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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-01 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE BUSINESS RATING

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (16:46): My question is to the Treasurer. Which of the Treasurer's economic policies has caused Adelaide to fall from the third most cost-competitive city for business in 2006 to the 33rd in 2008? The KPMG survey for business competitiveness, released on 28 March 2008, for which South Australia pays $78,000 for the privilege of being included, shows that of the 102 cities featured Adelaide ranked only as the 33rd most cost-competitive compared to the third most competitive in 2006.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (16:47): Members opposite delight in looking for negatives in everything. I ask whether the shadow minister for finance has read the report?

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: No, he hasn't read the report. He just said that he has not read the report. How ridiculous!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: They come into this place to attack the government, and he hasn't made an effort to read the report.

Mr Griffiths: That will be my afternoon reading.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: That will be his afternoon reading. This report was released a week ago, and the shadow minister—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I have not read it all; I have been briefed on it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I have read a brief on the report.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order. The Treasurer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Look at him. I am in the fortunate position of having a Treasury department that is very capable in—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: It is no secret that I do not read every report. If I did, I would never have time to get in here for question time. I have a detailed report done on all major reports, as I have in the case of this particular report. But, if I were in opposition, I would read a report, or read the parts that are relevant, before I came into this place. What that report says, had the member made an effort to read it and become aware of what is contained in the report, is that Adelaide remains the most cost-competitive city in Australia with which to do business. But we have dropped internationally on a comparison. Do you know why, sir?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order. The Treasurer has the call.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: On the advice I have been given—and it is stated in the report—it is due to the high appreciation of the Australian dollar relative to other currencies—and every jurisdiction has been so affected. Our currency has gone up; other currencies have devalued. The currency effect has seen Adelaide go from being near the top (I think we were third) to a drop relative with all Australian cities because of the valuation of the Australian dollar. But the important point is that we remain No. 1 in Australia: we are still the most cost-competitive city in all of Australia.

What is more, I am advised, internationally, notwithstanding the effects I said earlier, we still have a city that has lower business costs than most cities in the Western and Pacific regions of the US and Canada, most cities in the generally higher cost US north-east and all cities studied in Europe and Japan. The point of the exercise is this: how competitively does our city rank in Australia for inward capital, and where are we placed in the world.

One thing that this government is not capable of controlling is currency exchange rates. Had you even had a cursory look at that report, you would have realised that and not made a fool of yourself by asking such a silly question.

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