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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-09-11 Daily Xml
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Unemployment Figures

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): Fine. My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. What impact did the government's decision to cut 29 job-creating programs, including the Future Jobs Fund and the job accelerator grants, have on South Australia now having the highest unemployment rate in the nation?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (14:22): It is obvious: more jobs than in the state's history. There have never been as many people working in South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, leader!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —as there are now. There have never been as many hours worked by South Australians as there are now. There has never been as much money earned by South Australians as there is now.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Let's look at the contrast between March 2018 and July 2019—

Mr Gee interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Taylor is warned.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —with hours worked here in South Australia: an extra $103 million earned in July by South Australians than in March last year. Let's look at the comparison with July 2015 under Labor and March 2014: minus 1.8 million hours worked. Those work programs were really working for them, weren't they?

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is on two warnings.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: The highest or the second highest unemployment rate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —in the country for the first three years of the return of the Weatherill government, when the member for West Torrens was the treasurer. When he was the one—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —pulling all the purse strings, that was the result. That is a very long time for training wheels, I will tell you. That is a very long time as a new treasurer, coming into South Australia.

Mr Duluk interjecting:

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

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Another thing the member for West Torrens did in chasing that so-called surplus he said he had in 2017 at the Mid-Year Budget Review was cut $12 million from the training budget—$12 million. Don't just take my word for it: read the RoGS report, the Report on Government Services for that quarter. It will tell you; it will confirm—$12 million. That is on top of the cuts that were made to TAFE by the previous government. One-third of TAFE staff was removed—no strategy in that. One-third was just removed. Overnight, independent or non-government training providers had their funding pulled in May 2015.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: They didn't think that was going to have an impact on job opportunities here in South Australia. Well, it had a massive impact on job opportunities and skills bases here in South Australia because, over that same period, half of the traineeship and apprenticeship positions in South Australia disintegrated. They deteriorated; they actually disappeared. That's their record.

Ms Stinson: How many have you got? Are you going to reach your target?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: We don't need to pay advisers—

The SPEAKER: Member for Badcoe!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —to go and fill out CVs for kids who should have learnt that at school. We need those kids to make sure that they have the skills that they need to deliver the services and the skills that employers will need to employ them. We have massive skills gaps here in South Australia because of the legacy that those opposite left South Australia. Remember how they used to treat the training portfolio? It was either a junior minister or a minister who had been sacked in that space.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: That is who they used to put in that position. They never, ever gave it the priority it deserved. We now have—

Mr Duluk interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Waite can leave for half an hour for constant interjections.

The honourable member for Waite having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —a dedicated department for skills and training, a dedicated department, a dedicated minister for that space and we are getting runs on the board for the first time in seven years. For the first time in seven years, we have an increase in the number of apprentices in South Australia. Again, let's compare.

An honourable member: Time.

The SPEAKER: The leader and then the member for Elder.

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