JOBS GROWTH FORECAST

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (15:04): Can the Premier confirm to the house whether he stands by the Labor Party's 2010 election campaign commitment to create 100,000 new jobs by 2016?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:04): As I have said on repeated occasions, we will continue to pursue that objective. That is the objective of our party: to grow jobs. There is an air of unreality. What intruded upon the Australian economy and the international economy was one of the largest recessionary events that has occurred since the Great Depression. It seems to have—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is called to order, the deputy leader is called to order and the member for Morialta is warned for the second and final time, which puts him in the same space as the Minister for Transport.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It seems to have been lost on those opposite that the national economy and the state economy were grappling with an extraordinary international event. It is with great pride, and against all the claims and predictions of those opposite, that we managed to continue to grow through that very difficult period. We now have a foundation that we have built for a stronger South Australia, which we will continue to grow. That is the ambition of this government.

What we have done is this: the 100,000 training places that we also committed at the 2010 election, which were also due to be completed by 2016, have been completed now, three years ahead of time. As the world economy has shifted, as there has been much dislocation in our South Australian economy as a consequence, we are training up our workers so that they have the skills to meet the needs of this changing economy, because we believe in the dignity of work and we will always have creating jobs at the centre of the Labor project.

The SPEAKER: Supplementary from the leader.