GM HOLDEN

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:39): My question is to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion. Can the minister please inform the house about the coordination of assistance provided to Holden workers?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:40): Thank you Mr Speaker, and I would like to thank the honourable member for his question, and I am also aware of his strong interest in the automotive industry and allied industries and also his empathy for the industry and its workers.

Many members in Little Para and surrounding electorates of Napier, etc. have a strong interest in the motor plant at Elizabeth. In fact, my own father worked at General Motors for over 20 years.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: The member for Chaffey worked there.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: At Woodville?

Mr Whetstone: Yes.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: So I have first-hand experience of how important Holden's is to the area. When Holden's announced the loss of 400 jobs, the government moved in quickly to support the families and the broader community. We established a taskforce which has local, state and federal government representatives, union and Holden representatives to ensure that we coordinate the various programs available to support the affected workers and their families.

Holden workers have a range of skills; skills which are transferrable to other manufacturing environments and other industries in South Australia. One of the key things of this taskforce is to ensure that we don't lose this expertise.

Advanced manufacturing is highly significant for the economic and social prosperity of northern Adelaide. Two of the state's most advanced sectors, automotive and defence, are concentrated in the northern Adelaide region. We want to make sure that the skills which we lost to Holden's are not lost to the region.

At the regional level, I chair the Northern Adelaide Regional Collaboration. The collaboration includes state and local government CEOs, senior commonwealth officials and representatives from universities and the not-for-profit sector and, importantly, representatives from business. The collaboration is well placed to leverage the already strong advanced manufacturing base and assist in the expansion and creation of new and high-value jobs in this sector to ensure that people who leave Holden's employment can actually find new work.

While this occurs, we want to make sure that Holden workers and their families are properly supported so they can get back on their feet quickly and be in a position to transition into these new positions in the parts manufacturing area. Therefore, the taskforce is responsible for coordinating career planning events, identifying training opportunities for further skills, and identification of alternate employment opportunities.

I attended the first career planning event with the Premier on the weekend along with my colleagues the member for Hartley, the member for Taylor and the member for Ramsay.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: That was enough. There were no members from across there though.

Mr Whetstone: We didn't know.

Mrs Redmond: You didn't invite us. Had we been invited we would have been there.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Which I did, I contacted your office; we did so. Mr Speaker, the event was designed to ensure that workers and their families are aware of the various opportunities available to them to get support services. and it was well-attended. I look forward to updating the house further as the work of the Holden taskforce progresses.