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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-08-26 Daily Xml
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Job Creation

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Trade and Investment. Can the minister please update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is creating more jobs through investing in the high-tech and health and medical industry sectors in South Australia?

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Wright is warned for the first time, and the member for West Torrens is warned for the second time.

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON (Morphett—Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:49): I thank the member for Newland for his question really focusing on the importance of the high-tech sector and the future jobs it can create. Parents and students in his electorate are very interested in future industries. It is very important, for example, for Banksia Park International High School, and here in South Australia we are rapidly transforming the high-tech sector, really moving it forward very fast to make South Australia a technology powerhouse.

Of course, that is attracting global companies to come to South Australia, which means global jobs for students and parents in the member for Newland's electorate. One of those technologies driving high-tech forward is the high speed 5G network. The federal government has recognised this. It has set up a $20 million fund called the 5G Innovation Initiative, which is looking for a program to scale out 5G because it is an important technology.

From an industrial context, the speed of it allows for the Internet of Things to be connected, whether that is robots, machines, sensors or computers. It allows the future manufacturing industry to become much more automated. That means you get economies of scale and you get opportunities in terms of not only productivity gains but also safety improvements.

That initiative is fantastic, and that is why I am delighted to say that just recently the National 5G Industrial Incubation Lab has been announced to land right here in Adelaide. That has been partnered and led by Nokia, a global company in communications—another global company coming here to South Australia creating jobs for all South Australians.

Not only will it help create jobs but it will also improve safety. Some of the initiatives this lab is going to be looking into include increased rail passenger safety using cameras and AI, airport situation awareness in terms of safety and also energy management, and 5G connects it all up. It is a fantastic opportunity.

In terms of who will be working with those, we've got the Department for Infrastructure and Transport for passenger safety, the Adelaide Airport, of course, for airport safety, and then also SA Power Networks. They rely on some of the other big institutions that have come to South Australia: MIT bigdata Living Lab; the Australian Institute of Machine Learning; a local company, SAGE Automation; and also Bell Labs Consulting, another major globally recognised lab coming to South Australia out of the US. That is fantastic news.

What that means is not only jobs but also another centre of excellence being positioned right here in Adelaide, this time in the communication and innovation realm. Not only will this be a national centre but also it can be a centre for the Oceania region, which again is great for jobs for South Australians. Not only can you live in Australia's number one most livable city and the world's third most livable city but also you can have a globally based career here.

That is fantastic news for South Australians, and we thank the federal government for recognising the digital transformation that is going on in South Australia. We thank Nokia for investing in South Australia. It is a huge pat on the back in recognition of how this state has transformed in the three years of the Marshall Liberal government. It really supports the hard work that this government has put in to build a thriving ecosystem in South Australia to create sustainable jobs of the future for all South Australians.

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