Newstart Allowance

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:46): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier add his voice on behalf of his government to the calls of the Local Government Association, the Business Council of Australia and former prime minister John Howard for the federal government to increase Newstart benefits?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:46): No, I won't be entering into that debate because that is a federal debate.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: And to be quite honest, it's not an issue that I have been following in recent weeks in the media.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I am not for one minute suggesting that I don't share the member's concerns, but I just haven't looked at it closely enough. It is not an issue in which the state government has a role to play. I think the people of South Australia have elected me to undertake my current role and that's the role that I will be very much focused on. We will be doing everything we can to help people who find themselves in a circumstance where they don't—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —have employment. Those opposite obviously don't want to hear it, but the reality is that we were elected to try to do everything we can to increase employment in South Australia. We, of course, are not happy with anybody who cannot find work when they are seeking work in South Australia. That is why we are going to be working very diligently, as hard as we possibly can, to grow the size of employment in this state.

I must say that, since the election in March this year, there has been an uptick in terms of employment in South Australia. That is welcomed by the new government. I would say there is still a long, long way to go. That is why we are putting in place things which will ease cost-of-living pressure on people who find themselves unemployed—as well as other South Australians—as well as focusing on doing everything we can to grow employment for people who are looking for work.

One of the practical things that we are doing is to focus on growing the number of apprentices and trainees in South Australia. Under the previous government, we saw a massive freefall in terms of the number of people who were commencing apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia. We found that completely and utterly inappropriate.

That is why I am very pleased to be working with my colleague the Minister for Industry and Skills with a very substantial investment in creating more than 20,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia, because so many young people find themselves in a situation where they don't have employment. They look for the Newstart allowance, but what they would really prefer is a job.

We don't accept that we should have the highest youth unemployment rate in the nation. Unlike those opposite, who want to talk about increasing benefits to people who can't find a job, one of the fundamental things that we want to do is to try to find them a job because we know that's the very best thing that we can do for those young people.

We weep when we look at some of the statistics in terms of the number of young people who gave up hope for their future here in South Australia under the previous government. So many of our young people finished school, finished university, got a good-quality qualification but unfortunately couldn't find work here or, if they could, only for a few hours per week in a job that wasn't at the level that they had studied for.

That's why we will work every single day in this parliament, in the privileged role that we have as the government of South Australia, to grow the economy and also to focus on reducing cost-of-living pressures on people who find themselves unemployed. Under the previous government, utilities, fees, fines and charges all spiralled out of control. That won't happen under this government. We will have a focus on reducing energy costs in South Australia, reducing emergency services levies in South Australia, and doing everything we can to ease those cost-of-living pressures on our most vulnerable.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Florey, I call the following members to order: the member for Reynell, the member for Light. The member for Kaurna is warned, and the member for Lee is on two warnings, I remind him. Member for Florey, a supplementary.