Question Time

Wages Growth

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier believe that low wages growth in both South Australia and Australia is a problem worth addressing?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:11): I think we have made our position extraordinarily clear: we want to see a more prosperous South Australia. We outlined our plans to make South Australia a more prosperous place in the lead-up to the election.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We said that we wanted to create more jobs in South Australia and we wanted to have more economic activity in South Australia, and that is exactly and precisely what we have been focused on since we came to parliament. We have seen a very significant increase in employment in South Australia since we came to parliament and that is a very important—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —development for our state. For too long over the previous 16 years, South Australia was dragging along the bottom of the employment table for Australia. Some people want to compare—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —different time periods against each other. It is better to compare yourself with other states. I can tell you one thing: when Labor were last in power—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —I know exactly where we were: down here. Now we are tracking towards the middle of the table at the moment. We are not doing as well as New South Wales, which is a powerhouse economy with a great Coalition government led by Gladys Berejiklian, just re-elected—the third term for the Coalition in New South Wales and you can see what that has done for their economy.

By contrast, South Australia under the previous Labor administration—four terms—became the laggard economy in Australia and now there is a lot of work to be done. We outlined our plan for the people of South Australia in the lead-up to the election and we said that jobs were extraordinarily important. We are getting on with delivering those jobs to the people of our state.