House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Orora Glass Processing Plant Orora Glass Processing Plant Mr PEDERICK House of Assembly Hammond Orora Glass Processing Plant Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (14:26): My question is to the— Members interjecting: The Deputy Speaker House of Assembly The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned for the first time and the member for Kaurna is called to order. Mr PEDERICK House of Assembly Mr PEDERICK: My question is to the minister— The Hon. A. Koutsantonis House of Assembly The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Come on, Peds, push through; just like Christmas Day, keep working. The Deputy Speaker House of Assembly The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Mr PEDERICK House of Assembly Mr PEDERICK: It's your time. Members interjecting: The Deputy Speaker House of Assembly The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I would like to hear this question. Mr PEDERICK House of Assembly Mr PEDERICK: My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Can the minister please update the house on how an upgrade to a glass processing plant is creating jobs in the Barossa and Adelaide Plains regions? The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM House of Assembly Finniss Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM (Finniss—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (14:27): Thanks to the member for Hammond for his important question. It is very important that we invest into the regions. We have taken the opportunity, using the Regional Growth Fund, to very much stimulate job opportunities in South Australia by investing in projects, including one in his region recently with the upgrade of the Beston Pure Dairies factory, with $2 million towards that to see jobs being delivered in his region. Unfortunately, the lockdown recently delayed the opening of that plant officially but I look forward to getting out there and seeing that plant in operation. Looking at the glass processing plant in Kingsford, based in the area just on the Barossa side of Gawler, this is an $18 million state-of-the-art glass-recycling facility. The Orora Group are investing in this space and $4 million worth of state government money is going to this project. This is an $18 million project in whole. This is very important for the Barossa wine industry and the wine industry generally in South Australia to be able to produce high-quality glass wine bottles from this recycled glass. This project is getting $2 million from the Regional Growth Fund as part of the Strategic Business Round. This round was very much there to see a delivery of $170 million worth of regional projects, which is great for the stimulus of jobs in the regions. There are about 1½ thousand jobs across our regions that are being delivered through the delivery of these projects. The project at Orora also received $4 million worth of commonwealth funding, which will see the state and federal governments work together to deliver this project. Orora employ about 370 people and this project will deliver an extra 78 jobs across the life of the project, including 66 jobs during construction as well as an additional 12 jobs ongoing, with an additional shift being planned. The new plant will also rely on services from around eight local suppliers to support the materials, ensuring the benefits flow through the region and deliver the outcomes of more jobs within the regions. Orora is a very important business for our statewide industry, with their Kingsford factory manufacturing about 60 per cent of Australia's wine bottles. This is so important to our wine industry, to have these bottles produced and recycled, to make sure that we have an ongoing supply chain of glass bottles coming through and also making sure we recycle those wine bottles in an effective way. South Australia's unemployment is at a 12-year low, at 4.7 per cent. This is a great achievement for this government, to bring it down to that level. We have seen significant jobs being created, with 32,800 jobs created statewide since the beginning of the year. This is delivering an unemployment level of two percentage points below the average of Labor's last four years in government. Youth unemployment is also significant, being the lowest for a decade. This is very important for our economy, our regions, our young people. We are delivering what needs to be done. Jobs are important to the regions. Jobs are important to South Australia. The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting: The Deputy Speaker House of Assembly The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens, that's out of order.