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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-18 Daily Xml
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SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR MANUFACTURING

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood) (14:24): I have a supplementary, Madam Speaker. The Premier referred to all that his government has done for the manufacturing sector in his reply. Can the Premier outline to the house whether he now thinks that his government's decision to close the South Australian Centre for Manufacturing was a mistake?

The SPEAKER: I will consider that another question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:24): Thank you, Madam Speaker; and, no, I don't think it was a mistake. I think that it was a wise decision. When we created the new agency of the Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy we did that advisedly because we wanted to bring together for the first time our resources and energy sector together with our manufacturing sector. We believed that it was—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We also, at the same time, rather than seeing innovation as being peripheral to the work of the agency, we wanted to make it central to the work of the agency, because the truth is—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that old manufacturing—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Norwood, order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —does not have a future for us in this state. We need to adopt different business practices, different business models, new technology. We need to explore different markets. We need to look at adding value to our food and fibre. We need to look at going up the technological food change in relation to our existing manufacturing industry. That is at the heart of our advanced manufacturing strategy. It is the reason we have comprised our agency in the way in which we have. It is the reason we have brought in Invest in SA, a new agency which will have a new external focus for our manufacturers. The truth is that we have to raise the ambition of our manufacturing sector, raise the skills of our manufacturing workforce, and that will be the basis on which we guarantee our future prosperity.

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