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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-27 Daily Xml
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POPULATION STATISTICS

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): Is the Premier proud of his government's plan to reduce the number of people living in South Australia? The government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting its achievements. One of these is listed on page 24 of the Department of Trade and Economic Development's 2007-08 annual report, which was tabled yesterday. This listed major achievement is 'the net loss of 4,125 persons interstate for the year ended March 2008, which is a 15.5 per cent higher result than last year'. Congratulations on the achievement!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:25): I have been reflecting—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The figures are 13,000 more people in South Australia last year compared to the year before. The figures are: record number of migration since 1972—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I have called the house to order. I am on my feet: I expect silence.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I will sit down if you want to engage in debate, but the fact is that, from my recollection, there were 13,000 more people in South Australia—our population was up by 13,000. We had the record migration level since 1972. When we got into government, if you want to raise this issue—look at him, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Let us remember that the day that I was sworn in I was told that we faced population decline. And then when I came out and said that we were going to go for growth and that we were going to head for 2 million people by 2050, people sneered. They said it was unachievable. And what have we been told now? We have been told that, rather than being unachievable, we will reach that target more than 20 years ahead. Population up under Labor: population heading for decline under the Liberals.

I just want to reply to something that was said before, because the person who is judging me, Sandra Kanck, is the person who wanted our kids to try ecstasy at rave parties and who said that the bikies were innocent, and she also said of course that we should have these do-it-yourself suicide kits. I guess what I am saying is that, if that is my judge, then I am delighted that she does not support what I do.

Mrs REDMOND: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The question was about population. I do not understand the relevance of the Premier's current comments.

The SPEAKER: The Premier—

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The relevance is clear. Rather than a court of law that found an acquittal, it was a petty session.

The SPEAKER: Order!

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