James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity that this matter of public importance gives me to talk about the achievements of the Morrison government and, in particular, what's happening in my home state of South Australia. Earlier this week, the ABS figures showed that the South Australian economy is the fastest-growing in the nation, at 3.9 per cent. That's thanks to some of the excellent things that we as a government are doing in South Australia. But, even better still, there's so much more to come in the future. Those figures only take into account what is already happening, let alone what is going to be happening going forward.

There are a few areas I want to touch on—firstly, defence. South Australia is the defence state, and particularly we are the state of naval shipbuilding. We have had a very historic announcement in the last few months about the AUKUS deal and what that means for the future of submarine construction in South Australia. At the same time as the AUKUS announcement, we had the confirmation that South Australia will be the home of Collins class maintenance into the future, as well as the life-of-type extension to the Collins program, which is 1,300 jobs guaranteed in my home state of South Australia. I was thrilled to have the commitment that Adelaide is indeed the home of submarine construction now and into the future. As well as that, we have the AWD upgrade announcement. Of course, the AWDs were built in Adelaide, and the latest upgrades to the AWDs will also happen in Adelaide. That's coupled with the Hunter class program, which is ramping up with nine frigates to be built in Adelaide. In defence, this government is investing enormously in shipbuilding, and Adelaide is unquestionably the home of naval shipbuilding for Australia—for the Southern Hemisphere, frankly. That means thousands of jobs for decades to come into the future.

We also have the Space Agency. This government has made a number of significant investment decisions in space, but also partnership decisions with the major space agencies around the world: NASA and ESA, the European Space Agency. We're already participating in some very exciting space based programs. The Space Agency is headquartered out of Adelaide. We're already seeing businesses in the space industry attracted to South Australia. Because the space agency's there, they see Adelaide as the capital of the space operations and industries of our country.

That also flows into cybersecurity and what's happening in cybersecurity, both with our government decisions and in the private sector. Again, we're seeing an enormous number of cybercompanies choosing to establish a base in Adelaide because they see Adelaide as the centre for the cyberindustry in this country into the future. That is an enormous growth sector. We all know how important cyber already is, but it's only going to be more significant into the future, and Adelaide is where it is at if you want to be in the cyberindustry.

In the creative industries, particularly film, I'm lucky enough to have the South Australian Film Corporation based in my electorate. We've had some significant productions in the last few years, most particularlyMortal Kombat, the biggest film ever made in South Australia. That was a Hollywood blockbuster supported by our government's rebate scheme, which helps support film businesses to come to Australia and undertake production here. We've got a bill that's been through this House, that's in the Senate now, that continues and enhances that into the future. I have one business in my electorate that's already hoping for and counting on the swift passage of that through the Senate. It's a novel position for someone to expect that the Senate will be hasty on that! Nonetheless, he's made a decision that that's going to pass. He's already signed deals to do more film production in South Australia. Again, that's an example of our government co-investing with businesses to create jobs and grow our economy in Australia, particularly in South Australia. The Lot Fourteen precinct is the heart of a lot of these decisions. In a few weeks time we'll have a major milestone at that precinct, with the sod-turning for the Indigenous art gallery.

Things are really happening in all of these sectors because of the decisions that we're making. At the heart of that is the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund. A few businesses in my electorate have already been successful in applications to that program. That is us investing in future manufacturing and future jobs. It's an exciting time for the economy in South Australia, and that's thanks to the decisions of the Morrison government.

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