Premier Peter Malinauskas opens up on Donald Trump’s diversity, equity and inclusion stance at Adelaide autism jobs summit

Premier Peter Malinauskas has echoed Donald Trump’s opposition to mandating diversity but championed inclusion of people with autism as “an absolute no-brainer for our economy”.

Peter Malinauskas has echoed US President Donald Trump’s opposition to mandated diversity programs. Picture: Ben Curtis

Premier Peter Malinauskas has echoed Donald Trump’s opposition to mandated diversity programs but championed voluntary inclusion, declaring “the more brains you include, the smarter you get”.

In a speech to an Autism Works employment summit on Wednesday, Mr Malinauskas praised the historic dismantling of barriers to workplace diversity, including the ending of bans on married women and restrictions on gay people in the public sector.

Arguing the case for employing people with autism, he said this was an “absolute no-brainer for our economy”, because only in recent years had neurodiversity’s “incredible gift” been recognised – that being able to “problem solve from multiple different perspectives is a collective superpower”.

Mr Malinauskas insisted he had become aware of the DEI acronym (diversity, equity and inclusion) only last October, during the United States Presidential campaign.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has championed the employment of people with autism. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Mr Malinauskas said DEI, particularly in American politics, had been “weaponised or demonised”.

“From my perspective, I would characterise policies of that ilk this way – I actually agree that it is not always wise to mandate or compel or impose diversity, but that doesn’t mean that diversity is an imposition of itself,” he said.

“In fact, the opposite is true, because history shows that every time that we increase the pool of wisdom, insights and experience, the pace of progress, innovation and prosperity all accelerate.

“As we have welcomed the contributions of more people, bringing new perspectives and insights, science has advanced in leaps and bounds. Cross-pollination of the world’s cultures has made the arts deeper and richer.

“Our store of knowledge has grown exponentially, and the everyday devices of today make the tech of even a decade ago look slow and clunky in comparison. Turns out that the more brains you include, the smarter you get.”

Mr Trump in January issued an executive order closing DEI programs within US federal agencies and placing all staff working in them on paid leave.

A White House fact sheet issued in March said: “President Trump believes that hiring in all parts of government should be based solely on merit.”

Opposition government accountability spokesman Ben Hood said Mr Malinauskas was trying to present himself as a critic of divisive identity politics, yet had pushed ahead with “a race-based Voice in South Australia”, before the national proposal was defeated in a referendum.

“He can’t have it both ways. You can’t champion the Voice in one breath, then bemoan DEI culture in the next,” Mr Hood said.

President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order as young people hold up copies of the executive order they signed at an education event in the East Room of the White House on March 20. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In his speech at the Adelaide Convention Centre, Mr Malinauskas labelled as “a bloody tragedy” a 34 per cent unemployment rate for autistic Australians, compared to South Australia’s four per cent.

Mr Malinauskas said the $368bn AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine project centred on Adelaide was an example of the opportunities for employing people with autism.

“We need to draw on every spark of brilliance and creativity and out-of-the-box thinking that our state can generate,” he said.

Former UK Second Sea Lord Sir Nick Hine, now an AUKUS executive with multinational defence firm Babcock, last year told The Advertiser he had encouraged people with autism to join the navy to encourage different procedures and conversations.

Originally published as Premier Peter Malinauskas opens up on Donald Trump’s diversity, equity and inclusion stance at Adelaide autism jobs summit