State Economy

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (16:54): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on the South Australian economy?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (16:54): It is interesting. There are undoubtedly challenges that government must confront, and this has always been true. It has always been the case that governments, regardless of their political persuasion, will have to deal with events of the day and challenges that are presented towards us, and certainly there's been a run of them recently: challenges in Port Pirie, the algal bloom, drought.

I am very grateful to be part of a government that has an exceptional team across the front bench—whether it be responding to a domestic violence royal commission, the challenges around aged-care patients in the hospital system, algal blooms, Port Pirie, Bedford—that as a team works together. We stand up and rise to each of these challenges, and we do it professionally.

But it's also true that we have to also maintain our eye on the big picture and the big picture in terms of how the economy is going and what are the things that we can do to influence the performance of the economy. As a government, one of the areas of focus that we have had, that is delivering results, is making sure that we look at housing not just as a critical service for the community, and something that is desperately required for people to live in, but also as an economic lever.

What we have seen in now report after report, including many released since the parliament's last sitting, is that housing is growing at a very rapid pace in the state of South Australia that exceeds every other state around the nation to the extent that, whether it be ABS data or, more recently, the Commonwealth's State of the States data, we see that we are a staggering 22.8 per cent up on the decade average in terms of dwelling starts, 16.7 per cent up on construction work done, 26 per cent up according to the ABS year on year in terms of new dwellings. If there is an Australian family looking for a jurisdiction that is pulling every policy lever at their disposal to get more homes being built then South Australia is the place for you.

Only yesterday, the Treasurer and I met with the CEO of National Australia Bank—it was somewhat refreshing to be able to sit with him—who offered analysis backed up by figures that he had at his disposal, speaking to the outperformance of the South Australian economy with respect to the rest of the nation. This is an economy that is doing well in terms of the labour market. People are in more jobs, wages are going up, there's a greater presence of secure part-time and full-time work versus casual work. Wages are going up in South Australia, housing dwellings are going up. Business confidence is going well.

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I thank the shadow treasurer for his very useful cooperation, and I would invite him to only look at the ANZ Stateometer; in fact, I think it is NAB that also measure much of these statistics in terms of our performance. The shadow treasurer is welcome to ask questions of the government. But when you look at all the statistics, the Commonwealth Bank has us ranked at number two in the nation, second only to Western Australia, who are still cashing in on the GST that those opposite gladly handed over. We are a state that is doing well in respect of our performance in comparison with the rest of the nation, notwithstanding the challenge that we have before us. We will keep our effort up because that is in the DNA of this government.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call on the leader, the member for Flinders, obviously not a quick learner, you can leave the chamber under 137A for 15 minutes.

The honourable member for Flinders having withdrawn from the chamber:

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: And a couple of other members on my left are going to follow. Leader.