South Australian Premier reflects on the year and his plans for the election ahead

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It's been a big year in South Australian politics, with both sides dealing with ups and downs as the clock to the state election ticks down. To mark the end of 2025, and with the poll now just three months away, ABC News sat down with Premier Peter Malinauskas for his reflections on the year that was and to hear about his plans for the future.

Transcript

00:00Premier, thanks for joining me.

00:04Pleasure.

00:05Reflecting on 2025, what's been your greatest success of this year?

00:10Look, seeing the recent implementation of the social media ban, which started in South

00:15Australia with our commissioning of the former Chief Justice of the High Court, Robert French,

00:19has been a really important moment, but when I cast my mind back to the beginning of the

00:23year, one of the most significant events I think we've seen in our state for some time

00:28was the extraordinary intervention that we made into Wyala.

00:31And that now looks as though it's heading in the right direction, although there's still

00:35a bit of work to be done.

00:36What about lowlights of this year for you?

00:40Well, the events of Bondi, which strikes at the heart of who we are as a country.

00:45You know, I've been pretty candid about the fact that we would have liked to have seen

00:49better results than what we have in terms of ramping hours, notwithstanding the fact that

00:53ambulance response times have continued to improve, but that's an area that still needs

00:58a lot of work.

00:59Algal bloom response, is that something that you would have done any differently?

01:03Look, you know, I think a lot of people say that with a value of hindsight, which government

01:07doesn't have at the time.

01:09We took all the advice of the best available scientists that we've got here in South Australia

01:14that understand the area, and we acted on their advice, and I'm not too sure what differently

01:19you could do.

01:20I'm also aware of the fact that there's no intervention that government could have made

01:24to stop the algal bloom or mitigate the algal bloom.

01:27It's about making sure that we support members of the community who are affected by it as best

01:31as we can, and obviously we've got a very large $100 million package to do that.

01:35What's on your mind heading into 2026?

01:38I still do think about Wyala a lot.

01:41We have now got a process in train for the sale of the steelworks, but landing the execution

01:46of that sale will take a lot of work, and that certainly remains top of mind.

01:51I'm concerned about the intersection of the aged care system and our public hospital system

01:56in this country.

01:57We see emergency departments being challenged around Australia, but the biggest mistake

02:03any government could make at the moment in South Australia would be not to embrace

02:07the extraordinary wealth of opportunity we've got before us, and making sure we translate

02:11that into improved living standards for South Australian citizens, particularly younger

02:17South Australians.

02:18At the 2022 state election, your government made more than 700 election commitments.

02:23You're well ahead in the polls.

02:25Your government is popular.

02:26We're going to see that same level of ambition coming into this state election.

02:30Yes.

02:31Of those 700 commitments, we monitor each and every one very closely.

02:37I think we've now well past 600 of those commitments having been met, and there's still more work

02:42to be done.

02:43But we're ambitious about the future of the state.

02:45We've got the strongest performing economy in the country, we're ostensibly at full employment,

02:50and we know there's a lot more economic demand and opportunity for new wealth creation

02:55in South Australia over the decade ahead.

02:57Because if we get it right, then younger people will have a lot more reason to stay here

03:01in the future and enjoy a great way of life.

03:05And just finally, what's your Christmas message for South Australians?

03:09Regardless of your faith tradition, Christmas is an opportunity to reflect on what to be

03:15grateful for, but also I think importantly to spare a thought for those who might be less

03:20fortunate, even just if they're lonely.

03:23Reach out to a relative you haven't spoken to for a while, or a neighbour that might not

03:28enjoy as much company as others, and just remind them that we're part of one bigger community

03:32as humans, and we're pretty lucky to live here.

03:35From here, thanks for your time.

03:36Pleasure.

03:37Pleasure.

03:42Pleasure.

03:43Pleasure.

03:44Pleasure.

03:50.

03:51Pleasure.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended