Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The fact is that there is a South Australian Labor government as we speak, formulating plans to help out those people who may be dislocated in manufacturing, to continue opportunities in the defence industry and to get together with the federal government to take up the mantle of making sure that South Australia is a good economic place to be. There will be opportunities for all, not simply business.

What is this government trying to hide? Have they a plan or are the 900 pages of the Commission of Audit report so terrifying even to themselves that they cannot release a part of it? Are they going to wait until after the Victorian election in November to give us a look at it? Can they keep blaming Labor for all the ills of the economy right up until the Victorian election? After that they might have a bit of clear space to come out and say what they are doing. I think it is probably about time that people were honest enough to articulate their standing and positions. Our position is that we are on the side of the workers. We are on the side of manufacturing and the small and large businesses that hang off it. We are interested in creating an environment in South Australia, in conjunction with the federal government, which will create opportunities and jobs in areas where people are skilled.

It is very clear that there will be workers moving from automotive manufacturing into all sectors of the South Australian economy. That is right and proper. As that industry winds down, those people will take their skills, wisdom and even investment dollars, perhaps, into all manner of sectors. That will be a challenge, but I have faith that those people will go forward in a good way. But there needs to be a package that is designed to facilitate that to ensure that we get the greatest outcome for these resources that will be deployed elsewhere in our great economy. If we do not have that, we will just have a situation where another zone of Adelaide will have layer upon layer of unemployment. That will be costly to the federal government. So why they did not come out and release a package of support and have it on the table prior to the South Australian election is beyond me.

But it is probably not beyond Senator Birmingham. He probably knows all about that and he will get up and give another dissertation at another point in time and tell us, 'It's all going to be good. I will just pop my jacket on, put one hand in my pocket, wave my magic wand and the whole economy will be hunky-dory. The worries of workers who are facing redundancy and families wondering about where their next dollar will come from will all disappear because we are going to create this bright new future.' I am going to wait in this chamber, Senator Birmingham, while you describe that to me, and then I am going to test where a manufacturing worker would fit in that new scenario of yours. That is because you cannot just wave a magic wand and say, 'Remove land tax, do this for business or do that for business.' It is going to create a whole new future for people and a future they will have for 50 years. It is not going to happen with a wave of your hand, a hand in the pocket and a look around the chamber.

You really have to articulate some fair dinkum stuff here—something real and tangible—that the people in the northern suburbs of Adelaide can listen to and say, 'That fits me. I could probably get into that sector.' Whether it is a hub like the one we developed down at Mitsubishi after its closure. The new hub down there is starting to reach some sort of reasonable activity level. Are we going to have one of those in the north? We are waiting with bated breath, but we cannot be told.

The Special Minister of State, Senator the Hon. Michael Ronaldson told us, 'I can advise that the reviews of the South Australian and Victorian economies are nearing completion.' Nearing completion! He went on to say, 'The government is currently liaising with both of the relevant state governments and two expert panels to finalise reports and we expect to make an announcement in the coming weeks.'

We did hold it up for a fair while. Let us be reasonable. Let us get something on the table for the South Australians who are in the firing line, if you like—the pun is intended—and also for those people in the Victorian economy who are suffering a similar malaise. I implore the government to put aside their partisan views from time to time and actually work in the best interests of those workers who face dislocation in these very important sectors of our national economy.