Net Interstate Migration

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:28): My question is to the Deputy Premier. Does the government have a strategy to address net interstate migration? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: The federal budget is forecasting nearly 15,000 people to leave the state in the next four years—a significant deterioration from the improvements achieved under the previous Liberal government, even excluding the COVID years.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy) (14:29): Another interesting point that emerged from the budget last night—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier will be heard in silence.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: What the federal budget papers have done is essentially take the pre-COVID trajectory of a decline in net interstate migration loss and extrapolated that. Leading up to the point of COVID, it was nearly 4,000. That had come off—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order: the member for Colton made a serious allegation against the Deputy Premier. He either substantiates it or he withdraws.

The SPEAKER: The member for Colton.

Mr COWDREY: I am happy to withdraw, sir.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, and maybe just keep a lid on it, okay? We have been quiet all week.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Quiet!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley, you are not in this role anymore, mate; okay? So just keep your counsel to yourself. Back to the Deputy Premier.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Leading into COVID, there was a bit under 4,000 net migration loss. That then of course stopped with the closing of the borders, it's not surprising. What we are now looking at is a restoration of around 3,000 over a period of time. That said, I don't think that taking the federal Treasury's projections, which are, I think, as I understand it, largely based on those trajectories, to be the full story of what we might expect in South Australia. Population tends to follow job opportunities.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Do we just have no civility in this parliament anymore?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I rise on a point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Yes, the Treasurer.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: It is unparliamentary and against the standing orders to interrupt, let alone in such an offensive way.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: 131, mate. Look it up.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I remind the opposition that there are still students in the gallery and they are judging your behaviour. The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Population tends to, broadly, follow job opportunities. While there are strong economies elsewhere, we are well aware of the strength of our own South Australian economy in comparison to the others and also of the number of big projects that are coming through, which would be unlikely to have been fully accounted for in the projections that have been undertaken following ABS stats. What we expect is that we will see more people coming through but also more people staying because of the high-paid job opportunities that are presented by those very important projects, not least of which being AUKUS but also including the renewable energy opportunities that are coming and the substantial investments in both education and in health.

However, we don't take this for granted. We want to see that we are making sure that we are building that workforce to meet the needs of our future economy, and to do that I have had the portfolio added to my responsibilities of workforce and population strategy precisely for that reason, in order to not take these matters for granted. These are a matter of state significance that we ought to all be taking an interest in and all paying attention to.

The investments that we have made to date have been useful, but we need to make sure that they are being well targeted in order to continue to keep people here, train them for the kinds of jobs that are available and also be attractive for elsewhere. I would note that those federal Treasury figures do, nonetheless, see us with a continued increase in population for South Australia. In the immediate term, it is quite a significant increase, which, of course, is part of what is causing the challenges for my good friend and colleague, who is now the Minister for Housing, to make sure that we are providing the housing for the population growth. But we will maintain the pressure on our education system and provide the services required for population growth in order to make this an attractive place to be.