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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-01 Daily Xml
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DEFENCE INDUSTRY

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:17): My question is again to the Premier. Does the Premier stand by Labor's 2010 election policy which stated, and I quote, 'More jobs will open up in the defence industries in South Australia over the next five years', or is this another example of over-spruiking?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:18): No, we do stand by our commitment and, indeed, we have continued to pursue the very substantial contracts that exist in the defence sector for the benefit of the South Australian defence sector and, by reference, our advanced manufacturing ambitions. What could be a more important contract to pursue than the Future Submarines contract? We've already seen, in relation to the Future Submarines contract, the 12 new submarines which will be the largest defence procurement, indeed, the largest procurement of any sort, undertaken by the commonwealth.

We've already seen that the current commonwealth government has made a commitment to a design centre, which will be based in South Australia, and has made a commitment to a land-based testing site, which will be based in South Australia; and we are continuing to advocate for further steps to be taken by the federal Labor government which cement South Australia as the home for the Future Submarines Project. It is a natural decision to be taken. Those opposite have chosen to resist the opportunity to call upon their federal colleagues to confirm that South Australia will be the home of Future Submarines, so they have a role to play in this regard.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is warned for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is not just something that falls to the government: this is something that the opposition can assist this state with by putting state ahead of party and by ensuring that we secure these Future Submarine projects for South Australia. It's become an urgent proposition because the pace of change for our state is rapidly increasing. So, we must change more quickly than the world around us, and that means ensuring that we have a solid base. The truth is that we are in transition. We have seen that. That is at the essence of the deal we have done in relation to Holden's. It was a deal about transition, accepting that we were going to have change, but wanting to make sure that our workers were equipped with the skills and the capacities to move into jobs that we are creating, away from the jobs that were shrinking. That's the support we need from an opposition, if it is truly to be a loyal opposition to this state—not to this government but to this state.

Mr Gardner: What are you implying?

Mr MARSHALL: A supplementary.

The SPEAKER: Before the supplementary, I warn the member for Morialta for the first time.

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