Construction Industry

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (14:49): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer provide the house with an update on the state of South Australia's construction industry?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:49): Can I thank the member for Playford for his question.

Mr Tarzia: Who paid for lunch?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I'm not sure who took the member for Hartley out to lunch, but I will make those inquiries and also who paid the bill. I am pleased to update the house about some good news for South Australia's construction industry because very recently the Australian Bureau of Statistics released some figures which demonstrated that there are now more people employed in the construction sector in South Australia than ever before.

More than 85,000 people in South Australia are employed in this industry, or nearly one in 10 workers in South Australia in this industry. This is nearly 6½ thousand more people engaged in this industry than the previous record, which is good news. Of course, it's not one particular sector of the construction industry which is driving this: it's several different sectors of the construction industry.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The member for Flinders nominates the one person he knows who is engaged in the construction industry, and isn't it lucky for the media in this state—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —to inform him? Isn't it lucky that we've got the media to inform the member for Flinders about who might work in this industry? We all know that the housing industry has been the large driver of the total volume of construction work that has been undertaken around the country, largely because of the federal government's HomeBuilder scheme which they ran in response to the economic conditions of the pandemic.

Dwelling unit completions are the highest on record in the June quarter. Also in the same quarter, there were 14,743 residential dwellings under construction in the year to that quarter, which is the highest on record. The commercial sector is also making a strong contribution. The total value of non-residential building approvals in South Australia was the highest on record, with a total value of $5.7 billion. Of that $5.7 billion, $3 billion was from the public sector and $2.7 billion was from private.

Pleasingly, it is activity in the health industry that is driving much of this activity, which of course is good news. We are looking forward to getting on with these important health projects for the benefit of South Australians—of course, as soon as we can get some important legislation passed. We are looking forward to that.

We are aware that conditions have also been strong in the civil construction sector as well. As I have reported to the house previously, we are aware and concerned about the news that continues to come through media sources nationally and globally of expected downturns in economic conditions. That is all the more reason why government should be investing in all three different areas of the construction sector, to support activity on an ongoing basis in the coming years.

We will be doing that in housing, not just through our own public housing builds but also in partnership with the commonwealth as part of their Housing Accord. We will be doing it in the commercial construction industry, not just in health but also because we are building five new technical colleges and a range of other infrastructure upgrades, and who could forget the civil projects that are underway—a Labor government finally getting on with the job of completing the north-south corridor.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer has the call.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: We will be doing it quicker and we won't be allowing—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Colton! Member for Hartley!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —four years of delay and denial by those opposite.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Hammond! Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The construction industry is in good hands in South Australia.