Building a Bigger, Better South Australia: Steven Marshall and Peter Malinauskas’s job creation plans

The Premier says subsidies aren’t the answer for SA’s new jobs but his Labor challenger insists the state must invest in its future.

Premier Steven Marshall is pinpointing nine priority sectors for substantial future jobs growth as he vows to continue attracting global businesses without deploying government subsidies or assistance.

In a targeted election campaign attack, Mr Marshall accused the previous Labor government of giving up on attracting jobs to South Australia “without paying a big subsidy”.

But Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas countered by insisting he was focused on the future, particularly dealing with the state’s biggest constraint to jobs growth – business’s access to skilled workers.

Mr Marshall argued his government’s Growth State agenda, launched in 2019, had successfully focused on attracting jobs in sectors including defence, space, hi-tech, creative industries and health and medical research.

Premier Steven Marshall (left) and federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg campaign at Bickfords Salisbury South factory on Tuesday. Picture Dean Martin

These include global professional services firm PwC on February 10 revealing it would create 2000 hi-tech jobs at a Rundle Mall national hub, following firms including Salesforce, Google, the Commonwealth Bank, Deloitte and Amazon in establishing Adelaide tech operations.

“We’re not paying subsidies. We’ve got the costs right. We’ve got the skills play right. And those jobs that traditionally would be in Sydney, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, are in Adelaide, you can get them in Adelaide,” Mr Marshall told The Advertiser.

“There is no reason to leave South Australia now to pursue a rewarding, sustainable career. All those jobs are in South Australia.”

Only global tech and services giant Accenture, which in 2020 announced it would set up an Adelaide hub creating 2000 jobs, had received government assistance, Mr Marshall said, because he needed to “prove up the case” for SA. Others, he said, had received “not a cent”.

Mr Malinauskas argued long-term skills shortages and underemployment would be addressed by his proposals for children aged three to attend extended-hour preschools and effectively compel university mergers if deemed in the state’s interest.

Labor says uni mergers could create a top 100 university to help stop the brain drain of SA young people studying interstate, attract high-quality researchers and boost the state’s reputation.

“The first thing we can do, particularly in the context of the labour market and the economy at the moment, the first thing that we are doing is look at education as an economic lever, rather than a social lever,” Mr Malinauskas told The Advertiser.

“At some point or another, you’ve got to bit the bullet and ensure that you’re investing in the training education and skills to break the nexus between people not participating in the labour market and employers who want more people.”

Labor leader Peter Malinauskas, whose campaign has been focused on health, speaks outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Monday. Picture: Michael Marschall

Mr Malinauskas said the importance of education was highlighted by the AUKUS security deal, assuming it resulted in nuclear-powered submarines being built in Adelaide, because skilled workers for that project had not been born yet.

“We want the maintenance of those nuclear submarines to be in Adelaide and that’s important to our national security and our sovereign capability. But to develop a domestic nuclear industry, the lead time is decades long,” he said.

Mr Malinauskas also highlighted Labor’s $593m hydrogen power plan to generate thousands of jobs, unveiled last March as his first major election policy release.