Employment Figures

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (16:10): My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is supporting South Australians into employment?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (16:10): I thank the member for Flinders. I know he is very, very focused on jobs for regional South Australia, particularly in his electorate of Flinders.

The Marshall government has a top priority and that top priority is delivering rewarding employment for South Australians. We are delivering on key election commitments to build a strong economy, increase training participation, create new jobs, lower costs and provide better services for all South Australians. As we face the impacts of COVID-19, the government's work to strengthen the South Australian economy over the last 2½ years put South Australia in a better position to recover post COVID.

The latest ABS job figures confirm that South Australia has been quicker to rebound than other states. In June and July, 20,000 South Australians returned back to work. An extra three million hours were worked in July compared with June, and that's the highest percentage increase in Australia. Interestingly, in those July figures 9½ thousand full-time jobs returned to the marketplace.

The Marshall Liberal government has signed a national partnership agreement with the Morrison government to deliver the JobTrainer program here in South Australia. Of course, just like the Skilling South Australia program, we were the first state to sign. We are eager to get out there and spend the federal government's money supporting South Australians in jobs. This resulted in an additional $88 million into the state's training system: $34.5 million from the Marshall government, $34.5 million from the Morrison government and an extra $19 million from the Marshall government so we can focus those training skills into new jobs—$88 million in total, a tremendous outcome.

South Australian school leavers and jobseekers will benefit from low-cost training under JobTrainer delivering targeted training and skills in demand. Skills for employment are critical for our economic recovery from the COVID pandemic. There is no doubt we have learnt from previous downturns in the economy that skills will be the fastest way out. If we've got a skilled workforce, it will be the fastest way out.

Unfortunately, when we came to office we inherited the lowest skill base in the country. Forty per cent of the adult population haven't had tertiary education—not a cert III. They went straight from school into the workforce—the lowest in mainland Australia. That's the legacy of those opposite, so we have a lot of work to do, but we have started that work.

Mr Speaker, I know that you were certainly very excited when I told you about the latest national data from the NCVER showing that South Australia in 2019 achieved a 14.7 per cent increase in apprentice and traineeships commencements compared with just a 2.5 per cent increase nationally. And I can feel it in my bones, I think it's the vibe, I think it's Mabo—but on Monday, when the new figures come out, I think we will see some even better figures in the NCVER.

I will be very interested to see where we are in particular categories. Some of those categories have been very difficult and very challenging for previous governments. I am very, very excited about that. We know that a rising tide lifts all boats, so let's get ready for a bit of boating on Monday.