Labor Leader Peter Malinauskas: Steven Marshall needs to get on plane and fight for Google to come to SA

GOOGLE — one of the world’s biggest companies with literally thousands of jobs on offer — is up for grabs.

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GOOGLE — one of the world’s biggest companies with literally thousands of jobs on offer — is up for grabs.

The tech giant is looking for a home in Australia.

Under Labor, South Australia attracted some of the world’s biggest companies.

Boeing. Tesla. Technicolor.

They chose South Australia because we went out there and fought for the jobs to come here.

Steven Marshall’s plan is to send Google a letter, sit back and hope they’ll give him a call.

I’m sorry, but does anybody seriously think that will work?

The Premier needs to get on a plane and make the pitch to Google’s executives face-to-face.

I’m willing to join him to provide a bipartisan approach.

The Premier can sit at the front of the plane, I’ll sit at the back.

I don’t care who gets the credit, as long as South Australia gets the jobs.

Furthermore, we should offer Google a comprehensive incentive package, directly linked to local employment outcomes.

Sure, we can showcase South Australia as a great place to live and work.

We know it is.

But we need to do more.

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Yes, this will involve taxpayer’s money, but the rewards in terms of jobs and reputational advantage for South Australia will be worth many times more.

But don’t take my word for it. Look at the results.

This week’s job numbers put South Australia’s unemployment rate at 5.6 per cent.

The third best in Australia and comparable to the national rate of 5.5 per cent.

We’ve recorded 32 consecutive months of jobs growth.

This is a remarkable result, less than six months after Holden closed and amid Liberal predictions of unemployment above 10 per cent.

We’re well and truly punching above our weight.

But it didn’t happen by accident.

Labor was driving jobs growth by attracting businesses to SA through Investment Attraction South Australia and providing incentives for jobs growth such as the Future Jobs Fund and Job Accelerator Grants.

The reality is this: we’re a smaller state, we’re a smaller economy.

A letter in the mail will not get us noticed.

Steven Marshall can sit by the phone and hope, but Google aren’t going to call him.

We know other states are circling Google, including Victoria and Queensland.

There is no time to waste.

We need to do more than the rest to get noticed.

We need to stand out from the pack.

We need to try harder. We need to work harder. We need to fight harder.