1-7 EMBARGO: 6.3Opn
J >) AU 6 ALIA JT
FOR MEDIA FRIDAY, 22 OCTOBER 1982
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER ON HIS VISIT TO
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
It has given me very great pleasure today to name the
new international terminal at Adelaide airport after Tom
Playford.
Tom Playford was not only a father figure to South
Australians, his name is almost synonymous with the
economic development of this State. During his years as
Premier he transformed South Australia from an
agricultural economy to one of Australia's major
industrial and manufacturing centres. That was a
notable achievement by a man who had the determination
and the drive to help build South Australia and
Australia. The new terminal, which has been built at a cost to the
Commonwealth Government of $ 11 million, and the
beginning of international services into Adelaide will
give South Australia's growing tourist industry a great
boost and will help develop this State's business
contacts with the rest of the world.
This achievement is very much the work of David Tonkin
who in his determination to build up South Australia has
shown much of the same drive and determination which Tom
Playford had. He inherited a dispirited, depressed
State, and in a difficult world economic environment he
has laid the foundations for an important new phase in
the development of the South Australian economy : he has
worked to rebuild its manufacturing base and he has
begun to develop this State's enormous potential as a
resource producer.
Extensive exploration over the last three years has
revealed the vast reserves of good quality coal which
South Australia has, in particular the Wintinna coal
field in the Arckaringa Basin in the far north of the
State. This is estimated to contain 1,500 million
tonnes of coal. The Government has encouraged
exploration for oil and gas in the Cooper basin in the
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-north east of South Australia and the results of that
exploration have been most impressive. This year about
million are being spent on exploration there. It
has also enabled the significant development based on a
fractionation plant at Stony Point to proceed which I
have seen today. In total that project will involve
expenditure of about $ 1 billion.
But above all, the South Australian Government has gone
ahead with the development of the giant Roxby Downs
copper, gold and uranium project. As the Minister for
Trade and Resources pointed out in Parliament this week
the draft Environmental Impact Statement estimates that
Roxby Downs has at least 2,000 million tonnes of
mineralised material. For planning purposes, production
capacity has been set at 150,000 tonnes of copper a
year, 3,000 tonnes of uranium oxide a year, 3,400
kilograms of gold a year, and up to 23,000 kilograms of
silver a year. The annual value of production could
range from $ 442 million to $ 658 million per annum. The
capital cost of the project in 1981 terms will be $ 1,400
million. During the construction stage between 9,300
and 18,600 jobs will be created directly and indirectly
in South Australia. The production workforce will be
2,400, but the total employment generated in the long
term will be between 5,700 and 8,300. A township of
8,000 rising to 9,000 will be established with planning
envisaging a town population of approximately 30,000
people. That is a project of immense importance to the
Iron Triange, to South Australia and to all Australians.
And it brings with it the possibility that South
Australia may be chosen as the site for a uranium
enrichment plant.
That development would be destroyed by the election of a
State Labor Government on 6 November. The Roxby Downs
project would be abandoned, the uranium enrichment plant
could not come to South Australia, the great
opportunities which have been created for this State by
the Tonkin Government would be lost.
And let there be no doubt that Labor would destroy the
uranium industry. They w ant to shut the industry down.
In July Labor amended its uranium policy. But that
amendment makes no difference to the policy's objective.
As Mr Hayden on 8 July said after the policy had been
amended :" Our policy unequivocally supports the
objective of an end to the uranium industry".
On 11 July he said: " There has been misrepresentation
and uninformed comment suggesting we have abandoned our
opposition to uranium mining in Australia. Thi s is a
travesty of the facts". 3
And the mover of the amendment said " They ( the ALP)
have built conditions into it ( the uranium policy) which
bluntly I do not think can be met".
By closing down our uranium industry Labor would be
denying energy to a world which, over the next few
years, is bound to be short of energy. Labor would deny
Australians jobs and they would deny our country
about $ 4 billion in export earnings.
For that reason alone South Australians, all
Australians, cannot afford narrow, ideological Labor
governments which would destroy great opportunities to
build our country up. South Australians should take as
a warning what Mr Wran has done in New South Wales where
bad economic management has led to massive increases
in State charges and taxes. They should take as a
warning what Mr Cain has done in his first budget in
Victoria: he has increased expenditure and revenue by
over 24% and State taxes have been put up by nearly
These big spending plans are reminiscent of the gross
extravagence of the Whitlam years. That is the pattern
of Labor Governments everywhere.
David Tonkin has laid the foundations for a complete
reversal in S. A.' s fortunes. He deserves every support
to build on those firm foundations. ooo000ooo---