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

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:45): I have a supplementary question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Before the supplementary, I call the members for Chaffey and West Torrens to order. Leader, supplementary.

Mr MARSHALL: The Premier raised the issue of the government's economic statement. Can he advise the house whether the closure of the Holden plant in South Australia was envisaged in any one of the four scenarios that he outlined in that economic statement last month?

The SPEAKER: That is not a supplementary, but I will give it as a question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:45): If the member actually took the time to study that document, he would be aware that it was the long-term projection on four different scenarios of growth in the South Australian economy. What it said was that, under any of those scenarios, including the scenario that we face at the moment, with very substantial shocks to our economy, the economy grows under any scenario.

We know that there is a particular effect on the manufacturing sector that occurs as a consequence of a high Australian dollar, which also goes hand in hand with a strong resources sector. So, we are seeing creation and destruction at the same time. Just on Friday—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully to what the Premier has to say.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Just on Friday, we saw an announcement by Liebherr, a mining services company, that actually announced the creation of 125 new jobs in South Australia off the back of the mining services sector. The high Australian dollar, the very factor which is playing such an important role in placing pressure on our manufacturers, the very thing that is causing—

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is directly relevant.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: The Premier is not answering the substance of the question, which was, 'In any of the four scenarios outlined in the government's economic statement, did any of those four take into consideration the closure of Holden?'

The SPEAKER: I rule against the point of order. The Premier is clearly speaking to his economic statement and he is offering the house information, albeit information that perhaps one side of the house does not wish to hear. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: For those opposite to make sense of what I am talking about, in each of those scenarios there are obviously upsides and downsides associated with the resources boom. The resources boom gives you growth in employment in that sector, but it also provides a high Australian dollar that places pressure on manufacturing. That is the very thing that we are seeing at the moment. The economic statement is predicated on this continuing, under the four scenarios. One of the scenarios—

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will be seated. The point of order is frivolous and, accordingly, I call the leader to order. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The point about referring to Liebherr is that it is precisely the sort of company that actually demonstrates the sense of having each of these particular scenarios creating benefits in some respects and detriments in others. So, we have the very same pressures on Holden, which are placing pressure on them, also giving opportunities to a mining services company that has decided to set up its business here in South Australia as a mining services hub for the nation.

They are placing their logistics centre here in South Australia, creating all of these jobs, an $85 million investment which will create its own employment effect, and then 125 extra workers, as they provide the logistics hub for, essentially, open cut mining for the nation. They are supplying mines in New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland. I know that a good news story sticks in the throat of those opposite, but this is directly relevant to the scenarios we have set out in the economic statement. There is strength in one sector, detriment in another and vice versa.

If the mining boom was to have a terms of trade shock, there would be an increased proposition in the manufacturing sector, and that comes from a balanced economy; that is what we have achieved over the last 40 or so years, and very substantially in the last 10—a diversified, strong economy of which we should be proud. We are working to ensure that we transition the Holden's workers and that Holden's plant into a positive future.

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