MINING INDUSTRY

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:26): Can the Premier please advise the house about recent efforts to expand our mining sector in South Australia?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:26): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the honourable member for her question. She also represents an electorate that relies very heavily on the manufacturing sector. I note and applaud her for her advocacy in relation to the Holden co-investment package and thank her for her advocacy. Can I note that the mining sector across this nation is fuelled by, in many respects, graduates and skills that come from South Australia.

We produce a very large proportion of the mining engineers, a very large proportion of the geologists and a very significant proportion of the tradespeople who go interstate and overseas and work in the mining sectors in those particular jurisdictions. So, it was with some pleasure, when I attended a visit recently to Perth to pitch the South Australian story to mining services contractors and the mining companies, that I saw the large number of South Australians who are working in significant positions in those particular—

An honourable member: There's none here.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, they were attracted by what, on any view of it, is a massive expansion of the mining industry in Western Australia, so it's not unnatural that they would seek employment in those jurisdictions. I think what is in fact pleasing to note is that, as our mining sector grows—and I note the interjection 'there's none here'—to the contrary, what we've seen since coming into office is driven in large measure obviously by the natural abundance we have here but also by intelligent government decision-making like the PACE initiative, the plan for accelerated exploration, we have seen mining exploration increase by in the order of $29 million in 2000-01 to $328.4 million in 2011-12, an increase of over 1,000 per cent.

We've also seen a very significant expansion of that initiative. We've seen the number of mines obviously go from four to 20 during that period, and we've opened up the Woomera Prohibited Area, which is unlocking mineral wealth which is estimated to be in the order of $35 billion. In fact, the actual mining employment story is estimated in November 2002 to be 3,621. It is now estimated at 12,947—an increase of more than 250 per cent.

But we want to take that further. We want to realise our ambition to be a mining services hub not only for South Australia but for the nation and, if possible, the world, and there are real reasons for believing this is possible: not only do we have the particular skills and capacities here but we also have a growing set of opportunities.

I met with companies—many of those opposite would be familiar with international companies such as BP, Chevron and Shell—all of whom have expressed real interest in our unconventional gas. In relation to mining services, companies Schlumberger, Halliburton, Clough, Pacific Industrial Company, Monadelphous, and Southern Cross Electrical Engineering are all expressing interest in setting up or expanding their operations, or shifting their operations, to South Australia. They see the cost benefits associated with being in a competitive jurisdiction.

We are already seeing companies like Maintenance Technique—a young South Australian tradesperson who got overseas experience, set up in Perth and has now moved back to the northern suburbs; he can make a go of it here because of the skills and the relatively lower costs of doing business here in South Australia—and Osmoflo, supplying kit wastewater and desal plants around the world—

The SPEAKER: Alas, the Premier's time has expired.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Not wishing to interrupt the Premier's flow, I now warn the member for Heysen for the first time and the member for MacKillop for the first time and inform the leader that because he finds an answer humorous does not mean that it's out of order. The leader.