Premier Marshall

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (14:33): My question is again to the Premier. Does the Premier agree that the number of business leaders defending his government's handling of the process for reopening the state can be counted not on one hand, but on one finger? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: In the same article by journalist David Penberthy, it was written:

Those defending the Premier can be counted not on one hand, but on one finger—the Property Council, headed by Marshall's former senior adviser Daniel Gannon. Every other key group is either scratching its head or openly furious.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:33): I am a father of two and I know all about teenage children and their habits around the home. Often what they do is go to the fridge and find some old pizza that's been there for two or three weeks and they reheat it. That's what we are seeing here today. This is like a teenager: they run out of anything useful, so they go back and reheat something from two or three weeks ago in the paper. This is how inept this opposition is at the moment. It is quite extraordinary.

On a day when we have our export figures showing record exports from South Australia for eight months in a row, at a time when only two weeks ago the ABS said we were the fastest growing economy in the state, all we hear from those opposite is mirth and derision. But let me tell you, there is even more to come. The state final demand figures came out today, the September quarter. Where was South Australia? A 1.4 per cent surge in a single quarter. This doesn't happen by accident. This happens by putting the requisite—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —arrangements in place in South Australia to make it more attractive for the productive component of our economy—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to do well. One of the things that I am most excited about is that growth has come through the private sector—

Mr Picton: Who are the business leaders who support you?

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —making sure that we give the confidence to the private sector—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to invest.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We now have record confidence—consumer confidence, business confidence, investor confidence—in South Australia. We have the number one most livable place in the country. We are also one of the strongest magnets for attracting investment into our state. Only moments ago, the Minister for Trade and Investment outlined some of the companies that are gravitating towards South Australia at the moment.

This is providing hope and opportunity for young people for generations to come. We are always going to be respectful to our traditional sectors—mining and agriculture, manufacturing, construction, tourism and international students—so many of those sectors that have got us to where we are at the moment, but we are excited about the future in South Australia. We are making a pivot towards these new and emerging sectors—defence, space, cyber, machine learning, blockchain, agtech, the creative sectors and renewable energy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: These are the areas which are driving a change in confidence. People are talking about Lot Fourteen and what is happening down there—

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —with the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre and the Australian Space Agency in South Australia, and those opposite hate it. They absolutely hate the good news. They hate the fact that so many young ones are not leaving the state like they were when the member for Lee was on the front bench.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Premier, there is a point of order. I will hear the point of order under 134. The member for Lee on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I take exception to the allegation that I hate what is happening—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The proceedings on a point of order are that we will hear the point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I take exception to the allegation that I hate to hear what is happening at Lot Fourteen, particularly with the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, because of course the former Labor government signed it off, not the current Liberal government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I am not going to rule on the point of order. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: There is so much going on at Lot Fourteen. Those opposite wanted to sell it off for apartments. They basically wanted to enter into long-term leasing arrangements to put 1,300 apartments on the Parklands. They had no regard for it, just like they had no regard whatsoever for the Repat hospital in South Australia. Let me tell you, sir, what we have been doing since coming to government is to focus on turning the Repat—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —into one of the most exciting precincts for health care in our state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I was down there the other day and there were people with happy, smiling faces.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Playford!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We didn't just have another bulky goods precinct, presided over by those opposite, and we don't have 1,300 apartments. What we do have is more than 1,300 high-tech jobs in South Australia and there are many thousands more to come. I'm going to finish on a stat that is very positive. When we came to government we had an exodus of young people and capital out of this state—3,000, 4,000, 5,000—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —6,000, almost 7,000 or 8,000 net migration out of South Australia—under the settings that those opposite put into place.

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We now have a net migration back to South Australia for the first time in 40 years, renewed confidence and renewed hope for the future.