House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2) 51 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Business and Consumer Confidence BUSINESS AND CONSUMER CONFIDENCE Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Waite Leader of the Opposition BUSINESS AND CONSUMER CONFIDENCE Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:40): My question is to the Treasurer. Was his answer to an earlier question about business confidence complete and accurate, and do the economic indicators in fact show that the government is losing confidence with small business? In two separate business surveys released today, business confidence in South Australia is shown to have slumped. In Bank SA's latest edition of State Monitorbusiness confidence has dropped for the third successive quarter. In the February 2008 Sensis Business Index, net attitudes to state government policies have gone—wait for it—from minus 4 per cent in February 2007 to minus 10 per cent in May 2007 to minus 11 per cent in August 2007 to minus 12 per cent in November 2007 and, now, in February 2008 to minus 17 per cent. I suppose they are all just whingers. The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly Port Adelaide Deputy Premier Minister for Industry and Trade Minister for Federal/State Relations BUSINESS AND CONSUMER CONFIDENCE The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:41): Thank you Matthew—sorry, I mean Leader of the Opposition—for that question. Can I say only— An honourable member interjecting: The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I do not have all of my figures in front of me, sir, because I gave it to the attendants who wanted the figures for Hansard. Ms Chapman interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I would not know because I can't read. I ask the Deputy Leader of the Opposition withdraw, sir. Admittedly, I did not get past fourth year, but I did finish third year. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier has taken exception to the remarks— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Let's not let this descend into a farce. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! If the Deputy Premier takes exception to the remarks of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, I ask her to withdraw. Ms CHAPMAN House of Assembly Ms CHAPMAN: I decline to do so, sir, because the Deputy Premier failed to hear the rest of what I said. The word 'it' on the end—read it—because you handed it to Hansard. An honourable member interjecting: The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Pinocchio, hey? As I said, only the Leader of the Opposition and a few others would want to pick through a report and try to find a negative. Mr Williams interjecting: The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Well, Mr Speaker, I can only— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I can only but quote, which I will again, from The Advertiser. An honourable member interjecting: The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: That is an objective media outlet in this state. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: It quotes the Managing Director of BankSA, who is also now the Chairman of Business SA, or about to be. Let's just again listen to what Mr Chapman said about our economy as reported in the very report that the leader would want us to think talks negatively about our economy. He states: In the past, the closure of Mitsubishi would have had a major impact on confidence levels but now 43 per cent of consumers believe the state's economy is strong enough to absorb the blow. He continues: Our survey results suggest consumers are not panicking about changing conditions. He goes on to say: The spike in confidence coincided with the end of a drought, defence and mining investment— two sectors aggressively pursued by this government— —a housing boom, a new State Government— that was also aggressively pursued by this side of the house— —and a stable Australian economy... Blue collar workers drove the surge with housing and business investment causing a huge demand for skilled trades. It went on to say: Mr Chapman said the confidence surveys gave an accurate picture of the economy. From about 2003, the great prospects for SA, particularly in mining, had been communicated 'very well'. Quoting Mr Chapman: 'There've been some doubters, people saying "ahh, there's spin on all of this", but this is real, this is what's going to sustain the state's future for the next 50 years. Real jobs are being created, real jobs with big salaries.' That is what the CEO of BankSA says about our economy, not the carping, whingeing, whining and moaning of the opposition and some selected media programs. Beside that, objective assessments of this economy see us as a very strong and powerful economy. I understand that Mr Kerry Stokes—with whom the Premier, ministers Holloway and Conlon and I met for lunch yesterday and through the course of the Clipsal weekend—in an open speech yesterday gave our state—and, clearly, widely reported— The Hon. P.F. Conlon House of Assembly The Hon. P.F. Conlon: On Channel 7 hopefully. The Hon. K.O. FOLEY House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —on Channel 7 tonight, hopefully. Mr Stokes said that he is very impressed with this economy and with this government, because we are a government that he can deal with. That comes on the back of Adelaide City Council accolades from people like Lindsay Fox and Lang Walker—and the list is very, very long. We are a government that people can do business with. We understand what business needs and wants, and we are delivering, and the beneficiaries are the people of South Australia.