Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My state faces a very serious jobs crisis, and that crisis will truly hit in October when the car industry closes—that is as a result of the betrayal of the Abbott-Turnbull government of the automotive industry. Labor is already seeing their effects on the shipbuilding industry as well. It is important that this government supports projects in South Australia which will create jobs. One such project is the Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme. This scheme, which has already seen a commitment from the state government of South Australia of $110 million, will create 3,700 jobs and add more than $500 million a year to the state economy. What it involves doing is taking water that is currently treated and discharged into the gulf out of the Bolivar Sewage Treatment Works and pumping it north to two wells in the Adelaide Plains area for the horticultural industry. It is a tremendous project because it benefits not just the economy—that benefit comes in both jobs and land value, and in investment in that land—but the South Australian environment because we are no longer pumping out some 12 gigalitres of treated sewage water into the sea. There is a very big environmental benefit too to the mangroves which run up the coastline in my electorate, which are very important to the health of the marine environment.

This is a terrific project. It requires a federal contribution of $45.9 million to see it through. This is less than what was originally estimated. It would be wise for the federal minister and the federal government to commit to this project. Labor committed to the full project in opposition last election. The government approved a scoping study. It would be great if we could reach a bipartisan position where both sides would support this project so that people would have investment certainty so that it could go ahead. It would be good to have some good news on the jobs front and some good news on the environment front for South Australia, because we are looking down the barrel of a very difficult time over the next year or two.