House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Regional Jobs Regional Jobs Mr ELLIS House of Assembly Narungga Regional Jobs Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (14:51): I have a question for the Minister for Innovation and Skills. Could the minister please update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is building what matters by creating jobs, including apprenticeships, in the regions and providing employers with the skilled workforce to grow? The Hon. D.G. PISONI House of Assembly Unley Minister for Innovation and Skills Regional Jobs The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (14:52): I thank the member for Narungga for his interest in this and also for hosting an employers' round table just recently in his electorate. The Marshall Liberal government is creating jobs across the whole of South Australia. We are increasing paid training opportunities through more apprenticeships and traineeships to deliver real jobs. With drought, bushfires and the coronavirus last year, it was a tough year for South Australians and our regions have been particularly resilient. On the back of these challenges, South Australia is recording one of the strongest economic employment— The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens will cease interjecting. The Hon. D.G. PISONI House of Assembly The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —recoveries in the nation and continuing to be among the nation's leaders in recovery of spending, business confidence and the labour market. The Marshall Liberal government is investing significantly to support our regional communities through increased skills training, leading to job creation, better services and more infrastructure. The latest ABS labour force data for regional South Australia shows higher levels of employment and lower unemployment rates combined compared with the same time last year. The Marshall Liberal government is delivering skills for industry and providing regional employers with the skilled workforce required to grow and expand their businesses. It was terrific to visit the Upper Spencer Gulf last month. I popped into Whyalla and it was great to host a forum of local employers to discuss their needs and also what the Marshall Liberal government is doing to support training in their regions. Of course, I then also visited Liberty Steel for the 2021 apprentice program launch. It was a great day. The member for Giles was there to celebrate 21 new apprentices starting new apprenticeships. This is four times more than last year, on top of the 47 apprentices they have in training at the moment. Apprenticeships being started were the Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician, Certificate III in Instrumentation and Control, Certificate III in Engineering—Fabrication Trade (welding) and Certificate III in Engineering—Mechanical Trade, which is commonly known as fitting and turning. I also visited the Whyalla Secondary College, and what a magnificent building—the biggest structure to be built in Whyalla in living memory. I met a group of 38 apprentices working on site in that place. I also met site supervisor Terry, and one of his key roles is to monitor the apprenticeship commitment that Sarah Constructions made in obtaining that contract. On the way to Whyalla I popped into Port Augusta to see Phoebe Story, who was the national finalist in the trainee awards last year. I presented her with a certificate of appreciation, because unfortunately we couldn't have the training awards this year. Since March last year, since the economic impacts of COVID were first felt in the state, more than 2,570 regional apprentices and trainees have commenced their training. The latest national data confirms that in South Australia there is an increase of 5.1 per cent in the number of regional and remote vocational education training students in 2019, up from 2018. It is a significant increase of 15.3 per cent from 2015.