DLP (SA) Election Policies

Our Philosophy

We believe in the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death. The dignity of the human person is the foundation and only true vision for a moral and a just for society.

Every person has a right and a duty to participate actively in shaping society and to promote the wellbeing of all. This right, emerging from the right to life, implies access to those things required for human decency and dignity; food and clothing, healthcare and housing, education and employment, freedom of religion and family life.

We believe the family - based on a marriage between a man and a woman - is the first and fundamental unit of society and is the appropriate environment for the creation and nurturing of children. Respect for the family and the rights and responsibilities of parents to care for their children should be reflected in all public policy, for the well-being of the society.

We believe in a preferential option for the poor and the vulnerable; defined as, but not limited to, children and people with disabilities, the elderly and the terminally ill, victims of injustice and oppression including refugees, not only within our society but within our global community. Our preferential option includes the ongoing support and care for all who are marginalized within our Nation and beyond.

We believe in the dignity of work and the rights and duties of workers defined through the maxims: "A fair day's pay for a fair day's work." and: "A fair day's work for a fair day's pay." Owners, Employers, Workers and Unions share a responsibility to work together to advance economic justice and the well-being of all.

We believe in solidarity; defined as the common union of our humanity regardless of national, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological differences. The right of every human to live in peace comes with the responsibility of every human to work for justice throughout our society.

We believe in the custodial nature of our relationship with the planet; defined as the stewardship of our environment as a sign of our care for all people. We should strive to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

We believe in the duty and responsibility of elected governments to bring moral integrity and ethical practices to the forefront of every public debate to form a just and equitable foundation through which our society, and every individual, can prosper and grow.

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Social Policy

The DLP believes in the inalienable dignity of every human person from conception to natural death. The DLP recognises the family as the first and most important society that deserves our protection and support.

Marriage

Marriage is the union of one man and one woman entered into freely. No other form of relationship can be considered a Marriage. The DLP asserts that is not discriminatory in a negative sense to reserve Marriage to 'one man and one woman'. It is Marriage and the family that springs naturally from that union that is the first society, the school of virtues and the only certain way of preserving society.

Euthanasia

The DLP believes that every human life has equal dignity. Euthanasia creates a society where the aged, the infirmed and the disabled are devalued. Once we chose to devalue some within our community, all life is devalued.

The DLP is firmly opposed to any attempts to legalize euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Abortion

No-one really believes any more that a foetus is simply 'a bunch of cells'. And yet, somehow, we still tolerate something like 4800 abortions in South Australia every year.

The DLP stands with the vulnerable and the weak in our society - the unborn child is surely the most vulnerable. We stand with every pregnant woman in crisis, recognising their difficulties but knowing that abortion is not the answer.

Children and the Family

The DLP is deeply concerned that economic pressures are increasingly requiring both parents to be out of the home (in paid employment) with the attendant increasing reliance on childcare.

The first school of learning is the family home. Children's early social development and their first formative experiences in morals and virtues come from within the family. That's where parents naturally want to be.

There is no easy answer. The DLP recognises the stresses experienced by many young families and will support any initiatives that give parents more opportunity to spend more time with their children.

The Disabled

Those members of our society living with a disability deserve our respect and, mindful of the equal dignity of all humanity, they also deserve access to all opportunities for growth, development and self-fulfilment equally with their peers.

The DLP will actively support initiatives that give voice to the needs and aspirations of those living with a disability and will, wherever possible, advocate on their behalf.

Economic Justice

For too long in South Australia, pockets of our society have been deprived of access to meaningful work and the social goods that most of us take for granted. Intergenerational unemployment and its attendant social ills evident is some parts of the State, have been in the 'too-hard' basket for too long.

The DLP supports innovative measures to address this problem that ultimately will require new types of social service models designed specifically to answer this need.

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Rights and Freedoms

The right to freedom of expression is one of the fundamental characteristics of a free society. Along with other rights, it is a necessary function that guarantees accountability of our elected representatives to those that elected them. It gives all citizens the right to speak - including those whose concerns arise from a particular moral code or religious belief.

The DLP supports the right to freedom of religious expression as a necessary part of this general freedom of expression.

The DLP acknowledges that the right to freedom of expression is not an absolute right. Its expression is rightly limited within the bounds of civil law and respect for the rights of others.

However, the DLP rejects as both unnecessary and unjust recent trends that attempt to unfairly restrict the fundamental right of organised religions to express their beliefs in the public square. The DLP also rejects all legislative and other attempts to compel individuals and religions to act in any manner contrary to the tenets of their religion.

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Asylum Seekers

Those who come to this country deserve to be treated well. Those who enter illegally deserve the same respect, but we also need to make sure that, amongst the genuine cases, there are no undesirables. That's what Australian's expect and the DLP's policy delivers.

Those who promise passage to Australia for a fee and who put innocent lives at risk on leaky boats need to be dealt with. The best way Australia can help do that is by way of a clear message to their clientele: paying passage on a boat to Australia will get you nowhere.

Most illegal boat arrivals to our northern territorial waters come via Indonesia. Regardless of what country these people come from and regardless of the truth or otherwise of their claim to refugee status, they first arrived at another safe haven: Indonesia.

These people are Indonesia's responsibility.

The DLP believes that all illegal arrivals should be transported back to Indonesia by air immediately upon their entry into Australian Territorial waters. This would send a clear message that setting off by boat to Australia is a waste of time and money and will achieve nothing.

The support Australia gives to Indonesia to deal with asylum seekers should be vastly increased to develop a processing centre on Indonesian soil.

There may well be no formal 'queue' for refugees to come to Australia; but there are any number of processing centres all over the world where families have been waiting for up to 20 years for a new home.

The DLP thinks Australia should help. We would support taking two refugees from these camps for every single illegal boat person returned to Indonesia.

Through our plan, the boats will quickly stop. We believe that once the boats stop, we review our humanitarian quotas with a view to increased immigration from those sources.

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Education

There is something very wrong with the South Australian education system. It is broken and needs to change.

Families can no longer send their children to the local school and trust that the moral and educational environment will be supportive of their family's values and aspirations.

The vast educational bureaucracy needs to be dismantled and replaced by local control of schools. To do this the DLP supports per capita voucher-based funding for schools and other centres of learning. This will provide avenues for the development of local education-based cooperatives managed by the people most directly concerned with the process and outcomes of education, the parents and teachers. This will give families real educational choice.

We do not believe that huge, sprawling, department run Super Schools will solve the problems of educational disadvantage and low achievement. Families working with good accountable teachers will reduce educational disadvantage. Teachers teaching from a syllabus strong on the fundamentals and the natural progression of academic subjects will eradicate low achievement.

The DLP believes that the continual decline of standards in all schools must stop. South Australia's future as a technologically advanced, cohesive society depends upon us getting education back into schools.

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Illicit Drugs

Illicit drugs cause serious harm to individuals and destroy families.

The DLP believes that the current drug policy in this country seriously fails our young people. The current policy is built upon the premise that young people really can't control themselves. We do not accept that - the DLP believes that our young people are resilient, strong-willed and, when challenged to reach a goal, they will, more often than not, excel.

The DLP supports Harm Prevention and wants our educators and our drug policy to re-enforce our young people's natural self-belief with a strong 'say No' message.

The DLP supports tougher penalties for drug manufacture and distribution.

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Health

As an expression of our common human dignity, every South Australian should have access to good quality basic health care and services. While issues of remoteness, for example, are not easily dealt with in terms of equity of access, South Australia's health policy should, never the less, aspire to equity wherever possible. Bigger is not always better!

The DLP believes that primary health services are best delivered through local small practices and clinics. The opportunity for health professionals to develop health care relationships and a history of service to patients and their families is a vital element in comprehensive health care management. The efficacy of such local, individual health care management cannot be replaced by cost efficiencies in super clinics - it's just that simple.

Our aging population presents significant challenges for our health system. The DLP supports increases in home care support, the use of more nurse clinicians and the expansion of existing health services to manage health issues in the aging community. This will reduce stress on the hospital system and improve access to both remedial and preventative care.

The DLP also supports the expansion of and greater public awareness of palliative care services and the timely provision of information and support to people suffering a terminal illness. Good palliative care is not just about pain management; it is also about patient care planning, involving the patient in decision making based on quality information and support. The DLP believes that every person in need should have access to quality palliative care services. Euthanasia should never be seen as a substitute for quality care. Palliative care is good public policy based on true compassion. The DLP is firmly opposed to euthanasia.

Mental Health, perhaps more than any other section of the health portfolio, suffers from the pendulum swings in changing political philosophies. The DLP welcomes every initiative that restores dignity to people with mental health issues. However, we are concerned that services should remain accessible; that optimal staff/client ratios are maintained and that outreach and outpatient services are not diminished over time.

In a similar manner, Disability Services often swing wildly between a 'one-size-fits-all' approach and an individualistic approach that provides little in direct services. The DLP believes that the provision of disability services needs to strike a balance between government provided services and private practices recognising that not all services can be delivered via the private sector.

In both Mental Health and the Disability sector, the DLP believes that the health budget should be dramatically increased to help restore dignity to those in need recognising that to do so simply seeks to restore equity in terms of access to the goods of society.

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Housing

At a time where South Australia's population is expected to rise significantly, it is important that the Housing SA housing stock be regenerated and that public housing policy be reformed so as to provide genuine housing support for those who, for whatever, reason, cannot access the private rental market.

The DLP abhors the reduction of public housing stock by successive State Governments to the point where it is currently little more than emergency housing only.

The costs associated with the purchase of new release land as a percentage of the total cost to build a new home (including land) has increased significantly over recent decades. The Land Management Corporation (LMC) has become a cash cow for the government and appears to the average South Australian looking to build their own home as bent on maximizing government return on land releases. With the Australian dream slipping slowly from the grasp of young families, the DLP believes that the SA Government has a moral responsibility to act where it can to reduce the cost of new land releases for first home buyers.

The DLP believes that the current land shortage is placing upward pressure on land prices. New planned releases need to be brought forward as soon as possible. However, such releases must be accompanied by advanced work on social, retail and transport infrastructure planning.

The DLP recognises that tinkering in the housing market can often have unforseen, negative consequences. As an alternative, the DLP suggests that the government provide significant water storage and solar electricity generation to each new home on a government released housing estate free of charge. This would have the effect of reducing utility costs for young families over many years and also reduce demand on scarce resources. (see also Water, Population and Development and Power Policies)

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Paid Parental Leave

Moves to financially support parents in the early months of bringing a child into the world has to be supported. Unfortunately, both Labor and the Liberal Coalition have made a mess of it, supporting only those families with both parents in the workforce.

The DLP believes that every Australian child is of equal value. That's why we support a universal system of Parental Payments. Whether a family has two incomes or one should not matter. What matters is that all Australian children get the support they need, which means giving their parents equal financial support.

A fair system of support would be a payment, set at the basic wage, to all mothers for a period of 18 weeks. This payment should be made by the government, not as an impost upon business.

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Population and Development

The State of South Australia forged ahead during the two great migrant population booms that followed the world wars. Once again the State is set to experience a period of significant population growth - this time due to a mining boom.

The DLP believes that population growth is essential to the state - but it must be managed strategically.

The DLP welcomes the Greater Adelaide Plan. However we believe that South Australia's population development plan needs to extend beyond Adelaide to the whole of the State. This requires strategic planning which necessarily involves regional economic and industrial development. Many regions will welcome population and industrial growth, but has anyone bothered to talk to them? Some plans, like the ore shipment through Port Lincoln, may spell economic suicide for the Lower Eyre Peninsula, ignoring the pleas of the local fishing community. Development: yes - but not at any price.

The urban infill occurring in pockets of suburban Adelaide appear to be random with no thought for the increased pressures on the public transport system, roads, water and sewerage infrastructure. (See Housing Policy)

The Transport Oriented Developments (TODs) of medium to high density living adjacent to major transport corridors seems to make sense, but this can only be predicated upon significant growth in public transport and a significant investment in renewing our already stressed and aging sewerage system. Likewise, new developments on the northern fringe of the city make sense only if a significant percentage of the new residents can gain employment and quality education in the near vicinity.

The DLP welcomes plans to retain a green belt between the northern suburbs and Gawler. However, the planned Concordia housing development (adjacent to Gawler East) flies in the face of the preservation of Gawler as a township that the green belt seeks to establish.

The DLP supports a State-wide consultation with planners, developers, industry and ordinary South Australians about the future of our State. This is too important to leave to politicians - it's our future!

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Water

South Australia's population is growing. We need strategic plans for water security - not only to preserve the Murray River system and increase water retention in the present, but to also make sure that our projected future use is secured. We need to shun short-sighted poll driven easy-fixes and focus on generational solutions.

The DLP is concerned that the decision to build a desalination plant at Port Stanvac did not fully consider the impact this may have upon Gulf St. Vincent nor did it factor in the large power requirements for the operation of the plant that would place a significant drain on power supplies during peak periods. The DLP believes that a far better strategic solution for the long term would have been to increase the capacity of the Mt. Bold reservoir and to look to other water storage solutions as well as retention and aquifer recharge solutions for stormwater.

The decades old problem of water supply on the West Coast, particularly on the Eyre Peninsula will not be solved by continuing to pump water, at great cost, all the way from the Murray River. The DLP supports direct action to wean the West Coast off the Murray and to achieve water self sufficiency. The tinkering with the inadequate Todd catchment on Eyre Peninsula was simply a short-term fix.

The DLP supports desalination solutions for the West Coast so long as environmental concerns are satisfied.

As a matter of urgency, South Australia needs to secure a significant additional strategic water flow for the Murray River and the Lower Lakes. Like most South Australians, the DLP is frustrated at the lack of transparency about the negotiations between the SA and Federal governments and the clear lack of anything resembling a plan to save the Murray.

For new homes in new land releases, the DLP believes that the government should forgo some of the massive profits from these ventures and provide, free of charge, underground water tanks and mains & pump connection. These land releases provide a once-only opportunity to make such a significant investment in our water security. (see also power and housing)

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Power

The projected growth in South Australia's population will mean that sooner than later, we will a significant investment in a new base load power facility. This is inevitable, but no-one seems to be talking about it.

The DLP supports the use of nuclear power provided it meets environmental standards and commercial viability benchmarks.

Mandatory renewable energy targets do nothing to provide base load power. In reality, wind turbine and solar power generation, while providing power only under favourable conditions, add significant costs to every power bill of every South Australian home.

The most efficient and environmentally friendly power supply in nuclear. Having said that, it's not cheap. However, when we consider the cost of building a new fossil fuel plant in the near future which will need a working life of 50 years or more and a capacity to perhaps even double its output in the coming decade, the upfront costs of a small nuclear plant would be easily ameliorated over time.

The DLP also believes that home solar power generation needs an incentive boost.

Those who have invested in solar power generators in the home have been short changed by power utilities. The system of rebates for power returned to the grid that does not reflect the unit sale price, is not enough of an incentive.

The DLP believes that South Australia should adopt the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme that pays householders 60c per kilowatt of power produced - not power to the grid. This system rewards householders for investment and recognises the fact that household electricity production reduces demand on power generators - particularly at times of high demand.

The DLP believes that every new home in every new land release owned by the government should be provided with solar power cells and plumbed in water tanks. It's a once only chance to reduce energy and water use. (see also water, housing and population and development policies)

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