Business Confidence

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier update the house on the release of Business SA and Statewide Super's Survey of Business Expectations and the actions the government is taking to ensure businesses in South Australia have the confidence to invest, grow and create jobs for more South Australians?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier will be heard in silence.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:12): I thank the member for King for her question. This is a very important question because business confidence is on the up in South Australia and this is actually undeniable good news for the people of this state. In fact, when we look at the Business SA-Statewide Super Survey of Business Expectations, we see a massive surge in business confidence following the state election on 17 March. In fact, we see that the confidence index has surged by 28.6 per cent.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: How much?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It's 28.6 points higher, compared to a year ago. That is a massive increase. The index is now at 115 percentage points and this is absolutely great. I will quote, sir, from the report, which I know that you will be interested in. The report states, 'Confidence is rising sharply in the wake of the South Australian election.' They have said it, sir, and it's true. There is a bounce in terms of confidence in South Australia following the election result in March this year, and so there should be because the people of South Australia now know that they have a government that is going to be backing the business community in our state.

For too long we had a government in South Australia that was always out there saying that there was an employer class and there was the rest of Australia, but we on this side of the chamber know that we need to be governing on behalf of all South Australians, providing confidence to those who put their capital on the line to employ people in South Australia, to give them a job so they can earn money, stay in South Australia and maybe start a business of their own.

We are listening to the people in the business community. We are more than listening to them. We are taking action to back them at every single opportunity and that is why the early actions of this government speak to this important part of our economy.

We have already said that we will restore the emergency services levy remission taken away by the previous government on 1 July this year. That is another $360 million that we will be putting back into the economy, which will help confidence to grow, to grow our economy, grow jobs and to keep young people here in our state. But, more than that, on 1 January next year we will be removing payroll tax for all businesses with a payroll of up to $1.5 million—again, backing that component of the economy which is out there creating jobs in our state.

More than that, we are going to do everything we can to back our exporters out of South Australia, because we know that the more products we sell interstate and overseas means that we can bring that money into South Australia and, again, it will create more jobs. That is why I know that the minister responsible for this area, the new Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, is going to be doing everything he can to back our exporters to open those overseas trade offices as quickly as possible.

We have already committed to new trade offices in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and also offices in the United States and the Middle East. We are going to be doing everything we can to grow our economy, not just to support our exporters but to support every business in South Australia. We know that one of the most significant constraints to businesses in South Australia has been around the provision of skilled employees, and that is why we are putting a massive $100 million investment into skills, new apprentices and trainees.

We want to create an additional almost 21,000 new apprentices and trainees in South Australia over the next four years. We are backing business. I thank the member for King, a fantastic new member who has taken me out to many businesses in her area. She took me out to meet Adriano from Extraction. I hope that his business is doing well, because the new government is here, it is in place and we are going to be backing business to grow our economy.

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Badcoe and the Minister for Primary Industries to order. The leader.