EMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): My question is, again, to the Premier. Can the Premier explain why South Australia is bleeding jobs at the rate of 1,250 a month since he became Premier?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:23): While those opposite were fomenting some faux outrage back here in Adelaide, I was in Playford today doing something about it. Together with minister Burke—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —we announced the establishment of the Stretton Centre, a new centre dedicated to creating a jobs hub within the Playford Alive project, a project which is about the regeneration of jobs in the northern suburbs. Sadly, that is a place where they do have unemployment greater than the national average and greater than the state average—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The particular initiative there is to create a centre that will provide skills and capabilities for workers and the business capability for businesses to grow jobs in a region that needs that, making sure that we bring jobs in that region together with the people who live there and find ways of growing—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Madam Speaker, 98 requires that the Premier answer the substance of the question. The question was all about since he became Premier up until today; nothing about the future.

The SPEAKER: No, I do not uphold that point of order, member for Stuart. The Premier is explaining in his terms, answering the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Those opposite are keen to recycle their point about some of the challenges within the South Australian economy, in three different ways. What I am advancing is the nature of that challenge—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and how we are responding to it. We are responding by acting: by developing policy, by making investments, by intervening—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —by doing something that they are psychologically and philosophically incapable of doing; that is, choosing to intervene in the economy. They do not believe you should; they believe you should stand back and allow market forces to throw up what they will. I can tell members that the quickest way to accelerate reduction in employment numbers in this state is to stand back and do nothing. They have no ideas to advance. We have ideas we are advancing. For those opposite, I offer them the opportunity to participate in them—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, have you finished?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I will plough on. This is their work time, Madam Speaker; this is their hour of activity. They go back to sleep after this, so I do not want to interrupt.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. The Premier—

The SPEAKER: I was about to refer the Premier back to the substance of the question.

Mr WILLIAMS: He is indulging in debate. These are very important questions for the people of South Australia, Madam Speaker—

The SPEAKER: Thank you. We do not need an explanation from you.

Mr WILLIAMS: —and we are getting no answers—

The SPEAKER: Sit down, deputy leader. Your question said 'explain'; the Premier is explaining. He will go back to the substance of the question and the explanation.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I can take those members opposite. Obviously it is not available for either the South Australian or the commonwealth government to intervene in the economy in a way we did in the early stages of the global financial crisis. There simply is not the capacity for governments to directly stimulate our economy. What we can do, though, is take those steps that are consistent with advancing economic activity in our state—which we are doing at every level.

We have sought to deal with the particular challenges of the building and construction sector, which is in a particularly parlous state, given the collapse in housing approvals. We have done that in a range of ways. We have kept up our investments in projects, and I must say that we have been criticised for it. We have been criticised for maintaining our investments in a series of state building projects, because that put at risk the AAA credit rating. However, we did that advisedly, because we wanted to sustain the level of our economic activity within our economy.

We also decided to defer the abolition of the First Home Owner Grant, because we wanted to maintain the level of activity. We decided to introduce a new concession in relation to stamp duty on apartments, which is beginning to have an effect on apartment dwelling investment in the city. Courtesy of the planning minister, we have given the most creative and permissive regime for new development in the city for years, in partnership with the Adelaide City Council.

These are the steps we are taking to make sure that economic activity in this state grows, but we are not taking our eyes off the long-term structural issues that are placing pressures on our economy; the need to move from an old manufacturing economy to an advanced manufacturing economy.