Motions

Small Business

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (11:31): I move:

That this house notes—

1. (a) small business is the lifeblood of the economy and employment in South Australia;

(b) the process for establishing a start-up small business in South Australia is restrictive, riddled with senseless regulations and is ultimately a disincentive for current and prospective small business owners.

2. Condemns the government—

(a) for its failure to support start-up small businesses throughout its tenure in office;

(b) for imposing the highest taxes, most burdensome regulations and worst conditions for the start-up small business sector;

(c) for being directly responsible for the loss of thousands of jobs in South Australia in the start-up small business sector and the severe financial and personal hardship these people have suffered as a result of the government's regressive policies; and

3. Calls on honourable members to foster policies which will benefit the small business sector and its employees in South Australia.

We are a great state, but we are being let down by a poor government. We know that we are a state that was built on great ideas and the creativity of those who have gone before us. With a global economy that is changing, some areas of traditional manufacturing are in decline. We do have many great challenges ahead of us as a state. We also need a government which supports the business ecosystem and which allows people in our state to pursue ideas. It was welcome recently to see our new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, move innovation into the centre of public debate—and rightly so. What this government should have been doing was following through and complementing what the Prime Minister was doing.

South Australians should not be afraid to be entrepreneurs in this state. The South Australian government should be encouraging people to become entrepreneurs, to allow people to pursue their ideas, to take a risk and be prepared, if they do fail, to try again. The future of our South Australian economy in maintaining our ever so high standard of living in our First World country depends on our progressing innovation and relevant technologies.

We all know that start-ups drive employment growth; in fact, from 2006 to 2011, it was said that they added 1.44 million jobs to the economy. We have also been told in the past that businesses that do innovate and are innovative are twice as likely to report productivity increases than businesses that do not innovate. There is also some PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) modelling which actually shows that an economy that is innovation-focused certainly has the potential to raise GDP substantially—in fact, by $37 billion in 2024, with a longer contribution to GDP as high as $136 billion in 2034, which would create close to 540,000 jobs.

This government should be helping South Australians unlock the potential in this area. The South Australian government should be complementing what the current federal government has started doing. The federal government has recently launched a range of initiatives and continues to stimulate a range of areas. For example, have a look at the R&D tax incentive, which helped 13,000 companies with $2.4 billion in tax support for eligible R&D investment in 2015 alone.

The government should know that innovation is critical to South Australia, but we are being let down by this state government. The current state government thinks the answer to the state's economic challenges is to increase taxes. We all know about the 100,000 jobs promise that was created by the state government many years ago. Where are they now, you might ask, Deputy Speaker? They are nowhere near that promise.

There were good programs and systems in place a few years ago, such as Playford Capital. What did the current minister and previous ministers of this government do? They got rid of Playford Capital, and that is not the only thing they have got rid of. We find ourselves in 2016 with the highest unemployment rate in the nation and a government that is more focused on activity, on satisfying the media cycle of the day, rather than being outcome driven.

If they were outcome driven, we would have those 100,000 new jobs which was the mantra of the Labor government back then that we do not have now, but they are focused only on activity, not outcomes. We need a government that is focused on outcomes in this area. They will be judged on their outcomes, not only in this area but also across other areas. Certainly, in the small business space and in the start-up space, they have let South Australians down dramatically.

A StartUp Muster statement was put out earlier in 2016. The report, which highlights the performance of the previous year, actually paints a very poor picture for South Australia. We saw that South Australian start-ups comprised just under 3 per cent of all nationwide start-ups, and the report actually places South Australia second to last on a state-by-state basis and last of all the mainland cities listed, including the Gold Coast.

To make things worse, there was a Sensis Business Index rating for the December quarter, which showed that business confidence in South Australia was languishing at plus 16, which is less than half the national average. No policy idea should be off the table if it will stimulate small business and stimulate start-ups. We know that start-ups are the foundation of our next generation of small businesses, and the start-ups of today's generation could well be the ASX-listed companies of tomorrow.

Small business is our largest employer and the biggest creator of new jobs. We certainly must restore small business confidence through lower taxes and lower regulation to help small businesses get ahead and thrive. The current government has actually created a culture within government of anti-innovation, a culture of regulation and a culture of high tax. That culture must end immediately. We know that, if you want to stimulate the economy, you need to tax less, and the government should be ruling out any new taxes.

We have fantastic opportunities in South Australia. Start-ups must be given a fair go to develop. Entrepreneurs must feel confident that they are able to take advantage of the incredible resources available in our state. Time and time again, our shadow minister for employment has done a good job of highlighting the flaws in the government's current economic policies. We saw that, for 17 months in a row or even more, South Australia has had the highest employment rate in the nation on trend figures.

Not only have we had high unemployment, we have also had a sustained fall in full-time employment in South Australia with the loss of many thousands of full-time positions since 2015. In fact, there are currently fewer South Australians in full-time employment than in April 2013. We would hate to see the state become a part-time employment state and we see many examples where the stats are not favourable.

I made mention of the fact that the government is obsessed with activity and not outcomes. If they were obsessed with outcomes then we would see the delivery of the 100,000 jobs promise. Let me give you an example of activity that has not resulted in a favourable outcome. We saw recently, as highlighted by the shadow treasurer, the Hon. Rob Lucas in the other place, how the Premier and his department had spent $13.6 million on staff to distribute $15 million in grants. We would say that this is an obscene waste of money that has been spent on staff to distribute a similar amount of money in grants.

Evidence to the Budget and Finance Committee recently revealed that the Weatherill Labor government spent $4.9 million dollars this year on 30 staff in the new Investment Attraction agency to administer $5 million of grants to businesses. Next year, the government is proposing to spend $8.3 million on 40 staff to administer $10 million in grants to businesses. So, over a two-year period you will see this current government spending $13.6 million to distribute $15 million. With policies like that, policies that are focused on activities but not outcomes, it is not surprising that South Australia continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

As an example, this agency was announced with great publicity. I tell you what—one thing that this government does well is glossy coloured brochures. They do some of the best, nice and easy so that members on the other side can understand them—more pictures, fewer words, just so that they can understand them. We need more than activity; we need outcomes. This is a very serious issue.

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is that the member for Finniss I hear?

Mr Pengilly: No.

Mr TARZIA: Probably.

Mr Pengilly: I don't know that he's here, ma'am.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I can't see him but I definitely hear him, and I shouldn't be hearing him.

Mr Pederick: It's an echo in the chamber.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It sounds like a very Finnissian echo.

Mr TARZIA: There was a recent Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking for 2015, released by Compass, a key resource that measures and ranks business start-ups. It did not even mention South Australia or even Adelaide. In addition, the 2014-15 Venture Capital and Later Stage Private Equity figures for South Australia released by the ABS were not even reported because the number of venture capital deals was too small. What we see here are regressive policies of the current government. Unfortunately, if this government does not get its act in order South Australia will be the laughing stock in this area, and we cannot allow that to happen. That is why we are here today shining a light on these issues.

We need to make sure that South Australia's reputation for fostering business start-ups is much higher. We need to make sure that we deliver in this area. The Premier in the past has said that innovation is certainly key to transforming the state's economy and that his vision is to position South Australia globally as a start-up destination, but have a look at tangible examples of how the government has, for example, handled Uber. Give us a break! What has happened with the driverless cars concept? Where is it? I would say that we not only have driverless cars but also a driverless government at the moment.

The government is obsessed with activity, as I said, not outcomes. If you are focused on outcomes then the delivery achieves an outcome, and at the moment that is not being done. Unfortunately, we have all seen, as embarrassing as it is, how South Australia continues to have the highest unemployment rate of the nation. Every state has issues with the fall of mineral prices, every state has issues with the decline of traditional manufacturing, every state has issues associated with the low Australian dollar at times, every state deals with these macro-economic factors; however, when we look interstate, we see job growth. Why do we not see that job growth here in South Australia?

This government has had long enough now to do something about it; it will be judged on its record in this area. The government may today have some sweeteners in regard to the economy. We would welcome hearing more debate about the economy, just as we like it, because we know that this government does not have an innovation bone in its body. We know that this government does not have any credibility when it comes to running an economy and we know that this government does not have any credibility when it comes to supporting small business, which is the lifeblood of the South Australian economy. I am sure my colleagues will elaborate on this fact today, but we ask the government to have a good hard look at itself in regard to this area. We need to be doing more to stimulate small business and also the start-up sector as well.

We have already seen a decision by the government to unnecessarily jack up the solid waste levy, slug South Australians another $64 million in tax, which will certainly hurt households. It seems that this government just does not quite get it. Increasing taxes does not stimulate the economy. You need to reduce taxes. You need to make sure that people go out and spend more money to stimulate the economy. That is how you get economic growth; that is how you get economic activity. With those few words, I commend this motion to the house and look forward to the debate.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (11:45): I will be opposing this motion because I think it is a waste of our time, and I will explain why.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Don't make me stand up.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: All it is is what the opposition does best, that is, just oppose things. To talk about innovation when he did not have—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: One innovative thought in that whole speech—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is called to order.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: All the member for Hartley did was spend all his time basically just canning the government. He did not put anything positive forward, not one idea.

The Hon. S.E. Close: Numbers.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Numbers, just numbers. That said, innovation is important and start-ups are very important, and I agree with him on that point. However, the question is: what have they done? What has the Liberal Party done in the last 10, 12, 14 years to promote this or support this? What has he done as member for Hartley to actually make this happen—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: —to make it happen in his electorate?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is called to order.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: What has he done? I will tell you what I have done.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sit down. The member for Hartley is called to order for the first time. The member for Light.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Today, I would like to focus on a great idea in my electorate which has been promoted by one of my business people. I am working with him to actually bring out real innovation and also to support the business sector, sustainability, small business, our schools, our students, retail (which is a very important business in my electorate), and agriculture and horticulture, with the promise of generating ideas which lead to change and make things better.

Rather than stand up like the member for Hartley and just whine for 10, 15, 20 minutes, I will explain to the house what I personally am doing, and what other members of government are probably doing as well, that is, working with our local communities to generate ideas. This idea came from a retailer in Gawler. I will just read his email onto the record because I think it says a lot. It is a chap who runs a music store, so you might say he is in tune with the community. He says:

I have been a retailer in Gawler for close to twenty years, and an early adopter of any technologies that came along to assist us to grow our business, most often in e-commerce, being a retailer. My interest is in promoting and encouraging those in Gawler and its surrounds to adopt new technologies, as I and others have. A once-in-a-generation opportunity to establish an Innovation Hub in Gawler has presented itself which will have significant community benefits…

He knows that I, as the local member, and our government, share that vision for the state. He knows this. While the opposition talks down our state, we do support our small businesses and talk up our state. He is now working with me and other people in the community to make this concept happen.

This concept is called Think Gawler, in other words, bring the smartest and the brightest people in our community together, from students to people in business, science, mathematics, etc., to not only generate new ideas but generate new thinking because as a community our businesses will only survive in the long term if we think differently. Doing more of the same all the time does not enable us to compete.

We need to do things very differently. This is what we need to do: we need to support and promote thinking in our community. This is the new economy. This is the economy of the future. This is where the jobs will be. This is where the wealth will be, and that is why we need to do it. Rather than stand up here and complain about the government, I call on the member for Hartley to work with his small business community to generate new thinking. I would like to hear the ideas he has actually come up with.

I would like to commend Shane Bailey from my community. He is now working with my office, he is working with small businesses in our community, he is working with the local government, and he is working with schools. We have some outstanding schools in our community and we have some outstanding students. They are students whose thinking is ahead of my thinking (I have to acknowledge that) when they think about the future. They will generate ideas, and our role is to then work out how we can harness those ideas in this new thinking to make them happen. We have to do that.

I will certainly be working with the Think Gawler group to help generate those ideas and also to translate those ideas to help make the retailers in my community more efficient, more effective and break into new markets. I will be working with people in agriculture and horticulture in my electorate on how we can use new thinking to break into new markets and make them more profitable. We need to work out how we can work with schools to encourage young people to go into the sciences, engineering, mathematics, etc., to make sure that we support our young people, which we need to do.

We need to show leadership in here by encouraging people to do this, and not talking down our state, like the Liberal Party has done, but talking up our state and talking about the opportunities and helping—

Mr Wingard interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Mitchell is called to order.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: —our young people by providing them with opportunities. That is what I am doing and that is what members of the government are doing; whereas, members of the opposition, as they normally do, oppose and whine about things.

The idea of creating this innovation hub in Gawler is certainly one that I will support, and I will hopefully get some support from the government as well in terms of funding in the future, when we get some runs on the board. Think Gawler is a concept where a diverse range of ideas can be discussed, thus allowing for a significantly more detailed and community needs-based pitch to help people to compete in the marketplace. The idea is that this group will get together and generate ideas, and then they will go to the relevant government agency to see if they can get some support to make this a longer-term thing.

When people come up with ideas I think we need to support and promote them. We need to make sure that people know that in this place we are prepared to support them and talk up our state; in other words, promote our state in the global economy, promote our state in this country as well. All I heard this morning from the member for Hartley was a lot of negativity. Why would you bother coming to a state with a future Liberal government if that is what they believe in? They have done nothing but talk down this state. That is why—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Well, I think the result on the weekend speaks for itself—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, member for Light!

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order on my left! I can hear the member for Hammond's voice easily, so next time I hear it there will be trouble.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Light, finishing off?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: They say they laugh at me, but they still vote for me. That is all I care about. They still vote for me and in the majority—three in a row, so that speaks for itself—in what is a Liberal seat. So that says a lot.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: I worked for a non-government school—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, sit down! There is no discussion going on between you at the back; it is to me. If I hear your voice once more, you will be called to order and warned. Member for Light.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Thank you, Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Finishing off, I hope—

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: I am, Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: —because it is a bit repetitious at the moment.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Deputy Speaker, I am looking forward to working with a group of people in my community to make sure that we create ideas and that we translate those ideas into jobs, and promote—

Mr Wingard interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Mitchell, I hear you again. You are warned for the first time.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: —the wellbeing of my community.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I know the member for Schubert expects to be heard in silence, doesn't he?

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (11:54): Not necessarily, Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Really? That would be very unparliamentary, and nothing you would encourage, I am sure.

Mr KNOLL: No, not at all, Deputy Speaker. I am going to address all my remarks through you and seek to enlighten you about how difficult it is to do business in the member for Light's electorate.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well, I don't see how you can be the authority on that, but, go on, I will listen to you.

Mr KNOLL: I live pretty close. I have to drive through there quite often. The member for Light says that he is doing what he can to help support small businesses in his electorate, but in the—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Are we addressing the member for Hartley's motion or—

Mr KNOLL: We certainly are. We are talking about small business. Trust me, it all comes together—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: At the moment, you are having a go at the member for Light.

Mr KNOLL: I am going to weave a rich tapestry that will weave together in a very tight quilt that will show the state of business in South Australia.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are on a broad loom, are you?

Mr KNOLL: I knitted a scarf once, but that is about it. Let's take the areas just above Gawler: Roseworthy, Mallala and Wasleys. These are areas that are agricultural farming areas of our state. These are people who have just been hit with another NRM levy increase by this government. Those same areas, as well as every sporting club, every business and anybody who dares to own a property in the member for Light's electorate, have been slugged over the last three years an extra $110 million worth of emergency service levy increases.

The member for Light's electorate has also been punished since his government came to office—admittedly before he was here, but certainly since after he was here and this government came to office—by being slugged an extra 233 per cent in water charges. We talk about having the highest electricity costs in Australia and the third highest electricity costs in the world because of this government's slavish obsession towards renewable energy that does not provide base load power.

If the member for Light wants to talk about rhetoric he can, but what we would prefer to talk about are cold hard facts, and what those cold hard facts show us is that we have the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 6.9 per cent currently, and that is not good enough. The unemployment rate is really the product, the end result, of what the government's policy settings choose to bring us, and certainly what I have outlined is the fact that this government punishes people who dare to go into business.

A better lead indicator of how our economy is travelling are the number of businesses that start up and the number of businesses that fail in any given year. On this score, we have to give the government a big fat F because, over the past four years, this government has managed to reduce the number of businesses in South Australia in round terms by about 4,700. That is 4,700 fewer businesses that are out there creating jobs. This lead indicator is disappointing because it means that there are not those increasing small business start-ups who are going to go on to employ people in the future so that we can potentially bring our unemployment rate down from this disgusting 6.9 per cent.

This is exactly why this motion has been brought to the house—to highlight the fact that what we are doing at the moment is not working and, as the member for Light rightly pointed out, if you continue to do the same thing, you are going to get the same results. This government continues to punish anybody who dares to start up a small business, and we are now seeing the results. What this government has done in its approach to helping to grow jobs in South Australia is to try to pick winners. We had the Treasurer, as he was then—the member for Playford—talk about the fact that South Australia was going to be a very different place in a few years' time because he believed that Olympic Dam was going to be the saviour. Unfortunately, that did not really go too far.

Mr Treloar: They started spending straightaway.

Mr KNOLL: That is right. We spent all the money without getting it in first. We then see that the government believes that a nuclear waste dump could be the answer. It could be an answer in about 15 to 20 years' time, but this idea that somehow it is going to fix our current woes is completely wrong. It is a long-term project that is going to have benefits potentially somewhere well into the distant future. It is certainly nothing that will help to deal with the issues that we currently face in our South Australian economy.

The next big win is one that we have certainly got into South Australia, and all credit to the federal Coalition for delivering it for South Australia, which is the 12 future submarines and the frigates. That will create some jobs. We have no doubt about that on this side of the house. But if this government thinks that having the submarine contract delivered to South Australia is going to fix our economic mire, they are completely wrong because, whilst there will be thousands of jobs created and it will helpfully spin off other manufacturing industries in subsequent downstream industries, it is not enough to deal with the economic malaise that we have in South Australia.

We do not need 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000 jobs. We need 30,000, 40,000 or 50,000 jobs in this state and, indeed, every year we need more and more as our population continues to grow. Hanging everything on the submarines is not going to get the job done, but that is what this government does. It tries to focus on the big wins as a way to fix the South Australian economy instead of looking at the fact that there are 143,000 small businesses in this state and they are the ones that need help.

If we actually create a set of economic drivers that would help to lift the entire economy, we would see these small businesses start to thrive and grow. Admittedly, it will not deliver a great headline. Admittedly, it will not make for great newspaper copy, but what it will do is incrementally create jobs for South Australia right across different sectors of our economy. The way we do that is by prescribing a Liberal formula for government, and that is providing lower taxes. Whether it be payroll tax, the emergency services levy, or a whole host of other things, we can make it easier and cheaper for businesses to do business here in South Australia.

We can try to have an electricity policy that does not have the spikes and peaks that we see currently and the fact that the forward contracts for electricity in South Australia are starting to spike hugely because of our over-reliance on non base load power. We could actually deliver a water system that does not see a set of assets overvalued that deliver some of the highest water prices going around. These are the types of things that we need to deal with that will deliver economy-wide, statewide benefits to small businesses wishing to grow.

What we could also do is make it a bit easier for businesses to get on and do what they do here in South Australia by lowering regulation, but we do not see that. In fact, in a number of pieces of legislation that this government has brought to this house, they do not even do any sort of regulatory analysis of the impact they are creating through their legislative change. They genuinely have given up on helping to create a lower regulation environment, and that is something that we, as an incoming Liberal government, would very much seek to capitalise on, to help deliver those benefits across the economy into the South Australian economy.

The third thing we need to do is ensure that we are running balanced budgets so that we do actually have some room in our state budget to provide greater levels of investment for productive infrastructure, so that we can not only create short-term jobs in the construction phase of these projects, but hopefully, through the efficiency gains we would get from those projects, help businesses to do their job quicker, cheaper and easier. I think about things like better provision of road infrastructure and rail infrastructure. These are the productive pieces of infrastructure that our economy needs in order for them to be able to get on and grow.

What we need to see here is a complete change of focus of the government, and this is exactly what the member for Hartley is talking about in his motion. We cannot continue to focus on the big wins. They are important and they are part of the story, but for the government they are the only story. We need to focus on changing our economic settings so that all businesses can thrive in South Australia and our small business sector can thrive. If even half of our 143,000 small businesses were to put on a person for one day a week, we are talking about thousands of jobs.

If they grow incrementally year after year, being able to reinvest the little money they make back into their business, back into growing, to seeking out new products and new markets and employing more people, that is how we are going to see the recovery of the South Australian economy. It has to be a revolution. It has to be a small business led revolution to help kickstart the South Australian economy. I commend the member for Hartley for bringing this motion to the house. There is nothing more important that we should be discussing in this place than finding ways to create jobs for South Australians.

The government has a pathetic, disgusting record to stand on. It is why we get this carping and responses such as we did from the member for Light. The only economy he is stimulating is the three-piece suit waistcoat economy, and most of that is not made in South Australia, so I do not think the jobs are really here to deliver that. Whilst he may think he is looking sharp and stylish, we here on this side of the house will actually find ways—legitimate, concrete and grassroots ways—to deliver benefits across the entire state economy so that we can actually see a thriving small business sector in this state.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:04): I rise to support the motion by the member for Hartley, noting that:

1. (a) small business is the lifeblood of the economy and employment in South Australia;

(b) the process for establishing a start-up small business in South Australia is restrictive, riddled with senseless regulations and is ultimately a disincentive for current and prospective small business owners.

2. Condemns the government—

(a) for its failure to support start-up small businesses throughout its tenure in office;

(b) for imposing the highest taxes, most burdensome regulations and worst conditions for the start-up small business sector;

(c) for being directly responsible for the loss of thousands of jobs in South Australia in the start-up small business sector and the severe financial and personal hardship these people have suffered as a result of the government's regressive policies, and

3. Calls on honourable members to foster policies which will benefit the small business sector and its employees in South Australia.

Small business is the basis of our economy because that is how a lot of bigger businesses start. I note the regulation and work that people have to go through to manage small businesses in this state, such as payroll tax, stamp duty and other imposts. Look at the recent increases of the natural resources management levy, which are out of control across the sector. We see a government that would rather hit up individual households and farmers for many thousands of dollars. Collectively, a $6.8 million increase is being paid straight into Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources because the minister firmly believes that services to the South Australian public have been subsidised.

I thought governments were in place to actually do things for the community. The only reason the government is in place, and the only reason they have any money to spend, is that they have already received that money under taxation provisions, whether through state taxes or the generous funding that this government receives through GST rebates, especially through the horizontal fiscal equalisation scheme.

This government does very well. Over the whole time I have been in this place—and I am now in my 11^th year—we have seen many announcements of GST windfalls of at least $500 million. This happened way back throughout 2006-10 and it is ongoing. GST windfalls that are not budgeted for are basically blown up in smoke. It is disgraceful to see how the government treats businesses and the community despite these windfalls. The emergency services levy is another attack on small business in our state.

Every time there is an incident, people will be in fear not just for their lives and properties, but for how much their hip pockets are going to get belted once again by this Labor government, who just feel like this is a free ride. This government does not believe they should play any role in assisting our firefighters, the CFS or farm volunteers. These volunteers have their own units and are vital in fighting fires right across the state. They back up our CFS and are the first responders on many occasions.

As I have mentioned many times in this place, if it were not for the local farm volunteers, the most recent fire on our property at Coomandook, which was caused by a lightning strike, would not have been stopped as all of our units were tied up tens of kilometres away. They are great, worthy citizens. As Richard Konzag from Mallala lamented when we had the Pinery bushfire trip, farmers are all quite happy to go out and fight fires, and they always will be. They all band together and at times travel many hundreds of kilometres to assist their fellow farmers and other residents. But then they wake up in a couple of months and get a bill for an extra few hundred dollars to pay for an expanded emergency services levy or natural resources management levy.

Quite frankly, as I have said before in this place, I am sorry to say that natural resources management has lost its way. We have seen the inaction with regard to New Zealand fur seals. Any action that has been taken has been meaningless. It is just melting cash and is an absolute disgrace. The one that really sticks in my throat is the putting up of around 80 metres of fencing on the Tauwitchere Barrage. The Tauwitchere Barrage, for anyone who does not know, is a lot longer than 80 metres. I do not know the length, but it is much longer than 80 metres. They forget that a seal just gets up on the barrages and goes around the edge of the fence. Perhaps that is too simplistic for the minister, who thinks he has done a great job in supposedly blocking these pests out, to understand.

The government have turned their backs on the fishermen and families in the Coorong at Goolwa and through to Meningie in regard to their small businesses by putting the rights of these seals above those of families. I really fear for the health and welfare of these fishing families into the future, but these families will not go down without a fight, and they are taking up the fight.

We also see what happened when we had the diversification fund payments that were going to be made from the Riverland right down through the Mouth—through the top end in the member for Chaffey's area, through Stuart and Schubert and down to my electorate. It would have put $25 million into projects. It would have had many small contractors operating, whether it was building industry buildings, whether it was building a tourism venture at Meningie, which is sorely needed, or whether it was building other developments right throughout—assisting with the redevelopment of Murray Bridge's Sixth Street, for instance.

That money is sorely needed in regional communities, but this government just turns its back on the regions every time. Because they have one regional member, the member for Giles, that is the only region that gets any funding whatsoever. We have seen this with the road funding where the government does not even hide the fact. This same money supposedly gets accounted for in the GST receipts as well. The member for Giles gets his roadwork done, but it is not done in Liberal seats, so work that out. It is pick and choose. Certainly, today, we will see in the Treasurer's budget how much more picking and choosing is done and how much more regional South Australia does not get and what they have to pay to keep this government going.

I am really angry about what has happened with this diversification fund money because the Treasurer and the Premier kept saying it would get lost in the equalisation scheme and would lose up to $21 million. So, that was the very worst-case scenario, and I do not think it was anything like that. Potentially, there would have been some trade-off, maybe half, but so what? Every other state took that money. There was $75 million allocated through Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, and that money was allocated for projects, but no, not in South Australia.

We get this government—the water minister, the Premier and others—banging on, and I say 'banging on', about how much they have done for the river in South Australia. Well, they have not done much at all. As to their support for our small business operators, and especially our irrigators who do such good work, they have opened allocations on 36 per cent, and they will not offset the use of the desalination plant which is just idling above total mothball status. I think it is an insult to our irrigation producers of this state. At every level, the government just gives excuses for why things will not happen.

What this government needs to do is work out that small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy, make it easier for them and put the appropriate tools in place so they can function and succeed, because do you know what happens? Not everyone, but a lot of people just turn their back on South Australia and walk out because it is too hard to operate here and too highly taxed with power bills that are too high and general operating costs that are too high. I commend the motion.

Mr WINGARD (Mitchell) (12:14): I rise to support wholeheartedly this motion put forward by the member for Hartley, which centres around small business being the lifeblood of the economy and employment in South Australia. As shadow minister for small business and as a former small business person also, I know all too well the challenges that small businesses face in South Australia, and I hear all too often a number of people who are forced to leave SA for better business opportunities, and most often they head to the eastern seaboard.

In March this year BankSA's State Monitor survey reported South Australia's lowest business confidence in nearly three years. More recently, CommSec's State of the States report ranked South Australia's trend unemployment 25 per cent above the decade average. Overall, South Australia's economy was ranked seventh. For far too long we have been sitting at the bottom of too many economic measure tables, and to see South Australia sitting bottom or second bottom on so many of these tables is an absolute disgrace and it is a blight on where this government has taken South Australia.

This state government has not done what is needed to lift up South Australia. It has not done what is needed to grow jobs in South Australia and to get South Australia working, and its hit on small businesses is a classic example of its ineptitude and its lack of understanding of what makes a great state tick. South Australia, as I said, has sat for too long at the bottom of the table. The government must use today's budget to address these issues, and really it should not have got to this stage before the government looks to act. We have just spent too long heading down to the bottom of the table, and the government has just been lax in bringing forward any measures and turning around South Australia.

Since the beginning of 2015 more than 35 companies based in SA have downsized or closed. That is around 4,000 people who have lost their jobs. We are talking about large numbers, but these figures are more than just a number, they are people—fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children, South Australians who want the chance to work and support their families and put back into the South Australian economy—but this government is not supporting those people. This state Labor government has let down people.

If we look back just in recent times (and I do not want to go back too far because it pains me to see it), since this Labor government has been in charge it really hurts to see the number of businesses that have closed down. We know that Penrice lost upwards of 250, nearly 300 people; Mondello Farms, back in 2013—the list goes on of companies that have closed down in South Australia, and the number of jobs lost is just astronomical.

These numbers and figures are all tabled in a report put out by the parliamentary library. Accolade Wines, Hills Holdings, Elders, Arnott's Biscuits, Santos—the list goes on. It just pains me to read of the number of jobs that have been lost in South Australia since this state Labor government has been in charge, and it keeps getting worse and worse. They do not understand what is needed to support small business or the opportunities that small business presents. They have let South Australia go down the tubes before they have started to think, look and act.

Let us look at a couple of examples of why this state government's poor management has taken South Australia to the bottom of the ladder about which I spoke. Payroll tax is one we have been pushing for a long, long time, and thousands of small businesses have spent the first half of this year in limbo, without the confidence to hire new staff due to the uncertainty around payroll tax rebates.

We have been calling on the state government to extend the rebate for small businesses since at least Christmas or before, but at Christmas time, in the Mid-Year Budget Review, our leader stepped forward and said that the state government must continue the rebates for small businesses, but it was ignored. It was ignored until just the other day, when the Treasurer realised that this is what has to happen, and he has brought forward those rebates and has included them in this budget. I commend that, but condemn the delay in bringing it forward.

I have had businesses come to me and talk to me about the fact that they have had to look, spend and invest money in restructuring and reshaping their business because of the uncertainty created by the Treasurer by not implementing these rebates earlier. So, money has been invested and, in effect, wasted, because the Treasurer then, at the last minute, at the death knell, turned around and said, 'We'll keep these rebates in place.' That is a lack of understanding of how business operates, and it shows that this Treasurer has no respect for small business in South Australia.

The ESL is another tax that this government keeps raising, hitting families, hitting businesses and impacting the cost of doing business in South Australia. The height of the ESL tax impacts on businesses. Businesses decide whether they will set up in South Australia or whether they will set up somewhere else. They look at the rise, and the gouging by our state Labor Treasurer to get money out of businesses for his own hip pocket. Businesses just say to themselves, 'I'm not setting up in South Australia, it's not worthwhile', and those jobs go to the eastern seaboard.

Like the payroll tax decision by the Treasurer to wait until the death knell, the lack of surety goes with the waste levy as well that the Treasurer has just announced—a bad news tax. He waited until after the federal election to hit South Australians with that levy. It is another tax on families, another tax on small businesses, and it is another impost that is impacting jobs in South Australia. The Treasurer waited until after the federal election, to try and help out his side. I presume that is all he was doing—playing games with us again. He has brought in this waste levy, increasing the taxes and charges to have your rubbish collected at home. It is potentially a push to prevent your rubbish being collected weekly, which most people like.

The Treasurer waited until after the financial year to bring it in—to announce this new levy, this new charge, this new hit on businesses and families. How confusing and how disruptive can that be to businesses and to local councils, to tell them after the end of the financial year? What does this Treasurer think? That they would wait until 30 June and then decide what their budgets are going to be and then start their planning?

Planning is done months in advance. The Treasurer knew this extra tax was coming. He knew he was going to put this impost on South Australians, but he waited until after 1 July, until after the start of the new financial year, to add this extra impost onto families and businesses. It just shows the lack of understanding that he has. On this side of the house, we support small business—we support businesses. We want to see business grow. We want to see jobs created in South Australia. We want to get South Australia working. That is what we are about. I am interested to hear what the Treasurer has got to say this afternoon, but in last year's budget speech he said:

We must lower the cost of doing business in South Australia and unlock the entrepreneurial spirit that has grown this state, helping South Australian business invest and grow.

A great plan, a great initiative and a great thought, but he just fails to deliver yet again. I am constantly contacted by people in my community about the high cost of doing business in South Australia, and this Treasurer talks the talk but he just does not walk the walk. I quote again from last year's budget where the Treasurer said, 'Jobs are the centrepiece of our reform package.' That is what the Treasurer of South Australia said. That was his push, that was his quote. Yet, what have we seen for the last 18 months since the Treasurer made that statement?

South Australia has had the highest unemployment rate of any state in the nation. We have had the highest unemployment rate of any state in the nation since the Treasurer declared jobs were the centrepiece of his reforms package. That is an absolute joke. It shows that he cannot deliver for South Australia, and it is a great example of why South Australia is going backwards.

On 16 June this year, two days before the state budget was supposed to be delivered, bearing in mind that this government had promised to deliver 100,000 jobs by March 2016, only 4,350 more people were employed in South Australia. So 100,000 was the target and 4,350 was the outcome, and that shows the credentials of this Treasurer. When he has a jobs reform package, South Australians cannot believe it because that is what he delivers. This state Labor government promises 100,000 jobs and delivers 4,350. It is an embarrassment.

I hear the member for Light talk about what we are doing on this side, and our leader has quite proudly put out our '2036' manifesto as a vision to take South Australia forward. We have seen what has happened over the last 14 years, and South Australia has gone to the bottom of the table. Our '2036' manifesto has outlined our nine key policy areas. If we go to point 1 in the manifesto, that is arguably the most important, and it is about growing our economy. At point 1.1, the most important thing for South Australia as it stands (because of what this state Labor government has done) is to grow jobs, relieve household budgets and reduce taxes.

That is what we are focused on. That is what we need to do, and that is what South Australians want to see from their government. I have plenty more to say on this. I have a number of positive stories to tell about people who have grown their businesses, but they tell me of the impost that has been put in front of them, and how this state Labor government has done almost everything they can to prevent them growing and creating jobs in South Australia. We want to work with these people, we want to take these imposts away, we want to create jobs for future South Australians, and we want to get South Australia working.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:24): I rise to support the motion put forward by the member for Hartley. Obviously small business is a passion of mine. It is something that I have been involved with all my life. I must say, having been very fortunate to have some successful ventures along the way, it has been one of life's great experiences. Yes, South Australia is a tough place to do business; yes, it is overregulated and overtaxed; it is one of the toughest states in the nation to set up a new business, particularly for young entrepreneurs and particularly for people who are trying to get a start in life.

I would like to congratulate the member for Schubert. His family business, Barossa Fine Foods, is one of the great success stories here in South Australia. It has just recently been given great accolades for advancements within the business, their marketing and their product. It is a product that I think every South Australian would look at and recognise as a premium, first-class, safe product where they can be assured of value for money.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to be an emcee at Exchange SA, which is a function to disclose the ASX top South Australian businesses and companies, and they gave their overview of just how they were performing. One of the common themes was how tough it is to do business in South Australia—the regulatory requirements, the processes they have to go to so that they do not have to jump the hurdles and the walls they have to hit doing business in other states. There are problems here in South Australia, but there are also solutions.

We have heard a number of members vent their frustration, having been small business operators themselves. They have been able to highlight where they see the barriers to getting on in life, if you like, with existing businesses and new businesses. This is what South Australia is made up of. Of the 146,000 small businesses in South Australia, 4,200 are in the electorate of Chaffey, and I am very proud to say that it is probably one of the most diverse food bowls in the state. However, the people I speak to regularly are saying just how tough it is.

We talk about the cost of electricity, and that is primarily because we have lost our capacity with base load. We talk about water prices and paying for a desal plant. Sadly, the cost-benefit analysis has only just come out after four long years, and we see that it has no room to support industry. It has no room to be able to support the economy here in South Australia. It is just going to sit there unless the minister changes and we get a minister with some real nous and some foresight.

The desal plant needs to be kicked into gear and we need to be able to use it for the benefit of South Australia's economy, not just have it sitting there as a white elephant accumulating dust and costing every South Australian a huge amount of money—just as an ornament basically. That is the way it is going to be used because I do not see that it is ever going to be started. To be quite frank, we have had a millennium drought and we did not use the desal plant because it was not built. We have built the desal plant and now the minister has come out and said, 'The cost-benefit analysis says that it's not viable to get it running.' I think it is just outrageous that we have this $2.3 billion ornament sitting on the mantelpiece that is going to be of no benefit to South Australia.

Everyone has talked about the incredible rises in the ESL, justified by the government saying, 'We are going to buy new equipment for our emergency services.' That is the government's responsibility. Again, it has just been a cost-shifting exercise. We talked about NRM levies and of course that is another cost-shifting exercise, from a broad-based state responsibility now to landowners and water owners who are going to get smashed. It was previously the responsibility of the state and it is now the responsibility of only a few.

I have already spoken about the red tape, the regulation costs. You walk into a government office nowadays and you fill out one, two, 10, 30 bits of paper and every bit of paper costs $285 or $156. Again, it is just a disincentive for business. The Save the River Murray levy that has been taken off the agenda by the government. We find out this week that the annual report has been tabled for 2014-15. The Save the River Murray levy was just a quasi-levy fund for government to pick up and use for their responsibility. It has just been siphoned off for government expenditure.

I do want to talk about some of the great businesses, particularly in the Riverland and the Mallee and obviously about the 4,200 SMEs. The importance of those businesses to remain strong is critical. The platform for small business is confidence. There is nothing that underpins investment or small business or progression here in South Australia like confidence. It is about a small business having the confidence to invest. It is about a small business having the confidence to go to a bank and say that they want to take the next step and increase the footprint of their business. They want to be able to go to a bank and say, 'I need to employ more people.' That is what small business is about, having the confidence to progress, to employ more people, to generate a bigger economy and to make South Australia a better place.

As a small business owner, my family and my friends are all giving me the same story about just how tough it is out there. We hear members on the government side, particularly the member for Light this morning, saying that he knows, that he has the solution, that he is talking to people. He has never been in small business. He does not know. He can listen to what small businesses are saying, and I can guarantee that he is hearing the pain in how hard it is to actually run a small business here in South Australia.

We do have the Small Business Shopfront Scheme. That was spruiked for its efforts to assist South Australia's small businesses with the establishment of a shopfront in the central business district of Adelaide, which was completed this month. What I want to know is: where does that appear in regional South Australia? Where is the help for those disappearing shopfronts in every regional centre, those closed shops, those empty buildings? Where is the assistance to help them?

I do want to congratulate the commonwealth's SARMS funding of some $265 million that has come into river communities. That money was put into business, but it was not a gift. That $265 million was put there as a sweetener for communities to give up their water licences. They had to give water back for that $265 million. It was not a handout .It was water given back at an advanced water market price so that they could advance their business model, so that they could upgrade their efficiencies. Sadly, when you upgrade your efficiencies within irrigation you have to use more power. They get an incentive from the commonwealth government on one hand and they get smashed by the state government on the other hand. That is something I think that the state government has failed on.

I do want to talk about when the cabinet visited the Riverland. They talked about the Renew Riverland Program. It was about filling up empty shops. It was about putting a program in place that would give people the confidence to open up a business. Sadly, the $200,000 that was put in place was spent. Sadly, it was spent on administration, on a shopfront of their own, and when it came to actually making things really work, it failed. It was a $200,000 flop. It really is sad.

South Australia must be more innovative. The government must help those innovators live their dream, help the economy, make small business progress. Not only in the Riverland and the Mallee is water security something that South Australia needs to address. We have copious amounts of treated water going out into the gulf. We have copious amounts of stormwater going out into the gulf, wasted. We have a desal plant sitting there doing absolutely nothing. I think the minister should be ashamed of himself for using a feasibility study to say that we cannot turn it on.

We hear about the $1 million taken away from the Centre for Plant Functional Genomics. That is R&D; that is critical—critical research that this state needs to undertake so that we can grow our economies, we can advance our economies, we can move on and be competitive on a world platform. Again, we need to look at food, beverage.

Time expired.

Mr WHETSTONE: I am going to continue my remarks—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, you are not going to continue.

Mr WHETSTONE: —in an adjournment grieve. Thank you.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (12:34): I rise to speak against this motion, and I am sure you are not surprised at all. What I will say is—and I know the house has heard this before—that I am an avid supporter of small businesses. They are the lifeblood of our state and the economy, and I am sure you are aware that I come from a small business background as well. I do a lot of work to support small businesses in my area, for which they are very grateful.

I would like to put on the record a whole lot of strategies that the government has in place that actually support small business. I do want to say first up, before I progress into that, that I am quite puzzled by the use of the words in paragraph (b) about 'riddled' and 'senseless'. I am still none the wiser as to what they actually transpire into as far as a policy may look and any direction. I will watch and I will wait and see how that might come about from your side, but I do note that there have been many words used that talk about failure and condemning, and the usual negative rhetoric, which is not helpful.

I know from businesses that I speak to in my area that are growing, that are innovative and that are really excited about what they do, that they are not happy with your language at all—they are not happy. They want to see support for what they are doing. They want to see people getting behind them, as we do on this side. We get behind them, we support them, and we talk up South Australia. They are not happy that you are negative, negative, negative.

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Finniss is called to order.

Ms DIGANCE: With that, I will go into a quieter rhetoric, and I will talk about the government's achievements. I know that this government is committed to supporting a dynamic and sustainable small business sector and helping to ensure that South Australia's small businesses continue to be competitive and resilient. More than 99 per cent of all businesses in the state are small to medium-size enterprises. They are the driving force of employment and growth, which is why we have recognised their importance within our economic priorities, especially economic priority 10, which seeks to ensure that 'South Australia's small businesses have access to capital and global markets'.

This priority reflects the understanding that to support the ongoing growth and resilience of the state's economy South Australian businesses require the capital, skills and connections that will enable them to thrive as global businesses and create jobs. The government's commitment to small business includes support for all stages of the small business life cycle, from start-ups to established small businesses seeking growth. The government, through the Department of State Development, works closely with industry and stakeholders to deliver support, information and business services targeted at the needs of small businesses across both metropolitan and regional South Australia.

A key objective of the government small business strategy is to encourage the establishment of start-ups and support existing small businesses to develop. This includes shaping a business environment that encourages and supports entrepreneurship and enterprise creation, an environment in which start-ups have scope to expand rapidly, and established businesses have opportunities and capabilities to grow.

To this end, we have committed to working with industry to improve the business and regulatory environment for all small businesses. Examples of this include the most comprehensive package of tax reforms in our state's history, returning almost $670 million to businesses and families over four years; our commitment to red tape reduction to improve regulations through the work of the Simpler Regulation Unit; and the most significant reform of workers compensation in more than 25 years through the introduction of the Return to Work Act 2014, expected to deliver savings to business of around $180 million each year from 2015 to 2016.

To ensure that all small businesses can compete in a fair business environment, the state government established the Office of the Small Business Commissioner and the Office of the Industry Advocate. The Small Business Commissioner seeks to boost small business confidence and participation in a fair and equitable business environment. The Small Business Commissioner provides timely and cost-effective options for managing disputes and to prescribe and enforce codes of conduct for the industry.

The Industry Participation Advocate works to ensure that local businesses leverage maximum opportunities from the almost $4 billion worth of contracts let annually by the South Australian government, securely through its portfolio of building and construction projects. These services will be supported by the establishment of a new small business first-stop shop in Adelaide, bringing together the services of the Office of the Small Business Commissioner, Department of State Development and the Office of the Industry Advocate in one place for the first time. The shopfront is expected to open this year.

I have facilitated round tables for small businesses in my area, and I have had the Industry Participation Advocate and the Small Business Commissioner attend on numerous occasions. These conversations with the small to medium-size business owner-operators have been very productive, and they are very grateful every time that I have facilitated these particular conversations. This government is also committed to firm level support for the state's small businesses, regardless of whether they are an entrepreneurial start-up or an established small business. We are actively supporting entrepreneurial start-ups through a wide range of initiatives such as:

the SA Young Entrepreneurs Scheme, delivered through Business SA and aimed at supporting young professionals to develop and start a business;

Innovyz START program, which was established as a mentorship based accelerator program to assist innovation companies to raise capital, transition into public companies and navigate rapid national and international growth as part of the Global Accelerator Network;

Venture Catalyst, an initiative of the South Australian government and the University of South Australia to encourage student entrepreneurship and the creation of local start-ups by providing funding for early-stage ventures founded by UniSA students and recent graduates. The funding enables them to further develop products, services or processes and take them to market;

Majoran Distillery, a co-working space for technical practitioners and start-ups, and SouthStart, an annual conference for the start-up community;

The Digital Growth Program, delivered through the Polaris Centre, which helps businesses from start-ups to those which are well-established to succeed online; and

the new Small Business Development Fund, established under the Northern Economic Plan, which provides grants of up to $20,000 to assist people to start new businesses in northern Adelaide.

So, that just lists a number of things that the South Australian government is actually doing. Recognising the need to better support the commercialisation of our research by early stage businesses, the state government released a report commissioned by Redfire Consulting Group in early 2016. This report evaluated the South Australian early stage business ecosystem and government funded programs that support early-stage businesses.

The report provided a range of recommendations to improve support for early stage businesses in South Australia which the South Australian government is considering a response to in the lead up to the 2016-17 state budget which we will hear about later. To support—

Mr Duluk: Cannot wait!

Ms DIGANCE: I am pleased because I think it is going to be very interesting for you, so I am glad you are enthusiastic.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Duluk: Producing a surplus by selling assets—brilliant economics!

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member for Davenport is called to order. It is unparliamentary to interject and to respond to interjections, and I do not need to remind members of that as well as the fact that they need to be heard in silence.

Ms DIGANCE: To support and accelerate the growth of established small businesses, the government provides a range of initiatives to build business resilience, capability and capacity. The Coaching and Mentoring program for established businesses is delivered by Business SA on behalf of the state government and provides mentoring to small businesses with a turnover greater than $150,000. The South Australian government small business telephone support helpline has assisted over 400 businesses with a variety of issues from July 2015 to May 2016.

Mr Whetstone: Please hold.

Ms DIGANCE: I'll put you on hold.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Ms DIGANCE: A range of new business capability development workshops, covering the key skills required to successfully run and grow business, is being delivered across a range of metropolitan and regional locations. A business advisory service is located within the Tonsley industry and education precinct, offered in partnership with the City of Marion. I know these programs very well. They do a lot of really good work supporting businesses and start-ups.

Information, self-help tools and resources are provided to help small businesses with management training, coaching and mentoring. I think my time is running out, but I have so much more to say about what we are doing to support small to medium-sized business. We act. We are supporting them. I know the businesses that I work with are very grateful for what we do to support them, and we are creating an environment in which they can actually do business. It is not a negative environment; it is a positive environment. Certainly there are hurdles, but we support them through that and we talk with them and connect with them and make sure that they succeed in what they do.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide has a contribution.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I insist that the for member for Adelaide be heard in silence.

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (12:45): I rise to support the motion, and I would also like to congratulate all the small business owners on their hard work and their dedication to employing people throughout South Australia. Without them, we would be in an even worse state than this Labor government has already delivered. As a small business owner of 18½ years myself, I feel quite qualified to speak on this topic.

I started my first business in 1994 at the age of 25. That business is still ongoing and has been sold on to a previous staff member of mine, who is now running a successful business, which is quite amazing in this economy. However, during the15 years prior to my coming to parliament, it was actually my experience of watching our state fail, of watching businesses close and the people around me go out of business and lose everything, and of the difficulties I faced through the incompetency of this government.

The red tape, the legislation, the high taxes—everything was set up to make it as difficult as possible to run a business in the state. As a modelling agency owner who worked mostly with young people and university students who wanted confidence in grooming and part-time money, I watched hundreds, if not thousands, of young people leave this state because there were no job opportunities available for them here. It was actually watching the incompetency of this Labor government that drew me to stand for parliament—because I could no longer stand to watch our young people leaving this state.

My friends have businesses closing down and losing everything they worked hard for because this Labor government has no idea how to run a business. They know how to run a union and that is about it. The bar had been set so low that, even with no experience in politics, I needed to do something about what was happening to my state. Yes, the government has made some progress and has had some recent understanding of small business; however, there is a lot more that could be done—a lot more.

Every day I wake up I cannot wait to be in government so that we can finally have a government that does understand small business and that does understand that union memberships do not pay taxes and do not build an economy. Small businesses build the economy, and we need more people working in small businesses. We need to remove the red tape, the legislation, the high taxes and all the difficulties the government places in front of small business. It is not only state government; local government also needs to make changes.

I remember applying for contracts with the Adelaide City Council about 20 different times. You have to fill in about 200 pages of paperwork and you have to have manuals on how to put a Band-Aid on somebody if they get injured. It is just ridiculous. When I started work in parliament, I thought, 'Right, maybe I can get a trainee to cover a staff member who has a small child. She could start at 9.30.' It would be great to have a trainee who could open at 9.00, cover for the lunch breaks and, as parking on Melbourne Street is only for a maximum of four hours, unless you get there super early, somebody who could cover car moving, lunches, banking, opening—bits and pieces here and there.

However, under the legislation, a trainee cannot do an open: they cannot be left alone. There are just so many restrictions. The catwalk I used to move in high heels and a suit would now require a manual for somebody else to move it. I need a manual for everything: for how to stack chairs, for how to move the catwalk for the next class. Unless the small business owner does everything—apparently the so dangerous job of moving chairs and stacking them in piles—you have to have manuals now—

Ms Digance interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member for Elder is called to order.

Ms SANDERSON: —which is just absolutely ridiculous.

The Hon. P. Caica: Don't make things up.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Colton is called to order.

Ms SANDERSON: I remember several years ago sitting in this chamber as a Labor government cut funding to the business enterprise centres and sent the funding to Business SA instead, thinking that they are very similar. If you had ever run a business, you would know that they were nothing alike. I started as a small business owner under the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, which is a very good scheme—a commonwealth scheme supported, I believe, by both Liberal and Labor federal governments.

Under that scheme, we had training for a year through the business enterprise centres. Adelaide city had one and that was part-funded by the state government and the Adelaide City Council. That was a wonderful opportunity to learn new things—legislation, employment, regulations, marketing, networking—and also to network with other people in the area.

The fact that the government would defund the business enterprise centres—the very thing that helped businesses thrive and network and build in this state—just shows that their level of knowledge in this area is lacking. Yes, there are a couple of business hubs. I love the business hubs: they are a fantastic, grassroots place to get people started. But once you start to employ anyone or you have the overheads of a building in this state, you are in big trouble because everything is set up against you—the legislation, the red tape. All the laws make it nearly impossible.

If you want to work from home or from a business hub at the moment, that looks pretty easy. As soon as you want to expand and actually employ people and help the economy by employing more people, many legislative disadvantages will be placed in front of you. This government really needs to look further and work harder in this area. I am very confident that, should we be so fortunate as to have a Liberal government in 2018, we will be very competent at fixing it.

I have thousands of ideas, as do my colleagues, about how we could do things a lot better in this state. Let's bring us back to being in the top three for 100 companies. Let's bring us back to being in the top three in population. I remember the eighties. I remember what this state can be like. I am extremely disappointed with what this Labor government has done to the state I love, and every day I wake up knowing that one day I will have the opportunity to get this state back to how it used to be.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I remember the eighties, too.

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (12:52): I thank speakers for their contributions and commend this motion to the house.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 16

Noes 20

Majority 4

Sitting suspended from 12:58 to 14:02.