THE future of Gawler’s Service SA facility has again been thrust into the spotlight after state treasurer Rob Lucas suggested last week that centres across the state were being considered for privatisation.
Speaking to Adelaide news organisation InDaily, Mr Lucas said the government is currently in the process of exploring privatising the Motor Vehicle Registry – a commitment he said had been previously negotiated by the former Labor Government.
He said 97 per cent of the work done by the Motor Vehicle Registry is through Services SA, meaning it would be “highly likely” that all centres, including Gawler, would operate privately should the former be privatised.
In January this year, member for Light Tony Piccolo said the Gawler Service SA centre was under threat of suffering the same fate as three other metropolitan sites – Prospect, Modbury and Mitcham – targeted for closure.
At the time, transport minister Stephan Knoll rejected the claims Gawler would be affected.
He maintained no centres would be closed until “alternate service delivery models are in place” when answering questions from Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas in state parliament earlier this month.
“That remains the current position and will remain the current position until those alternate pathways are in place,” Mr Knoll said.
“We have used this opportunity to innovate a lot of the way that Service SA currently undertakes its functions, and there is a huge opportunity for us to do good things: to  improve our online and digital platform, to improve our physical face-to-face transaction capability, and also to be able to deal with some of the bureaucratic difficulties that exist.”
However, Mr Piccolo held concerns for people without access to the internet under the
proposed digital reforms, and pointed to the Liberals’ “poor record on privatisations”.
“People who are unable to undertake Service SA transactions online will be particularly
hurt, as they rely on face-to-face contact and service delivery,” he said.
“The Liberal Party’s sale of ETSA and the management of our water services have only
led to heartache for South Australians.
“Despite giving a public assurance,  prior to the election, that he did ‘not have a privatisation agenda’, several government services have, or are earmarked, for privatisation (by premier Steven Marshall).
“There is a pattern emerging where the State Government winds back services, or fees and charges are increased, to make them more profitable and therefore more attractive to a private buyer.
“In the end, commuters will pay for the ideological campaign this State Liberal Government is waging against vital public services, through increased fares and reduced services.”