House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Employment Figures EMPLOYMENT FIGURES Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Norwood Leader of the Opposition EMPLOYMENT FIGURES Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): Yes, sir. Given the state budget forecast of 1 per cent jobs growth this financial year, why has there been a 1½ per cent jobs decline in the year to date—21,000 fewer jobs than were in your own budget in May this year? The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly Cheltenham Premier Minister for State Development Minister for the Public Sector Minister for the Arts EMPLOYMENT FIGURES The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:22): We have, through the budget process, applied public finances in a way which generate as much activity in the South Australian economy as is consistent with maintaining a prudent fiscal stance. We have indeed put at jeopardy our AAA credit rating when we made the choice— Mr Marshall interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for the second and final time. The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We made the choice to seek to maintain investments in our economy so that activity could be generated and jobs maintained at a time when those opposite were telling us we should not have made that decision. So the situation we face at the moment is a challenging one, I freely admit that, but it would be so much worse if we'd listened to those opposite. Every single time you look at a project in the city, whether it be the Royal Adelaide Hospital, whether it be the Adelaide Oval, whether it be the Convention Centre, and all of the spinoff investments that are occurring around this state, remind yourself that none of these projects would be there if we had listened to the Liberal Party of South Australia. Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Mr MARSHALL: Supplementary, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: A further supplementary.