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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-08 Daily Xml
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TECHPORT

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (14:10): Will the Premier update the house on the progress of major works at the Techport facility at Osborne and on how local companies and their employees are benefiting?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:11): Just to fill members in on what happened, the commitment to invest in Techport was a critical part of our bid, South Australia's bid, to win the air warfare destroyer contract. What we could have done was said, 'Okay, we will build the facilities—the ship lift and so on, the transfer system—and hand it over to the successful bidder, the Australian Submarine Corporation.' However, we wanted it to be a multi-user facility—to develop a precinct that was available not only for the ASC but also for a range of other defence companies—and so we are currently in talks with companies from the United States and Britain, with a view to their locating at Techport.

Techport was a critical reason why we were successful in beating the Victorians to secure the biggest defence project in Australian history and, of course, we then went on from there to beat Sydney to win the systems centre. It was exciting to visit the Techport facility today to see the rapid progress of works occurring on site. Taking place before our very eyes is a transformation of the Osborne site that will help sustain a transformation of South Australia's economy to provide rewarding, secure and skilled jobs for the future.

The state's investment in Techport is already paying dividends and these will grow well into the future. We are investing more than $300 million in state-owned infrastructure at Techport to support the $8 billion air warfare destroyer contract, as I say, the largest defence contract ever awarded in Australia's history. At Techport, we are creating a naval industry hub, with:

a common user shipbuilding facility comprising the largest ship lift in Australia, indeed, the largest ship lift in the southern hemisphere, together with a transfer system and wharf;

a 35 hectare supplier precinct where suppliers and subcontractors can locate and develop strong supply chains, and;

a commercial and education precinct that will include a Maritime Skills Centre to provide the trade and technical skills required, as well as the high technology AWD Systems Centre, an engineering centre of excellence that will integrate all the complex elements of these vessels into a successful build program.

I am told that there are (or will be) over 200 people on site working to build Techport. This is expected to grow to 250. Work on the common user facility began in August last year and, when completed, will have:

a wharf that is 213 metres long and 25 metres wide;

a runway and dry berth, with a rail-based transfer system allowing movement of modules and completed ships and vessels around the site, and;

a shift lift that is 156 metres long and 34 metres wide, and capable of lifting a vessel (I think) about 18 metres (roughly 60 feet in the old imperial parlance) and supporting a vessel of up to 9,300 tonnes. Eventually—and this is being developed by Rolls Royce in conjunction with local suppliers—it could be expanded and developed to lift a much bigger ship—the equivalent of a small aircraft carrier such as an amphibious ship.

Also, a joint venture of McConnell Dowell and local company Built Environs has the $180 million contract to build the Common User Facility. On average, 2,400 tonnes (or 1,000 cubic metres) of concrete is poured every two weeks and, to date, 11,000 tonnes has been poured. Another 38,640 tonnes—or, putting it into more understandable parlance, 6,100 cubic metres—is still to be poured for the wharf, ship lift, runway and dry berth. The concrete comes from Readymix's Brompton plant, with some also coming from the company's Osborne plant. I am told that 2,500 piles will have gone into the completed site and, to date, I think maybe 1,700 piles or more have been driven into the ground at Techport.

As Techport's anchor tenant and as it gears up to build the air warfare destroyers, the Australian Shipbuilding Corporation (ASC) is spending $100 million on upgrading its shipyard. At its peak the ASC's upgrade will employ about 350 workers directly in terms of constructing the new facilities. Of the more than $300 million budgeted specifically for the development of Techport, I can announce today that contracts worth nearly $250 million have already been let, and the amounts paid to the various contractors to date already exceed $80 million.

Some of the other local companies that have used their extensive South Australian operations are Candetti Constructions for building the Maritime Skills Centre; Leed Engineering and Construction for the construction of the head works; subcontractors for Rolls Royce, such as RPG Australia ($10 million to supply the steel and build the platform); Mayfield Engineering for the provision of the motor control centre; and a range of other companies. I can announce also that considerable progress has been made. The project is moving ahead on time, on budget and due to be completed and opened in about February 2010.

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