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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-05-14 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Unemployment Figures

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): I think we can all agree that today is a sombre occasion for the people of South Australia with the news that 40,000 good people have lost their jobs—40,000 ordinary South Australians who have found extraordinary dignity in their work previously over the course of the last month have found themselves having not just their incomes compromised but their ability to get all the satisfaction that work provides compromised as well.

We are saddened to learn that the underemployment rate in this state has shot up, now impacting in excess of 100,000 South Australians. These are incredibly alarming numbers, and the opposition is particularly concerned at these numbers because we believe in our heart of hearts that they did not need to be this bad. A range of measures was available to the Marshall Liberal government that could have made a material difference in reducing those numbers to lower than they are today.

Clearly we acknowledge, as any reasonable person would, that no government can stop all unemployment in a circumstance like this. Clearly we acknowledge that. But the question and the test for governments around the world at the moment is: are we doing everything we possibly can to keep every last person in work? We are firmly of the view that this government is abjectly failing that test. This opposition and the Australian Labor Party will be doing everything we can to hold this government to account in that regard but, more importantly, we will approach the next state election, in less than two years' time, with a comprehensive economic plan aimed at ensuring that every last South Australian is fully employed where we can achieve it.

In the meantime, as a society, as we go through this extraordinary economic challenge, we have another fundamental task, and that is to make sure that we stick together, that we look after those who are less fortunate and find themselves in a time of peril. In times like this, the glue that holds a society together is compassion—basic human decency, the consideration of others who are less fortunate than ourselves.

We are lucky to have a range of organisations here in South Australia that are committed to the cause, to that ethos. One example of that is the Hutt St Centre—good people, who for decades have been providing an outstanding service to those South Australians who find themselves not only unemployed but also homeless, a circumstance that any of us could find ourselves in. This is not a group of people who find themselves homeless through their own choosing but, more often than not, people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances—and we know there will be more in coming weeks and months.

I was shocked and appalled to read yesterday that the Adelaide city council had passed a resolution that calls into question the legality of the Hutt St Centre's operations and their capacity to provide the service to homeless people in South Australia. A group of Liberal aligned Adelaide city councillors, otherwise known as Team Adelaide, has decided to fund, using ratepayers' money, the procurement of legal opinion seeking to undermine the very question of whether or not the Hutt St Centre can provide their service in Hutt Street. It is an absolute outrage that Adelaide city councillors have elected to do this.

I do not think that this motion or this decision was a reflection on the entire council but, rather, specifically on Councillor Hyde and Team Adelaide. Team Adelaide—give me a break! The Adelaide I know is not in the business of turning starving people away from a meal in their time of need. The Adelaide I know is not deciding to shut down a service that has been providing for and looking after more vulnerable people in our society. The Adelaide I know has been stepping up to the plate and showing each other compassion and human decency during the course of the COVID-19 crisis, not turning around and turning away people who are looking for nothing more than a bit of support in their time of need.

Let it be known that on this side of the house, this party, the Labor Party, will always stand up for the most vulnerable and hold to account those right-wing Liberals who would seek to shut down homeless services during an economic crisis.

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