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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-31 Daily Xml
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Federal Labor Government

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (14:38): My question is to the Deputy Premier. Can the Deputy Premier update the house on the federal Albanese government's commitments to industry and innovation in South Australia?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (14:38): I thank the member for her question. We have a reasonable sense that the economy, although it is quite strong at the moment, with lots of government expenditure across many nations as a result of the expenditure through COVID, nonetheless has a lot of vulnerability, some of which is related, of course, to the extent of CPI and therefore the pressure on people's cost of living but also in the underlying structure of our economy, which doesn't bode particularly well for a prosperous future, particularly not one where we are required to decarbonise rapidly.

As we know, Australia has a pretty low, complex economy and it is very highly reliant on carbon. What that means is that, if we are going to be able to shift our economic base quickly and in a way that creates sustainability and prosperity, we need a government at both state and federal level that's prepared to be pretty active, prepared to intervene and prepared to come up with the kind of dollars and the kind of direction that make a difference.

The Albanese government comes in with a lot of expectations, a lot of hope and a lot of optimism. But one element of that is that they have committed to not only this $15 million National Reconstruction Fund but $1 billion of that will be about advanced manufacturing. South Australia is extremely well placed to take a large share of that, given that we have such advanced manufacturing, particularly associated with defence and space industry but also off the back of the remnants of the auto industry after they were chased out by a previous Liberal government.

One of the challenges that we have is that Australia is last in the OECD for manufacturing self-sufficiency. We started hearing about this need for having sovereign capability, being self-reliant, through COVID as if it was suddenly a new idea. Actually, most nations have been far better at ensuring a manufacturing supply chain that was sustainable and resilient. It was only when COVID hit that the Morrison government realised that it might actually cause a bit of a challenge. The fact that the Albanese government has come in with this as a clear goal to address I think bodes very well for South Australian investment.

In the discussion about this fund, they also point out that Australia is 15th in the world for innovation inputs, by which they mean essentially research, the kind of work that happens at universities in particular, but 33rd in the world for innovation outputs, by which they mean actually commercialising and turning that research into productivity and into work that creates wealth. That is a problem that occurs also in South Australia and one that we need to address.

What this $1 billion will do—and we will do everything we can to get as much of that for South Australia as possible—is create greater access to capital for businesses to be able to accelerate their modernisation. It beautifully tailors with the commitment from this government to have the manufacturing grants that mean that manufacturers will be able to get the kind of equipment or change the processes to be able to be more efficient and more productive and also the work we are doing at Tonsley with the Line Zero Factory of the Future, which is all about helping small businesses, supply chain companies in defence, to be able to accelerate their modernisation.

The $15 billion that the federal government is able to put towards national reconstruction of course is mirrored by the $100 million that was announced recently by the Treasurer in the Economic Recovery Fund, tailored exactly at targeting the problems in our economy that that require attention from government rather than the hands-off-the-wheel approach. I can assert clearly here that this government cares about complexity. It understands innovation and the need to turn it into a proper industry policy and to make sure that the workforce planning we do ensures prosperity.

I do have a lingering question as we get closer to estimates. I am not sure which shadow minister thinks that their job is industry and employment. I am not sure which; they don't seem to have any titles, so I am curious, when we get to sit down at estimates, who will be sitting on that bench.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There's a point of order from the member for Morialta.

Mr GARDNER: The minister is out of time and her commentary is completely irrelevant to the house.

The SPEAKER: The minister's time has expired.

The Hon. S.E. Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I understand, too, from the Deputy Premier that her answer has in any case concluded.

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