Grievance Debate

South Australian Economy

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (15:13): South Australia is a great state but it is being let down by a very bad government. Adelaide is a great place to live. It is one of the most liveable cities in the world. I love Adelaide and our regions are second to none, but our economy in South Australia has virtually ground to a halt after 14 punishing years by the hopeless ineptitude of the state Labor government.

This month, we have had the punishing situation that we have had to sit through these incredibly bad national employment statistics. South Australia's trend unemployment rate is sitting at a national high of 8 per cent. Let me tell you that the second highest in the nation is 6.5 per cent and the national average is 6.3 per cent. Let me tell you also: Tasmania is improving all the time. It is lowering its unemployment. Tasmania is down at 6.2. We are the worst in the nation because we have got a government that is not concentrating on creating long-term, sustainable jobs for South Australia. That was this month.

This week CommSec brought down its State of the States report, another terrible report card for this tired, out of touch, arrogant Labor government in South Australia. We are now ranked seventh, but not only are we ranked seventh but Tasmania, which is currently in eighth, is now being predicted to overtake South Australia.

This government will not be satisfied until we are absolutely bottom of the barrel. It should be shameful to this government. This government should be concentrating every single effort on trying to improve our situation, yet what is it doing? Absolutely nothing. It is sitting on its hands. It is running up the white flag, waiting until we hit double digit unemployment in this state. Today the Sensis Business Index comes out. This index looks at the way that SMEs rate their state governments. Where is South Australia? Are they first? Are they second, third, fourth, fifth? Last again.

South Australia ranks the lowest in the nation again. You see the pattern, Mr Speaker. After 14 years of inept government, now with the ICAC report being handed down and two counts of maladministration against this government where it sold off a very, very valuable piece of South Australian industrial land, completely without going out to market and condemned by virtually everybody for the maladministration this government has presided over, and look where South Australia is.

ABS statistics are very important to consider, and when we look at the rate of start-up in South Australia, we have the lowest rate of start-up of new business on the mainland of Australia. This is a shameful situation. It is evidenced by the ABS statistics which came out in March this year and confirmed again in April of this year for the last financial year. How are we going to grow our economy? How are we going to grow our economy, sir, if we are not focused on starting new businesses in South Australia?

So, it was quite interesting yesterday. When we raised this question with the minister he did not even know about this statistic. In fact, he spent a lot of question time arguing about it—not just question time but later in the parliament. Interestingly this morning, the Premier decided that he would come out and challenge what the Leader of the Opposition had said in this place. He thought that we had got it wrong. He thought that I had misled the parliament. So, he had the opportunity to come into this parliament at 10.30 this morning and move that motion. Did he come in?

Honourable members: No!

Mr MARSHALL: Did he come in and say that the Leader of the Opposition had got it wrong? The government has had all day to correct this situation. Did it use that opportunity? No, because it knows that we have got it right. The government consulted the statistics. We have not started the number of businesses that we need to in South Australia because this is a lazy, tired government which does not understand the start-up community.

Let me just look at some of the failed policies of this government. The Business Enterprise Centre funding, closed; Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, closed; the Small Business Month—first of all it scaled it down to Small Business Week, then it got rid of it completely. Also, the Small Business Emergency Helpline, the Small Business Investment Development Program, Family Business Manager and then the big daddy of them all, Innovation SA. This was going to be the saviour to create new businesses in South Australia—within 18 months of it opening the government announced that it was going to close it.

This government does not have a cohesive strategy to back small business in South Australia, to back start-ups in this state, and that is why unequivocally South Australia is falling behind because we do not have a government which is doing the hard work to create enterprise, to create opportunities and to create long-term sustainable jobs for South Australians.

Time expired.