EMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): Given that the Premier has just outlined to the house that we sacrificed our AAA rating to ensure that we maintained jobs here in South Australia, can he outline to the house why the trend unemployment rate has increased every single month for the past 12 months?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:24): The simple truth is the trajectory for employment and unemployment in South Australia would have been so much worse if we had not taken the decisions that we have taken. This economy would be cratered if we had listened to those opposite. We anticipated the slowdown in the economy because of the effects associated with the global financial crisis.

We made a decision to maintain our investments in this economy so that we could continue to grow the jobs, because every time we sit down to frame a budget or make a government decision we are thinking about ordinary men and women sitting around at their kitchen tables worrying about whether they will have a job, looking at their bills and wondering whether they are going to be able to continue to pay them. This is the thing that sits in our minds. These are our concerns. We do not sit there being cheered on by the business community about cutting and slashing and handing out further tax handouts to mates in some bizarre idea that this may trickle down and benefit the rest of the South Australian community.

I can tell you a little about trickle-down economics. It is just a cruel hoax on working people in this state, this idea that somehow you take your hands off the wheel, hand over tax cuts and this will lead to investment. I will tell you what happens if you hand over the broad-based tax cuts like those opposite are proposing. They get hoovered up and they do not trickle down anywhere. We are maintaining our investments in the South Australian economy so that we can sustain growth and activity in this economy at a time when it is needed.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Are you quite finished? I warn for the first time the deputy leader, the member for Davenport and the member for Unley, and I call the member for Morialta to order. I also warn for the first time the member for Heysen.