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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-27 Daily Xml
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GM HOLDEN

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:50): Thank you, Madam Speaker; I'll try again. My question is to the Premier. How does the Holden co-investment package relate to the government's manufacturing green paper and the Thinker in Residence report by Professor Göran Roos?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:50): There is a critical relationship between the investment that we have made to secure the future of Holden's here in South Australia and our capacity to have any sort of manufacturing industry, let alone an advanced manufacturing industry. Professor Göran Roos made the powerful point to us in relation to the Holden's package that it is almost impossible to rebuild a manufacturing industry once it is lost; and, make no mistake, ripping 16,000 jobs out of the South Australian economy and out of the heart of our manufacturing industry would make it an extraordinarily difficult job to rebuild that industry, and that is what those opposite would do. They would destroy the Playford legacy. They would be prepared to destroy and tear down the Playford legacy. We are seeking to build on it, and that is the difference—the constructive versus the destructive, and that is where they always are, Madam Speaker. They are always in the negative destructive.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, the reason why it is such an important task for us to save manufacturing, and in particular Holden's, is because a number of the capabilities and skills that exist in Holden's are the raw materials that will drive and advance a manufacturing future for our state. I have seen evidence of this with my own eyes in going around to range of businesses—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —which could fairly be described as 'advanced manufacturing'. They have drawn on the skills and capabilities of the managers and the tradespeople and the process workers who exist at Holden's or the other automotive manufacturers. Indeed, I was at the air warfare destroyer assembly project, the ASC, down in the electorate of the member for Port Adelaide, and I was very pleased to see some former Mitsubishi workers there who were working in that factory, and their skills were valued.

Their process line skills and their understanding of advanced manufacturing skills, which essentially is what car manufacturing has become now, was absolutely vital in the participation in that particular project. The four areas where South Australia needs to transition (which are laid out in the advanced manufacturing paper) are referred in two regards to 'smart firms' and 'smart people', and that is what is at the heart of our advanced manufacturing sector—growing those skills and capabilities, keeping Holden's. Working through the working party to lift skills and capabilities will be at the heart of our advanced manufacturing future.

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