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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-16 Daily Xml
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Business Confidence

Ms THOMPSON (Davenport) (14:41): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer provide the house with an update on business confidence levels in South Australia?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:41): I thank the member for the question. Indeed I can because there was good news today released by Business SA and William Buck. Their joint business survey for the March quarter had some very pleasing results once again for the South Australian economy.

The results show that business confidence in South Australia continues to climb. From the previous quarter, business confidence in South Australia rose by 5.8 index points, and this follows the total increase in business confidence rising over the previous two quarters by 16.3 index points, so well over 20 index points increased in the last three quarters. This is very good news for how business sees the state's direction.

As a result, business confidence is now 13.2 index points higher than the national average. Nationally, business confidence actually fell by 1.1 points in the quarter. Across most measures, business confidence nationally has softened recently in the face of inflation and rising interest rates hitting households and businesses. Notably, the report released today called out measures implemented by the Malinauskas government as drivers of the increase in business confidence levels here in South Australia relative to the rest of the country, and I quote:

The more positive response to the local economy could be influenced by the South Australian State Government's prioritisation of large-scale events, such as the VAILO Adelaide 500, AFL Gather Round and LIV Golf, which all took place between December 2022 and April 2023. An overwhelming number of business operators surveyed (77.9%) viewed large-scale events as beneficial to business in the state.

It is heartening to hear the business community exhibit so much support for major events here in South Australia, which is of course the exact opposite approach to that taken in the previous four years. Business SA also cite the signing of the AUKUS deal as another driver of the increase in business confidence. The report says of the AUKUS deal:

Another contributing factor could be the AUKUS announcement, which is expected to bring $2 billion in infrastructure investment into South Australia over the next four years and billions more in the next three decades, with total project costs estimated at $368 billion.

The AUKUS announcement is a direct result of the Premier's lobbying of the federal government to ensure that the work is done right here in South Australia. The praise of the South Australian economy continues of course with the Business SA and William Buck survey noting our ranking in the recent CommSec State of the States report. As I mentioned last sitting week, South Australia's economy now ranks second in the nation according to that report, tying with Queensland for second spot, behind Tasmania. South Australia topped the State of the States report for construction work done, with current levels of work now at 18 per cent above the decade average.

Investing in major events pays dividends for the South Australian economy. Those opposite cancelled the Adelaide 500 and chose to invest in such events as Barossa Contemporary, a 'Festival for the Curious'. Unfortunately, no-one was. It was an event completely unencumbered by attendees, except of course the member for Dunstan. The member for Dunstan didn't miss a minute. But we've got major events back on track. It's good for the community, good for business confidence and good for the state's economy.

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