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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-12-02 Daily Xml
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Tonsley Park Development

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (15:08): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation. Minister, can you provide an update to the house on progress to install a solar array on the main assembly building roof at the old Mitsubishi plant at Tonsley?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for the Public Sector) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for her continual interest in Tonsley and how well it is going. This government has achieved many significant milestones since taking over the ownership of the old Mitsubishi plant at Tonsley. Before I unduly alarm the IT crowd, let me note that I will be providing a brief context with some background material that may already be known to some people before I provide new information.

Tonsley is, as many of us but perhaps not all know, a 20-year project to transform the old Mitsubishi site into a collaborative and high-value industry, education and residential precinct. Growth through innovation has been identified by this government as a key economic objective, and at Tonsley we are creating a showcase on how collaboration between research and development, training, science and technology, and advanced manufacturing can come together to drive new ideas that generate jobs, investment and economic opportunities. We must continue to be a state that makes things. One of the ways to achieve that goal in this new and emerging economy is to encourage innovation from the first bright spark of an idea through concept development and prototypes to a product that can capture markets both here, interstate and even globally.

One of the areas that this state can excel in through innovation is renewable energy. Yesterday this parliament hosted a clean energy summit that reinforced South Australia's role as a global leader in developing renewable technologies. To maintain our lead, we need to be a global showcase of the achievable. In that spirit, the government recently tested the market's appetite for developing a solar installation on the roof of the main assembly building at Tonsley. I was pleased with the response to our request for proposals to develop the 25,000 square metres of potential solar generation space on the saw-toothed—

Ms Chapman: That's it; it's all there on the website.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: That's incorrect; it's not all there on the website.

The SPEAKER: The minister will not respond to interjections.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: My apologies, Mr Speaker. Not surprisingly, a solar project on this scale has attracted a lot of attention. Eight submissions were received from the market in response to recent request for proposals, with a tender evaluation panel to carry out individual assessments during the next few weeks. In the next stage, a preferred proponent will be invited to negotiate a delivery agreement with the government for the Tonsley power system.

The rooftop solar project at Tonsley also aligns with the government's announcement to increase South Australia's renewable energy target to 50 per cent by 2025. Yesterday evening I was delighted to take part in the launch of a new partnership with the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living and the University of South Australia to develop Adelaide Living Laboratories, an innovative research hub that will investigate pathways for low carbon living in Adelaide. The four-year venture is an action-based research project located across three key developmental sites—at Tonsley, Lochiel Park and Bowden—where community, industry and university participants will undertake on-site research.

The Living Laboratories partnership is an exciting opportunity for South Australia to emerge as the national leader in low carbon research. The project aims to contribute to tangible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to test, develop and commercialise the products, systems and services that can underpin future low carbon communities.

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