COMMON USER FACILITY

73 Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (30 September 2008). How much has been spent on the common user facility to date and when will this facility be completed?

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): I have been advised of the following information:

The Government has made substantial commitments to build an internationally competitive shipbuilding precinct at Port Adelaide to assist ASC Shipbuilding Pty Ltd to build the Royal Australian Navy's next generation of warships and attract other shipbuilding and repair opportunities.

Techport Australia, representing the core of the State's commitments, will be developed adjacent to ASC Ltd (formerly Australian Submarine Corporation) at Osborne.

The Common User Facility (CUF) project involves the development of a world-class national strategic asset at Techport Australia in support of South Australia's Defence Industry Strategy.

This critical piece of state-owned infrastructure has a primary and key role in assisting ASC Shipbuilding to build the state of the art Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs).

The CUF forms the centrepiece of the State's contractual commitments to the Australian Government in support of the AWD program, which will have priority use of the infrastructure.

The multi-access nature of the infrastructure however will allow the State to market and attract other shipbuilding and repair and complementary opportunities to Techport Australia.

The development cost for the CUF project is estimated at $260.1 million including planning, design and construction. This figure reflects the Commonwealth Government's requirement for an extended dry berth for which they have provided an upfront payment.

As at 31 August 2008, $136.4 million has been expended.

Construction of the Common User Facility is well underway and on schedule to meet AWD program requirements. The wharf is due to be handed over in March 2009, the dry berth completed by June 2009 and the shiplift will be available from February 2010.