Designated Area Migration Agreements

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): My question is to the Premier. Could the Premier rule out regional employers seeking lower paid migrant workers in preference to local residents entitled to higher salaries?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order: that is an entirely hypothetical question.

The SPEAKER: I am not sure if the Premier may be responsible for what employers in the regions do, but I will hear—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader, I will eject you if this continues. You are on your last warning. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:28): I have not yet met an employer who is seeking to bring in a skilled migrant from overseas, when there is a—

Dr Close: A skilled migrant?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Sorry?

Dr Close: Skilled migrants?

The SPEAKER: Please do not respond to interjections, Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Yes, that's what we are talking about.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Maybe the Deputy Leader of the Opposition might just focus on the topic of the questions.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: There's probably a green folder for you. You will get a question later.

The SPEAKER: The Premier has the call. I would like to hear the answer, please.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The reality is that I am yet to meet an employer in regional South Australia who wants to go through the complexity of bringing a skilled migrant in from overseas, either on a temporary visa or a range of visas that exist, if there is somebody suitably qualified in their local area. And that is a fact. But the reality lost on those opposite is that they do not realise that there are—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —very significant skill shortages.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: This is what amazes me. The Leader of the Opposition says that he has been out talking to regional South Australia, and nobody—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: And the Leader of the Opposition says they don't want migrants.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Sorry, you said they don't want migrants.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: The old dog whistle.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It comes out very regularly on that side, doesn't it?

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Innovation is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We heard the deputy leader recently. We heard members in the lead-up to elections in the past blowing that whistle long and hard.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: We have a point of order, Premier.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Not only is it debate, sir, but it's personal reflections on members.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. I ask the Premier respectfully to please return to the substance of the question.

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale is warned for a first and a second time.

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe can leave for 20 minutes under 137A. She has been on two warnings and continues to interject.

The honourable member for Badcoe having withdrawn from the chamber:

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna, be quiet.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: If those opposite were genuinely talking to the people in regional South Australia, they would give you a long list of people, or vocations that are unfilled. In fact, in many organisations they have positions that have been vacant for many years. They would love to employ local people. They do not exist for the jobs that are on offer. The fact that those opposite are shouting in this parliament—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Name one.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It just shows how little interaction—

The Hon. T.J. Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Primary Industries, be quiet.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —they are having with regional South Australia. As I said, employers would love to employ people in local areas. There are significant skill shortages across regional South Australia, and it seems now—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education, please.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that not only are we the only ones prepared to take action but it now seems that the opposition is now opposed to the effective dealing with the skill shortages in regional South Australia.

Mr Malinauskas: Supplementary.

The SPEAKER: I will come back to the leader. The member for Kavel has the call.