Ministerial Statement

Turnbull, Hon. M.B.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:05): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Last week, the Liberal Party chose to appoint a new leader and, as a consequence, the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull has become the nation's Prime Minister. First, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the former prime minister's service to the nation. In particular, I acknowledge Mr Abbott's work to deliver key projects in South Australia such as the future frigates and the Northern Connector, which was announced here in Adelaide last week and will directly support the suburbs hit hardest by the closure of the car industry. His leadership in elevating the issue of domestic violence to the COAG agenda was an important contribution to addressing the unacceptable level of violence against women and children in our community.

I have spoken to the Prime Minister—Prime Minister Turnbull—to congratulate him, and we have discussed the great opportunities we have to work together for the benefit of South Australia. We are living in a time of economic change that presents great opportunities as well as challenges, and nowhere in Australia is this felt more keenly than in South Australia as we look to diversify our economy and transition towards the industries of the future.

Mr Turnbull and I spoke about the priorities for South Australia and the opportunity to take a positive path together on these key issues. For example, I undertook to continue to work closely with the federal government and new defence minister Senator Marise Payne to ensure that 12 submarines are built in Australia and delivered at Techport.

In the area of automotive transformation, we look forward to working with industry minister Christopher Pyne to unlock $900 million worth of funding—a tremendous opportunity to transition to new industries in the wake of the exit of the car industry. An exciting opportunity for us to build on the success of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute exists with the second building to house world-leading cancer research through proton therapy. We will be working with the new South Australian minister assisting the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Anne Ruston, to ensure the critical needs of South Australia remain front of mind in any consideration of the Murray-Darling Basin.

We look forward to the federal government becoming a genuine partner for South Australia as it seeks to implement its economic plan set out in our 10 economic priorities. We welcome the commitment to dialogue and debate rather than captain's picks. We welcome what appears to be a new era of talking about the great possibilities for our state and nation, turning our backs on the destructive and negative politics of the past.