Defence Shipbuilding

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:30): My question is to the Premier. What actions has the Premier taken specifically in regard to providing support to those workers who have learned today that they are losing their jobs?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:30): Of course we are working extraordinarily hard on the issue of preparing the workforce here in South Australia and managing that transition. As the member—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The shamelessness of those opposite, who did nothing to support the workers they are now pretending to represent. Give me a break. Where was your lot—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —standing up for workers in South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —when we knew the work was going to dry up? The work didn't dry up—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in the last two weeks, my friend.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It dried up—

The SPEAKER: The Premier will be seated.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —when you failed to lobby five years ago.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will be seated for one moment. Member for West Torrens, for debate?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir, clearly.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. Premier, would you please return to the substance of the question, which was about support for workers at ASC—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! It is very hard to take points of order when there is a cacophony of noise on both sides of the chamber when the Premier has the call. I will listen carefully to the Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We are working very hard to clean up the mess we inherited from Labor, to prepare the workforce for the future, to make sure that we have the skills in place to deliver. When the former government was in place and the contracts for the future submarines were awarded in South Australia the then opposition, the Liberal Party, asked, 'Where is your naval shipbuilding skills task force?' Nothing—nothing had been done.

We get into government and we have a huge amount of work to make sure that we can deliver on these huge contracts. That's why, in the budget we brought down, $200 million worth of new money is going into the budget over the next four years to make sure that we have the requisite skills in place to deliver on these incredible contracts. What have those opposite done? Absolutely nothing, and now they have the temerity—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Point of order. The Premier will be seated.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The point of order is relevance. The question was about what the Premier has done to make sure that affected workers—

The SPEAKER: I have the question. I am listening carefully. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The government is continuing to work on the defence workforce plan.