Sony Interactive Entertainment

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Can the minister inform the council about the great news regarding global gaming giant Sony Interactive Entertainment establishing an office in South Australia?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for his ongoing interest in growing South Australia's economy. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to tell the chamber about the arrival of the global gaming entertainment giant Sony Interactive Entertainment, the company responsible for the PlayStation brand and the family of products and services to South Australia.

Sony PlayStation has established an office in Adelaide, creating 32 exciting new engineering roles. The new Adelaide premises will provide highly skilled engineers an opportunity to progress their careers with a high-profile global company, without the need to relocate nationally or internationally. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the new offices and I was very impressed with the quality of the premises and the excitement in the room to be working for such a globally recognisable company right here in Adelaide. In fact, when you get out of the lift it is quite an impressive entrance to the particular part of their place.

This investment brings a whole new skill set to the state but also complements the strengths we already have in the digital media, including visual effects, game development and data centre and network infrastructure. The Marshall Liberal government has contributed $480,000 from the Economic and Business Growth Fund to Sony Interactive to assist with the establishment of the office. To attract a household name like Sony Interactive Entertainment to South Australia is a fantastic win, and I thank the company for their investment in our great state.

The arrival of Sony PlayStation further builds on our creative industries sector and adds a household name to the ecosystem to further accelerate growth and build our reputation as a global player. The Marshall Liberal government is building a culture of creativity and innovation that is helping to inspire new enterprises and encourage leading creative companies to invest in our state.

By building this culture, we are also giving young students who want to work in this field the ability to stay here in South Australia and not have to travel interstate or overseas for these types of exciting opportunities. Sectors like creative industries present huge opportunities for our state to create such a unique, thriving ecosystem of young, skilled workers and entrepreneurs, which is why creative industries was identified in the Joyce review as a key priority for South Australia. I look forward to seeing Sony PlayStation continue to grow and thrive in South Australia, and I am excited about the opportunities to continue to expand our burgeoning creative industries sector.