Job Creation

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:07): My question is for the Premier.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Elder has the call.

Mrs POWER: My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier please update the house about how the Marshall Liberal government is driving economic recovery and creating jobs?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:07): I thank the member for Elder for her excellent question about how we get back onto that road for economic recovery in South Australia. I want to particularly thank her for her advocacy for the revitalisation of the Repat hospital, which was a very important area for employment and amenity in those southern suburbs.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Today, South Australia recorded the largest drop in unemployment in the nation. Our unemployment rate now is down to 7.1 per cent. This is a cause for celebration, but we've also got to realise there is much more work to be done. South Australia now has the second lowest unemployment rate in the nation for the month of September. Since then, we have continued to lean in with our stimulus and support and the careful management of our restrictions to get as many people back into employment as we possibly could.

I was particularly pleased to learn, and certainly we on this side of the house were particularly pleased to learn, that in the month of September there were a further 8,700 jobs created in South Australia. This is a great result. As I said, it's a result that comes through the careful adjustment of the restrictions to get as many people back to work as possible, together with the stimulus and support packages that we have offered in this state since March of this year.

South Australia only has 4,200 fewer people employed now than we had at the start of the year. We won't rest. We want to get back all the jobs that have been lost during this COVID-19 pandemic and then create some more in South Australia. This is really very important work.

One of the things that we are doing to stimulate economic activity and, in particular, jobs in South Australia is the massive investment that we are making in road infrastructure: $15 million to the Heysen Tunnel refit and $52 million to the Regional Road Network Package—packages of work that have created jobs and got boots on the ground already.

There is $186 million paid to small businesses as part of our $10,000 cash grants program, $22 million invested in nature-based tourism and local government projects through the Planning and Development Fund. There are 37 projects to be rolled out around South Australia creating more jobs. There is $15 million for country health facility upgrades at 27 hospitals—

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Light!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in regional South Australia and significant investment in social housing and grassroots sporting facilities. These are all the things that we are doing to create as many jobs as we possibly can, and in the November budget there will be plenty more stimulus and support.

I was really pleased earlier today when we saw massive overwhelming support for the Great State Voucher program, which we launched at 9 o'clock this morning. Within 90 minutes, people had snapped up around 50,000 vouchers.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: That is 50,000 additional bed nights which will be—

Mr Malinauskas: Come up with your own ideas.

The SPEAKER: Order, the leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —used in South Australia between now and 11 December. What a stimulus. What a stimulus for the tourism operators in our state.

Mr Malinauskas: That's why we suggested it.

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader will cease interjecting.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: There is tourism stimulus for the CBD and tourism stimulus for the suburban and regional economies in South Australia. They hate it, sir. They absolutely hate it that our economy is moving in the right direction—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and that employment—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —is increasing in South Australia. That is the situation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will resume his seat for a moment. Members on my right and members on my left will cease interjecting. The Premier is entitled to be heard in silence. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The economic recovery is underway in South Australia, supported by strong support and stimulus packages at the state level and at the federal level. We are creating more jobs in South Australia. There is much more work to be done. We are looking forward to bringing down our budget in the second week of November.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Lee, I call to order the deputy leader. I warn the member for West Torrens. I call to order the member for Lee. I call to order the member for Ramsay. I call to order the member for Playford. I call to order the member for Badcoe. I call to order the member for Hurtle Vale. I call to order the member for Light and I call to order the leader. I call to order the Minister for Education.