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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-02-09 Daily Xml
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Northern Economic Plan

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:59): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment a question about unemployment in Adelaide's northern suburbs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: The WorkReady labour market information in December 2015 reported that the unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent in Adelaide's northern suburbs and that youth unemployment was 16.2 per cent and is still rising. Earlier, the minister spoke about the Northern Economic Plan, which actually promised to create 15,000 jobs by 2025. The plan, however, was being met with scepticism by leading economists and the business sector.

SA Centre for Economic Studies Executive Director, Michael O'Neil, dismissed much of the plan as 'cobbled together things they've talked about before' with 'not much in it'. Professor O'Neil said the plan failed to chart a new path for the region, despite months of bureaucratic lip service paid to the concerns about the region's future when Holden closes in 2017.

The biggest item is a $10 million small business development fund. However, the only supporting detail in the government's 68-page Look North plan is one sentence stating that the grants will 'encourage small businesses to grow and create sustainable jobs'. My questions to the minister are:

1. How does the government propose to deliver the jobs target for the north when it has not delivered the jobs that were promised in the last two elections?

2. With industry and businesses raising concerns about the lack of detail of the terms and conditions in the plan, and with many honourable members asking the minister today about the details which he can't provide, can the minister indicate a date when those conditions and terms will be ready?

3. As the sixth employment minister since 2009, can the minister provide reassurance to the public about how he will personally be responsible and address the serious unemployment issues in the north?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (16:02): I thank the honourable member for her questions and her interest in this matter. As I outlined in an answer to a question earlier, the Northern Economic Plan addresses a number of areas where there is opportunity for growth, like food manufacturing, construction and the disability and ageing services sector. We know there will be further job losses as automotive manufacturing winds down towards the end of 2017 and that is why we are putting programs in place in areas that have the potential to grow.

In terms of some of the details on some of the programs, I think if we rushed out and said, 'This is exactly what's going to happen,' without any consultation with that sector, we would have the Hon. Jing Lee up here criticising us for not consulting and not getting the programs to meet specifically the needs of those communities and we're not going to do that. No matter what the Hon. Jing Lee wants us to do, we are going to consult with, for instance, the small business sector. We are going to consult with them about exactly how these programs will look.

The Hon. J.S. Lee interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: It doesn't matter if she wants us to rush in without consultation—we are going to consult. It is disappointing to hear some of the reaction from some of the members opposite about this. I had reason to be quite impressed by a quote I saw in the Northern Messenger, where a Liberal local government councillor was quoted as saying:

I would hope the opposition would get on board and be part of the debate rather than framing a negative picture of the Northern Economic Plan which is probably the most comprehensive regional economic masterplan in the state's history. I hope now that the plan has been released, the opposition will work hand-in-hand with the government to create jobs.

So this is a Liberal Party member in a council in that area hoping that the opposition will get on board and be part of the debate, and I hope they will in the future too.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, the Hon. Ms Lee.

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