Giles Electorate Mining Communities

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles.

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (15:27): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank you for your generosity in only kicking me out for 15 minutes to give me the opportunity to come back in and do my grievance.

The SPEAKER: You're welcome.

Mr HUGHES: Today has been a day in this chamber of marking the 100^th year since the cessation of the First World War and the mind-numbing death and destruction associated with that war, with over 20 million people losing their life. So it is with a little bit of pleasure today that I rise not to talk about destruction but to talk about construction.

I am very fortunate in the electorate of Giles to have some of the most significant mining communities in the state. During my period as the member, I have been fortunate to take part in a number of the anniversaries of some of those mine sites. Coober Pedy in 2015 celebrated 100 years of mining, beginning with an opal that was found during the years of the First World War. Indeed, some of the diggers from the First World War trenches went to Coober Pedy after the finish of the war to become diggers in Coober Pedy and live underground.

In 2015 I also took part in the 50-year celebration of the establishment of the integrated steelworks in Whyalla. This year, on this day, I take a great deal of pleasure in recognising the 30 years of Olympic Dam and Roxby Downs—an amazing deposit in the Far North of our state, the fourth largest copper deposit in the world, the largest single deposit of uranium in the world and also a very significant gold and silver mine. There are other elements that are not exploited, such as the rare earths found within the deposit. Of course, the whole thing is actually contained within an iron deposit. It is probably worth recognising a young geologist by the name of Douglas Haynes, who worked on a lot of the theory and theoretical underpinning, which helped in the discovery of that vast resource in the north of our state.

The $750 million development of the mine and above-ground facilities to process the ore were undertaken by Western Mining, which was bought out by BHP in 2005. At present, the mine directly employs 3,500 people and is obviously a significant multiplier. Most of those people are employed at Olympic Dam and Roxby Downs, but some are in Adelaide, some are in other parts of the state and others are interstate.

The population of Roxby Downs has had its ups and downs, as often comes with mining communities, but the official figure as at 2017 was 4,010, so there is a significant community in the north of our state. Many people have lived in Roxby Downs and built a life there, worked there for a number of years, saved money and then moved on to other parts of the state and elsewhere in Australia. Indeed, Roxby Downs is a very multicultural community, and that is actively celebrated.

This year, 135,000 tonnes of copper have been mined and largely sent overseas. A brownfield expansion of the mine is expected to occur later in the next decade, and it is anticipated that expansion will add tonnages of around 450,000 tonnes. It is anticipated that the copper market will be in structural deficit by 2023. This will put Olympic Dam in a very good position indeed, given that the resource areas are barely touched, with 70 per cent of future ore coming from the Southern Mine operations.

A number of other things are happening in Roxby Downs and Olympic Dam, but I am not going to get the opportunity to talk about them on this occasion. Well done, Roxby Downs; well done, Olympic Dam; and well done all those people who have made a massive contribution to that great community and that great mine.

Time expired.