Weatherill promises future fund
Premier Jay Weatherill has promised to establish a future fund, with legislation to be introduced to Parliament this year.
Weatherill said the fund was the first of a series of policies that he would announce in the weeks and months ahead.
Standing in front of a banner this afternoon with the slogan – Building a Stronger South Australia – the Premier said that much of the year had been taken up with the federal campaign and federal issues.
“It’s time now to return our public focus to state issues,” he said.
In what sounded like a re-election pitch, Weatherill said South Australia had created a liveable and safe state by “working together” over the past 10 years.
“What we want to do is grow on the strength we have created and so today I announce the first in a series of policy initiatives directed at building a stronger South Australia,” he said.
The first policy is a future fund to “preserve some of the benefits we gain today from our mineral and petroleum reserves for future generations”.
“It will only be able to be spent on infrastructure that has significant and long-lasting economic benefits and on programs that build the capabilities of our children, the resilience of our families and the skills of our workforce,” he said.
While the legislation to establish the fund will be introduced soon, the Government won’t be paying any funds into the fund for several years.
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Weatherill said deposits into the fund would only be made when the Budget is in surplus. On current projections, this means the first funds – about $20 million – would be injected in the 2015-16 financial year.
A fund balance of $500 million would be required before payments could be made – and accumulating that much could take 15 years.
An advisory board would provide recommendations to the Government on how payments from the fund can be spent.
Weatherill released a paper produced by consultants KPMG on the policy, as well as a Government policy paper.
The two papers can be found on a new Government website – also branded with the ‘Building a Stronger South Australia’ slogan.
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