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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-11 Daily Xml
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EMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:05): Supplementary: the Premier has just said that he stands by his election promise to create 100,000 new jobs by 2016. Can he explain to the house how he is going to create 2,500 jobs each month between now and 2016 to fulfil this election promise?

The SPEAKER: I will grant that as a supplementary. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:05): I thank the honourable member for his question, and this gives me a wonderful opportunity to set out the key priorities in the economic statement. This is precisely the challenge that the economic statement seeks to respond to. It chooses four areas of the economy—

Mr Goldsworthy interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Kavel to order.

Mr Goldsworthy interjecting:

The SPEAKER: No, I am sorry, I warn him the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —on which we will focus our attention, and it talks about three things that we need to change about what we are doing in South Australia, or at least do much better and more deeply than we ever have before. The four areas, of course, are advanced manufacturing, sharing the benefits of the mining boom with the whole of South Australia, making sure that we do promote our premium food and wine grown in a clean environment, and also the vibrancy of our CBD. So much of a modern region is driven by the transactions and values that are promoted by its capital city, and this is a crucial area of economic opportunity for our state.

We are already seeing very substantial Chinese investment now. I noticed the Datong group were out promoting themselves today with a very substantial investment they have achieved off the back of the groundbreaking planning reforms by the Deputy Premier. These are the areas we will focus on. The three things that need to change about our state, the three things that we need to do better at—

Mrs Redmond: The government.

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Heysen to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The three things that we need to draw on—some of these are strengths, but we do need to do more of them—is that we need to be more outward looking. We have to realise that we are living in one of the fastest-growing areas of the world in world history. Or, as some China watchers would say, China is now returning to its rightful place as leading the world economy. Being part of that region, the opportunities for us are extraordinary. So, Asia, India, China—and, of course, the purpose of the visit is to explore those opportunities. The second area that we—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the deputy leader to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The second thing that we need to do more of is recapture our traditional strength of being an innovative culture: doing new things for the first time, making sure that we actually do new things in new ways—

Mr Gardner: After 11 years of Labor.

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Morialta for the second time. There will be no further warnings. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —going up the value chain in terms of what we offer. We know we cannot compete with low-cost jurisdictions; neither should we seek to compete on the basis of driving down to the lowest common denominator—I know a proposition those opposite are attracted to. Indeed, one of the speakers at their conference (Mr Blandy) has promoted this idea that we should be driving down to the lowest common denominator. We do not accept that approach. We want to go the high road: premium products, high wages, high skills, using our knowledge industries to create the opportunities of the future. Finally, the thing that separates our great party from those opposite is partnerships: partnerships between government, backed by strong business—

Mr Treloar interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Yes, point of order from the member for Unley, but before the member for Unley makes the point of order and shapes it, it is my great regret to call the member for Flinders to order, which I have never done before.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I think it's the influence of the member for Kavel; and I warn the member for Chaffey for the first time, who thinks I can't hear him behind the member for MacKillop's head. The member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: I draw your attention to the Premier debating in his answer.

The SPEAKER: I will listen very carefully to what the Premier has to say, because of course debate would be out of order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and the thing that we have to reinforce and strengthen, and I know it is a contested proposition in politics in South Australia, is the importance of a strong government, a strong government working with strong business, backed up by a strong community. This partnership—

Mr Marshall: Bring it on.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, we've read your first speech and you don't see a role for government.

Mr PISONI: Point of order, sir—

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That is why we need to reassert this strongly—

The SPEAKER: It's a point of order from the member for Unley, and before the member for Unley makes his point of order, the Leader of the Opposition was interjecting on the Premier and the Premier was responding to the interjection, so sin begets more sin. The member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: Can I draw your attention to the fact the Premier was again debating and ignoring your earlier direction, sir.

The SPEAKER: Well, I have pre-empted your point of order and explained why the Premier was being naughty. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and to turn to that last point, because what lies at the heart of the success of this state in the past and will lie at the heart of its success in the future are partnerships. We know in South Australia that we don't enjoy some of the natural advantages of other places. It means that we have to be smarter, think a little clearer and work a little harder than our opponents if we are to succeed in an ever-changing world. It requires partnerships between government, business and a strong community behind it.

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