YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): Supplementary, sir. Is the Premier saying that the 4,000 young people in South Australia who are looking for a job and find themselves unemployed is a meaningless statistic; and is he saying that the fact that South Australia has the highest youth unemployment rate in the country is acceptable?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:28): Of course, unemployment for any individual is a personal tragedy and our mission is to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to earn or learn, and that is an objective we have committed ourselves to.

We would be assisted in that regard if, in the area where youth unemployment is a particular issue, the northern suburbs, we had a willing partner to put pressure on the federal government to ensure the co-investment in Holden's. The single greatest threat to youth unemployment in this state is the future of Holden's. If they could just for one moment stop playing politics and join with us and pressure Canberra to get a result for this state, we would all be much better off.

The SPEAKER: Second supplementary on the fourth question.