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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-06-14 Daily Xml
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Growth State Program

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:50): My question is to the Premier. Has his government abandoned the former Liberal government's Growth State program? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: Growth State was established as a partnership between government and industry to accelerate economic development. On the recent figures, this government inherited this nation's fastest economic growth rate and South Australia's lowest unemployment in 40 years. However, the creation of the Economic Recovery Fund suggests that this government is going back to the former Labor government's approach of picking individual business winners rather than providing sector-wide support to encourage economic growth and job creation.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:51): It is unsurprising that those opposite continue to try to re-create history but incorrectly. Those opposite, of course, were very quick to claim that they had left South Australia with the fastest growing economy in the nation, but what they failed to also explain—

Mr Cowdrey: Your state tax receipts tend to say that.

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: What they failed to explain is what occurred in the preceding two financial years of economic growth where immediately before we had the slowest growing economy in the nation, thanks to the economic stewardship of those opposite. In fact, in each financial year at the beginning of the—

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —previous term of government, the economy slowed—

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —drastically from what it was under the previous Labor government. They came—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —to government in 2018 saying that they would not pick winners. That's what was contained in the 2018-19 budget speech: they would not pick winners.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The approach—

Mr COWDREY: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Treasurer, there is a point of order from the member for Colton. I will hear the point of order under 134. The member has the call.

Mr COWDREY: While facts were introduced, the question itself was reasonably contained: is the government walking away from the Growth State program?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I am listening—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Colton is called to order. I am listening carefully.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Under the former Labor government we had a two-stage process for industry assistance. We would have rounds of funding available to all South Australian companies—well publicised that anyone could apply for. There were criteria that were known at the beginning of those processes, and at the first round companies were awarded $50,000 so that they could put together a business case so that they could put a further proposal should they have a business case—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —that stacked up.

The SPEAKER: Treasurer, there is a point of order, which I will hear under 134.

Mr COWDREY: In this instance, I believe it would be argument to be talking about the former Liberal government's approach, but in this instance the Treasurer is talking about the former former Labor government's approach.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! No standing order itself has been raised, but nevertheless I will assume for the moment that standing order 98 is before me. I will listen carefully, and before I listen carefully the member for Hartley can leave under 137A. He indicated earlier that he was ready to leave and he will now leave for 15 minutes.

The honourable member for Hartley having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I don't know why the member has such discomfort with the question that he asked me because—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —he asked about the approach of the former Labor government and contrasted it with the approach of the former Liberal government. When I respond in those terms, suddenly points of order are being raised. It's extraordinary! As I was saying, we had a two-stage process, and in the second stage, if there was a viable business case that somebody put to the government that stacked up for funding, then they were awarded funds under the Future Jobs Fund.

We know it was a success because we had the member for Dunstan snipping ribbons on those projects over the last four years that received funding—for example, over at La Casa Del Formaggio or at the Sofitel hotel. These were projects that were awarded funding. They were such a good idea that the former Premier couldn't wait to stand next to them and try to claim them as his own. That was the approach, a robust approach open to everybody. Contrast that with what occurred over the last four years. We had pools of funding with no established criteria, which were not publicised, which were not made available for all South Australians to apply to.

Mr COWDREY: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens is called to order.

Mr COWDREY: Again, my point of order is in regard to debate. The question was very contained: has the government abandoned the former Liberal government's Growth State program?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Unley, member for Chaffey, member for Elizabeth and member for Badcoe, you are called to order. The Treasurer is right in suggesting to me, though not necessarily on his feet at the time, that the question did contemplate a reasonably wide answer. I have given the Treasurer some latitude. We are now well within the minute until close. The Treasurer might chart a closer line to the question.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: We are going to abandon the approach of those opposite who would wait for a company to privately approach them and put whatever case was made in order to receive taxpayers' funds without process.

Mr COWDREY: Point of order.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: He said one sentence and you stood up.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Colton, I have just encouraged the Treasurer to take a sharper line. Perhaps we will hear a little further from the Treasurer.

Mr COWDREY: Sorry, I thought he had concluded, sir.

The SPEAKER: I am not certain that he had. The Treasurer has the call.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: This is going well.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I will also, on indulgence, grant the Treasurer another 15 seconds if he wishes to take it up.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. We are going to abandon the behaviour of the previous government over the last four years, which seems to be dressed up by the member for Colton as a Growth State agenda. When the former Premier outlined the Growth State agenda, it repackaged the economic priorities that were laid out by the former Weatherill government. Assigning a name to those economic priorities doesn't change the fact that (a) they remain priorities of that government and (b) of this government.

Of course those sectors are still important. We have reaffirmed our commitment to the defence industries, space industries, cyber industries and so on. But what we are doing in addition is putting some robustness around it. We won't be hiring acolytes of the Unley forum to sinecures—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —that are paid for by taxpayers, for example.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: That may displease the ventriloquist, but that will be our approach.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer's time has expired in this instance.

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