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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
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Unemployment Figures

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): Yes, sir. Can the Premier explain to the house why South Australia was the only state in Australia where unemployment rose during the month of May?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:21): I can say—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Stuart is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It's essentially—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: As with many of these economic indicators, they reflect the consequences of economic pressures that have occurred in the past. The high Australian dollar—

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: A substantial—

Mr Marshall: We've all got the same dollar; come up with another excuse!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: If those opposite would like a little lecture about the structure of the South Australian economy and how we are particularly exposed to an exchange rate which is high, I am happy to give them an explanation.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: South Australia relies very heavily on exchange rate sensitive product and services.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is a particular phenomenon within South Australia and has had a particular effect on South Australia. But while those opposite are prepared to always seek to grab statistics which suit their purpose to talk down South Australia, it is interesting that they become silent when there is news which points in the opposite direction. For instance, state final demand, which demonstrated that a—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: State final demand was the statistic of choice for those opposite when it seemed to suit their argument that we were heading into recession a few years ago. Remember state final demand? That was the statistic of choice for the opposition. South Australia recorded its second-strongest seasonally adjusted performance in state final demand among all of the states in the March quarter after Victoria—second only to Victoria—of 1.3 per cent. It is a movement based on—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is the same statistic that the leader would parade around month after month to try and predict that the South Australian economy was in recession. This is the statistic that the Leader of the Opposition would parade around to say that the South Australian economy was in difficulty. Well, that very same statistic is the second-strongest performance in the nation.

There is no assistance given to the people of South Australia to either exaggerate the nature of the challenge facing South Australia, nor is there any service granted in actually not telling it how it is. We have always been prepared to front up to the fact that testing times are upon us here in South Australia. We accept that; we accept that this is an economy in transition. We accept that there are industries in decline, and the challenge for South Australia is to grow those sectors of the economy which are growing faster than the national average and make sure that those industries have the opportunity to create the jobs necessary to allow our citizens to have the employment that they need. But we have a challenge in front of us here. We can either be the case study in an economy that was unable to make this transition, or we can actually emerge stronger and more effective as a consequence of it. That is the challenge in front of us and we invite those opposite—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —instead of offering their criticisms and their moaning and their whingeing about where we are at the present time—

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —in South Australia. We have published our economic plan. It is an open invitation for those opposite to promote initiatives that speak to it, or indeed if they have an alternative economic plan to actually lay it out in front of the people of South Australia.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for the second and final time for making a display.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Mr Speaker—

Mr Marshall: I only obliged the Premier's request.

The SPEAKER: The leader will be seated.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Mr Speaker, during the last election campaign everybody well remembers the Leader of the Opposition for one image and one image alone, that is, of a man running away.

The SPEAKER: A further supplementary?

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