News
SA continues to lag behind the nation |
Thursday, 14 February 2008
The employment and economic boom that is gripping the nation is bypassing South Australia, new figures reveal.
A Federal Parliamentary report comparing the performance of Australian States and Territories confirms South Australia is lagging behind the rest of the nation.
South Australia’s youth unemployment rate previous to January 2008 remained above the national rate for 22 consecutive months and has the highest unemployment rate of all mainland states.
Shadow Employment, Training and Further Education Minister Steven Griffiths said with the current skills shortage South Australia is facing these figures are unacceptable.
“The Rann Government needs to invest more in skills and training to make our young people job ready,” Mr Griffiths said.
As a State we also fall well behind in production growth. In 2006-07, South Australia’s gross production grew by a meagre 0.8% - the lowest in the nation - compared to a booming Western Australia which recorded a production growth of 6.3%.
“Our stunted growth equates to hundreds of millions of dollars lost from our economy each year,” Mr Griffiths said.
“The Rann government is the highest taxing government in South Australia’s history, yet the billions of dollars in taxpayer revenue are not being used to support our economic growth.
“It is high time the government took action in ensuring our State keeps up with the rest of Australia and becomes competitive with the rest of the nation.”