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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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ADVANCED MANUFACTURING STRATEGY

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (15:01): My question is for the Premier. What tangible outcomes have been achieved by the government's manufacturing ministerial task force, formed over a year ago, and are the job losses at Holden a signal that the task force is failing to get results?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for his question. The truth is that South Australian manufacturing, as indeed Australian manufacturing, is under enormous pressure through the high Australian dollar. So much is obvious, and that is one of the reasons we made manufacturing our focus. The first decision that we took was to publish a very significant manufacturing strategy, I would say one of the most comprehensive we have seen in the nation.

Indeed, in many respects it has been followed and forms the basis for the national strategy in relation to advanced manufacturing. That's not unnatural, because one of the principal contributors to both of those documents was Professor Göran Roos, who I am pleased to say has now chosen to take up residence here in South Australia, which I think is a remarkable vote of confidence in the South Australian community. He is a world-leading expert in the challenges of advanced manufacturing.

Because this is now one of our seven priorities, really there is a sense in which all of the activities of government are directed to the manufacturing agenda as far as we can possibly do that. The whole agency, the Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy Agency, was established to create the very tangible linkages between the mining resources and energy sector and advanced manufacturing. The work that Professor Göran Roos has done in the advanced manufacturing task force has already had a very significant influence on the policy responses we have taken in relation to Holden. Indeed, the very conditions that I sought to put in the deal—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Could you just listen? You might learn something.

The SPEAKER: I warn the leader for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The very conditions that I sought to include in the arrangements with General Motors Holden negotiated at Detroit came directly from the advice we received from—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —Professor Göran Roos.

The SPEAKER: I warn the deputy leader for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: In fact, the very strong advice we got from Professor Göran Roos is that we should be involved in a co-investment package, understanding that to build a manufacturing sector out of the ashes of one which is gone is so much harder than transforming an existing manufacturing sector. That same effort was then transferred into the Riverland.

The deal that we negotiated to get the extra 450 gigalitres of water down the river included an adjustment package which focused very much on advanced manufacturing, informed again by the views of the Advanced Manufacturing Council. That was an essential part of the agreement that we reached, a very substantial part of the agreement we reached, and there will be further announcements about that in coming weeks.

We also played a central role in relation to the way in which we negotiated the arrangements for the sale of the forests. The $27 million package in relation to the adjustments for the forests once again has a strong focus on advanced manufacturing. Indeed, Professor Göran Roos has arranged for the Finnish equivalent of the CSIRO to visit the South-East to talk about value-adding to the fibre industries—

The Hon. J.J. Snelling: It was very, very well received down there.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Incredibly well received down in the South-East—once again promoting an advanced manufacturing future for our state. You would have seen the last budget announcement about vouchers, which are also an initiative under our advanced manufacturing strategy, where particular industries or particular companies can take up a voucher offer which they are obliged to spend with a tertiary institution to drive this collaboration between the tertiary institutions.

The SPEAKER: The Premier's time has expired. The member for Waite.

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