High-Tech Industries

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Trade and Investment. Can the minister please provide an update to the council about how the government plans to grow more high-tech, service-focused jobs to ensure South Australia comes back stronger than before?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade and Investment) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for her question. COVID-19—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, sit down, please. Enough of the exchanges across the chamber. I want to listen to the answer to the question. Minister.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President. COVID-19 has been an incredibly challenging period for the world, but in South Australia we have largely succeeded in flattening the curve and are committed to growing the economy, growing employment and ensuring that we come back stronger than before. Our world-leading response to COVID-19 means that South Australia is one of the safest places on earth, and it is seen as an extremely attractive place to invest and grow a business. As we look to the other side of the pandemic, I am confident that we will see many investments in South Australia in the months ahead that will underpin our state as the destination of choice for investors and globally recognised brands.

Unlike Daniel Andrews, who obviously has no idea what makes South Australia so great, businesses are finding many compelling reasons to invest in South Australia. It is no wonder, when you look at the great strides South Australia has made in recent times. We are now home to the national Space Agency and Mission Control Centre. We are the epicentre of defence, we have a growing health and medical sector, we have a creative industry sector ready to ramp up in the post COVID-19 period and we have Lot Fourteen, the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, MIT's bigdata Living Lab, and the leading experts in cybersecurity, AI and more.

Furthermore, South Australia is significantly more affordable than the Eastern States, and only last week we announced that water bills would be cut significantly. We have world-class universities delivering highly skilled graduates and a fantastic lifestyle. We have huge potential in growing a high-tech sector service, while at the same time doubling down on traditional advantages, such as food, wine, agribusiness, energy, mining and, of course, tourism.

Recent announcements, like Datacom's expansion to Noarlunga that will create 650 new jobs, is a great example of investment during these troubled times and a massive vote of confidence in our state. I would especially like to thank Darren Williams and Stacey Tomasoni from the team at Datacom for their support and endorsement of the Marshall Liberal government by investing another 650 jobs in South Australia.

The Naval Group has recently gone on a large recruitment drive, as has BHP. We have also seen local companies like Detmold and Fusetec pivot to manufacturing PPE supplies for domestic use. Just yesterday, Fleet Space announced that they were going on a hiring spree. COVID-19 has pushed companies around the world to embrace a digital future, and I believe we are perfectly positioned to capitalise on this trend and emerge as a digital hub for high-tech jobs, cybersecurity, data analytics, VFX, gaming and more.

We will also begin rolling out our sector plans across the nine priority sectors, including health and medical, which has been profiled this month by my department, as I outlined to the chamber last sitting week. These industry-backed sector plans will outline how industry and government can work together to significantly grow our economy while adapting to the tests a post-COVID world throws up.

There are many challenges ahead, but we are confident we have the right settings in South Australia, as a destination of choice for global investors, to attract young wealth creators to build our service sector, grow exports and look to emerge from this pandemic stronger than before.