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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-10-31 Daily Xml
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Construction Industry, Business Confidence

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (14:55): I seek leave to provide a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Industrial Relations a question regarding business confidence in the construction industry.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: In the latest Roy Morgan Business Confidence survey, business confidence in South Australia has plummeted 13.4 points across the last 12 months. Further, the construction industry has the fifth-worst confidence outlook of any business sector in Australia.

In an Australian article from 7 October, it was reported that construction industry employers are demanding the Albanese government ban egregious pro-CFMEU clauses from enterprise agreements, warning that the business-as-usual approach to bargaining by the union administrator will not address the union's disgraceful illegal tactics. My question to the minister is: does the minister believe that the business confidence level in the South Australian construction sector has declined due to the influence of the CFMEU?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:56): I will repeat what I have said a number of times before in here. When the honourable member talks about clauses in contracts or industrial agreements in the private sector—I am sure the honourable member will have this understood at some stage—in the private sector, it is the federal system that is involved: it is not the state system. So when the honourable member refers in her question to what happens in a private sector industrial agreement, that is governed wholly by the federal system. It has been for a couple of decades now in South Australia.

The Hon. H.M. Girolamo interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I understand it is sometimes a struggle to find questions. If you read something that morning in the newspaper, even if you know it has nothing to do with South Australia, I understand the temptation to go, 'I'd better ask about that because I've got nothing else to ask about.' I understand how tempting it is when you have nothing else to ask about. We are only 2½ years in; it is probably not enough time to learn how to do these things properly.

In relation to business confidence, what I will note is I think recently we came in a close second in the Commonwealth Bank State of the States Report. That is after, for the first time ever in the history of our economy, having a couple of first places. I think the South Australian economy is ranked compared with other states much better than at any time the Liberal Party has been in government for the whole of this century—it is a long time.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

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