Employment Figures

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:38): My question is to the Minister for Employment. Can the minister tell the house whether the state's unemployment rate has reached double digits, as predicted by the Liberal Party?

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) (14:38): I thank the honourable member for his question. The honourable member asked if I can advise whether South Australia's unemployment rate has reached double digits as predicted by the Liberal Party. I am very pleased to advise the honourable member: no. No, it hasn't.

For the benefit of those who don't remember the predictions from a couple of years ago, a press release, dated 20 July 2015, released by the Hon. Robert Lucas says, amongst a lot of other things but relevantly for today's question:

South Australia is in the midst of a…jobs crisis and is careering towards double digit unemployment…

This was 20 July 2015, 'South Australia is careering towards double-digit unemployment' was the prediction, the wish and the hope that the Hon. Rob Lucas had for this state. Let me go forward a little bit. Let me go forward to 10 September 2015 and a press release from the member for Unley, Mr David Pisoni, who said, 'South Australia is careering towards double-digit unemployment.' But wait, there's more. There is a press release from the member for Dunstan, the eternal Leader of the Opposition, Steven Marshall, dated 26 October 2015, and many members might be able to guess the language used. It's not original. Let me quote: 'South Australia is careering towards double-digit unemployment.'

The Hon. Rob Lucas started this all off—the campaign genius who sucked everyone else into his predictions and hope for this state, followed bravely by the member for Unley, who we know can be sucked in very easily and follows things very easily. You just have to ask people what happened a couple of years ago. Then, blindly being led further, the so-called Leader of the Opposition does not double down but triples down on the brave prediction that we are careering towards double-digit unemployment.

If we take the Hon. Rob Lucas's prediction from just over two years ago—in fact, about 26 months ago in July 2015—I would like to outline what has happened in those 26 months since that brave prediction, that brave hope for talking down this state. In the last 26 months since that prediction, we have had employment growth every single one of those months—26 continuous months of employment growth since that prediction.

We on this side are very fond of the Hon. Rob Lucas. We want him to keep running Liberal campaigns. We fervently hope that he is again the mastermind behind this general state campaign and we would like him to make more of these predictions because since his prediction we have seen jobs growth every single month—every single month. For 26 months since that prediction, there have been more jobs the next month than the month before.

Over those 26 months since that prediction and that hope for South Australia that he wanted to see us fail, there have been 23,700 more jobs created in this state. We are at a record number of South Australians employed—826,900 South Australians are employed in the state. That is a record number, since this brave prediction 26 months ago of reaching double-digit unemployment, and about half those jobs created are full-time jobs.

If we look over the last 26 months since that huge prediction by the Hon. Rob Lucas, we have seen the headline unemployment rate decrease by 2.1 per cent. It must have been maybe 12 or 13 per cent, so we are at double-digits still? No, we are now at 5.8 per cent headline unemployment, the third lowest in the nation. That is a five in front, not a 10 or 13 as the Hon. Rob Lucas wanted us to have.

If you look at trend unemployment, we are down 2.3 per cent since those 26 months ago when these predictions were made—down 2.3 per cent to the second lowest state in the nation. Of all the states, only New South Wales has a lower unemployment rate and this is all in the midst of one of the greatest economic transitions most of us will see in our lives—the slowdown in traditional manufacturing, the closure of Holden just a few weeks ago. This is all happening around—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: And who caused that?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: It was caused by a federal Liberal government who had no plan, no hope for South Australia, unlike the Labor Party. This is our central aim as a party—jobs. That is what we are now seeing in South Australia, but there is still more to do. That is why we are working with business to provide the environment and, importantly, to provide the help business needs—a $109 million jobs accelerator program, a $200 million Future Jobs Fund.

But there is an alternative proposition and it is the member for Dunstan's proposition—the member for Dunstan, who, on 26 October 2015, said, 'South Australia is careering towards double-digit unemployment. His alternative proposal is, 'Let's take our hands off the wheel and the pie will grow.' That's the idea. There is this magic pudding pie thing that the member for Dunstan has found that if you just take your hands off the wheel, magically this car runs into a pudding or a pie and the whole economy grows and everyone gets a job. It is ridiculous, and that is why South Australia needs a Labor government to stand with business and stand with South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Ms Franks.