MINING AND ENERGY SECTORS

Mr RAU (Enfield) (14:05): Will the Premier inform the house of recent developments in South Australia's mining and energy sectors?

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:05): He does not like the fact that I was in the regions visiting mining areas—that is kind of what you expect! I know that the member for Unley travelled to the United States and visited a Winnebago factory. He was talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger. I know that the deputy leader visited Switzerland and she recommended a review of state/federal funding of hospitals. I know that the member for Davenport went to India, Thailand and Singapore and recommended that South Australia develop a water strategy, and also that South Australia consider seeking expressions of interest to undertake a study for a chairlift and Carlsberg tower concept on Mount Lofty. I was out there supporting the mining industry.

Mr WILLIAMS: I rise on a point of order, Mr Speaker. My point of order is relevance. The Premier obviously has a written answer and still he cannot stick to the script.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier must turn to the substance of the question.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I will, Mr Speaker. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday I travelled to South Australia's north to see first-hand the truly breathtaking development of this state's minerals and energy industries and the development of our regions. I encourage the Leader of the Opposition to do likewise, because, let me just explain to the opposition, the Olympic Dam development is no mirage in the desert. Go there and see it as I did. The township of Roxby Downs will service the massive expansion of Olympic Dam, which will become the world's biggest uranium mine, the world's fourth biggest copper mine and Australia's biggest gold mine. I was pleased to see first-hand for the first time the Copper Sands Housing Development.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Apparently, the Leader of the Opposition was already briefed about the Copper Sands Housing Development. Is that right? He does not know, and he says they are reannouncements. He does not know. He has never heard of it. The Copper Sands housing project will be developed in three subdivisions and, when completed towards the end of 2009, will house up to 1,000 people in 350 homes at a projected cost of $140 million. The homes are being constructed by four South Australian building companies. Everywhere I looked I could see the names of South Australian companies that had been contracted to help in the expansion, and getting new business as a result. I was told that there were contractors from Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Coober Pedy, some from the Upper Spencer Gulf, and so on.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Well, the Leader of the Opposition had never heard of the development yet accuses me of a reannouncement. Obviously I should go more often to make sure that it gets through because, clearly, he does not know what is going on in the north of our state. Of course, he believed that Andamooka was in another state! Perhaps he needs to extend his vision beyond the Mitcham Shopping Centre. BHP Billiton has already spent more than—

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: And can I just say that, having seen his results at the last state election, he should spend more time in the Mitcham Shopping Centre! BHP Billiton has already spent more than $135 million in Roxby Downs for housing. It was a pleasure to be able to hand over the keys to a brand new, high quality house to Tony Holbrook and Donna Hill. Mr Holbrook told me that, because of the rate of expansion of the township, there are long waiting lists for rental accommodation, with many people having to stay in other places to work at Roxby. What was clear from visiting Roxby is that the Leader of the Opposition is completely out of touch.

Just the day before, the leader was telling the media there were a lot of unanswered questions, in an attempt to talk the project down. He claimed that the expansion might be only $2 billion; that it might not be an open-cut mine, and then, by conjuring a much smaller project, tried to throw doubt over whether the associated infrastructure would be built. My challenge to the Leader of the Opposition is to tell this parliament whether or not he supports the development of Olympic Dam. Clearly, the opposition leader—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader will take his seat.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Clearly, the opposition leader is disappointed by South Australia's success—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —which only serves to highlight the dismal performance of the previous government in which he served as a minister. The leader must be the only person in this place who believes that BHP Billiton, one of the largest mining companies in the world, would spend over $9 billion on acquiring Western Mining and not develop the resource at a time of record mineral prices and unprecedented worldwide demand.

The message from the Leader of the Opposition seems to be that, somehow, BHP Billiton bought Western Mining and got this fabulous deposit, which is now valued at $US1 trillion, I am told, just to leave it fallow; some sort of car park in the desert. No wonder the business community regards him as a joke.

I next visited Oxiana's Prominent Hill copper gold deposit. This deposit was discovered in 2001 and will commence production later this year. I turned the first sod less than two years ago, and the transformation has been astonishing. A camp of about 1,000 people has sprung up. Prominent Hill has become a prominent mine in record time—Prominent Hill, in fact, has become a prominent hole. The removal of the overburden is ahead of schedule, engineering is about 95 per cent complete, the infrastructure is nearly three-quarters complete and, when operating, the open pit will have a capacity of eight million tonnes per year. The pit will be 1.4 kilometres by 1.2 kilometres and nearly half a kilometre deep.

The good news is that this mine, into which the company will invest more than $1 billion, looks like having a much longer life than the original 10-year estimate, and there is strong potential to discover other significant deposits. My view is that the Prominent Hill mine will be around for decades. It is a much bigger mine than previously believed.

I commend Oxiana for its commitments to help the local community and to train and employ locals and indigenous people and women. The average around Australia for the employment of women in the mining industry is a shocking 3 per cent. At Oxiana's Prominent Hill I am told it is 33 per cent. I also commend the company for its high environmental standards.

Visiting the Geodynamics hot well near Innamincka provided a glimpse of an exciting future for South Australia. Geodynamics believes that the area has the hottest rocks anywhere in the world outside of volcanic regions. Geodynamics has already invested about $100 million in research, development and drilling. Geothermal technology is a renewable and emissions-free energy source.

Geodynamics' Dr Doone Wyborn believes that this area in our state's north could supply a very significant part of Australia's baseload power in coming years. He believes the capacity of the area to be the equivalent of the world's entire existing geothermal power source. I must say that I have had an interest in geothermal energy since late 1962, when we emigrated to New Zealand, and I have visited the Wairakei geothermal field near Lake Taupo; in fact, next to Huka Falls.

South Australia is already home to more than 80 per cent of Australia's total investment in geothermal research. Nearly $700 million is expected to be invested in the state's geothermal resources within five years. So, I was pleased to announce that the government—new news—would help to speed up applications for geothermal leases and exploration by allocating a further $3.325 million over four years for this purpose.

Finally, our visit to Heathgate Resources' Beverley mine, showed the potential to mine uranium without harming the environment. I was most impressed with the attention to the protection of native flora and fauna on the site as well as the use of advanced technology and high skills. The company is seeking to extend its operations at the existing mine. An affiliate of Heathgate, Quasar Resources, has formed a joint venture with Alliance Resources to develop a significant uranium deposit about 10 kilometres from the Beverley mine. The deposit is believed to be a very significant find and I wish the company well in developing this resource—subject, of course, to approvals.

We have gone from having four operating mines in 2002 to more than double that now, with another 30 mines being planned or developed. I strongly urge members opposite—despite their interest in the Carlsberg chairlift concept—to spend some time in the state's north to visit our mining industry.