SA's political leaders face off in debate one week out from election

And that's where we wrap up our live coverage of today's debate.

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In his closing remarks, Mr Malinauskas thanked host Rory McClaren and Ms Hurn before again spruiking the state's economic position and future opportunities.

"In a world that is going through an extraordinary period of turbulence and instability, here in South Australia, a stable, united team is the way you deliver good outcomes for people," Mr Malinauskas said.

Ms Hurn also shared her thanks before having one last swipe at the premier.

"I think what we have seen throughout the last hour and a bit is that we do have a premier who is desperately focused on PR and desperately focused on spin.

"It has been the cornerstone really of his entire time in government and they will put that above everything else.

"They are much more focused on the razzle-dazzle and less so on getting the important things right for the people of South Australia, and if I'm your premier, if I'm elected as the premier of South Australia, then I will be fairly focused on getting the important things right."

Mr Malinauskas asked Ms Hurn what the SA Liberals' position is on net zero.

"The State Liberal Party made clear that South Australian Liberal Party MPs at the state level support net zero. Has the Leader of the Opposition changed that position? And can she tell us what net zero is?" he asked.

"Well, look, energy affordability is a huge concern right across South Australia, and we make no apologies for putting affordability ahead of ideology. We are not committed, we've said this really publicly, we're not committed to your target of 100% renewables by next year. It's fine to have ambitions, but not at the expense of Australians."

The premier interrupted Ms Hurn to ask whether the policy had changed since Vincent Tarzia, but she was out of time to respond.

In her final question to the premier, Ms Hurn asked about the case of Monica Wohlstadt, a public health patient who this week raised concerns about how the SA health minister's office used personal patient information to "background" journalists ahead of the publication of stories.

"Your PR machine went into overdrive and shared specific medical information with journalists," Ms Hurn said.

"Do you know what type of medication she was on?"

The health minister this week defended the release of Ms Wohlstadt's information.

Mr Malinauskas today said the government responded to the case appropriately, given the claims made at the time.

"The leader of the opposition put out a press release that contained factual errors regarding that particular patient's case," he said.

"We went away and got those answers, which I think is the appropriate course of action. In terms of a specific medication, no, I don't know what that is. I don't get access to patient records and nor would people reasonably expect me to, but I do know the circumstances ... that led to the cancellations of those elective surgeries."

The debate has officially ended, with both leaders now off the stage.

But we are still here to go through a couple of the final questions the leaders asked each other.

"John Howard had the principle and the conviction to put One Nation last. Was he wrong?" the premier asked.

Ms Hurn quipped "John Howard probably thought more of the Labor Party back then than I do now of this current state Labor government".

"But on the preferences, what I would say is this, that I'm willing to take some advice from the premier on a range of things, but it's certainly not preferences.

"We're speaking about the Labor Party who talks a big game about supporting AUKUS and it's this big national endeavour, and that is true, and we're going to be centred here in South Australia, those opportunities.

"But then what does he do? He preferences the Greens number two. The Greens who are anti-AUKUS, they want to tear it up and throw it out. And so I will be lectured to by the government and the premier on preferences when he stops preferencing the South Australian Greens.

Earlier on the topic of law and order, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said:

"…to my surprise that the leader of the opposition, at least in their slogans, has tried to make law and order an issue, given there's more criminals in the parliament from the Liberal Party than there are women, so it's quite extraordinary."

We've fact checked this line. Three former Liberals were found guilty of crimes in the past term — Troy Bell, Fraser Ellis and David Speirs.

A fourth — Nick McBride — is currently on home detention bail facing criminal charges. He will contest those charges.

The Liberal Party has two women in the lower house, and another four in the upper house.

Ms Hurn asked the first question.

"Premier, we know that South Australians are doing it pretty tough at the moment and that's why today I'm announcing that if we're elected we'll be freezing our politician salaries for the next four years. Will you join me?"

Mr Malinauskas laughed saying "look I want to thank Nick Xenophon for his question before responding.

 "As the Leader of the Opposition well knows, all MPs' salaries are set by the Remuneration Tribunal.

"In fact, politicians' salaries have been increasing below average public sector wage increases.

"Politicians' salaries have been increasing in most instances lower than the rate of inflation in recent years. So, I'm very happy for the independent tribunal to set people's wages, so worth a look at."

During exchanges on campaign costings, the premier accused the opposition of not making its costings clear.

He said Labor costings had totalled $1.9 billion but said the Liberal costings were about three times that figure.

"Why can't she tell you the number? Why can't she tell you the number? Not asking for how you're going to pay for it, simply asking, what does it add up to?" he said.

When Ms Hurn moved to dispute that, Mr Malinauskas said: "Don't interrupt".

But Ms Hurn got her chance to rebut the premier's claims.

"First of all, that figure is completely fanciful," she said of the Labor's claim about Liberal costings.

That prompted the following exchange:

Mr Malinauskas: "If the number's wrong, tell us the right one."

Ms Hurn: "Don't interrupt me."

Mr Malinauskas: "Fair enough."

"Do either of you have a plan to pay down the near $50 billion worth of state debt if elected, or is it just a matter of both of you kicking the can down the road for the next government? " Mr McClaren asked.

The premier responded by saying the budget handed down in the mid-year review showed debt was lower than what had been projected by the previous Liberal government.

He said the Labor Party planned to tackle debt by growing the economy, which Ms Hurn agreed was needed.

But she went further to suggest cuts to spending.

"You also need to stop the waste and stop the vanity projects and you've got to get back to the bread and butter basics of managing your budget. Over the last four years alone, this government has blown its own budget, so the budget that it sets for itself, by $4.8 billion."

She said the Liberal Party can manage budgets "extraordinarily well".

The premier responded by saying "we've never had the budget in such a strong position delivering actual surpluses".

Both leaders have zeroed in on affordable housing.

Ms Hurn described housing as the "number one issue in South Australia".

"Everywhere I go we've got people, it doesn't matter whether you're an elderly citizen or you're just seeking to get your foot into the housing ladder, access to housing, making it affordable is the number one concern," she said.

"What I would say is that the premier talks a lot about his grand ambition to build 13,500 houses per year. Well, that's short of what the National Housing Accord is, so you've given yourself a big pat on the back, but you're not even achieving what the National Housing Accord is."

But Mr Malinauskas rejected the opposition's stance, saying its stamp duty policy was "going to make the problem worse".

"You've seen South Australia go from a laggard in terms of housing growth to now having the fastest housing growth rate in the country," he said.

"We're releasing the land, absolutely. We're doing the code amendments at record speed. But we're also investing in the requisite infrastructure."

One Nation's lead South Australian candidate Cory Bernardi has repeatedly referred to the Labor Party and the Liberal Party as the 'Uni Party'.

Ms Hurn has rejected Mr Bernardi's view of the two parties saying the Liberals have a "completely different value system".

"For the Liberal Party, we're all about freedom of thought, freedom of action. That's not something that exists with the ALP and in particular, we're really focused on, through all of our policies, ensuring that people have choice.

"I'm not a commentator on One Nation. I'll let them row their own canoe."

Ms Hurn was asked whether she was worried that One Nation was speaking in a "more coherent way" to the people she is trying to speak to.

"I wouldn't characterise it like that. I'm enjoying getting out and speaking to as many people as I possibly can," she said.

Mr Malinauskas said how much support there is for One Nation on election day "is going to be one of the more interesting things to see".

Ms Hurn has been asked about being the third leader of the SA Liberal Party in less than 18 months, with one of the previous leaders having to step down after being found guilty of drug supply charges.

"What assurance can you provide the electorate that your party is remotely ready to govern given your party's performance over the last four years?" Mr McClaren asked.

"Well, first of all, we've got to be honest about the fact that the party has had some challenges. I don't shy away from that at all," Ms Hurn said.

"I've been saying that yes, we've got a mountain to climb, but I hope that people and voters at home can see that we've been a united team that's actually focused on talking about policy and making sure that people know exactly what we'll do for them in terms of affordability.

"And I'm really proud to stand here as the female leader of the Liberal Party in South Australia.

"What I would say just on the broad topic is that on this stage there's only one person who has been required to wear a wiretap when they've met with former colleagues or current colleagues and that's the premier."

To which the premier laughed saying "I don't mind that as an example".

"That extraordinary set of circumstances happened because I was willing to wear the political consequences of doing what I believe is right."

Both sides have exchanged criticisms over the state's harmful algal bloom, with the premier describing his government's response as "one of the most substantial investments in environmental research and environmental recovery".

"The first few months we acted in accordance with all the scientific evidence and advice that was coming our way, which strikes me as a prudent course of action," Mr Malinauskas said.

"We had some of the best marine scientists providing advice to the government throughout the course of this."

But Ms Hurn accused the government of being slow in its response.

"When a crisis hits, you've got to be ready to act, and I don't believe that this government was," she said.

"Whilst I do acknowledge that there was a package that was put forward, and we certainly welcomed that, the tardiness by which the money went out the door to people who were impacted was something that we put rightly under the spotlight."

In response to Mr Malinauskas saying aged care was a challenge in fixing the ramping crisis Ms Hurn said:

"He tries to wave the white flag and blame the federal government instead of actually looking in the mirror, and again, I think it is a test of leadership.

"You know, no amount of PR or razzle-dazzle on events and things like that will take away from the fact that you have failed to deliver on your number one election promise and you've not said sorry for it."

Ms Hurn said the Liberal Party has a comprehensive plan to address challenges across the health system, including looking at access to GPs.

"It looks at access to GPs, it looks at workforce and building that pipeline for the next generation, and we too have policies to make sure that we can get people out of the hospitals when they don't clinically need to be here."

The premier responded by saying he has apologised.

"I've been very candid and have apologised for the fact that we haven't been able to deliver the reduction."

Both leaders have been asked whether either of them will promise to fix the ramping crisis.

Mr Malinauskas has acknowledged the Labor government has not delivered on its promise to reduce ramping.

"But we have delivered on the policy to have hundreds more doctors.

"We said we'd deliver 100, we're given 600. We said 300 nurses, 1,400 extra nurses delivered and a lot more ambulance officers and I'm very glad to have done it."

He said ambulances are now "running on time" although it occasionally "goes wrong".

He said aged care, which is out of the state government's control, had been a challenge.

The premier has gone on the attack over the candidacy of Carston Woodhouse, who is no longer running for the Liberals after comments on Islam, feminism and same-sex marriage came to light.

"Standing up for basic decency in this country isn't navel-gazing. It's a matter of character," Mr Malinauskas said.

"Only a couple of days ago, the alternative premier of South Australia was standing up and saying, 'Oh, this is just another view that's welcome in the Liberal Party'.

"Well, what sort of Liberal Party do we have these days then? I stood up on this stage with Ashton's predecessor, utterly united to multicultural South Australia, standing up opposed to homophobia in all its forms. Now, in the Liberal Party, they're pre-selecting people that believe this stuff."

Ms Hurn has responded to the Liberals' candidate for Wright, Carston Woodhouse stepping down.

"Well, I've been really clear that I don't support those views and they are not the collective views of the South Australian Liberal Party.

"I think I was asked this question yesterday or the day before when I fronted up to do media in that I'm on a constant path for improvement.

"So if the Liberal Party can improve its processes, then I'm very happy to look into that with the state director. But at the end of the day, I know that there is a bit of an obsession, particularly from the ALP and the media, about the internal workings of the Liberal Party.

"I think what is fundamentally wrong with politics right now and why we are seeing such a shift to minor parties is because too many politicians are busy talking about themselves. That's not the type of politician that I am. I'm out there talking about the real issues that people care about. "

In response to the health bungle, Ms Hurn says the government apologised because they were "called out about it".

"This goes to the very heart of what is fundamentally wrong with this government, that they are so focused on politics and PR and they will put that ahead of everything else," she said.

"How can you have a health minister in charge of the health system where you're supposed to lead with empathy and compassion, and the judgement was not to reach out and offer ways in which they could improve the health system, but rather to go ferreting through emails to find anything to try and discredit this poor woman who had quite literally lost her husband a year ago, who spent one hour in the back of an ambulance on the day that he died stuck outside the hospital where he was offered a Zooper Dooper.

"I mean, this goes to the very heart of what is wrong, I think, Premier, with your government, that you are so obsessed with politics, PR and your image that you're losing sight of what matters more broadly to the people of South Australia."

The premier has defended his party's track record on health, but conceded ramping remained a problem.

"The truth is, when it comes to the performance of the health system itself, there is clearly the inability to be able to get ramping hours down as much as we'd like," Mr Malinauskas said.

"But also there's been dramatic improvement in ways that represent the difference between life and death. None more important than getting ambulances running on time."