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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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STATE ECONOMY

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): Given that the Premier has outlined to the house this wonderful cost environment that we are all operating under here in South Australia, can he outline to the house why insolvencies have increased by a staggering 22 per cent since the beginning of this year, the worst of any state in Australia? In fact, the rest of Australia is in positive territory.

The SPEAKER: There is no need to comment on the asserted fact; the fact will stand alone if, indeed, it is a fact. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:09): I am so glad the Leader of the Opposition has asked this question although a little surprised that he has wandered back into the realms of insolvency after the faux pas he made on the last occasion when he used data in a misleading way to seek to make a public point about the South Australian economy.

ASIC releases data about companies entering into administration on a quarterly basis, and on 15 October it released the latest quarterly data for the year ending June 2013. What we have seen from the Leader of the Opposition is the selective use of data to create a misleading impression about the South Australian economy. I will take you through it, as to why I make that point.

Over the 12 months from June 2012 to June 2013 there has been an increase of eight companies from 430 to 438 of companies entering external administration, an increase of 2 per cent, not the 22 per cent that is referred to in your announcement earlier today. He chooses the six month period so that he can make his better point—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is important to listen to the Leader of the Opposition; he is saying, 'That's what's happening right now.' Over the last quarter, the only new piece of information is there has been is a decrease of 15 companies entering into external administration, that is, there has been a fall of 11.7 per cent in the companies entering into administration. Indeed, this is the very point—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, you are going to have to listen to this. Indeed, this is the very point that ASIC made in its own summary of the data which it released. That summary makes the point that while the larger states all experienced an increase in appointments, and a substantial increase at that, South Australia's decreased by 11.7 per cent. I take you to the aggregate data just to look at the big picture, to make it absolutely clear how this was simply trawling through the data to find one shred of data to be able to talk down the South Australian economy, and it is this: in the desperation, he overlooked the fact that of the percentage of all companies in Australia entering into administration, South Australia was around 4 per cent, substantially less than our national share of companies which stands at 6.9 per cent. So, not only has he chosen a particular period so as to make a—

Mr Marshall: The last six months.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Not the last six months, the last quarter.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Would the Premier be seated? I call the Leader of the Opposition to order. I also call to order the ministers for health, transport, and education—and that is no mistake—and I warn the member for Adelaide and the deputy leader for the first time. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The most recent data for the last quarter in 2013—11.7 per cent reduction—completely undermining the selective use of data that was made by the Leader of the Opposition to attack me and to talk down the South Australian economy. At the moment every serious economist is saying that one of the great challenges for all of the Australian economy, the South Australian economy included, is the question of confidence. What we have seen recently in the greater preponderance of the business data is that we are showing an increase in business confidence in this state. What we see, though, from those opposite, is an attempt to grab onto any piece of data, as misleading as it is, and as out of context as it is, to talk down the South Australian economy.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Point of order.

Ms CHAPMAN: Apart from the allegation that the information that is—

The SPEAKER: No, I want a point of order not an impromptu speech. One can allege in the chamber that a member of the house has misled the public outside the chamber. What one cannot allege, without moving a substantive motion, is that a member has misled the house.

Ms CHAPMAN: Indeed, and—

The SPEAKER: Now, is there any point of order left over after that?

Ms CHAPMAN: And the Premier's statement that the data that is being referred to, which can only be relating to the question of the data provided by the leader in his question, is an attempt to mislead the house. So the reference to misleading can only be in relation to data that was presented here today—

The SPEAKER: No, I—

Ms CHAPMAN: That is the first point—

The SPEAKER: I do not accept that point of order.

Ms CHAPMAN: The second point of order is that it is debate.

The SPEAKER: Well, I uphold that point of order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, sir. I will return to the factual material. The real story coming out of the data is that South Australia performs much better than the national average. It has substantially fewer insolvencies as a proportion of the national share of insolvency; so, quite the opposite of the impression that was created through the public release of information and the commentary on it. We actually have the complete opposite position in reality. This is the second time you have made a mistake on the use of insolvency data—

The SPEAKER: No, I haven't made any mistake, Premier.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker: taking into consideration the time that you asked him to sit down, the Premier has exceeded his four minutes.

The SPEAKER: And you're right; I uphold the point of order. The Premier's time has expired.

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