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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-04 Daily Xml
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OLYMPIC DAM EXPANSION

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:56): My question is to the Premier. How will the government provide additional support for regional South Australia given that the Olympic Dam expansion will not proceed any time soon? The Premier told this house on 9 November 2011, specifically regarding the Olympic Dam expansion, and I quote:

Regional development is a key outcome of this expansion. The project touches many regional areas in the state...It will generate considerable development opportunities in these regional areas, particularly through wealth generation, increased employment opportunities and the use of local...companies.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for his question. Part of the answer, of course, was supplied by the Minister for Mineral Resources in his earlier answer when he outlined the extraordinary range of projects, independently of BHP Billiton's expansion programs, which are taking place—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —in the north of our state. In fact, the target of $10 billion in mineral resources production by 2020 is on track independent of the expansion of the Olympic Dam project.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Of course, we do get the usual interruptions as we speak as they seek to make fun of the fact that the BHP expansion has not gone ahead and somehow think that some witty interjections about that would be appropriate. I think most South Australians share the government's disappointment in this matter. There is no point in sugar-coating it; it is a serious loss to regional South Australia. The opportunities would have been extraordinary. It is—

Mrs Redmond: So, now what are you going to do about it?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, we have already in place a very solid pipeline of works that the minister has outlined.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Yes, that's right; it was already there, and that is the reason.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The reason it's already there is because within the life of this government we have gone from four to 20 mines, and within the life of this government we have seen a quadrupling of mining exports in this state, and we have seen, with those statistics that were just released yesterday, extraordinary levels of exploration in relation to our mineral resources, and that is leaving aside the whole energy resource sector. On the very day that I was opening up a new underground mine at Ankata at Prominent Hill, we heard the news from Santos about a commercial shale gas discovery, an extraordinary proposition, an Australian breakthrough which will lead to additional investment, additional jobs, additional opportunities for regional South Australia. But that is just—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: She talks about all our eggs in one basket. The truth is there are many eggs and there are many baskets. For those opposite who paid some attention to the Governor's speech you would have heard us outline the other areas of endeavour for our state, and they include building on our clean, premium food reputation in this region—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: There are so many exciting possibilities—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, I do not know why they criticise us in this Year of the Farmer for advancing our agenda on clean premium food. You would have thought that the party from the country would be supporting us.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Hammond, order! The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It would be a shame, Madam Speaker, if he had to go for a walk on his 50th birthday.

The SPEAKER: It would be a big shame.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It would be a shame. We outlined seven priorities for the future of our state. One of them was building on our traditional strength in our agricultural sector, covering our agriculture, our food, our fisheries—our great opportunities for food and wine exports into this fast growing region of the world.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Very fortunately for us, we are in the right place at the right time to supply the resource needs, as well as the food and protein needs, of this growing middle class within our immediate region. We have also proposed that we grow our advanced manufacturing sector for the future of our state—an advanced manufacturing building on our existing manufacturing industry, and—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. I suspect that the Premier has now gone over the four minutes allowed.

The SPEAKER: I was giving him a few seconds extra. Premier, can you wind up?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, I was so rudely interrupted that I had to take some time defending myself from these rude interjections. Can I say—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that all of these opportunities—adding value to our food and fibre through advanced manufacturing, our premium food industries, our existing resource sectors—are fantastic opportunities for our regions. We will continue to grow them for the benefit of our regions.

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