Small Business

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Can the minister update the house on the impact state government programs are having on employment prospects in South Australia?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Health Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:32): I thank the member for Light for his question. I have had to remind the house on several occasions that economic policy in South Australia seems to be a battle between the optimists and the pessimists. There is a great deal of transformation going on in the national and state economy: old industries are going and new industries are forming to take their place. Big business in particular is offshoring jobs, and small business is rising to the challenge of replacing those jobs. In fact, I can inform the house that when I was in India last week, I was advised in Bangalore—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: There they go. I was advised in Bangalore—

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert will depart under the sessional order for 20 minutes for repeated interjections.

The honourable member for Schubert having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: I was advised while I was in Bangalore that those very good friends of the Leader of the Opposition, the ANZ bank, employ 7,000 people, Indian citizens, in Bangalore—7,000 Australian jobs now transferred to Indian jobs in Bangalore. They are the good friends of the Leader of the Opposition. The NAB has announced that 6,000 jobs are to go, and I wonder which country they will be going to? Small business is having to pick up the challenge of replacing those jobs.

Against the backdrop of pessimism that followed the federal government's decision, the Liberal Coalition's decision, to abandon the automotive manufacturing sector, some opposite were jumping up and saying that unemployment would be 10 per cent, 12 per cent, 15 per cent, that the end of the world was nigh. The figures out today tell a very, very different story—a very different story indeed.

The state government responded to these challenges over the last four years by introducing a number of measures. We created Investment Attraction SA, we implemented a small business development fund and refocused our export strategy. I can update the house on some of those strategies in the context of a trend unemployment rate now of 5.6 per cent, slightly above what many would assume to be the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment or the natural rate and a quite different outcome to that predicted by those opposite.

The $10 million Small Business Development Fund commenced on 1 July. It benefits councils in the north of Adelaide, and to date 131 business start-ups in Adelaide have shared in nearly $6 million worth of grants with 400 jobs. Investment Attraction SA, established just two years ago, has commissioned 23 projects worth nearly $1.8 billion, delivering $6.24 billion worth of benefit and nearly 6,500 jobs. No wonder this week's Business SA survey of expectations for the September quarter showed that confidence had increased 4.1 points over the past quarter to 85.1 in a climate where national confidence had declined by 13.3 per cent.

There are other things underway. The Industry Advocate has lifted participation in state government projects by local SA businesses, from around 50 per cent to nearly 90 per cent, thousands of jobs. Our export strategies have seen exports increase to $15.6 billion in the 12 months to June 2017, with jobs up to 72,000 from 68,000—another 4,000 jobs. There is quite a lot of good news out there and it is being driven by small business, the very people the government is trying to help. In summary, small business is full of optimists, and that must be driving pessimists absolutely crazy.