Small Business

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:39): My question is to the Premier. How many small businesses have closed in South Australia since Labor formed government in March 2022?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:39): I am pleased to take this question from the shadow treasurer because there are statistics which were reported on a periodic basis by the ABS for—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: Quarterly data.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Apparently the deputy leader has something to say—but doesn't have a question, again.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: This is very impressive, Stephen.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Thanks, somebody has to be. As I was saying, the ABS publishes data about the number of businesses commencing and closing in periods across the country, including here in South Australia. In any year, there are literally thousands of businesses that start and thousands of businesses that close. Of course, as I alluded to in my previous remarks when we were talking about inflation, the Reserve Bank has been seeking to slow down the economy, to slow consumption from both the household sector and also from the private sector, to try to slow down price escalation for goods and services. That means, as households and businesses are consuming less in the economy, there will be less custom for a lot of small businesses.

As we have seen reported in no small measure locally, usually one of the first sectors to feel the effects of that is the hospitality industry. People perhaps choose not to go and get their daily coffee or they start taking their lunch to work, for example, rather than go out and get it. Particularly in built-up, popular areas, that means that in a place like the central business district of Adelaide or in key suburban precincts those businesses find it very difficult. It is very regrettable that, while the statistics are available on the ABS website—I am sorry I don't have them at hand, but given the shadow treasurer's interest in them, he could google them—those statistics no doubt show that there are businesses under pressure to the extent that many of them are closing.

The commonwealth government has tried to provide broadscale supports for the business community across the national economy, and they have also tried to do that directly in some cases with energy bill relief. We are continuing to try to foster the opportunities for South Australian businesses to grow their operations and, importantly, employ more South Australians.

That is why I was pleased to announce earlier this week that we have awarded the first round of Economic Recovery Fund funding to 17, I think it is, South Australian businesses that have prospects and opportunities to expand their operations here in South Australia, occurring in not just manufacturing industries but manufacturing industries focused on innovation and also on tourism accommodation businesses to expand our offering for the large number of people from interstate and overseas who are choosing our state, increasingly, as the destination in Australia that they want to come to, so that is an important effort.

I am not pretending for one moment, whether it is the commonwealth government's supports or the state government's supports, that there will not be further pain in the economy as the national economy cools and as the state's economy follows suit. Of course there will be, and that is really difficult for those business operators who are going to be caught up in that, but you will see, as we continue to make commitments as a government, we have that front of mind in the decisions we make.