Job Creation

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:29): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills a question about employment projects.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: We know that it is critical that South Australian workers are equipped with the skills needed to enable our economy to transform. Can the minister inform the house about what the government is doing to support South Australia's economic transformation?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. As I have mentioned to this house on many occasions before, job creation is critical to South Australia, particularly in the current climate where there has been a slowdown in the economy, a downturn in commodity prices and a withdrawal of the federal government's support for our auto manufacturing and navy shipbuilding industries.

As a government, we know that taking advantage of new industries emerging and making the most of existing opportunities, such as increasing overseas trade, are critical to ensuring that every South Australian is provided with a job opportunity. We need to build a strong and vibrant economy that is flexible and dynamic for the 21^st century, and as a government we are committed to ensuring that this happens.

This is why it was with great pleasure that I recently announced, on 1 October, a pilot employment program that will take place at Sundrop Farms near Port Augusta. As part of the WorkReady Jobs First employment initiative, a $50,000 grant will be given to fund a pilot skills development program at Sundrop Farms. Sundrop Farms was founded in 2009 and has been growing high-quality produce since 2010. Sundrop Farms is a leader in sustainable horticulture for arid areas, growing high-value greenhouse crops, and has developed technologies to responsibly and profitably grow crops in some of the world's driest regions using renewable resources, sea water and sunlight.

Sundrop's expansion, which was announced at the end of 2014, is a world first. The expansion integrates leading technologies across solar thermal energy, solar sea water desal and fresh water neutrality across 20 hectares of energy-efficient greenhouses on a commercial scale. To put that into simple terms, Sundrop estimates that they will produce over 15,000 tonnes of vegetables annually in energy-efficient greenhouses, removing fossil fuels out of the process where possible.

The employment pilot will provide training to 32 jobseekers, with the first intake of 25 people expected to gain a job at Sundrop Farms in the coming months. Training provided will include units from accredited training courses and also non-accredited training to assist participants to transition into a workplace. Accredited training units will be from the Certificate II in Horticulture and Certificate III in Agriculture.

This is a good news story for the Far North and it is an exciting opportunity. Jobseekers in Port Augusta in the Far North region will be provided with skills to help them gain available jobs at one of the state's most innovative food producers. It is a vote of confidence in the region that a global company like Sundrop Farms is supporting local jobseekers, contributing to the local economy and being part of a viable and sustainable region.

The employment pilot will help jobseekers to gain the skills to work with innovative technology being used by Sundrop Farms, and it will help them to equip themselves for the 21^st century. This is exactly the type of project the government is looking to support through WorkReady. This is also a great example of how our skills, employment and training initiative responds to emerging local industry needs, and it can do that in a timely way.

Through WorkReady's Jobs First employment initiative, we can assess and align training to real employment outcomes, particularly in the region, to real industry needs, and we can quickly act in special circumstances to fund projects outside of the application rounds. I look forward to seeing the fruits of this pilot program—excuse the pun—and I thank the honourable member for his question and his ongoing interest in this area.