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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-09 Daily Xml
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Question Time

GM HOLDEN

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. Is the state's $50 million co-investment deal with Holden on or off?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:15): I thank the honourable member for his question. According to him, it's off. He doesn't seem to want there to be a binding agreement—he is asserting, along with the company that there's been no binding agreement reached between the South Australian government and the company, so it seems his proposition is that the agreement is off.

We won't permit the 16,000 people who rely upon Holden's for their prosperity—both those directly employed at Holden's and those who rely upon this particular company for their wellbeing—to just simply sit there without our advocacy on their behalf. This has been the approach that we've taken at every step of the way in this whole process. As soon as we heard about the possibility of the Holden plant closing back in late 2011, and the need for a co-investment package, my first instinct was to go precisely to the people who could make the decisions about that matter, that is, the chief executive and the leading executives in Detroit, and I did that accompanied by the federal government.

It was my intention, as it is my intention now, to ensure that we have a co-investment package that secures the future of Holden's in South Australia, but not at any cost and not without the interests of South Australians and those workers at that plant being taken into account and respected. We will not be disrespected by any corporate citizen. We will not be disrespected by any corporate citizen, and it's my intention to advocate on behalf of these 400 workers who are worried about their future tonight, as they are wondering which of the 2,000 will be tapped on the shoulder and asked to leave this company. Now they are the people who we should have firmly in our minds at the moment.

Rather than pointscore across this parliament, what they should be doing is joining with us, strengthening our arm, so that when we do have these discussions with General Motors we are in the strongest possible position, not trying to white-ant us for some short-term political interest that they might want to advance. At every single turn, our interests have been about making sure that Holden's remains strong into the future. That's why we committed ourselves to this package, but we also put safeguards in because we weren't going to have the South Australian taxpayers exposed to an open-ended arrangement, and that is what I am insisting on, and that's the way in which my negotiations will proceed with General Motors.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the members for Morphett, MacKillop and the Deputy Leader to order, and I warn the member for Heysen for the second time. There will be no further warnings.

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