Question Time

MINING INDUSTRY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Mineral Resources Development a question about employment in the mining sector.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The ABS figures released today show a rapid fall in mining jobs. On 24 April 2009, the Premier said:

This continued job creation in mine construction and production in South Australia underlies our pro-mining credentials.

Will the minister explain why employment in the South Australian mining sector has fallen by 37 per cent in the past six months, to reach its lowest level since 2004, and where does this leave the government's mining employment credentials?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:22): ABS statistics for the mining industry are notoriously unreliable. What we have seen, of course, is the completion of the construction of Prominent Hill Mine. That mine has now moved from the construction phase—it had something like 700 construction workers—and the workers now employed at that mine will be those involved in the ongoing operation of the mine.

Clearly, the numbers involved in construction are about 50 per cent greater than those involved in the ongoing operations of the mine, so that will be one blip on the statistics. Against that, we are seeing a number of new mines; in particular, the Jacinth-Ambrosia project is cranking up, and we hope that production there will begin early next year. I have not yet had the opportunity today to have a look at statistics.

This morning I attended the launch of the BankSA Trends bulletin, which had nothing but good news, I have to say, for the South Australian economy. One reason why there is good news is that this state has been less affected than other parts of the country, or other parts of the world, because our mining industry has been more stable than other states as we have had no mine closures.

A few jobs went at Olympic Dam after the EIS was completed and, as I say, the construction phase is finished, but unlike other states there have been no mine closures within this state. Indeed, the number of mines will actually grow over the course of this year, which will not be the case for many other parts of the world. A healthy mining industry with healthy prospects is, indeed, one of the strengths of the South Australian economy, along with the growing defence industry and our continuing success in the education area.

The other good news is that, if the current rainfall that we are experiencing continues through winter and spring, we will return to our more historic levels of rural production. That has been one sector of the state's economy where we have performed not as well as other states because we have had massive cuts.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! All jobs are important.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Our economy is very well placed, and that was revealed today with the release of the Trends bulletin by Bank SA; it is a pity that the honourable member was not there to hear the good news for our state. In the past we have had statistics relating to mining unemployment, but one has to be careful in relation to these because of the very small sample size–

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I am not bagging them; I am talking about the limitation of statistics.

An honourable member: You quote them when you want to.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I will quote them when I want to, but, as someone who has studied economic statistics, I understand that one needs to look at all statistics with care, depending on the sample size. Clearly, since our mining employment has a very low base, those statistics will obviously show more volatility and fluctuation than other areas.

If the honourable member really believes that we have lost one-third of the jobs in mining then perhaps he could tell us where they are, because I know that the number of mines in this state is increasing. With the completion of construction at Prominent Hill there are, I think, about 700 jobs that have been completed, but against that there are also new mines opening up that will come on stream. As I have said, Jacinth Ambrosia, which will commence operation within the next 12 months (probably in the first quarter of next year), is the most significant of those. In fact, the news on the mining front is good, as it is on the defence front and a whole lot of other areas. We should not be distracted from that picture by short-term statistics.