Employment Figures

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): Yes, thank you, sir. How can the Premier say with a straight face to this house that he believes the employment growth figure is prudent when last year's employment growth figure received multiple downgrades and proved to be wildly optimistic?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:24): What never ceases to amaze me from the Leader of the Opposition is how utterly empty his contributions are to this massive challenge. It is as though, in political terms, he is a spectator; he just simply watches. He is the Chauncey Gardner of Australian politics: he just likes to watch.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order: thankfully, the Premier is not responsible for the Leader of the Opposition. This is making an attempt at debate, and I seek that you rule it is irrelevant.

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader may be right but for the leader's question being so combative in its terms, and so the Premier is merely responding to the tone of the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I have outlined the basis on which that material is contained in the budget papers. I don't think there is very much more I can offer about that. It is not seeking to be a government target or indeed an expression of the opinion of this government about where we are likely to land in relation to employment. It is simply offered as expert advice, a best estimate in our budget papers, which is precisely what our budget papers are about: they are about trying to forecast the future having regard to the past.

If you want to know what our plan for South Australia is, our economic plan is laid out in the 10 economic priorities for South Australia. They have not been seriously challenged by anybody in this community, including the Leader of the Opposition. They represent a clear and cogent plan for the future of South Australia. There is plenty of scope for the Leader of the Opposition to make his own contribution to initiatives to advance the targets that are set out in that plan—plenty of scope.

We are hoping to see some more ambitious initiatives from the Leader of the Opposition than emerged in the last state election campaign, when the high watermark for new ideas seemed to be the reintroduction of car rego stickers.

Mr MARSHALL: A supplementary, sir?

The SPEAKER: The Premier's contribution was largely debate, but I allowed the opposition to interject on him without warning.

Mr MARSHALL: Thank you, sir. You are most benevolent on some occasions.