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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 HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (15:10): My question is to the Premier. Why has his government repeatedly issued press releases over recent years announcing that Holden's future is secured? Releases which include headlines as follows: 'Holden's future secure'—

The SPEAKER: Member for Waite, I don't think we will need what is really a kind of pretend explanation.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: I need to explain.

The SPEAKER: I think I have got the idea. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:11): I think the pretty simple point is that we are entitled to rely upon the commitments that are made by international corporate citizens when they reach arrangements with us. I think that we have done no more or less than set out the facts. They have made it clear to us if they did not re-invest from 2016 to 2022 Holden's would shut. We were duty bound to tell the South Australian community that, because if we did not tell them that and that had transpired then we would have been derelict in our duty.

In circumstances where we reached an agreement with Holden's for them to reinvest a billion dollars and guarantee that they will be here to 2022, it is natural that we would actually tell the community about that. I mean, there was an alternative option: we could have snuck off to Detroit and not told anyone and committed $50 million without telling anyone, but we thought we would take the orthodox route, and that is explain to people what we were doing with their $50 million and what they got in return for it.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Somewhat different to the Motorola deal—

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Exactly.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: —which is how they did industry assistance.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right, in stark contrast to the side deals that were so much the province of the previous government. There is no doubt that it was a matter of controversy that we proposed a $50 million investment. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition questioned us putting money into the Holden co-investment package. He was running around talking about the carbon tax, so there was a lively debate about whether this was a sensible contribution of public money to this purpose. Of course, that has been thoroughly debunked. No serious person is advancing the carbon tax as the reason we have done this, although—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No serious person. The company does not even advance it as a reason they are seeking the co-investment. We did at that time, at some political risk, propose a $50 million co-investment package. There are people within the community, including in the federal Liberal Party, who do not actually believe in supporting Holden's. They do not believe in co-investment. They think that this should just disappear into the ashes.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Is the Premier finished?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Yes.

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