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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-12 Daily Xml
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STATE FINAL DEMAND

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:23): Could the Treasurer update the house on last week's release of the March quarter's state final demand figures for South Australia?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Workers Rehabilitation, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:23): On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its quarterly national accounts figures, which includes the state final demand figure for each state for the March 2012 quarter. State final demand (SFD) is an estimate of the level of spending in the local economy provided by both the public and private sectors.

As I have said previously when these figures are released, SFD only paints part of the picture of our state's economy. In particular, it does not include our export figures. Nevertheless, last week's SFD figures for the March quarter showed that South Australia's demand grew by 1.7 per cent, seasonally adjusted, and even by those figures which the opposition like to cherrypick when pandering to the naysayers, on trend terms it grew by half a per cent, consistent with all three eastern seaboard states. So, while I acknowledge that SFD doesn't tell the whole story of the South Australian economy, the most recent figures were encouraging.

Why is this important? Well, it was only three months ago that those opposite, led by the member for Davenport, who had woken up from his periodic slumber, got so excited. What was so exciting? One thing the member for Davenport loves nothing more is talking down—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —the South Australian economy. He seized on the state final demand figures for December, thought he saw two consecutive figures of negative growth and eagerly declared to anyone who would listen that South Australia was in a so-called recession.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I would like to set the record straight for the house that the ABS has since revised those quarterly figures, so it now looks like the member for Davenport prematurely bolted from the blocks, as often he is known to do. One of those negative quarters has been revised into a positive of 0.3 per cent growth, while the other has turned into—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Treasurer—

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —while the other has effectively turned into no change.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Treasurer, can you just be quiet. I can't hear what you are saying for the shouting from my left. There are members there who want to ask questions. They won't have an opportunity if they keep going the way they are.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I don't know what it is about treasurers; you seem to provoke activity on the other side. Treasurer.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I'm sorry, Madam Speaker. But where was the member for Davenport last week? When those figures that he got so prematurely excited about three months ago were released, he was back again in hibernation and nowhere to be seen. The question is: will the member for Davenport now admit that the so-called recession, in fact, never ever happened?

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