Costs cannot be the excuse to leave Mount Gambier unrepresented!

Costs cannot be the excuse to leave Mount Gambier unrepresented!

Member for Barker Tony Pasin MP says Premier Peter Malinauskas must not hide behind costs to deny Mount Gambier residents their right to be represented in the state Parliament following the resignation of Troy Bell.

“Mount Gambier has more than 26,500 enrolled voters. Democracy is not something the Premier can put on hold when it suits him politically. The people of Mount Gambier deserve a voice in the South Australian Parliament, and if that means a by-election so be it, it should be called without delay,” Mr Pasin said.

By-elections are a routine part of our democratic process.

Our democracy, the democracy our diggers fought for, shouldn’t be subject to cost effectiveness calculations, particularly by a Premier who has spent more than $250 million on a failed hydrogen project.

This is a Premier who wants us to believe he values the regions and Mount Gambier in particular. This is his opportunity to prove he’s not all talk.

Failure to heed this call is proof positive that the premier wants to govern for Adelaide whilst simultaneously offering the regions nothing but lip service.

“Any Premier who can spend hundreds of millions on failed projects and millions more on self-promotion cannot turn around and say a by-election is too expensive. That excuse won’t wash with the people of Mount Gambier,” Mr Pasin said.