Unemployment Figures

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (16:22): My question is to the Premier. What is South Australia's current unemployment rate as a percentage? What was it when Labor lost office in 2018 and what will it be in 2026, Premier?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (16:22): Our state's unemployment rate, of course, is 4.9 per cent. But it is also true that 4.9 per cent does represent the worst unemployment rate in the country, which, of course, is not the status that we want to find ourselves having to endure. The member for Colton asked about the historical context. Well, in 2018, when the former Liberal government was elected, we didn't have the worst unemployment rate in the nation, a status we—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —now have. As I enunciated throughout a significant component of my previous answer, we have a structural challenge here when it comes to South Australia's labour market. We are determined to address it. It's not just the unemployment rate. It's the participation rate, it's the youth unemployment rate, and they of course have a degree of complexity that underpins them, particularly when it comes to the participation rate, so we are determined to address them and we have a policy to do that.