Hotel SA March 2024

F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T
“South Australia lost 4,798 people
… whilst Queensland gained a total of
166,791 over the same period.”
required to pay for this. Wages
were already moving in our sector
given the labour shortage.
Later in this column I will look at
population, but South Australia’s
modest population growth remain
an impediment. It means one
pub’s growth too often comes
at the expense of another. We
are simply moving the pie rather
than growing it. The Fringe is
a classic example. An iconic
South Australian festival that we
should all be proud of. But whilst
it is a bonanza for some pubs, it
coincides with the quietest trading
period for others.
One topic we raised but didn’t
elaborate on with the Treasurer
is alcohol excise, given it is a
Federal tax. However, our work in
Canberra continues, as this sixmonthly
imposition headlines the
increased cost base for many of
our members.
The issues we are experiencing
at the moment are real and
many of our members do need
support. All of our members are
entitled to see the current public
service raids on our business
ease off. This is because our
members make a $4.5billon
annual contribution to the State’s
economy, employs 26,250
South Australians and contribute a
staggering 10.7% of this State’s total
tax revenue
HOTELS NEED POPULATION
GROWTH
I am just old enough to remember
being in primary school when
South Australia was the third most
populous State and Adelaide was
the nation’s third biggest city.
Today, as we lag behind every
other mainland State in terms of
population, sadly that is a distant
memory. Our share of the national
population has fallen to 6.95%
Global Adelaide is an organisation
formed to advocate for population
growth within our capital. The
AHAISA firmly backs their
ambitions.
We need population to grow
our economy and provide us
with a sustainable workforce. A
comparison with Queensland is
alarming. Data provided by Global
Adelaide reveals that in the last
financial year, 18,039 skilled visas
were granted in Queensland,
compared to 16,177 in South
Australia.
More worrying, Queensland received
6,888 family visas compared
to South Australia’s 2,471. The
population gap widens. And it will
continue to widen after the 2023
immigration review saw SA’s share
of skilled regional visas reduced
by 82%.
Let’s fast forward to the projections
for the next ten years.
In Adelaide we often hear about
the brain drain, it’s become a bit
of an obsession. Looking at ABS
data on the movement of people
internally - which is knows as Net
Interstate Migration (NIM) - the June
2023 ABS data and other annual
data as of the end of June over the
past 5 years, it can be seen that
significantly more people move to
Queensland than SA through NIM.
490 more people left SA than arrived
and that over the five-year period
from June 2019 to June 2023,
South Australia lost 4,798 people
through NIM, whilst Queensland
gained a total of 166,791 over the
same period.
Look at predicted growth for Qld and
SA, including Brisbane and Adelaide.
Qld is anticipated to grow from
2,695,300 at the start of 2022-23 to
3,137,900 (growth of 442,600). By
comparison, regional SA will grow
from 402,900 to 418,900 (growth
of 16,000). Regional Queensland
projected population alone at the
end of 2033-34 (3,137,900) will
be significantly greater, almost
double that of Adelaide’s projected
population (1,628,600).
Both Premier Peter Malinauskas and
his predecessor Steven Marshall
have been pro -population growth.
However, we are suffering from
decades of planning failure. Until
this is reversed, we will continue to
be unable to fulfill our State’s full
economic potential.
AHAISA joins Global Adelaide in its
ambitions to see the long-standing
population trajectory reversed.
David Basheer, AHA|SA President
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