House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Unemployment Figures Unemployment Figures Mr MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Croydon Leader of the Opposition Unemployment Figures Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier explain why there are 6,600 more unemployed South Australians since he took office in March 2018? The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly Dunstan Premier Unemployment Figures The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:13): I certainly can, and that's because there are a lot more people who were long-term unemployed under the previous government who decided to give up even looking for a job. Under the previous regime, there was a whole pile of people who weren't wanting to participate. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Yes, there was a slight pick-up in the unemployment rate, but there was a massive increase in the participation rate. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Those opposite wanted to grind the people of South Australia into the ground at every single opportunity so they gave up hope of ever finding a job. They did that because they wanted to remove them from the unemployment statistics. We have a completely and utterly different motivation. Our motivation is to allow every single South Australian to fulfil their full ambition. That's why we have embarked upon a massive scale of tax reduction, regulatory reform and skills for young people in this state: because we have a much greater ambition than those had while they were in office and those delivered while they were in office. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The reality is that South Australia now has an unemployment rate that is much lower than we had seen under the previous government during the last five years— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of their hopeless maladministration here in South Australia. We are getting on. We suggest that you over there maybe dig up some better questions for the second part of question time. Kevin Naughton is obviously— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Please do not provoke the opposition. The Premier. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Sorry. He is still at lunch. He should be texting you some new questions fairly soon. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Lee and then the member for King, who has been patiently waiting.