Parliamentary Committees

Economic and Finance Committee: Annual Report 2018-19

Debate resumed.

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (11:13): I also rise to speak on the Annual Report 2018-19 of the Economic and Finance Committee that has been presented here today. I had the privilege of joining this committee one month into that financial year to help accommodate a colleague's conflict of schedule, and I have very much enjoyed having the opportunity to work with the member for Waite as Chair, and the many other members, plus working with the staff and also listening to the witnesses who have presented to this committee.

Our committee has looked at many interesting things, such as the inquiry into South Australia's investment attraction policy and the regional visits in relation to that. The visit to the Beston Pure Foods dairy facility at Murray Bridge and listening to the issues facing those industries is certainly something that I have had an interest in over the years because of my former role in the dairy industry. I had not been to that facility for many years and the last time I was there it was run by National Foods.

I did a bit of research this morning and discovered that National Foods started in 1991, so it would have been in the mid-1990s when I was last in that factory. It is amazing what Bestons have done in the time they have had that factory after the turmoil with the closure at very short notice of those factories when the previous owners ran into financial trouble. I thank them for showing us through that facility and particularly what they have done in relation to the cheesemaking plant and how they are getting into new markets with the work that they are doing.

It was also pleasing to be involved in the inquiry into the economic contribution of migration to South Australia, which again allowed us to travel to the regions and hold hearings at Penola on the Limestone Coast, in a very cold town hall in the middle of winter, and at Mount Gambier. It was really interesting to hear about the issues facing those communities. We even heard from the local bakery about trying to get bakers to maintain a workforce to operate their bakery and the difficulties and challenges they faced in attracting and keeping staff in that region.

One of my highlights of that visit to the South-East was going to the Holla-Fresh facility at Tantanoola and looking at how they grow herbs and how well they have set up that business to supply both the Melbourne and Adelaide markets in particular. Being set up halfway and being able to truck both ways to get fresh herbs into supermarkets with a good shelf life is a credit to the community of Tantanoola.

Another highlight was the Costa mushroom farm at Monarto South. If you like sheds, that is the place to go because they have some really big sheds. That have done amazing things.

Mr Pederick: It's a big shed. They built another one.

Mr BASHAM: Yes, they have doubled the size with the second shed. It is amazing to see how the mushrooms are grown and how they have structured the facility to progress the growth of the mushrooms so systematically. They can pump mushrooms out almost at will, but that requires a workforce to do so, hence the need to have a talk to them about the importance of migration to their business.

We also had the opportunity to go down to the Osborne Naval Shipyard, something that not many people get the opportunity to do. If you thought the sheds were big at the mushroom farm, they are nothing on the sheds down there—they are huge. When you can put a full-size naval ship inside a shed, that makes for a big shed. In their case, they are building a shed that is going to fit two ships side by side. It was amazing to see those structures going up and the investment going on there. It is a credit to the South Australian workforce doing the work there with the project that is being put together. It was an absolute pleasure to be part of that visit.

We do have other inquiries. We are now starting to hear evidence in the inquiry into the motor vehicle insurance and repair industry (this is also mentioned in this report), which is fascinating. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the site visit to the crash repairer last Wednesday as I had another commitment. It was around 40°—a lovely place to be, I would have thought, at a crash repairer on a 40° day. I am sure my colleagues enjoyed their time there. I thank very much the staff for pulling together this report and the member for Waite for bringing it before the house. I will leave my remarks there.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (11:20): I will also speak briefly about the activities of the Economic and Finance Committee and the matters addressed in the annual report of 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019. It has been really interesting. The committee meets basically every week that parliament sits on Wednesday mornings, but we have supplemented that with site visits to help inform us in our current inquiries.

Just prior to this particular period of 2018, in June we had already commenced an inquiry into investment attraction. It has been really informative to look at how we can progress the economic development of this state, where we were previously and how we can look to improve it. As part of that, we heard from a number of witnesses. The report states that we received 27 submissions for this inquiry and also heard from 47 witnesses across the entire period, which ranged from June up until October.

We also went on two site visits. One was to Salisbury to look at some of the work that was being done out in the north, especially in light of the fact that Holden had closed down, and what opportunities were in place to try to replace that. We also heard from witnesses at Murray Bridge. We heard from not only the member for Hammond but also some of the local councils. I think both Murray Bridge council mayor, Brenton Lewis, and also the Mid Murray Council mayor, Dave Burgess, spoke and emphasised the importance that councils play in terms of the on-ground work of economic development.

We also heard from some of the local businesses there. We heard from Big River Pork and Thomas Foods and were able to do a tour of Beston Pure Foods to see what some investment attraction can do to help these businesses really progress. They invested money into their factory there. It is interesting to see the processes in place from that point of view as well. In terms of an overview of what we heard, there were certainly some barriers and drawbacks to some of the previous investment attraction programs, ranging from overly onerous application processes to ongoing reporting requirements.

We heard evidence that ongoing reporting did impact businesses and whether they thought it would be worthwhile even going through the process of trying to apply for grants. We also found there was a perceived focus on picking winners and providing grants to individual businesses instead of improving the overall business environment, even to the point where some businesses were shopping around for grants. They fully intended to outlay capital and then try to use the grant process to reduce or ameliorate the expenses they would incur from a capital perspective.

The inquiry also heard information around focusing on investments that occurred without government assistance. As I said, they would have gone ahead anyway, so it was not a matter of picking winners but actually trying to improve the overall business conditions here in South Australia so that all businesses can compete on a level playing field.

Interestingly enough, it seemed that there was also a lack of attention to supporting businesses already located in South Australia. They have done the hard yards and set up their business, and they were then finding that they were having to compete against businesses that had been provided funding to set up here. There were certainly concerns around that, acknowledging the great work that existing South Australian businesses do in helping our economy here. We also heard a number of broader barriers and challenges that come with trying to attract investment here to South Australia.

The member for Waite mentioned trying to reduce red tape. Also there are the high energy and waste removal costs and then maybe the lack of technology infrastructure. High-speed internet is becoming very important for businesses now to be able to compete in global markets. Businesses generally are exposed to the effects of globalisation more and more because of the internet. Certainly, if our businesses in South Australia can have access to high-speed internet, it will really assist them to compete and open up access to international markets.

We also looked at the access to appropriate skilled labour. I suppose that can be a segue into one of the new inquiries that the Economic and Finance Committee launched in the financial year 2018-19 in regard to the economic contribution of migration to South Australia. That inquiry started on 1 August 2018. Over the time of that inquiry, we heard from 84 witnesses across 14 public hearings and received 40 submissions in regard to that.

We also made site visits to try to understand the effects of migration. In March 2019, the committee travelled to the Limestone Coast and held public hearings both in Penola and Mount Gambier, and that was certainly very informative as well. I think the member for MacKillop came along and presented and spoke of some of the challenges. He also identified some of the challenges regarding access to housing and the fact that local councils play an important role as well on the ground level.

The member for Finniss mentioned that we also visited Balnaves in terms of the wine production there and saw some of their challenges around skilled migration. I remember speaking with one of the chief winemakers there, who said that one of the problems is that their youth are schooled in the Limestone Coast and then many of them go to university either in Adelaide or in other states. They become skilled, but then there is a lack of those skilled jobs for them in the Limestone Coast, so they do not return after doing their tertiary studies. That then impacts in terms of the workforce there. Therefore, migration certainly becomes very important to these businesses looking to grow in the regions.

We also visited Murray Bridge, again in relation to migration, and heard from a number of businesses. The member for Hammond presented, and he was really forthright in his comments and very helpful to the committee. The two mayors from Murray Bridge and Mid Murray also came along and gave evidence, as did local businesses such as Big River Pork and Thomas Foods. It was really interesting to hear from Thomas Foods and the impact of the DAMA that has been struck by the state government and the federal government. That was one of the key reasons for them staying where they were in and around Murray Bridge. Thomas Foods is really vital for Murray Bridge and the local economy there. The access to skilled migrants is certainly going to be very important to Thomas Foods and many other businesses.

Another perplexing point that was raised was that, while these businesses are screaming out for skilled labour, at the same time Murray Bridge suffers from higher than average unemployment rates, so they do not seem to mix. I think there certainly needs to be attention paid to encourage workers to look for worthwhile work in their local area, which will also help to combat the unemployment rate.

We also considered some more statutory functions. We looked at the emergency services levy that was presented for this year, and we investigated that in June 2019. As did the member for Waite—while not speaking directly on the fires on Yorke Peninsula and the 69 fires that occurred across the state last Wednesday during those catastrophic fire conditions—on behalf of the community of Morphett I pass on my thanks to not only the firefighters on Yorke Peninsula but all those many CFS brigades who came from throughout the state to help out fellow South Australians and protect the town of Edithburgh.

We are all very thankful for them and the work that the emergency services levy provides to not only the CFS but all our emergency services. You can really see it is very worthwhile, when put into the consciousness of Wednesday, and how important it is that our emergency services personnel are supported.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:30): I rise to make a brief contribution on the annual report of the Economic and Finance Committee and certainly appreciate their good work in various inquiries, whether it is on investment attraction or skilled migration. I acknowledge the hearings and the reference they are studying in relation to the crash repair industry, which is an interesting industry in that in my mind the insurance industry thinks it can manipulate it in regard to preferred repairers, and I am sure they are getting good evidence on that.

I was very pleased to host the committee in the Rural City of Murray Bridge and proud to outline something we celebrated only a few weeks ago in Murray Bridge: the investment of over $1 billion that is going into the region, not just centrally in Murray Bridge. There is a lot going on: there have been investment attraction policies, and obviously migration attraction has assisted with this work.

Thomas Foods International are going ahead with their build of the beef rooms. They are going to get onto that very shortly before the lamb plant is rebuilt as well. Also, there is Big River Pork with their expansion and Costa Mushrooms with their $70 million expansion. Beston Global, doing great work under Dr Roger Sexton, won another award the other night—I think it is No. 114—at the Premier's Food Awards. I was very lucky to be present to see that award presented. What a great success story Staycrisp lettuce is in what they have achieved there next to the river, sometimes on very low allocations during the Millennium Drought. Don Ruggiero and his team have done a great job.

I want to emphasise a point that has already been made: a lot of these businesses are absolutely reliant on skilled migration. I note there was a federal inquiry meeting in Murray Bridge the other day as part of a national Senate inquiry. It is vital to my community because, as has already been noted by the member for Morphett, we are reliant on that migrant workforce, yet quite a bit of the time we have a higher than average unemployment rate, which is an issue that needs to be addressed and which we are working through. I absolutely salute those migrants who come in and not just work in the area but raise that cultural awareness and add colour and fun, if you like, to the community. In a lot of ways, they can show some of us how to contribute to society in a range of ways and not just in the workplace.

Just quickly, I note that the committee visited Holla-Fresh at Tantanoola. What a fantastic company. They have a generator machine that helps keep their glasshouses at the right temperature using waste wood products. A world-first generation machine costing $3 million has been put in place. It is a fantastic use of spent wood materials—something that is quite abundant in the South-East region and cannot be used anywhere else. We saw that recently with the Environment, Resources and Development Committee in regard to our research on recycling.

I think I will leave it there, but I really appreciate what this committee is doing around the state. I appreciated hosting them locally, and I will be very interested to see their final report into the crash repair industry.

Mr DULUK (Waite) (11:35): I thank the members for Finniss, Morphett and Hammond for their contributions. It was probably a bit remiss of me not to go into a bit more detail about ACPAC. I know you are very interested, as is the member for Stuart. ACPAC, of course, was the 15^th Biennial Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committees Conference held in Parliament House in Canberra between 6 and 8 November.

Some of the agenda items included 'Maintaining trust in the parliamentary process, PACs and officers of the parliament' and 'Fostering engagement: the powers of PACs to access expertise, call for documents and witnesses'. Session 3 was 'Finding the way forward: the role of "big data" in maximising service delivery and policy outcomes' and 'Measuring the effectiveness of public accounts committees'. Then there was 'Working towards change: how parliamentary inquiries influence policy', which I actually think is an important one for all members of the house. It was all very beneficial.

One thing I found very interesting, and a great reminder for people who love parliament and history and Federation, was the talk of Rosemary Laing, the keynote guest speaker at the dinner on Thursday night.. She is the former clerk of the federal Senate. She talked about the role that Sir Richard Baker played. Of course, his portrait is opposite me in this house. He was the Attorney-General of this state in the 1870s. He was President of the Legislative Council and the first President of the Senate at Federation.

Sir Richard played a role in giving parliaments the authority to have an audit function of the executive and public funding for the Auditor-General for their role of keeping government accountable. The concept of public accounts committees is actually very important and it takes its history from people like Richard Baker, who wanted to see good governance of the colony of South Australia and, of course, the federal parliament. The work that we do today in our committees is not new. It is very important and it plays a long and significant role in the history of our federation and for that, I commend the report for noting.

Motion carried.