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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-11-28 Daily Xml
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Question Time

JOBS GROWTH FORECAST

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:42): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier expect that jobs growth will reach 1 per cent this year as forecast in the budget, given that since the budget there have been 33,000 full-time jobs lost across the state?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:42): I actually expected the Leader of the Opposition to begin with an apology to the South Australian people for misleading them about the fact that—

Mrs REDMOND: A point of order, Mr Speaker. Surely, that opening by the Premier was debate. Suggesting the Leader—

The SPEAKER: No, I disagree and I think the point of order is premature and bogus and obstructive of the house and I call the member for Heysen to order.

Mrs REDMOND: Well, I am glad to be called to order sir but, with respect, how could that comment be anything but argument?

The SPEAKER: I have ruled on the point of order and I would now like the member for Heysen to resume her seat.

Mrs REDMOND: I'm sure you'd like that, sir.

The SPEAKER: Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Of course, one of the things that will bear on the employment outcomes in the South Australian economy is the general level of confidence in the South Australian economy. One of the most corrosive elements to confidence is when leaders of major political parties tell mistruths about the South Australian economy. The Leader of the Opposition has not once, not twice but on dozens and dozens of occasions said that the economy of this state was in recession in 2012-13. Today's figures demonstrate that he is wrong. He is wrong—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition is warned for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The truth is that the South Australian economy has demonstrated its strength and resilience in the face of—

Mrs Redmond: You are joking.

The SPEAKER: The member for Heysen is warned for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —extraordinary economic headwinds that are coming from the world around us. In spite of all of that, the South Australian economy, the enterprises, all of those hard-working small business owners, all of those workers in the South Australian economy who every day apply themselves to growing their enterprises and the economy of this state have to bear the burden of somebody swinging off their legs, the Leader of the Opposition telling untruths about the South Australian economy.

We are unashamedly in favour of jobs in this economy. That is why we invest in infrastructure. If we had accepted the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, we would be in recession now. We would be in recession if we had accepted his advice, because he told us that investment in infrastructure to build the future of this state was a false economy. He also said that it wouldn't lead to private capital investment, yet today, the figures that come out—the quarterly figures for private new capital expenditure in the September quarter—say that, in South Australia, they rose by 13 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms and 3.6 per cent nationally. They rose by 5.8 per cent in South Australia in trend terms and 1.6 per cent nationally—an extraordinary achievement for the South Australian economy and a vindication of public sector investment then leading to private sector investment.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is how you build a stronger economy. This is how you grow jobs in the economy—something those opposite just simply do not understand or care about.

The SPEAKER: Before we go to a supplementary, the leader and the member for Fisher will be seated. The Minister for Transport is warned for the first time; the member for Morialta, not for that last interjection but for his previous continual interjection, is called to order; and the member for Hammond is called to order. A supplementary from the leader.

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