Pasin’s 2024 priorities

While advocates wait for the feasibility study into radiation therapy services in the Limestone Coast, Member for Barker Tony Pasin has assured key stakeholders and the community that delivering that service for this region is top of his 2024 to-do list.

“We will continue to pressure the State Government,” Mr Pasin said. “South Australia is the only mainland state not to have a regional service and the funding from the Federal Government remain available.”

While that is the key project Mr Pasin will focus on, more generally, it is cost of living that is still the single biggest issue that comes across his desk from constituents.

“We will be holding the Albanese Government to account for the things that are important to hard working Australians, in particular around the cost of living” he said. “There is a tendency in Canberra for the focus to be on everything but what’s important to middle Australia and my electorate fits squarely in middle Australia.”

Mortgage payments, power bills and the cost of living more generally, including cost at supermarket, continue to challenge and what concerns Mr Pasin is he cannot see a plan for relieving these pressures.

“I am not seeing a plan out of Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers to address cost of living challenges,” Mr Pasin said. “The Reserve Bank is pulling the reins to slow the economy down using interest rates to do it but we need the government to reduce expenditure.

“And it’s not just about reducing spending but what’s good spending and bad spending.

“We need productivity to go up and spending to go down and if they had a plan to do this, I would be more comfortable.

“I worry as few as two more interest rate rises will really punish Australians who are really trying to have a go.”

Mr Pasin has also had conversations with community service groups that show just how deep the cost of living crisis is cutting with charities, for the first time, seeing double income families requiring assistance coming in their doors.

In his role as Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Mr Pasin will also be working overtime to reduce what has become a spiralling road toll.

“It can’t just be driver behaviour,” he said. “I want to pressure the government to increase funding, infrastructure funding, particularly around road safety projects.”

Issues around targeted migration are also frequently coming across the Member for Barker’s desk as local employers look to bring sponsored skilled migrants into workplaces to fill long standing vacancies.