EMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:17): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier explain why there have been 5,500 full-time jobs lost since Labor promised to create 100,000 new jobs?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:17): We do not accept that analysis. What we say is that trend employment rose in the last month and for five months in a row, and we have seen 5,500 new jobs created.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader will come to order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Indeed since, I think, June 2012 we have seen trend employment grow by 4,000 jobs despite the Treasury forecasts.

Mr MARSHALL: My point of order is relevance.

The SPEAKER: I hope it is indeed a point of order.

Mr MARSHALL: I didn't ask a broad question. I asked specifically about 5,500 full-time jobs, and that is the substance of the question—full-time jobs.

The SPEAKER: I think that was just an impromptu speech and an abuse of the right of members to take points of order. In my opinion, the Premier is addressing the substance of the question and we ought to let his answer unfold.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I said, this reflects the strengthening of the labour market that is encouraging more South Australians to look for work, so we are seeing quite high labour force participation rates.

Mr Pisoni: Participation rates are down.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, they're not; they're up. That's a nonsense. This reflects a strengthening labour market, and over 127,000 jobs have been created since 2002. We continue to pursue what is an ambitious target, but it is a target that we set ourselves because we are ambitious for our state.

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned for the second time, and there will be no further warnings.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We are ambitious for our state. We value full-time employment and part-time employment. We value the growth in both of those categories because they represent very important ways in which a number of people can contribute to the labour force, including women. We don't think that it is an inferior matter to see the growth in part-time employment. We think that the growth in both categories of employment is important. Of course, we want to ensure that the rates of growth are as high as they possibly can be. That is why we are pursuing 100,000 extra training places to ensure that we have the skills that are necessary to take advantage of those growth opportunities.

I know those opposite are desperate to fix on any bit of negative news to try and talk down the South Australian economy and to talk down our prospects, but we have a different view about the state: that it is robust in difficult times and that we are—on any view of it, on any international comparison, on any comparison historically within this state—in a strong economic position. We will not let those opposite talk down the achievements of the South Australian community in dealing with and riding out what has been a momentous global financial crisis that has shaken out across the world.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens will come to order.