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

Contents

GM HOLDEN

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:42): My question is to the Premier. What is the total number of jobs that will now be lost across South Australia as a result of 400 job cuts at Holden?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:42): I thank the member for that question; it's an important question. That's not presently capable of being known, although there will be an effect on component manufacturers. We are trying to gather that information as I speak. I have some anecdotal information about at least one component supplier, who had already rerated their lines to accommodate the lower production numbers that were already being produced by Holden because of the reduction in the number of days and the lead days that were being taken.

You've got to remember that Holden has been finding other ways to make economies over an extended period now, and it's got to this point where it's made this rather dramatic decision. So, some of the component suppliers have rerated their connection, if you like, to Holden in a way that means that this shouldn't cause any further reduction because they are already working at a reduced rate. That was very substantial component of manufacturing. I'm not aware of the effect on other component manufacturers, but we will be making those inquiries and I will be meeting with representatives, the peak bodies, of those component suppliers to try to find ways of minimising the effect on those particular workers and businesses as well.