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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-02-24 Daily Xml
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Business and Consumer Confidence

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:08): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Business Services and Consumers a question about business confidence.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: The Chief Executive of Business SA, Mr Nigel McBride, wrote an opinion piece in Business Journal of The Advertiser last month stating that business and consumer confidence in South Australia has been quite low for a considerable time. In conjunction with Mr McBride's opinions, the ANZ/Property Council surveys for the March 2015 quarter confirmed that confidence levels in South Australia's property sector have dropped almost 8 per cent in the March 2015 quarter.

South Australia's reduction in confidence levels was the worst result of all states across the nation. The survey shows that, since last quarter's results, South Australia's forward work schedule, staffing levels, national and state growth, house, office and industry capital growth expectations have all taken a hit. My questions to the minister are:

1. Why has the government not taken on the responsibility of setting the right business conditions to improve the prospects of the property industry and the business sector in South Australia?

2. When will the government start addressing the business confidence issues?

3. Why did the government take 13 years in office to release a discussion paper on state tax review only recently?

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) (15:09): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. We know that South Australia is facing a number of very significant challenges that are on our horizon, and we know that we have had some pretty tough times in the past as well, given the global economic downturn at the time of the rapid rising of our dollar. That very much impacted on our export abilities, but we faced those challenges and, throughout that, we have had strong economic directions and objectives.

We continue to set our economic priorities, even facing the challenge of having one of the oldest populations on the mainland, which also has its burdens. Nevertheless, we have been able to face all those challenges and we have done exceedingly well. I note with interest that it is always the opposition who clutch onto any skerrick of doom and gloom they can. They love to wallow in it. They love to talk it up. They love to talk South Australia down. They love shaking community confidence. They love feeding these negative aspects.

We have a plan, as I said, to work through many of those challenges. It is interesting: we notice that the opposition does not mention a recent report from Deloitte Access Economics that says that recent shifts to the exchange rates and expectations of interest rate stability will offer the South Australian economy twin engines for growth. The state's exporters are benefiting from our lower Australian dollar, which has finally come down, while the lower interest rates support the state's construction and retail sectors.

I notice that the Hon. Jing Lee does not mention the NAB Quarterly Business Survey which found that business confidence rose two index points in South Australia—the only mainland state to record a rise. That was back in December. South Australia recorded the highest business confidence at that time at 0.6. I notice the Hon. Jing Lee and the opposition do not mention that report.

This government is committed to working with industry and business to lead a modernisation and diversification of our economy and to transform our economy from one that has been highly reliant on traditional manufacturing and automotive industries to a far more diversified and richer economy. As I said, it is underpinned by our 10 economic priorities.

The resilience of South Australia's economy, I am confident, will continue to improve as we continue to roll these out. We see many encouraging things on our horizon. There are many encouraging features about our achievements and our performance. I notice that the opposition never refer to these. For instance, South Australia now has record-breaking production in oil and gas, record production in minerals and the highest record in South Australia's history.

South Australia has recorded steady export growth, and figures released by the ABS show that the value of goods exported overseas by South Australia totalled $11.9 billion in the 12 months to December last year. South Australian products continue to be in great demand, with exports exceeding $11 billion per annum, which has been an increase. Private new capital—I notice the opposition don't talk about private new capital. Expenditure is 14 per cent higher in South Australia seasonally adjusted compared to the year previously. South Australia was one of only two states to record a rise in capital expenditure in that quarter. We notice the Liberal opposition never refers to that stunning performance.

In trend terms, ABS retail figures for South Australia released in January demonstrated that South Australia was the leading state in retail sales growth for the month of November. We see we have many opportunities to grow our food industries and our economy. We have a jobs plan to manage the transition, as I said, of our automotive manufacturing sector. We have invested $63 million in that. We have a jobs plan that outlines six key factors, and of course we have done a number of things to directly assist business.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Stephens, just let the minister finish her answer.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: We have developed detailed plans to support a raft of measures to help grow business. We have supported business growth and investment through things like payroll tax concessions, reforming WorkCover at an estimated $180 million savings for businesses, building a skilled workforce, and providing more help for business to win government business through initiatives such as our Tender Ready in collaboration with Business SA.

We have held a small business roundtable that has been established to provide greater collaboration and communication between state government and the small business community, and that roundtable in particular is assisting to fix unnecessary barriers for business, so we are in a dialogue with them. Of course, there is a new private sector development coordination role for the former chief executive of Premier and Cabinet to assist lodged projects valued over $3 million and to help case manage, streamline and fast-track those programs. They are just a couple of initiatives and, as we know, the Premier recently announced the tax review.

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Hon. Mr Stephens, you are actually in real form today. I think it is important that—I know at least another one cross-bencher would like to ask a question, so we are just wasting time. Let the minister—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: An eight minute answer is a bit rich, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Well, with that behaviour, it just inflames and they will go on and on. So, allow the minister to finish the answer in silence. The honourable minister.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I'm finished now, thank you, Mr President.

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