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Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what, if your win tickets to

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Speaker 1: the Royal Adelaide Show, that'll certainly help ease your cost

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Speaker 1: of living situation at least for September. Just that little bit.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about that because in the allocation of Shadow

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Speaker 1: ministry portfolios yesterday the new Liberal Party leader Vicentazia introduced

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Speaker 1: the Shadow Minister for cost of Living and that person

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Speaker 1: is Heidi Gerrolimo, who is here in the studio with me. Hidi,

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Speaker 1: good morning, Good morning, Matthew. Tell me about the role.

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Speaker 1: How do you see it, Why is it so important?

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Speaker 2: I think it's probably for the majority of South Australians.

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Speaker 2: Their main key issue is cost of living. It's impacting

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Speaker 2: on the vast majority of South Australians, whether that be

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Speaker 2: through electricity or cost of groceries or many other areas

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Speaker 2: for people from a daily basis, it's a real challenge

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Speaker 2: for many South Australians. And as the Opposition, we've been

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Speaker 2: listening to hear what people are concerned about and a

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Speaker 2: very very key issue is cost of living and that's

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Speaker 2: why I've been allocated the port folio. I'm also Shadow

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Speaker 2: Minister for Finance and Tax Reform and have been listening

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Speaker 2: to businesses as well who are doing it tough, and

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Speaker 2: I think that flow and effect. Often when businesses are

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Speaker 2: doing it tough, it's because people's disposable income has declined

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Speaker 2: and it really can be quite challenging for many South Australians,

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Speaker 2: both business and everyday South Australians.

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Speaker 1: We haven't had a Minister for cost of living before,

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Speaker 1: in government or in opposition. Is it a bit opportunistic

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Speaker 1: going in? We all know it's tough at the moment,

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Speaker 1: we don't need a shadow minister to tell us it's tough.

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Speaker 2: I think it's important to have someone who will be

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Speaker 2: driving that every day. This will be a huge focus

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Speaker 2: for me to make sure that cost of living is

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Speaker 2: front of mind for us as an opposition, and also

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Speaker 2: highlighting the issues to government as well that they need

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Speaker 2: to do their part to be able to help South

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Speaker 2: Australians when it comes to cost of living. Other states

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Speaker 2: do have shadow Ministers for cost of Living, both in

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Speaker 2: Queensland and Victoria, and they've seen it as a very

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Speaker 2: key platform to be able to drive change, to be

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Speaker 2: able to drive policy and ideas, and also to be

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Speaker 2: able to listen to South Australians and businesses as well.

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Speaker 1: Realistically, what can you do to make life better? Because

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Speaker 1: you're not in power, you can only highlight.

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Speaker 2: So certainly highlighting I think is very important and also

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Speaker 2: coming up with ideas from a policy perspective. We all

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Speaker 2: know that the essay water bills have been increased dramatically

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Speaker 2: on top of inflation at three point five percent. That's

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Speaker 2: something that we would be looking to reverse to make

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Speaker 2: sure that South Australians aren't paying through the nose when

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Speaker 2: it comes to their water, when it comes to concessions

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Speaker 2: need to be reviewed. That's been talked about for a

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Speaker 2: long time and hasn't been action. That's a key area

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Speaker 2: that needs to be focused in on and there's lots

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Speaker 2: of other areas as well. This government is projecting record

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Speaker 2: debt of forty four billion dollars that without a doubt

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Speaker 2: is impacting on inflation and impacting on what every day

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Speaker 2: South Australians are paying here in South Australia.

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Speaker 1: So policy ideas, Okay, you've just given us a few

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Speaker 1: but how would you get electricity prices down?

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Speaker 2: So electricity, I think there needs to be a real

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Speaker 2: concerned focus on electricity. I think obviously renewables tending to

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Speaker 2: be very costly. There needs to be looking into other

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Speaker 2: options such as nuclear down the track. I think gas

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Speaker 2: still needs to be an important part of the equation.

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Speaker 2: But at the moment we have the highest electricity in

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Speaker 2: the nation and it's not acceptable and this government can

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Speaker 2: do something about it, and certainly if we're elected in

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, we will be looking to major reforms

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Speaker 2: in that space. And my colleague Stephen Patterson was allocated

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Speaker 2: in nuclear readiness as a separate portfolio yesterday to highlight

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Speaker 2: that we are really focused on having a sensible conversation

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Speaker 2: when it comes to energy to make sure that South

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Speaker 2: Australians aren't paying through the nose for things.

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Speaker 1: But realistically nuclear is going to cost us an arm

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Speaker 1: and a leg. We know this. It's going to be

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Speaker 1: expensive to start up, to build, to create the industry.

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Speaker 1: It might not be passed on in electricity bills the

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Speaker 1: cost of building it, but we're going to pay it

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Speaker 1: somehow through taxes in one form or another.

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Speaker 2: And I think we're already paying that at the moment.

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Speaker 2: The electricity bills at the moment are astronomical, so it's

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Speaker 2: clearly not working. So they think there needs to be

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Speaker 2: a really key focus on making sure that we have reliable,

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Speaker 2: affordable base load power and whether that be through nuclear

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Speaker 2: or other means as well. But then we need to

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Speaker 2: be having that conversation. It's just not sustainable for South

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Speaker 2: Australians to continue to pay such huge amounts for electricity

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Speaker 2: every single month when their bills come through. It's going

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Speaker 2: up and up and it's not acceptable.

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Speaker 1: But it went up and up when the government was

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Speaker 1: the Marshall government was in power and nothing came welll

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Speaker 1: you cut that a little bit, few things, we can't

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Speaker 1: water bills came down, electricity just continued.

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Speaker 2: So I think electricity it's a long term plan and

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Speaker 2: I think that's something that everyone needs to be looking at,

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Speaker 2: and I think it's front and center at the moment

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Speaker 2: because of the cost of living problems that are happening.

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Speaker 2: So I think electricity really needs to be a focus.

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Speaker 2: There's so many areas where South Australians istruggling, but that

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Speaker 2: is a key element. Housing is also a huge problem

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Speaker 2: as well, so get a housing affordability as well, and

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Speaker 2: also interest rates going up and those interest rates will

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Speaker 2: not come down if the federal and state governments continue

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Speaker 2: to recklessly spend as they are at the moment, and

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Speaker 2: that is another key area where this government I think

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Speaker 2: is failing South Australians by looking towards that record debt

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Speaker 2: of forty four billion dollars is really impacting on South Australia.

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Speaker 1: But to be fear to the state government, they can't

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Speaker 1: really control interest rates, can they. That is federal policy

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Speaker 1: settings that control that. And yes, debt plays a role,

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Speaker 1: there's no doubt about that, but we know what that

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Speaker 1: debt is to a degree, but that debt is buying

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Speaker 1: us the big ticket items of the Women's and Children's

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Speaker 1: hospital and the South Road project which is going to

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Speaker 1: suck up a chunk of that combined. So yes, they

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Speaker 1: could curb spending certainly, but we're getting things as a result,

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Speaker 1: will have new shiny toys in that area with that

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Speaker 1: forty four billion. That's the reality of it. They can't

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Speaker 1: control interest rates directly because even if they can't spending

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Speaker 1: a debt, well, every other state needs to do it.

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Speaker 1: The Feds need to do it to have any effect

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Speaker 1: on interest rates.

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Speaker 3: I think it needs to be across the board.

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Speaker 2: But the two projects that you mentioned are majorly have

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Speaker 2: been overspent on already so North South Corridor we projected

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Speaker 2: at nine billion, looking at fifteen billion, and who knows

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Speaker 2: where that will end up. And that overspending is impacting

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Speaker 2: on inflation, and I think all South Australians are well

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Speaker 2: aware that the government needs to tighten their belts, just

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Speaker 2: as every day South Australians continue to tighten their belts.

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Speaker 2: You only have to go to the grocery store to

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Speaker 2: see the increases on pretty much everything there and it

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Speaker 2: is really impacting on South Australians. I hear stories of

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Speaker 2: people choosing between purchasing their heart medication or being able

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Speaker 2: to keep their electricity on and often ending up in

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Speaker 2: the hospital system because they cannot afford their medication along

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Speaker 2: with their groceries, along with their electricity. So it's a

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Speaker 2: huge concern for many South Australians and I think there's

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Speaker 2: more that can be done by the government, and certainly

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Speaker 2: as an opposition, we will be fighting every day to

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Speaker 2: make sure that we're listening and also making sure that

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Speaker 2: we're putting for constructive policy ideas in this space.

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Speaker 1: What is business need to prosper in South Australia. What

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Speaker 1: are your thoughts there?

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Speaker 2: So I think business first and foremost there needs to

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Speaker 2: be a reveal payroll tax. The current thresholds at one

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Speaker 2: point five million, which were lifted under our government, are

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Speaker 2: not no longer high enough, so we need to see

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Speaker 2: reforms in this space. There are many businesses that are

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Speaker 2: coming to me every day that really are struggling because

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden they aren't taking on necessarily taking

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Speaker 2: on more staff, but they are paying more and more

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Speaker 2: for salaries and on costs and everything, and that is

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Speaker 2: putting them straight in above.

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Speaker 3: The threshold for payroll tax.

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Speaker 2: So they are all of a sudden getting a bill

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Speaker 2: for twenty eight thirty thousand dollars that they weren't expecting

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Speaker 2: purely because of wage increases, but the threshold not being lifted.

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Speaker 2: So I know the business confidence is at a low,

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Speaker 2: which was announced by the Essay Business Chamber today and

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Speaker 2: that's very concerning. And one of the key areas that

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Speaker 2: they have put forward is around parrel tax reforms, which

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Speaker 2: is a key policy for us and the lead up

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Speaker 2: to the election as well.

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Speaker 1: There are a lot of business and they've said this before,

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Speaker 1: businesses at the moment that are clustered just under the

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Speaker 1: threshold because they don't want to put on more people

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Speaker 1: to go over that payroll tax threshold and that must

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Speaker 1: be causing a bit of a logjam a for their

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Speaker 1: business and be for the economy in general.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: I hear his stories time and time again where businesses

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Speaker 2: are not taking on that extra staff member, they're also

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Speaker 2: potentially not opening on a Sunday or on a public

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Speaker 2: holiday because that clocks them over into that threshold at

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden, getting a whopping, great big bill,

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Speaker 2: and that's not good for productivity either. I think productivity

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Speaker 2: is a key metrics that needs to be looked at

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Speaker 2: closely here in South Australia, that we need to make

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Speaker 2: sure that we are are a productive state and that

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Speaker 2: we're not just ending up with more and more costs

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Speaker 2: going on to businesses. And obviously people's disposable income decreasing

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Speaker 2: is impacting on businesses as well that they can't afford

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Speaker 2: to go to their local pub, board to the cafe

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Speaker 2: to have a coffee. Because cost of living is such

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Speaker 2: a challenge.

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Speaker 1: If you could get the government to make one change

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Speaker 1: today to ease cost of living, what would it be.

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Speaker 1: Would it be power bills, would it be payroll tax?

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Speaker 1: What's it going to be?

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Speaker 2: I think payroll tax would have a huge benefit to

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Speaker 2: the state and I would love to see that threshold

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Speaker 2: lifted and further reforms in that space. I also think

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Speaker 2: the concessions review needs to happen to make sure that

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Speaker 2: those those who need those concessions are getting an appropriate

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Speaker 2: amount as well, and that review has been underway for

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Speaker 2: quite some time and needs to happen.

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Speaker 3: And also essay water bills.

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Speaker 2: I think that it is not acceptable that people are

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Speaker 2: going to be having to pay huge amounts of their

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Speaker 2: essay water bill when they have potentially already paid for

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Speaker 2: the infrastructure at their own own homes as well, and

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Speaker 2: facing huge burdens from those bills.

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Speaker 1: And the water bill is essentially a property tax, isn't

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Speaker 1: it Because it does. It is based on your property

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Speaker 1: value set by the value of.

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Speaker 2: General absolutely and obviously as the property prices go up,

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Speaker 2: so does the bill, and along with other bills as

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Speaker 2: well that are linked to property prices, where people may

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Speaker 2: have the asset there but not have the cash flow

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Speaker 2: to be able to cover some of those bills, and

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Speaker 2: it is a huge concern I think for many South Australians.

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Speaker 2: This government said no new taxes, but I would argue

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Speaker 2: adding an extra three point five percent on top of inflation.

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Speaker 2: To say, water bills is exactly a tax. It's a

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Speaker 2: new tax on many South Australians who are doing it

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Speaker 2: tough already.

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Speaker 1: All right, Hidi Girolimo, thank you for coming in today

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Speaker 1: as the new shadow Cost of Living Minister. Well, I'm

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Speaker 1: sure have many discussions down the path. Thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for you, thank you, thanks you for coming in.