Question Time

Employment Figures

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier explain why job markets in the lockdown states of Victoria and New South Wales outperform South Australia's job market under your divided Liberal Party?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:11): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question—always jumping to the negative—but the reality is that the participation rate in the lockdown states has fallen.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We can get a briefing for the Leader of the Opposition—he has been in parliament for some time—but the participation rate has fallen in those COVID-affected states, so that makes some sense, and so consequently that has an adjustment on the unemployment factor.

By contrast, in South Australia the participation rate went up. In fact, a further 1,000 people are participating in our economy at the moment, and this is good news. You need to understand how those statistics work before you go out there and talk negatively. I can explain to you exactly how they work.

When the opposition was on the treasury bench they had the opportunity to affect the unemployment rate in this state. I look at those statistics now, and in the last term of their government the unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent. It is now 5.1 per cent, and they want to come in here talking down employers in South Australia that are feeling more confident about our state, and the prospects for our state, and they have gone out and employed more people here in South Australia. But more than employers feeling more confident to go out to employ, so are employees—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Wright!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and that is why the participation rate in South Australia has surged. Of course, it's natural that it has fallen in some other states because they are in very significant lockdown, and there are other supports that the federal government and their state governments are providing to those people who are unemployed or underemployed, but there has been a diminution in that participation rate. But there is no such situation here.

People are feeling more confident, and that means that more people are entering the job market, and that's good because we still have skill shortages in South Australia. In fact, at the moment, in South Australia there are 18,000 jobs on offer, so there has never been a better time to get a job here in South Australia, and that is because we've got the fundamentals right with regard to the management of the coronavirus. This is giving employers and employees confidence to employ more people or for employees to put themselves forward.

I am very pleased about the fact that we are doing well on those metrics, but I must say that there is much more work to be done. We are significantly lower in our unemployment rate than when those opposite were in charge, which I would point out was not during a coronavirus global pandemic. We know that under the Labor Party—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —unemployment reached a staggering high—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members to my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of more than 8.3 per cent with a lower participation rate. We are working very hard, but there is much, much more work to be done, and that's why every day that we are on the treasury bench we are out talking to people in the business community about the opportunities. That's where we come from. I come from the business community, I don't come as a union boss—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I was never a union boss—never a union boss out there. I have been out talking to employers—and we know what they want—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and what they want is a government which is going to lower their costs, put businesses forward, focus on developing skills, and these are the things that are inspiring confidence. When I look at those confidence figures, whether it be consumer confidence, business confidence, investor confidence, they are at decade highs. It doesn't happen by accident: it happens by the good work of the people of South Australia, employees and employers, dealing with the difficulties of the pandemic but making sure that we remain optimistic for the future, not always jumping to the negative.

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Lee, and the member for Playford for a second time and the Minister for Industry and Skills.