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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-02-20 Daily Xml
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YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (14:36): My question is to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion. What action has the government taken with issues raised by the Northern Adelaide Regional Collaboration last year which, after consultation with 30 businesses in northern Adelaide, found that 'they view South Australia as a high-cost state, often feel ignored by government, and are frustrated by our planning process', and what action has the government taken to address these issues that have contributed to the 43 per cent youth unemployment in the northern suburbs?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order: I do believe that the member for Morphett added a comment on the end of his question, saying that these matters had led to the 43 per cent youth unemployment. It is plainly—

The SPEAKER: No. In fairness, I think the member for Morphett just offered what he claimed to be a fact and tried to make it germane to the question so, accordingly, I will have to call you to order.

Mr PISONI: Mr Speaker, you pulled up a member of the opposition for not quoting a number in a point of order and yet you have allowed a member of the government to do the same thing.

The SPEAKER: No.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: You will both be seated. The member for Elder will be seated. The member for Unley is warned for the first time. The point of order was clear. I ruled against the member for Elder and I called him to order, which is exactly what I would have done had a member of the opposition taken a point of order which was not a point of order and was therefore obstructive. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:38): Fundamentally, it goes to questions of economic development for the northern region and that is why I am taking this question. It also proceeds from the false premise that was the basis for the previous question to the Minister for Employment. Just to remind the house, 6.3 per cent of the 15 to 19 year olds in northern Adelaide were full-time unemployed between the 12 months to January 2013, so this nonsense that is being run around with of 43 per cent—it is an almost meaningless statistic when you look at the number of young people who are actually in education or in some other form of training, or in employment. So, it is a nonsense statistic to advance in the way it has been advanced to suggest that there is some crisis in this area.

One of the reasons it is a nonsense statistic is that we have school retention rates which have actually increased from 69 per cent to 89 per cent. That is one of the explanations—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Heysen for the first time, I warn the member for Morialta for the second and final time, and I warn the member for MacKillop for the first time. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: There were some other matters that were advanced in the question by the member for Morphett, that is, complaints that are said to have emerged from a particular industry group in the northern suburbs, and they went to the question of the business costs—the competitiveness of doing business in South Australia. What I want to refer to is the KPMG report, which was a report—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: You might scoff at KPMG, but most people regard them as a respected institution. They carried out a report which found that Adelaide, of the capital cities that were surveyed, is the most cost-competitive place to do business in this nation.

The other matter that was advanced, I understand, by the question asked by the member for Morphett is our planning system. Our planning system, routinely, is regarded as one of the best planning systems in the nation. We have accepted the responsibility of continuing to stay ahead of the pack by reviewing it to make it even better. So the two so-called complaints about this do not stack up.

In terms of the north, let us look at what we are doing out there. You would have thought that the effect on jobs through the Holden's package and the absence of 16,000 people might have had some implications for youth unemployment in the north, so those opposite should maintain some consistency about that.

At Edinburgh Parks, I mentioned earlier BAE systems, and Futuris out there is a significant subcontractor. Then there is Technology Park and the Stretton Centre, which was recently unveiled together with the commonwealth government, which goes directly to this point. I was standing there with the Mayor of Playford who was supporting us in that decision to establish, along with Tony Burke, a centre which helps create local jobs—precisely the topic that is being advanced by those opposite.

Frankly, our attention to the northern suburbs has been significant, pervasive and over a long time. We do not simply pick up one statistic, which is meaningless in the context of the real effects of what is happening out in that suburb, and seek to make a political point about it.

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