The Marshall Liberal Government's record $4 billion economic 'adrenalin hit' to turbo-charge SA's strong ongoing jobs and economic recovery from COVID-19 is the second largest stimulus package in the nation, behind only NSW.
The federal Parliamentary Budget Office has found the Marshall Government is investing 3.6 per cent of Gross State Product (GSP) on the state's massive COVID-19 fiscal response – higher than next-placed Tasmania (3.3%), Victoria (2.8%) and Western Australia (1.9%).
Only New South Wales has contributed more as a per cent of GSP (4.6%).
Treasurer Rob Lucas welcomed the report as further evidence of the Government's unwavering commitment to growing the economy and local jobs in the wake of the greatest economic challenge of our time, with a record $4 billion state stimulus leveraging an extra $1 billion in Commonwealth, local government and business funds.
"Contrary to the often misguided and alarmist claims of the Labor Party, who are desperate to talk down the local economy, the Marshall Government is spending record amounts on our targeted stimulus to turbo-charge the state's economic and jobs rebound over the next two years," Mr Lucas said.
"We welcome the federal Parliamentary Budget Office report which has found that we are outperforming almost every other state and territory with our stimulus spend - contributing more as a per cent of GSP than any state or territory, except New South Wales.
"The Government is investing in a record $16.7 billion infrastructure pipeline, including the North-South Corridor final stage, a redeveloped Memorial Drive and Hindmarsh Stadium, as well as upgrades to schools and hospitals across SA, that will create thousands of jobs, including for local trades."
Mr Lucas said the report finding was supported by several recent independent economic reports and surveys which showed South Australia is weathering the COVID storm remarkably well to date, including CommSec's State of the States report, Deloitte Access Economics Business Outlook, Business SA-William Buck Survey of Business Expectations and the BankSA State Monitor.
