David Fawcett (Wakefield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to draw to the attention of the House the announcement in South Australia of the development of Playford North. The timing of this is interesting, and one could be cynical about it, given that people have waited for this announcement for some considerable period of time. I nevertheless welcome the announcement of the redevelopment of this area and some 4,000 new homes, which will house families in the southern part of Wakefield. This is a development worth some $1 billion over 15 years, announced by the state government. It will see not only new homes but also some 381 housing trust homes upgraded and 736 housing trust homes replaced. The decision for this growth reflects the fact that there is a need there because there is growth in the southern part of Wakefield.

The question is: why is that growth there? We have seen growth in Edinburgh Parks and Elizabeth West. It is partly because of funding provided by the Howard government for infrastructure such as roads, for training opportunities, for incentives for companies such as Hirotec to move into that area and create more employment. There has been a decision by the federal government to move a battalion to Edinburgh as part of hardening and networking the Army, which is going to see some 1,200 service people plus their families and support people move into the area. There will be a great need for housing for those workers and this is going to be a terrific answer to that. Importantly, it is also going to provide a future workforce for the expanding industry base in Wakefield.

As part of enabling this growth, we are going to need a significant number of people who have the skills to work in the housing and construction sector. I am pleased to report to the House that this is going to be enabled because of the Howard government initiative for Australian technical colleges, which was approved last year. The Catholic education sector and an industry group led by the housing and construction sector in South Australia have put in a successful submission. They are going to target the provision of trade skills that young people need to move into the very area where we are going to see a massive increase in demand for skills and jobs over the next 10 to 15 years. This is going to benefit not only people in Playford but, importantly, people from Salisbury, Gawler, Mallala and beyond. So this Australian technical college will really bring a regional benefit to that area.

A press release issued by the South Australian government mentions that much of this redevelopment will benefit the people of the Peachey Belt, which is an area that for many years has been seen as a low socioeconomic area with significant barriers to employment. That is certainly the case. People in that area face many barriers, ranging from substance abuse to intergenerational unemployment and family dysfunction. Despite that, there is resilience amongst the people.

In another Commonwealth initiative which has just been announced as part of the sustainable regions project, over $600,000 will be provided for BoysTown to set up an operation in Playford to work with the young people in this community. BoysTown have a terrific record both in Queensland and also in South Australia at Port Pirie, where they have worked with people who have been marginalised and previously considered to be unemployable because of the barriers they face. Some 80 per cent of participants who go into the BoysTown program end up holding down open employment in a sustainable manner.

One of the sectors that BoysTown works with is the housing and construction sector. Last week I facilitated a meeting between BoysTown and that sector, as well as the civil construction sector, to look specifically at the kinds of skills that BoysTown would need to be working towards these young men and women achieving so that they can become an effective part of the workforce that will be required to see this expansion.

I am pleased to be able to continue to work with the community in Wakefield to achieve practical outcomes that go beyond spin and actually provide the kinds of skills and infrastructure required for the community in order to take proactive, positive, commonsense steps towards the future that they deserve.