House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1) 52 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Jobs Growth JOBS GROWTH Mrs REDMOND House of Assembly Heysen Leader of the Opposition JOBS GROWTH Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): My question, again, is to the Minister Assisting the Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education. The Hon. K.O. Foley House of Assembly The Hon. K.O. Foley: Boring! Mrs REDMOND House of Assembly Mrs REDMOND: We know you're boring; go now! Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Mr Marshall interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, member for Norwood! Mrs REDMOND House of Assembly Mrs REDMOND: It was the Minister for Defence Industries, Madam Speaker, who prompted the response by indicating how boring the minister is in his answers. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Mrs REDMOND House of Assembly Mrs REDMOND: Madam Speaker, my question to the Minister Assisting the Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education. Will the minister confirm that, if South Australia's jobs growth had kept pace with the national jobs growth since 2002, we would currently have 37,000 more South Australians in jobs? Mr Williams interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! Deputy leader, you are warned. The minister. The Hon. T.R. KENYON House of Assembly Newland Minister for Recreation Minister for Road Safety Minister for Veterans' Affairs Minister Assisting the Premier with South Australia's Strategic Plan Minister Assisting the Minister for Employment The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland—Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister Assisting the Premier with South Australia's Strategic Plan, Minister Assisting the Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education) (14:25): No, I will not concede that, ma'am, but what I will concede is that, if we had kept pace with their jobs growth, about 12,000 jobs would have been created in the last eight years. I will just provide some further information on the job results that we have. The ABS September job figures released last week— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. T.R. KENYON House of Assembly The Hon. T.R. KENYON: —show growth in total employment in South Australia of 18.9 per cent since 2002. That is more than double the figure of only 8.4 per cent during the term of the last Liberal government. That would explain why, if we had followed their jobs growth, we would only be at about 12,000 or 13,000 new jobs created, but, in fact, 74,000 full-time jobs have been created in that time—74,000! Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, member for Davenport! The Hon. T.R. KENYON House of Assembly The Hon. T.R. KENYON: What I am saying is that this government has a brilliant record on job creation and jobs growth, and it is one that has never been matched over the other side— Mr Pisoni interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, member for Unley! The Hon. T.R. KENYON House of Assembly The Hon. T.R. KENYON: —in recent times, and it is unlikely to be matched by them.