Agricultural Sector Labour Shortages

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:35): My questions are to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding the agricultural sector. My first question is: what level of labour shortage has been reported by the agricultural industry in South Australia to the minister? Can the minister inform the council about the statistics that she received of the labour shortages, and in which sectors? Knowing that the problems of labour shortages are putting our agricultural industry at risk, what measures has the minister put in place to address the issues in immediate terms?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for her question. I am happy to bring back to the council any specific statistics, but what I think is really important is that we have been hearing this on every level from every community in regional areas, as well as, indeed, here in the city—there are also labour shortages here—but particularly in regional areas from the agricultural industry, from the horticultural industry, from the tourism industry, from hospitality, and the list goes on.

I think when there is that level of concern in the community, that level of concern amongst businesses and in particular small businesses, which of course is a sector that was totally ignored and forgotten by the former Marshall Liberal government, we need to ensure that when we are hearing that from every sector across the state that we are listening, which is something of course that we are already doing.

I have had a number of meetings, since becoming minister about nine weeks ago, with various peak bodies from many organisations and, again, the issue of labour shortages is one of their top priorities, second perhaps only to the related issue of housing and then, of course, biosecurity. As I think we have discussed on a number of occasions in this place already in this session of parliament, the housing shortages are a particular barrier to being able to address the workforce shortages.

In terms of going forward, we have already discussed in this place one of the initiatives that has been already put in place, which was the ten-pound Pom, or the ten-euro Pom program, which has shown some success already. I will be continuing to work with all of my colleagues, as well as with industry, with regional development associations and regional councils and regional small businesses and larger businesses to address this issue, which does need a cohesive cross-department and cross-sector approach.

I have had a number of quite innovative ideas raised as possibilities and I am very keen to be able to look at those, both with my department and with all of those others involved, and that of course includes the Minister for Housing and the Minister for Human Services. We are aware that, unfortunately, due to the distinct lack of action by the previous government, we haven't seen the improvements in housing that we need to see that would then be the enabler for the improvements to a gaining workforce.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: It is quite fascinating, some of those opposite are still giving excuses for what they didn't do for the last four years.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: They are still giving excuses for what they didn't do for the last four years.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, sit down.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Is everyone finished? Minister, continue, please.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: It appears, perhaps, that those opposite are going to just pretend the last four years didn't happen and I am sure the state would prefer to pretend the last four years hadn't happened because what we have seen already is the now opposition, instead of perhaps reflecting on what they didn't do in their four years in government, are now trying to say that the issues that we are faced with here today in 2022 are somehow as a result of a government from prior to 2018.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Because they are.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: 'Because they are,' the opposition says, so clearly—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Actually, the Hon. Mr Wortley, we don't need your help with this. The opposition is wasting its question time and the crossbenchers' question time, so, minister, please conclude your remarks and let's move on.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Certainly, I'm happy to conclude on the note that the opposition should not be trying to explain away today's problems because they didn't do anything for four years.