Employment Figures

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): Supplementary question to the Premier: if the Premier is so connected to the business community, is he willing to debate me at a Business SA event before Christmas?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:16): It has been a pretty longstanding convention that debates are held in the time of the lead-up to the next election but, rather than have debates—and there are probably a lot of debates going on over there at the moment—we are focused on the things that matter to the people of South Australia: keeping our state safe and our economy strong, and that is exactly and precisely—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —what we are continuing to do. I haven't been stopped in the street by one person saying, 'Do you know what I want you to do, Premier—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —I want you to have a debate with the Leader of the Opposition'—not one person ever. So I am looking forward to that opportunity. I am waiting for that opportunity—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —but in the meantime I'm going to focus on the things that people want here in South Australia, and they want a strong economy—

Mr Brown: How about some leadership!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —they want jobs growth, they want jobs for the next generation—

The SPEAKER: Premier, please be seated. The member for Playford can leave for 30 minutes under 137A.

The honourable member for Playford having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The Leader of the Opposition says he wants to have a debate. We are having a debate in here every single day and what we are doing is putting forward a positive plan for South Australia: more jobs, lower costs, better services, making sure that South Australia can stay safe—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy leader, you are warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and it doesn't matter which metrics you look at. It does not matter which metrics you look at, South Australia is doing extraordinarily well and it doesn't happen by accident. It happens with a partnership and the people of South Australia feeling optimistic about the future. One statistic that I love, and there is no debate about this one, is the net migration of South Australians. Under those opposite, for decades and decades we had an exodus of young people and capital out of this state. Well, now people are lining up—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to get back into the state at the moment because it is such a waste of opportunity.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Whether we look at our traditional sectors like mining, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, tourism, international students, some of these sectors which have kept our state and our economy and our employment going for decades, these are all great opportunities. But in addition to this—

The SPEAKER: Premier, there is what I anticipate, a point of order.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: I rise on a point of order: debate, sir. It was a really simple question. I asked if the—

The SPEAKER: Perhaps I will hear out the leader first and then I will come to the Minister for Education.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Debate, sir. The question was very straightforward. I asked the Premier, since he has such profound connections to the business community, is he willing to debate me at a Business SA event before Christmas?

The SPEAKER: Leader, that is an argument to what I anticipate is the—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader, order! The Minister for Education.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The precedents of Speaker Atkinson are that such bogus points of order entail warnings but aren't to be taken by members who have been interjecting—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —during the course of the answer prior.

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale can leave for 30 minutes under 137A.

The honourable member for Hurtle Vale having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: Minister.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Speaker Atkinson's precedents were against bogus points of order as an opportunity to make a speech and, indeed, members who had been interjecting were not permitted to take points of order on standing order 98. I seek your ruling as to whether Speaker Atkinson's precedents will be upheld.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, minister. I will consider that matter, but for the moment I do form the view that there was additional argument put in relation to the point of order which didn't appear to relate to the point of order raised. Nevertheless, I understand the point that you have made, minister. I think we will return to the Premier. The Premier was addressing the substance. I am going to give him some latitude because he is the Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As I was saying, there is plenty to debate. We've got a very positive plan for South Australia. We are in the parliament. We can have a debate every day. I think it would be prudent, before we get into the debating season in the lead-up to the next election, for the Labor Party to have a policy. Wouldn't it be great if we had a policy debate and the opposition had some policy. We know why the Leader of the Opposition wants to have a debate. He wants to be on the big stage.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Transport is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: He wants people to know who he is. In fact, at every press conference he does he has to have a pull-up banner with his name on it because nobody knows who he is. And the reason why they don't know who he is is that he has no policies, so there is nothing to debate except for a hydrogen plan with a $500 million black hole in it. Let's debate that.

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, there is a point of order. The member for West Torrens.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 98 applies to rules applying to answers. The Premier is now not answering the substance of the question but debating the topic. I ask you to bring him back to the question.

The SPEAKER: I am going to return to the Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The question was why don't I want a debate. I am outlining a list of reasons why it would be premature. There will be plenty of time for you to get—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Are you going to show up to Business SA or not? Why won't you show up?

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —your pull-up banner out, tell people who you are and release a policy. I note that the Leader of the Opposition says he's got a policy, the hydrogen policy. It's got a $500 million black hole in it so far. He says he wants to debate it. Well, when is it going to be released? Because so far what we have had is, what, a 1½ page, two page flimsy release? There are no detailed costings. 'No, no, we got somebody to do it.' Well, maybe let's have a look at it.

Let's have a look because we know what happened the last time this party was in charge of energy policy in South Australia: the biggest hike in terms of energy prices in the history of the state, the most unreliable grid and a statewide blackout that caused absolute misery to businesses, to households and to consumers in South Australia and stuck a great big hole in business confidence, investor confidence and consumer confidence. We have been in for 3½ years and we have been able to fix those three issues—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and we look forward to the debates in the lead-up to the next election when they are scheduled.