donald Trump/Drumpf

I was asked today, following the violence at a Trump/Drumpf rally, what if The Donald was assassinated?
Without thinking, I replied: 'Well, he couldn't be President then.'