Big Banks Campaign

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (14:52): My question is to the Premier. Is the big banks campaign consistent with recent economic developments?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for the Arts) (14:52): I thank the honourable member for his question. In just over three weeks' time, General Motors Holden will cease making cars in South Australia and this will spell the end of our car assembly industry in this state. It is a very signal moment in our state's history. It should never have happened and we campaigned to prevent it from happening but, nevertheless, it's a reality and it's a reality that we have had to grapple with. That's what we have been working incredibly hard at for the last few years, seeking to create new jobs and new opportunities in this South Australian economy.

Recently, what we have seen is some real vigour in the South Australian economy and it puts the lie to the campaign that is being waged by the big banks and Business SA, with the financial support of the big banks. What we have seen recently in South Australia has been extraordinary:

the sale of Arrium to Liberty House, saving thousands of jobs in Whyalla. That same company is making a key investment in Zen Energy, a local energy retailer, which will provide the capacity to provide contracts in that sector to firm industrial customers. This is an extraordinary development in the energy sector in this country;

SolarReserve's decision to invest $650 million in solar thermal in Port Augusta, creating 700 jobs in Upper Spencer Gulf;

the $155.6 million Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme, creating 3,700 jobs, backed by both the state and federal governments;

Tesla and Neoen, investing in a battery co-located with the Hornsdale wind farm at Jamestown;

SkyCity's go-ahead on the $330 million upgrade of the Adelaide Casino;

OZ Minerals' decision to invest more than $900 million in the Carrapateena copper mine, the largest new copper mine in this country for decades;

BHP committing $600 million to increase production at Olympic Dam; and

this week, the world's biggest space conference descending upon Adelaide as thousands of delegates empty their wallets in the city streets and the city bars and restaurants here. Crucially, it has been the scene of the announcement of the establishment of a national space agency, one that we have been campaigning for consistently and one which now has a very strong chance of using South Australia as its key industry node.

We know that the big banks, Business SA and those opposite must cringe every time they hear this fantastic news, and it has been happening one after another over the last few months. My government will not be bullied by cashed-up big businesses or by people who see it in their economic interests to talk down the state.

This recent good news has been reflected in recent employment data. In mid-2015, our unemployment rate sat at an unacceptably high rate of 8.2 per cent. Those opposite were calling it heading towards double-digit unemployment. Now we can report that our unemployment rate sits at 5.7 per cent. Only New South Wales has a lower rate of unemployment. We have seen 23 consecutive months of jobs growth. Almost 15,000 more South Australians are in jobs now than was the case 12 months ago.

And we are continuing to push in those sectors of the South Australian economy that are growing—industries like defence and shipbuilding, renewable energy and mining, health and biomedical research, tourism, food and wine, IT and high-tech manufacturing—with all of those sectors supported by our $200 million jobs fund. We are the party that is looking to future technologies, not the past. We are not handing around lumps of coal. What we are doing is getting on with the business of creating the jobs and technologies of the future. We are putting South Australia's interests first.