Employment Figures

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment a question regarding jobs and future jobs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: This week in my mail at home I received what always is a very well-researched document called Trends that is sponsored by BankSA. It is a bulletin of economic development in South Australia. It is very alarming and concerning as a South Australian member of parliament and, indeed, a South Australian citizen, to look at chart 10 which talks about trend unemployment rate.

When you have a look at the trend unemployment rate in South Australia compared to the national average for Australia, since at least February 2013 we have been well above the national average, and in fact as recently as February 2016 it shows South Australia sitting at about 7.25 per cent to the national average of about 5.7 per cent. Finally, in the commentary of this trend unemployment rate it says:

The South Australian economy continues to suffer from the earlier strength in Australian interest rates and exchange rates. It has therefore benefited less than state economies with a similar sectoral make up—such as Victoria.

It says, that said, that the big phase of weaknesses in the local economy was probably in the first half of 2015, and acknowledges a slight pick up at around that time. But, the concerning factor is that it now says, subsequent to that, it is again easing. My question to the minister is: does the minister acknowledge that his government has failed South Australians looking for employment for successive years, going back to at least 2013, and will the minister guarantee that those high unemployment figures in South Australia will improve in the future year or two to give some confidence to those desperately seeking a job?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in matters relating to the South Australian economy. I will have to rely on his word that he is quoting the figures correctly from there. The trend unemployment rate for South Australia , reported in April (the last month—these figures are released monthly on the third Thursday of every month), was 7.0 per cent. That has been steady for quite some time at around that mark. The often quoted unemployment rate is the seasonally adjusted or headline unemployment rate. After that same month it was at 6.8 per cent.

That headline unemployment rate in South Australia declined that month from 7.1 per cent to 6.8 per cent. That is pleasing, and I note that in that month it was the second strongest decline of any of the mainland states. The headline unemployment rate has declined by 1.1 per cent over the course of the current financial year. While that is heading in the right direction, no doubt there are great challenges we face in South Australia.

We are facing a downturn in manufacturing. We are facing the closure of Holden by the end of next year, an industry that has served this state very well; frankly, an area we have been very good at, and we should be very proud of our traditional manufacturing in South Australia. However, due to decisions of the current federal government, that will close by the end of 2017.

States like Victoria are facing similar things in those traditional manufacturing areas. Other states, like Western Australia and Victoria, with the global commodity prices and where we are in the resources cycle, are facing significant challenges in those areas. We face them here as well. It is a difficult and challenging situation in which we find ourselves in South Australia, both with the decline in traditional manufacturing and where we find ourselves in the resources sector. We recognise these challenges, and there are things the government has to do in conjunction with industry and with the community.

We have 10 economic priorities, and we are looking at supporting industries that have the capacity to grow and have the capacity to provide jobs. We are working with industry in South Australia to make sure those areas that are growing, those areas that have shown potential to grow, continue to be supported. An area the honourable member will be familiar with is food manufacturing. I know the honourable member talks to me regularly about areas that have an ability to grow, and I appreciate him putting me in contact with various producers in this sector. We certainly are backing food manufacturing. We have a number of grant programs that invest in companies that are involved in food manufacturing. We have a desire to keep supporting food manufacturing as it is an area of the economy that continues to grow. Year on year, for 17 years in a row, food manufacturing—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Always somebody else's fault.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Will the Minister for the Environment cease immediately? If you have a question, do it as a supplementary and not as an interjection. Minister, have you finished?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: No. We note that particular area and that is certainly one of our 10 economic priorities: premium food and wine exported to the world. We will look to continue to do what we can in that area to support those who are making great headway. The trade minister, minister Hamilton Smith, who is a minister, unlike anyone else opposite has ever been, unlike everyone else currently opposite has ever been. He was a minister some time ago and he is a minister again, and he is leading trade delegations to various parts of the world.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: We have the Leader of the Opposition interjecting again. He is widely suggested and tipped to take on the trade minister as the Liberal candidate for Waite. If he has the guts and determination to do that, I am sure he will do that. If he hasn't, I am sure he will continue doing what he is doing and being the Leader of the Opposition here for now—until the Hon. Andrew McLachlan has served his time and can take over that role.

Certainly, food and wine is an area we know is growing and has the capacity to grow further. We know that as some of our near neighbours in areas like China and India have rising incomes and a rising middle class they are importing more premium food from other places in the world, and we know that South Australia stands to benefit from that. We know that there are other areas. We know that there are other areas that we are concentrating on.

The defence industry is a great case in point. We know that it wasn't so long ago that the submarine contract—the biggest ever naval contract awarded in this country—was going to Japan. Everyone recognises that; even those on the other side know that that was what was happening. It took a concerted campaign and a concerted effort to save that going overseas, basically exporting jobs to another country.

It has made sure that that contract is now here, but we will be building submarines based in Adelaide. It was a fantastic campaign that we had to do that here, so we know that there will be jobs in Australia. These sorts of projects are at the heart of this transition. The federal government talks about the transition that the Australian economy is undergoing. We are the epicentre of that in South Australia with the decline of traditional manufacturing. We stand in good stead to have these jobs of the future.