South Australian Treasurer Rob Lucas has rated the previous Labor government a "10 out of 10" for dishonesty over the state of South Australia's finances.
Mr Lucas, who on Tuesday delivered the state's first Liberal budget since 2001, said the previous government had withheld information about the state's finances in the lead-up to the March election.
"There's unimpeachable evidence that the budget was in a mess in terms of the operating balance prior to the election," he said.
He said Labor's approach had contributed to the $397 million deficit for 2017/18.
But Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said the remarks were an attempt to shift the public's attention away from the budget's deficiencies.
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"Rob Lucas has been doing everything he can to sabotage the budget for the 2017/18 financial year," he said.
The SA budget has swung the axe on more than 30 government programs to fund record infrastructure spending and deliver a modest $48 million surplus in 2018/19.
Mr Malinauskas said the government had said nothing about its planned cuts before the state election.
"South Australians have every reason to be concerned that Rob Lucas is now back in charge and cutting services, closing critical pieces of infrastructure and also privatising institutions that should never be handed over to the private sector," he said.
