Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Northern Economic Plan Northern Economic Plan The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council Northern Economic Plan The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:33): Can the minister nominate one aspect of the Northern Economic Plan which is different in any way to what the government has been doing for the last 14 years? The Hon. K.J. MAHER Legislative Council Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy Northern Economic Plan The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:33): I thank the honourable member for his question. A lot of the Northern Economic Plan builds on what the government has been doing, and it has been very well received by many, many people, so I thank the honourable member for his compliment about our past policies. I thank him for his compliment about the past policies and building on those. The Northern Economic Plan outlined a number of areas that we are looking to grow. It looked at a number of areas. It included the defence industry. We know that there are major global players in the defence industries—BAE Systems, General Dynamics and Saab, to name just a few—based in northern Adelaide that have the capacity to grow. Again, if the Hon. Rob Lucas's mates in the federal government kept their word with building subs and with building defence projects here, we would see that grow. The food manufacturing sector, as I have outlined, has been growing in South Australia. We are keen to see that grow and to maximise what this state can do, to value-add to our world-renowned produce here. We will continue to build on that. There was significant funding—$7 million worth of funding—for the northern food park as part of the Northern Economic Plan. Additionally, we know that the disability services and ageing and healthcare area is growing. There are jobs in that sector. I am very proud that the Northern Economic Plan put $4 million towards an NDIS hub to make sure that we can take full advantage of the NDIS rollout and support jobs in those industries that will provide jobs and growth in the future.