Question Time

EMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): My question is to the Premier. Why did South Australia lose 9,000 jobs last month when national job losses totalled only 8,800?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:10): It beggars belief that the opposition leader would, in her first question after last week's debacle—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. I think the question was quite straightforward and quite simple—

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Premier has not started answering yet; he said five words.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Sit down; there is no point of order. Premier, I refer you back to the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We are proud on this side of the house of our jobs record. We have—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Since coming into government, we have created an additional 57,100 full-time jobs. Compare that with the period—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Compare that with the period when the Liberals were last in government: a mere 6,100 full-time jobs. Five thousand—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The deputy leader will behave!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It was 57,100 versus 6,100. Of course, what we have seen in the intervening period has been a global financial crisis which has sent economic shockwaves throughout the world. And, indeed, Australia and South Australia have fared—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, can you please sit down for a moment. Order! I cannot hear what the Premier is saying. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. South Australia and, indeed, Australia have fared better than almost any nation or, indeed, regions around the world because of one single factor: the governments—the national and state governments—have decided to maintain the economic stimulus that goes with government investment.

We saw that first with the commonwealth government with its stimulus package, and of course, we have seen it in the most recent state budget when, in the most difficult of times, the Treasurer fashioned a budget which maintained investment in infrastructure which will not only build the future of our state but sustain employment in this state. About all of those matters, the stimulus—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —the federal government put in place, the decisions that we took as a state to maintain our infrastructure spending, about all of those matters, we were the subject—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: Madam Speaker—

The SPEAKER: Is that a point of order?

Mr WILLIAMS: Yes, it is a point of order: this is about relevance to the question, which is about the jobs that have been lost in South Australia. The Premier is in—

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: —denial, Madam Speaker, let alone answering the question—

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you; this is not the opportunity for you to make a statement. Continue answering your question, Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The question about sustaining employment, in circumstances where there is economic downturn in the private sector the role falls to government—the role falls to government. Instead of retreating—instead of withdrawing—in circumstances where the economy most needs our involvement, what we see proposed by those opposite is a massive negative stimulus that would be put into the economy.

At the very time that we are talking of these things, we are hearing propositions from those opposite to put the largest single negative stimulus into this economy one could imagine: a 25,000 to 30,000 job—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: Madam Speaker, the Premier is not answering the relevance of the question, which was about the 9,000 jobs lost in South Australia last month.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, you have made that point of order three times now, member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The Premier is also debating.

The SPEAKER: Order! You will sit down. Thank you. The Premier can answer the question as he chooses, if it is relevant to the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: At this critical time when signs of confidence and building confidence in the South Australian economy are at a massive premium, what we hear from those opposite is speculation about a job-destroying, slash-and-burn approach to public sector employment. As we seek—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I cannot hear the Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Later today, I will be having a round table of construction employers seeking to stimulate activity in the residential construction industry, which is on its knees.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: In relation to that sector, what would be a more damaging message to send to 25,000 to 35,000 families who might be considering making the largest investment in their life that under an alternative government they would be facing the sack?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. Hill: Tell us about the jobs you'd lose.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. Hill: What's your target, Mitch? How many jobs are you cutting?

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Health, order! The member for Florey.