Thank you very much Madam Mayor, the Deputy Premier, my parliamentary colleagues, Mr Uno the President of Hirotec, ladies and gentlemen.
This is my third, I suppose, appearance in relation to the activities in Elizabeth West and generally associated with the cause of manufacturing industry in South Australia this year. And I've done that for a particular reason and I do it again today for a particular reason and that is that I admire the determined attempts that have been made by a number of governments, by a number of people and a number of companies to maintain and expand the energy and the activity of manufacturing industry in this state.
I admire those attempts because there have been constant challenges, the most recent of those was, of course, the decision taken by Mitsubishi. But because of a co-operative spirit, because of the co-operation that has existed between the Federal Government and the State Government, and I acknowledge that, and I reaffirm the determination of my Government to work with the elected Government of South Australia in the interests of industry and employment in South Australia and without regard to political differences because in the long run, the prosperity of this State depends very much on the maintenance and strengthening of its manufacturing base. It faces the challenges of many parts of Australia of having to compete with investment. It is not my role as Prime Minister to choose between investment in one part of the country against another. I don't play favourites, I merely encourage investment in Australia and where I can, I provide government support where that is appropriate to investment decisions and investment activities.
But there's no doubt that the economy of South Australia is stronger than it was ten years ago. There's no doubt that South Australia has benefited from national economic prosperity, from the low inflation, the low interest rates, the high level of business investment and all of those things which have made the Australian economy so strong. It has also benefited from individual programmes that have been sponsored by governments on both sides of the political divide in this State. And I congratulate and I thank them for that contribution.
Today I'm very pleased to announce that the Hirotec corporation of Japan will establish a new and innovative manufacturing plant in north Adelaide. Hirotec will be investing more than $70 million in a state of the art stamping and assembly plant to produce doors, bonnets and boot lids known in the business as vehicle closure components. The components will be produced for General Motors Holden. And in recognition of the importance of this project and its long term economic benefit to Australia, I announce that the Australian Government has granted Hirotec's venture Major Project Facilitation status and this status assists with the development of major projects through high levels of help, including by fast tracking necessary Government approval processes.
This plant will bring to South Australia's Hirotec international expertise in designing and manufacturing vehicle closures. Hirotec's expertise is evident in the fact that it currently manufactures over 90 per cent of vehicle closures for Mazda in Japan.
The plant will generate employment for 150 people during its construction phase and will employ 280 workers when it is operating at peak production.
I understand that Hirotec is also engaged in discussions with the City of Playford to establish vocational training linkages with the local TAFE college.
The Hirotec announcement is a terrific shot in the arm for manufacturing here in Adelaide and generally in South Australia. It is a reminder that if companies and employees and governments work together in reaction and response in a constructive way to the decisions of other companies to alter or phase down an operation then the slack can be taken up, the employment opportunities can be provided. You will recall at the time of the Mitsubishi closure, I announced immediately that the Government would provide a $50 million adjustment assistance package designed to help with reemployment, with retraining and also alternative investment opportunities and there was also an assistance programme announced by the South Australian Government. Now both of those decisions were designed to indicate a practical intention by both governments to help the people affected by the Mitsubishi decision to get on with their lives, to find alternative employment. And that process is now under way and what is good about the Hirotec announcement is that here is a tangible alternative of new jobs, new investment, but it's new investment from an old friend and it's an old friend, Japanese investment has been so important to this country over the years, over the last 40 or 50 years this country would have been much poorer had it not been for the level of foreign investment from Japan. Japanese investment is always welcome in Australia, it is reliable, it is valuable and it is part of the Australian manufacturing story in particular of the last 30 or 40 years.
So I'm particularly pleased that Mr Uno is here today. I thank him for his company's commitment.
On behalf of those who will be employed by Hirotec in Adelaide, I thank him because this very practical demonstration of the ongoing appeal and viability for manufacturing investment in Adelaide is a good sign, it's an optimistic announcement and it's a day when we can look very optimistically and positively to the future.
Thank you very much.
[ends]