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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-11 Daily Xml
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GM HOLDEN

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:20): Today I want to briefly add my voice to those who have expressed disappointment and even anger at Holden's plan to lay off 400 workers in the coming months. I do not want to say too much about it. I think the issues have been pretty well canvassed over the last couple of days. The Premier has been at pains to tell the house exactly what is going on as it happens. There have been many other contributions, some of them more useful than others.

I note that yesterday the member for Taylor made a particularly valuable and, at times, quite passionate contribution. We all know Holden's and its subsidiary industries are major manufacturers in the northern suburbs. I grew up there, my Dad worked at Holden's, my two brothers-in-law worked at Holden's, and many of my friends and family work at Holden's. This is what we have to remember in this debate—

The Hon. S.W. Key: It's real people.

Mr ODENWALDER: That is right. It is real people, it is not a political football, and it is not something for us to come in here and score points off each other. These are real people, these are people with families, and they are people who contribute to the local economy of the area that I live in, so to me it is quite personal, and we will be doing what we can to make the best of it and to make sure that these people are looked after.

I do not want to say too much about Holden. I do want to take the opportunity to remind members of the broader range of manufacturers that are located in the northern suburbs, those that are largely unrelated to the automotive sector. There are some significant success stories, with varying levels of success, but there is a lot of manufacturing going on in the north, and I want to draw the house's attention to some of those today.

Despite the high Australian dollar and the other challenges that we have canvassed quite a bit this week facing the manufacturing sector, and facing the northern suburbs too, there are some success stories, and I would like to go through a few of them. There is Clipsal Schneider, which is in the Port Adelaide electorate, but it is broadly in the northern suburbs. Some of my constituents work down that way.

Clipsal is Australia's number one brand of electrical accessories. It produces electrical accessories and data communications products for industrial and residential applications. Clipsal manufactures much of its product at its plant at Gepps Cross. The $50 million move to Gepps Cross from Clipsal's traditional home at Bowden consolidates the company's South Australian operation. I understand Clipsal has regional satellite factories in Wingfield and also in Bayswater, Victoria. Combined, these factories create employment for over 1,500 Australia-wide.

I should note at this point that my electorate, because of its distinctive shape, is largely dormitory; there is not much large industry in the electorate of Little Para itself, so I will be referring to the northern suburbs, and I will be referring largely to the electorates of Ramsay and Taylor as representative of industry in the northern suburbs.

There is Bickfords in Salisbury South. This is an iconic South Australian drinks manufacturer. We are all familiar with Bickfords. It was established in 1839 and, as I said, it is located in Salisbury South. It is well known for its traditional cordials and its fruit flavoured drinks, and we are well stocked and well served here in the Blue Room with Bickfords products. I am sure we enjoy their sarsaparilla and ginger beer. I know that the member for Florey does.

Ms Bedford: I don't drink sarsaparilla or ginger beer.

Mr ODENWALDER: Am I misleading the house now? I beg your pardon. I withdraw that. I withdraw the accusation that the member for Florey drinks sarsaparilla or ginger beer. There is also the Weeks Group which is located in Edinburgh Parks in Taylor. The Weeks Group has its factory in Edinburgh Parks and it has for more than 20 years been building residential homes and manufacturing steel framing products for the residential and commercial construction industry. Members would be aware of the Supaloc products that they construct for the construction industry. They are probably best known for Supaloc.

Ms Bedford: White ants don't like that.

Mr ODENWALDER: That's right. Finally, I want to mention the Keyhole Tungsten Inert Gas company, K-TIG—

Ms Bedford: Say that fast!

Mr ODENWALDER: Keyhole Tungsten Inert Gas—in Salisbury South. It is a world-leading innovator of welding products in Salisbury South. It has established a kind of technology—a world-leading welding technology—that enables thick gauge materials, including stainless steel and titanium, to be welded in one-tenth of the time that is possible with standard welding processes.

Ms Bedford interjecting:

Mr Griffiths: Let him finish.

Mr ODENWALDER: Yes, thank you very much. It was originally developed by our own CSIRO and now is wholly owned by K-TIG.

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