State Economy

Mrs PEARCE (King) (14:31): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on the latest ABS economic data?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:31): I thank the member for King for her question. I am more than happy to do this, particularly in the absence of the Treasurer, who obviously has an exceptionally busy day. This economic data that was released today in the form of labour force statistics from the ABS, which of course everyone accepts as being independent, has been an extraordinary set of data—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: Biggest drop in job ads in the country yesterday—4.2 per cent.

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The sorts of numbers that even the member for Unley must surely be very, very happy about.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The unemployment rate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —in South Australia has fallen by 0.3 per cent to now being 4 per cent. In particularly good news—and again I am sure the member for Unley is celebrating this, like most South Australians would be—the state's economy is outperforming the rest of the nation, and it has been doing it for some time.

More than that, we know that when it comes to labour data, labour force statistics, over the course of the last 12 months there is much to celebrate, which is presumably why the member for Unley and the member for Hartley, amongst others, would have constituents of their own who are employed today who weren't 12 months ago, constituents who are working more hours today than they were 15 months ago. What would have the member for Hartley's constituents particularly up and about is the fact that in South Australia on almost every metric we have outperformed the rest of the country. Let me give you a few for instances.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The number of people unemployed in South Australia over the last 12 months, in trend terms, has fallen by 8.9 per cent. For the rest of the country, that number is 2.8 per cent, so the number of unemployed people in South Australia has collapsed in comparison with the rest of the country.

In terms of the number of full-time people employed—and on this side of the house we believe in secure work and we believe in making sure that people are moving from part-time work to full-time work—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: On that score, we know that in South Australia over the last 12 months the number of people employed full time has increased by 5.8 per cent—5.8 per cent. In comparison with the rest of the country, it's 4.2 per cent—4.2 per cent. So we have outperformed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —the rest of the country in that regard. In terms of total hours worked, that is the cumulative number of all hours worked in trend terms over the last 12 months—

Mr Whetstone: What about the cost of power? What about the cost of rent? Talk about the real stuff.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —in South Australia that number has improved by 6.9 per cent. In the rest of the country: 5.4 per cent. These numbers create a theme, a trend, that demonstrates that in terms of the labour market in our state we have outperformed the rest of the country in trend terms, and that is an irrefutable fact. Those opposite for some reason interject. They are interjecting, full of effervescence, around the government's outperformance of those opposite in respect to what is happening within the labour market. But on this side of the house, we believe in jobs. We believe in well-paid jobs. We believe in secure jobs.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: More than that, what we love to see is the participation rate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Flinders!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —improve to the extent that we now have a record participation rate in the state of South Australia, which means that more people are engaged, more people are employed, more people are earning more and more people are providing for their families in a way that is wholeheartedly good, and we welcome the opposition's endorsement of our economic policy.