IN contrast to the Liberal Party, Labor is willing to form government with the support of independents if it does not win the majority of seats in parliament at the next election.
While State Labor Leader Peter Malinauskas, who visited Mount Gambier earlier this week, said he would prefer a Labor majority government, if the election does not provide that, then an alliance with independents would be an appropriate step to take to enable the Labor Party to implement its policies.
“My objective, quite firmly, is to form a majority government at the next State election as I think that is most likely to deliver stable government – we have a plan to do that – we believe we can do that,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“I think the State is yearning for leadership and an ambition about our future beyond Covid.
“We’ve got a comprehensive policy that we will be taking to the election.
“We have already announced a lot of education policy and we’ll be announcing more.
“My firm aspiration and intent is to form a majority Labor Government.
“I think serious political leaders understand that once the people have spoken, you’ve got to lead accordingly and if the people of South Australia don’t elect a majority Labor Government, then if I’m serious about implementing our policy, then we are duty-bound to have discussions with independents – that’s the way our parliamentary systems operates – anyone who thinks otherwise is utterly misleading.”
Last week, Premier Steven Marshall told The Border Watch that he had ruled out forming government with the support of independents if the Liberal Party did not win a majority of seats at the March poll next year.
Mr Malinauskas believes Premier Steven Marshall is being misleading about his government’s position regarding the support of independents.
“I am aware of the Premier’s comments last week – they are completely disingenuous, if not dishonest, because the Premier already has a minority government and is already doing a deal with independents,” he said.
“Premier Steven Marshall says he doesn’t deal with independents, except he does – right now.
“He’s got a minority government now, he’s lost MP (Member of Parliament) after MP but as soon as he losses an MP, five seconds later he’s doing a deal with them so he can stay in government.”
Independent MP for Mount Gambier Troy Bell was contacted for comment but declined.
