Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:09): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I rise to support this motion in memory of the great man Steele Hall and acknowledging Joan and her extended family. Steele's service has been well put to the chamber. His sense of getting things right was essentially lost in the premiership here in South Australia. He did the electoral reform process that he thought was the right thing to do, and the Chowilla dam process. He looked at everything and weighed it up as, 'What is the right thing to do here?' He was a man of true conviction who served not only this state but this nation for decades, and I doubt whether the service will ever be equalled in this country.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:35): I rise to support the leader's original motion:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges that South Australia is where 25 per cent of the world's uranium is found, and that our state holds 80 per cent of Australia's known uranium reserves;

(b) acknowledges the groundbreaking AUKUS agreement which will see the construction of nuclear-powered submarines at the Osborne shipyards, noting that this will see the development of nuclear skills which could in turn leverage a civil nuclear industry;

(c) acknowledges that base load zero emissions nuclear power is critical to decarbonise globally and that many countries around the world are already using base load zero emissions nuclear power;

(d) acknowledges that inherent grid stability which is provided by base load zero emissions nuclear power;

(e) notes that Australia is the only G20 country with a blanket ban on base load zero emissions nuclear power and that this poses a risk to decarbonisation targets at state and federal level;

(f) notes that active participation in various stages of the nuclear fuel cycle could present multiple economic opportunities for South Australia;

(g) supports base load zero emissions nuclear power being considered as part of a source-agnostic pathway to clear, zero emissions energy production; and

(h) supports a non-ideological, open-minded investigation into the potential for a civil nuclear industry, including energy generation, in South Australia.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (10:33): I rise to make a contribution to the Criminal Law Consolidation (Sexual Predation Offences) Amendment Bill brought in by the shadow attorney-general, the member for Heysen.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (19:36): I rise to make a contribution about the Appropriation Bill, or the budget bill, for 2024. I note that the total budget when you add in the Supply Bill is around $28.5 billion, which is a significant amount of money to resource the state—noting, I think, somewhere around $9 billion of that goes into health.

Peter Malinauskas’ 2024-25 State Budget has shown once again that Labor does not consider regional roads a priority with huge cuts to the capital works program and minimal funding for new projects.

The Liberal Opposition welcomes news that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Occupational Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation has opened submissions for its inquiry into volunteer management and support within the Country Fire Service (CFS).

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. What is being done to improve staff and volunteer retention within the State Emergency Service? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PEDERICK: Documents released under freedom of information show that 25 paid staff and 597 volunteers have left the organisation since early 2022.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (21:07): I rise to speak to the Statutes Amendment (Attorney-General's Portfolio) Bill, which was introduced on 2 May 2024 by the current Attorney-General, the Hon. Kyam Maher. I agree with the contributions from this side of the house. Why are we here? Why are we here debating this bill into the night, the night before the budget, where all of a sudden this is the top priority, not dealing with payroll tax issues, not dealing with cost-of-living issues, here we are debating something that does not even need to be debated?

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:03): I rise to speak to the motion by the member for Colton:

That this house commends the Marshall government for scrapping payroll tax for all small businesses in South Australia, and recognises all involved in small and family businesses for their contribution to our state and economy.

The Liberal Opposition’s “Report Your Road” campaign is gaining momentum, with more than a hundred submissions dobbing in dodgy regional roads in less than three weeks.