State Budget

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (14:29): My question is to the Treasurer—

The Hon. J.E. Hanson interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway is on his feet.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Please give me some respect.

The PRESIDENT: I think that the Hon. Mr Ridgway should proceed.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I got distracted by the rabble on the other side. What commentary, Treasurer, have national economic commentators and rating agencies made about the state budget?

The Hon. C.M. Scriven interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I spoke yesterday about this habit of starting to interject—and interjections are out of order, but to interject or to guffaw before a minister has hardly had the chance to start answering, and in this case the Treasurer had not even started. The Treasurer has the call.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Treasurer has the call. The opposition is wasting its own question time here.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:30): I am delighted to be able to inform the house—I am sure all members will be as excited as I am to hear the national commentary from respected national commentators in relation to the state budget. The assessment that has been released, I think only this morning, from ANZ Research titled 'Australian Economic Insight' from the ANZ Bank, respected national commentators, is headlined 'SA budget frontrunner for a return to surplus'. I am very pleased to be able to report that the positive assessment of the state budget by the ANZ research unit of the ANZ Bank says that they are more optimistic than we conservative treasurers and Treasury boffins are in relation to economic growth prospects for South Australia.

ANZ says that despite the budget's predictions of 3.5 per cent growth next year, we are more optimistic at 4.5 per cent economic growth for next year. Their commentary—it is a direct quote—is as follows:

South Australia's economic outlook has improved, underpinned by a strong recovery in household consumption and growth in public investment. GSP growth is estimated to rise to 3.5 per cent in 2021-22, down from a previous estimate of 4.25 per cent. This is followed by stabilisation at 2.25 per cent through 2022-23 to 2024-25. Our outlook—

that is, the ANZ outlook—

is more upbeat. We expect GSP growth to accelerate to 4.5 per cent in 2021-22, followed by 3.5 per cent in 2022-23.

What the ANZ Bank is saying is that we think the South Australian Treasury and the South Australian Treasurer are way too conservative, way too pessimistic about economic growth, even though we are predicting 3½ per cent economic growth next year. They say, no, that is not big enough: we think it's going to grow by 4½ per cent, and when we predicted a conservative estimate as always—2.25 per cent estimate in the following year, 2022-23—they say again way too conservative and are estimating 3.5 per cent economic growth for South Australia.

I am sure that all South Australians who are interested in job growth, economic growth, future job prospects for all South Australians will be delighted to hear respected national commentators saying that they are bullish, they are upbeat, they are optimistic, about the future economic growth prospects for South Australia, that the economic fundamentals put in the place by the budget yesterday, and as has been put in place over the last three budgets in terms of the costs of doing business, are going to grow jobs and grow the economy at a much stronger rate than it has grown on average over the last 16 years of the former Labor government, where on average it grew just under half to two thirds of the national economic growth rate.

And quickly, Mr President, because I have already made public commentary on this: the S&P credit rating agency yesterday, and Moody's—S&P in particular—commented that South Australia benefits from a strong economy and financial management. That is an indicator certainly of strong support for the financial management credentials of this government and of the economic performance of our state economy, and it is certainly, as I said, optimistic in terms of the state's future job growth prospects.