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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-08-01 Daily Xml
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Upper Spencer Gulf

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Industry and Skills. Can the minister update the house on continued efforts to realise future opportunities in the Upper Spencer Gulf region?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Industry and Skills) (14:49): I think I could have done with some deportment lessons myself as a young man.

The SPEAKER: I agree.

The Hon. S.S. Marshall: There's still time.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: 'There's still time,' says the Premier. Thank you to the member for Flinders for his question. He is a very dedicated and committed local member to our regions here in South Australia. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to regional South Australia. After 16 long years of neglect under the former state Labor government, our commitment is very much welcomed by regional South Australians. In June, I visited the Upper Spencer Gulf to listen to and speak with industry and small business about their future workforce needs, including training priorities to build a skilled workforce.

A number of key issues were identified as local to the region. In July I returned to Whyalla to host an industry-led Upper Spencer Gulf industry forum to advance apprenticeships and employment in the region. The initiative brought together major employers, including the largest employer in the region, GFG Liberty OneSteel, to discuss strategies to address issues, including workforce and skills shortages, access to adequate training, retention of skilled labour and population growth.

The desire of industry, business and the community to work together to develop strategies to capitalise on future opportunities in the region was evident. Fundamentally, there was a great level of resolve to address the significant challenges around building a strong and capable workforce to fill the future jobs as OneSteel sets to double its production, mining and defence projects come online and with the disability and aged-care sector continuing to grow.

Regional leaders have identified priority areas for reform underpinned by the Marshall Liberal government's target to increase the number of apprentices and trainees by more than 20,000. Over the next four years, with a co-investment from the federal government and the state government of more than $200 million, we will be investing in training in South Australia, preparing our young people for the job opportunities that are coming our way.

Discussions at the forum raised skills retention, education and training, including those through better utilising TAFE facilities, as being key components of building and retaining a skilled workforce across the region. The Department for Industry and Skills is working to advance the priorities of the Upper Spencer Gulf community and businesses in particular.

While in Whyalla, I took the opportunity to meet with the council, Advancing Whyalla (which is a group that is charged with rejuvenating the CBD within Whyalla), Hillier Group, Becker Helicopters and RDA Whyalla and Eyre. The opportunities in the region are significant, and the level of optimism in line with the Marshall Liberal government's policy initiatives is evident and has injected much-needed confidence in the regions.

It is not just in Adelaide where we are seeing a boost in confidence in the business community but throughout the regions as well, because the regions know that they have a government on their side now. Our regional cities and centres are resilient, and they have been forced to be resilient because they have been left on their own for 16 years by the mob across the chamber. In changing the economy it is important that our regions are able to diversify and prosper, and we will continue to work to support the regions to address these challenges.

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