Unemployment Figures

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:59): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills a question about unemployment.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: On 9 March, The Advertiser reported about the government's 2010 election promise which was to create 100,000 jobs in six years, yet the government has merely achieved just a fraction of the target with 12 months to go. Marking the fifth anniversary of the pledge, The Advertiser's analysis shows that South Australia has achieved the worst jobs growth result of any state of the period, adding just 2,700 positions. In fact, there are 6,400 fewer jobs now than when Labor first made the promise five years ago. Economists, businesses and the social services sector have renewed calls for urgent government action amid fears that the state's employment situation will worsen before it improves. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can the minister explain how South Australia got into this position, especially when other states and territories over the same period are able to achieve job growth collectively of 730,000, including Tasmania, which added 2,300 jobs, but not South Australia?

2. Can the minister explain why the government has not achieved their 2010 election promise?

3. With economists and businesses strongly advising the government to take urgent action, why has the government ignored their advice?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for her most important question and, indeed, the issue of our employment figures is a major priority for this government. Although our last lot of employment figures showed some elements of positivity, for instance our unemployment figures dropped slightly this month compared to the month before, and also our full-time employment figures have had some growth, albeit very slow.

As I have said in this place before, we face considerable challenges, particularly around some of the global and national trends that are having a significant impact here, and we face challenges around our Holden motors enterprise and also our submarine contract—all of those things where we have particularly asked for federal government assistance that has let us down.

But, nevertheless, we soldier on and there are some positive trends on the horizon seeing that we have record-breaking production in oil and gas, so there is some potential there for us. Our record production in minerals—I was asked—was $7.5 billion in 2013-14 which was the highest on record in South Australia's history. We have also seen some record-setting export growth which is very encouraging.

We continue to see high levels of demand for our exports. We have also seen some positive new capital expenditure, which is 14 per cent higher in South Australia, seasonally adjusted, compared to the previous year, and South Australia was in fact one of only two states to record a rise in capital expenditure in that quarter. The ABS retail figures for South Australia, released in January, demonstrated that South Australia was in fact a leading state in retail sales. We have also seen some opportunities grow in our food and wine industries and we continue to work very hard on that front.

We have invested in Our Jobs Plan. We have invested $60 million in Our Jobs Plan to help stimulate the economy and encourage investment and growth in business and help to build a skilled workforce. We have invested $53 million over three years in skills training; $44 million in an initiative for the resources and energy sector; $10 million in the regional Jobs Accelerator Fund; and $10 billion towards productive infrastructure like roads and rail to help boost our economy and push to grow jobs. We also have a jobs plan which has a number of actions associated with the future of our state's manufacturing sector and diversifying.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: The Hon. Robert Brokenshire does not care about employment; he is bored with employment. What a disgrace he is in this place, Mr President. In relation to that jobs plan we have planned to accelerate the transformation of our manufacturing sector into advanced manufacturing through support for things like clusters and funding for collaborative, innovative hubs; accelerating significant infrastructure projects to create jobs during that transition and helping to lift productivity; the creation of a new jobs accelerator fund, which is around $20 million, to help drive growth in our key industry sectors; retraining displaced automotive workers to help ensure new jobs; and helping to transition our automotive supply businesses into new markets. We are working very hard on all of those fronts to try to ensure that we reduce the impact of Holden's leaving this state.

In relation to business, again, we worked very hard to support businesses and assist them. We have developed plans to help support growth in businesses such as an investment through payroll tax concessions and reforming WorkCover, which is estimated to achieve $180 million in savings to businesses. We see our liability has dropped significantly, so it looks like those measures are, indeed, working and working very well. We look forward to those measures continuing to show benefits.

We are providing more help for businesses to win government work through initiatives such as Tender Ready in collaboration with Business SA; a small business round table to provide greater collaboration and communication between the state government and the small business community; a new private sector development for the role of the Chief Executive of Premier and Cabinet, whose position is to assist and lodge projects valued at over $3 million to case manage and clear bureaucratic hurdles; and also the establishment of a new simpler regulation unit to work with industries to help remove and improve regulations.

As you can see, there are a range of initiatives that have been put in place. We put employment as a high government priority and will continue to work with businesses and industries to help their businesses thrive, to improve innovation, to improve productivity, and to grow jobs.