Premier Marshall

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (14:48): My question again is to the Premier. Can the Premier explain to the house why business leaders and industry associations are briefing the media against him?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:49): It is always good to be able to talk about the excellent industry associations we have in South Australia, representing a sector which is being listened to by government for the first time in a very long period of time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We only heard a moment ago from the Minister for Innovation and Skills.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: He has defied all odds, quite frankly, and delivered the very best results in the entire nation in terms of vocational education and training and skills development, and this is one of the core reasons why so many international firms and so many national firms are now choosing to come to South Australia.

It has been one of the key issues that people have raised with me from industry associations, especially those on the industry response and recovery committee whom we met with very, very often during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, and certainly in the early days.

What we know is that when we listen to the business community, when we lower their taxes, reduce their red tape, provide a vibrant investment attraction environment and focus on skills development then it will translate into work.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: You don't need to take my word for it: take a look at the statistics, which show where we are sitting at the moment, an area which quite frankly—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —I feel very proud of—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —at the moment. When we look at the state final demand for the September quarter, South Australia was up 1.4 per cent. Australia was down 1.8 per cent. What we saw under those opposite for 16 years was that every time those national statistics would come out we would get further and further—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —behind that peloton. Every time it came out—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —it just reminded us that the settings were wrong. But today we are very proud in South Australia to look at these statistics. In South Australia, we have surged 1.4 per cent—

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —not in a year—

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, there is a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The question was about business leaders and industry associations briefing the media against him, not about economic statistics.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Sir, point of order.

The SPEAKER: The minister wishes to address me on a point of order. I will hear the minister.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The framing of the question began with a 'why'. It is a broad invitation for any minister to respond in relation to the subject matter in any way.

The SPEAKER: My attention is being drawn to standing order 98. I direct the Premier to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Of course, the substance of the question is listening to business leaders here in South Australia, and that is exactly and precisely what we have done. We have listened to those concerns, whether they be concerns regarding skills, taxation arrangements or regulation, and we have addressed those issues. What we have been able to do is to translate that into outcomes for those people, and I was reminding the house that the excellent figures that came out today, the state final demand figures for the September quarter, which surged 1.4 per cent. Before we came to government, this state did well when we got to 1.4 per cent—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —over an entire year. In 16 years of the previous government, I think for the last decade, the average growth over a year was around 1 per cent. We grew 1.4 per cent in a three-month period because we listen to the business community—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and we get those settings right. Let's look at some of the other states around Australia. New South Wales went backwards 6.5 per cent and Victoria went backwards 1.4 per cent. In fact, the entire country went backwards by almost 2 per cent.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: In South Australia, we surged forward, and that, of course, is on the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —state final demand figure for the last entire year—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Innovation and Skills! The minister is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —with a massive surge of 3.9 per cent. Virtually every single time—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —we look at the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Innovation and Skills is warned. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Just about every time we look at those statistics in terms of business confidence, consumer confidence and investor confidence, they are off the scale. They are at decade highs or they are at highs that have basically blown out records for the index ever.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: That is the situation that exists at the moment.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I am the first to admit that industry associations play a tough game. They are always after more, and so they should be. They are advocating for their businesses. Businesses have done it tough over the last 18 months, the last 20 months, the last 22 months, while we have been dealing with this coronavirus pandemic. There have been changes at short notice regarding restrictions and the way that they operate—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —but I assure each and every one of these sectors that we are putting their best interests first—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and that is now translating into excellent conditions, a very attractive business environment in South Australia, and the results are there for all to see.