State Economy

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier hopefully answer the question and explain to the people of South Australia why the most recent ABS state final demand data shows that South Australia has the lowest growth in the nation? With your leave, Mr Speaker, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: The most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows quite clearly that South Australia recorded the lowest state final demand growth in the December quarter of 0.6 per cent, which of course was the lowest in the nation.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:25): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The cherrypicker has done it again. He is referring to a quarter where he knows—he unequivocally knows—that we were facing a very serious situation in November last year with the Parafield cluster. We moved very decisively, but there were ramifications in terms of state final demand in that quarter. He knows that, the people of South Australia know that.

In fact, the people of South Australia are backing what we are doing in terms of our prompt response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are backing that because they know that ultimately it is the best for our state and it is ultimately the best for our nation as well. The people of South Australia can't be deceived. The people of South Australia see what's happening in other jurisdictions and the people of South Australia see what's happening in other countries around the world, and it is heartbreaking. It is absolutely heartbreaking.

We have seen the situation in Europe, we have seen the situation in the UK, we have seen the situation in the US and of course we are now seeing the devastation rolling out in India at the moment. So the people know that you do need to take decisive action when you are presented with community transmission because this is a dangerous pandemic and it can have exponential growth over a very short period of time. You cannot take your eye off the ball when it comes to the pandemic, so we made that extraordinarily tough decision to put South Australia into a lockdown situation for six days when we had—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It is hard to concentrate with the constant chorus of negativity that is coming from those opposite, sir. It is like they are willing South Australia to do poorly.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: They can't stand the fact that South Australia is doing well at the moment, and we see this time and time again. Consumer confidence is at decade-high levels, investor confidence is at decade-high levels. These statistics are killing those opposite, absolutely killing those opposite. Take a look at the National Australia Bank quarterly survey—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is warned for a second time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —which looks at that sentiment in small business in South Australia—sky high—because the people of South Australia know that they've got a government which is backing them. Since coming to government, we have removed all payroll tax for small business in South Australia. They don't pay a cent. We have provided other payroll tax concessions to other businesses in South Australia affected adversely by the pandemic. At every opportunity, we in South Australia are doing whatever we can to back people, but not only—

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Wright!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —backing businesses that are currently here but getting on the front foot and going out and attracting businesses into South Australia. I want to commend the Minister for Trade and Investment for the work that he and his agency have done to bring companies into South Australia. Wasn't it a great day when Accenture, one of the largest global consulting firms said, 'We want to set up operations in South Australia'? And there is plenty more to come. We absolutely love the fact that Google said, 'This is a place where we want to have an office that can support businesses and enable them to actually grow in South Australia'—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned for a second time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —using their platform, yet all we hear from those opposite is constant, constant negativity. We see an excellent performance and a bounce in terms of what we are doing in the film sector at the moment. Again, I commend the work of the Minister for Innovation and Skills. He and I got on a plane, we went over to Los Angeles, we pitched, and all we got from those opposite was, 'How much was the taxi?'

Let me tell you, that business coming to South Australia has created enormous economic activity for our state and enormous jobs. I think we predicted 580 jobs; over 800 jobs were created from that. But, more than that, it gave us the opportunity to actually go back to Los Angeles, go back to Hollywood, and say to the largest film companies in the world, 'South Australia has the skills, the capability to deliver on Hollywood blockbusters.' I'm excited about the future. I know there is a lot of negativity over there, but I am excited and the people of South Australia are excited, and there is plenty more to do.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for King, I call to order the member for Chaffey, I warn the member for Wright, I call to order the member Ramsay, I warn the deputy leader and I warn, for a second time, the leader. The members for Playford and Lee will leave for 20 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A.

The honourable members for Playford and Lee having withdrawn from the chamber: