Telstra Job Losses

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:14): My question is to the Premier. Has the government offered any support to the South Australian Telstra workers who are likely to be affected by today's announcement?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:14): No, we haven't offered any support at this stage.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The Premier will be heard in silence. It's your question time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: First of all, we have to determine what job losses could occur in South Australia. If those members opposite had been listening to my earlier answer, they would know that there is going to be a net loss of 8,000 jobs across Australia. We don't know how many of those are going to be in South Australia. We know that that is the net figure, which is made up of a gross figure. There will be some new jobs that are going to be in new areas of their business and we would like to try to make sure that as many of those come to South Australia as possible.

As I said in my previous answer, the focus of these is on senior management, management and back of house jobs, not a lot of which actually exist in South Australia. The company has confirmed that $600 million has been provisioned for redundancy payments. Some of them are very generous redundancy payments where long-serving members are entitled, under their arrangements with the company, to receive up to 80 weeks in terms of their redundancy payouts and that will be fully—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: This is quite a serious issue.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It's quite a serious issue.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We're talking about jobs.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier is attempting to answer the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We're talking about jobs for South Australians—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and all those opposite can do is carp and complain. Why don't you just sit there and listen carefully because this affects the lives—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of the people of South Australia? This affects people's livelihoods, and it's a pity those opposite, when they were in—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —for 16 long years didn't do something—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The Premier will be seated for one moment.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to grow the size of South Australia and make it more resilient.

The SPEAKER: Point of order; let's hear it.

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: The Premier is debating, sir.

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens raises the point of order for debate. I say to the member for West Torrens that there were several interjections on the opposition's side. I ask that they cease.

Mr Malinauskas: And government side.

The SPEAKER: And government side, indeed. I ask members to cease interjecting so that I can listen to the Premier's answer in silence. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, sir. Moreover, I would report to this parliament that, in addition to the $600 million that Telstra has provisioned for redundancy payments over the next three years to employees that are affected, they have created a new transitional fund of $50 million to help people who are exiting the company. It is also available to people who are being retrained for other newer jobs within Telstra.

Let's find out exactly what the implications for South Australia are going to be. I have a commitment that I have received from Telstra that they will keep the South Australian government informed about the impacts here in South Australia: the number of people who will be affected, the jobs, the areas in which they will be and the time frame upon which they will be leaving that employment.

But I do say that this underscores the reason why we need to have a government in place that is going to grow the size of the South Australian economy because there are some industries that are going to be affected by the change in technology. This is natural. This is logical. This has occurred over a long period of time.

Mr Koutsantonis interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: There are not that many people who are making saddles in South Australia anymore. Over time, technology affects the type of employment that we are in and that is why the people of South Australia want a government that is going to look towards the future—future industries in South Australia—preparing people—

Mr Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —jobseekers to make sure that they have the requisite skills for the jobs of the future, and that is exactly and precisely what we are doing on this side of the house. You will note that we have made an extraordinary order of magnitude investment in new apprenticeships and new traineeships in South Australia so that the young people in South Australia can access the jobs of the future.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for West Torrens and the Minister for Transport. The Leader.