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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-09-25 Daily Xml
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Employment Figures

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:09): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to directing a question to the Leader of the Government on the issue of the government's promise for an extra 100,000 jobs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Prior to the 2010 election, the Labor government promised 100,000 new jobs in South Australia in the period between 2010 and 2016. In the confidential briefing notes leaked by someone very close to minister Gago on this particular issue, the following paragraph has been deleted:

While economic conditions at the state and national level mean it will not now be achieved in the time frame outlined in 2010, the government is no less committed to improving employment outcomes.

That was deleted from the old briefing note and replaced with the following, with the minister advised to say:

The target was intended to be aspirational and challenging, and the government remains committed to improving employment outcomes.

So no commitment to the 100,000 new jobs, but '…remains committed to improving the employment outcomes'. The minister is also advised in a separate section which says that if the minister is asked about '…whether we will make the 2010 argument'—the minister is told to say—'…the 2010 election commitment to create an additional 100,000 new jobs over six years was made in a completely different economic environment to the one South Australia now finds itself in.' My questions to the minister are as follows:

1. Does the minister now concede that this promise that she and the government made of the 100,000 new jobs will not be achieved?

2. Did the minister, or a member of the minister's staff, direct that her parliamentary briefing note delete the section which indicates that that promise will no longer be achieved in the time frame?

3. Will the minister now indicate what advice she has received as to how many jobs will be achieved in the six-year time frame if it won't be the 100,000 jobs that she and her cabinet ministers promised?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:12): Where has the Hon. Rob Lucas been? I have put on the record in quite a detailed way in the past that, although this government remains committed to that 100,000 job target, it is highly unlikely that we are in a position to achieve it. I put that on the record many months ago—I think it was in the first week or so of receiving these new portfolio responsibilities.

Where has he been? I have already put all of that on the record. I have already indicated that it is an aspirational target. The economy has changed significantly from the time that we set that target and, although that is very disappointing for us, and we continue to remain committed to it even though it is highly unlikely we are going to achieve it, nevertheless we strive hard to create jobs here in South Australia and to have a significant program.

I am just not too sure where he has been, and I have outlined our job commitments here in this place so many times before. I have talked here today alone just on our Skills for All training programs. We have the state government's investment of $177 million in our skills training program, which includes our jobs plan, $63 million for our skills training, $44 million for the resources and energy sector and $10 million for the regional jobs accelerator fund.

We have those investments in place, and we have a jobs and skills policy which is about bringing forward local council infrastructure and partnering with local employers to identify job opportunities. We also have intensive case-managing support for hundreds and hundreds of South Australian families, priority accessing for training for people who are unemployed and support for workers in areas identified for transition.

Also, in relation to Our Jobs Plan I have spent quite a bit of time outlining in detail our response to the closure of Holden Australia and a number of initiatives we have there. I have also outlined the work we do to stimulate business. We have reduced payroll tax, we are reforming WorkCover and we have put in place a number of initiatives to help streamline large projects so that they are case managed in a way that they can be implemented more quickly. So, we remain committed to our 100,000 job target. We know, as I put on the record many months ago, that it is highly unlikely that we will achieve it. Nevertheless, we remain committed, and I have just outlined the commitments we have in place that are well under way.

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