Job Creation

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Automotive Transformation. How is the South Australian government engaging with industry to promote jobs growth in northern Adelaide?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for his question and for his keen interest in northern Adelaide and the automotive sector generally. He is a very big fan of cars.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The Hon. Mr Gazzola is a big fan of muscle cars, that is true.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Would the honourable minister get on with his answer.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Yes, Mr President. We need to work closely with industry to help it create jobs. In some cases this will involve the government helping to invest in programs and schemes that will boost jobs growth, and other times it will involve working out how we can make South Australia a better place to do business, and letting business get on with job creation of its own volition.

Part of this year's budget did exactly that by abolishing share duty, abolishing stamp duty on non-real property transfers phased in from 2016, abolishing stamp duty on modern residential property transfers, and abolishing stamp duty on genuine corporate restructures. Using the Institute of Public Affairs' 'Business Bearing the Burden 2012' publication, South Australia will move from being the highest taxing state to the lowest taxing state once the government's tax changes have been fully implemented—and I see the Hon. Rob Lucas standing up to applaud the government on its recent budget, and thank him for his support.

However, the state government is not standing still, and is open to all ideas about how we can make South Australia an even better place to do business. For this reason I have, with the input of members from the Economic Development Board, been talking to key employers in Adelaide's north. These conversations have been focused on what the state government can do to assist these companies employ more people and secure the jobs of the current workforce. Following these meetings I recently convened a meeting between myself, the head of the Economic Development Board and over a dozen key industry leaders, including companies from the food manufacturing sector, construction, defence, engineering firms, mining manufacturers and others.

It was a full and frank conversation and I appreciated the honest feedback from these companies about what the state government was doing well and what more they would like to see it do. Numerous issues were raised by these business leaders; however, some key priorities consistently came up, including the importance of their people, their greatest asset. Employers in the north know that they have access to a great pool of workers with a wide range of skills, but they need to get the right people in the right jobs for their businesses.

Finding markets was an area where companies acknowledge the role that government plays in lining up businesses with new and growing markets, particularly export opportunities. The government's commitment to trade missions is an example of how this practice is working well, being very ably led by my good friend the Independent Liberal minister, Martin Hamilton-Smith, who is doing a splendid job. It is just delightful the way he is going about his work selling South Australia to the rest of the world and helping South Australian businesses.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: If the honourable members want I can go through and do another list of the great job that he is doing.

An honourable member: Wait for the supplementary.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: It might be a supplementary, thank you. As mentioned above, there are other things the government can do. Infrastructure was raised by many businesses as a key priority and projects such the Northern Connector are needed not only to help reduce the time and cost of moving goods around but also moving people. Having quality infrastructure allows companies to attract workers from further away, a necessary requirement for some of our advanced manufacturing companies that require highly technical and less common skills, and a good example is some of the companies in the aeronautics field.

Companies involved in the discussion recognised that, while all of the above areas are important, there can be improvements made, and Adelaide's north is a good place to do business—that is why they operate there. Building the confidence of the workforce and the confidence of industry was also raised.

The government, through the Northern Economic Plan, is looking to build on that confidence. However, industry acknowledged that they have a role to play in making South Australia a confident place to do business, and the community, of course, has a role to play as well. All too often we think less of ourselves and talk ourselves down but South Australia over the last few years has changed and we are building on some of the positives: our great lifestyle; our affordable and vibrant communities; and our strong industries.

These things were also picked up in our community consultations for the Northern Economic Plan. Recently released was the Northern Economic Plan Community Engagement Summary Report. We have undertaken a comprehensive community consultation, as have I previously outlined in this chamber, about what local people see about their region and what they see as providing jobs and growth in the future. We had a high level of feedback from the community and that is contained in the report.

Members of the community raised a number of strengths about the north: its people, high level of community services, affordable housing and meeting places, particularly shopping centres. The community also spoke about what it wants in the future. Many issues were raised; however, the importance of jobs was often paramount, providing better infrastructure; roads but also renewal of community spaces were also important.

Investing in the people of the north was a constant theme, ensuring that we continue to invest strongly in health, education, social services and safety. We will shortly be releasing the Northern Economic Plan that will identify opportunities, create jobs, attract new investment, identify and prioritise things that the north already does well, such as food manufacturing, defence manufacturing, building construction and the health industries. It will also recognise new opportunities. I will continue to inform the chamber as we continue to progress the Northern Economic Plan.