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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-09-12 Daily Xml
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EMPLOYMENT FIGURES

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): My supplementary is to the Premier. Does the government stand by its promise to create 100,000 new jobs by 2016, which would require 3,500 new jobs per month between now and the target deadline?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:12): We certainly stand by pursuing that target. In the last few months, we have seen Red Lion Australia sign a $4.6 million contract with a company based in Fujian Province in China, and four other businesses have signed MOUs for future trade opportunities. Spring Gully has a plan to exit administration and return to health and grow.

Lion brewing will spend $70 million redeveloping the West End Brewery, with the creation of 30 jobs. Gemtree Wines has done a deal to see premium wine going to China. We have Electrolux receiving a $9 million contract to expand its operations in Dudley Park. After receiving support from the state government, E&A Contractors in Whyalla has been working on the construction of new wind towers with Siemens. Intercast & Forge has—

The SPEAKER: Premier, there is a point of order.

Mr MARSHALL: The point of order is relevance. I just want to know whether the government stands by its promise to create 100,000 new jobs by 2016.

The SPEAKER: Leader, the Premier is being completely relevant and offering information to the house about the creation of new jobs. The point of order is completely wrong. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Can I say that, in addition to those particular jobs that I have mentioned, satellite company NewSat will expand at Mawson Lakes, creating 15 new high-tech jobs over the next few years. Liebherr-Australia has the construction of the expansion now underway, creating 180 jobs by the time it is finished. Smart Fabrication provides planning, design, construction and insulation of a wide range of steel fabrication products. REDARC does research, design, redevelopment and manufacturing of electronic voltage converters.

In the mining sector, there is the Four Mile Project in the state's Far North-East. Santos has put into operation Australia's first unconventional gas well which global giant Chevron has bought into with a deal with Beach. Senex has announced a major upgrade in its proved and probable reserves in the Cooper Basin. Rex Minerals has increased the estimate of the reserve of copper at Hillside project by 50 per cent, plus secured around $550 million in funding from Chinese investors.

Murray Zircon has opened its mineral sands projects at Mindarie in the Murray Mallee. Mining explorer Cooper Energy is relocating from Perth to Adelaide. The Quest on Franklin has opened and construction of the Quest on King William Street south is underway, and it is considering Whyalla and Port Adelaide. If I have time, I am happy to elaborate.

The SPEAKER: A minute and 22 seconds.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That is ample time to elaborate on the remarks that were made by the representative from Quest, who said these words. This is the Quest chairman on the future of South Australia, because he has made a big investment decision:

If I go back 15 years, SA was really a leisure state. There was the Barossa and the wineries, there was a road experience where you'd go out for a day to somewhere like Hahndorf.

It was great but it was all leisure-driven. There was no real corporate interest here.

The only big corporate was Santos and most of their business was outside SA.

Then there was Olympic Dam up at Roxby Downs.

But over the last 15 years the government has set an agenda so the state doesn't only harness the festival-style events.

It's looked at industries and said 'what are we going to invest in.'

So SA had invested in the education market which not only brought revenue from international students but attracted parents to stay.

This was coupled with facilitating private investments in the resources industry and in bidding for major defence manufacturing contracts and latterly world-class medical research.

So what has happened—a businessman who has put his money where his mouth is has backed the South Australian government's economic strategy.

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