Steven Marshall says there will be cuts to South Australia's public service under a Liberal government, and he's not ruling out slashing the jobs of teachers and nurses.
In a heated exchange at a people's forum hosted by Sky News and The Advertiser in Adelaide on Wednesday night, Mr Marshall said a Liberal government would halve the emergency services levy and cut land tax.
"We want to cut some slack to people who have worked hard and accumulated an asset, not always bashing them with higher and higher costs of living and hits to their household budget," the opposition leader said.
Premier Jay Weatherill was quick to bite back, telling the forum the tax cuts would be paid for by cuts and privatisation.
"The both of you (Steven Marshall and Nick Xenophon) teamed up to cut $210 million out of South Australian schools and that is what will be happening here in South Australia if you two get the opportunity," he said.
Mr Marshall said the Liberal Party will release its campaign costings document on Thursday, which will include a "modest" efficiency dividend.
He said the Liberals want to "protect all frontline services" but would not rule out cutting the jobs of teachers and nurses.
"There's a cut actually envisaged in the forward estimates and yes, the Liberal Party will be preserving that," he said.
He said there would be no cut to the overall health budget, and any efficiencies would be reinvested into the system.
On Thursday morning, SA Unions state secretary Joe Szakacs said Mr Marshall must come clean on the number of jobs that would go.
"We've been asking the Liberals for four years what their plans are for South Australian workers and they finally reveal them with two days to go before the election," he said.
"Unlike Isobel Redmond who had the decency to disclose the number of workers who would be sacked, Stephen Marshall has hidden his true plan until the last minute."
More than 100 undecided voters were selected by polling firm Galaxy to attend the forum and ask questions ahead of Saturday's election.
Following the forum's conclusion, 30 per cent said they were more likely to vote for SA-BEST, while 22 per cent were more likely to vote Liberal and 19 per cent more likely to vote Labor.
A further 29 per cent remained undecided.
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