Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today concerned for families in Barker following the announcement last week that the Bedford Group was forced to enter voluntary administration. Bedford is a vital social enterprise operating across 22 sites in South Australia. In Mount Gambier, Bedford supports approximately 200 workers with a disability working in manufacturing, recycling, hospitality and grounds maintenance.

Despite solid assets, Bedford has recorded significant losses in recent years. In light of these challenges, Bedford's plan to diversify the business has failed to generate anticipated revenues as quickly as the Bedford board had hoped, hence the difficult choice to enter voluntary administration. But here's where things get interesting.

In response to this crisis, a crisis impacting 1,400 vulnerable South Australians living with a disability, we see two very different approaches. On the one hand, we have prime minister in waiting, Premier Peter Malinauskas, acting decisively to provide a $15 million lifeline to Bedford, and, on the other, we have the federal minister for health, South Australian Mark Butler, flatfooted and non-committal, presumably unable to secure approval for a similar package from Prime Minister Albanese. It's little wonder South Australian Labor members and candidates were desperate for Malinauskas's image, not that of the Prime Minister, to appear on their promotional material at the recent election.

It's so sad that this has happened in the shadows of the inspirational first speech of the member for Dickson. The people of Bedford are hurting, and they know Labor's let them down.

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