Premier Jay Weatherill flags cash injection to attract new industries ahead of 2018 state election

PREMIER Jay Weatherill has flagged a taxpayer-funded cash injection to attract lucrative new industries to move to South Australia because relying on the free market is “not going to get us anywhere”.

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PREMIER Jay Weatherill has flagged a taxpayer-funded cash injection to attract lucrative new industries to move to South Australia because relying on the free market is “not going to get us anywhere”.

In a wideranging interview with the Sunday Mail, Mr Weatherill also pointed to “four years of extraordinary achievement” and said his Government had “never shied away” from mistakes.

He said that “stepping up and investing” was necessary to attract industries in the video gaming, space and medical devices sectors but he would not be drawn on specific commitments. Mr Weatherill said he’d “never looked forward” to a political campaign more than the 2018 election fight, the first to offer a genuine three-way contest.

He refused to be drawn on recent polling that showed Nick Xenophon’s SA Best outperforming both major parties but labelled Mr Xenophon as an “ambulance chaser” and the Liberal Party as “naysayers”.

A remarkable Newspoll this week had SA Best receiving 32 per cent of the primary vote, ahead of the Liberals (29 per cent) and Labor (27 per cent).

Despite suffering scandals, including abuse at the Oakden nursing home and the failure of TAFE, Mr Weatherill said his team had enjoyed an “extraordinary year”.

“We’ve really stared down the two biggest economic challenges the state has faced in really many decades and that’s of course the loss of Holden’s and also the energy crisis,” he said.

Mr Weatherilll said significant public investment was the only way to attract the industries of the future to the state, saying SA’s ship and submarine building industries had not happened “accidentally”.

He said the hallmark of his Government had been its willingness to “stand up and fight” on behalf of SA.

“We don’t believe that in a small economy like SA, in a competitive international market place, just sitting back and letting the free market dictate terms is going to get us anywhere,” Mr Weatherill said.

Prime Jay Weatherill in his office at the State Administration Centre. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

“So it will be a matter of stepping up and the Government investing and taking action to create the industries of the future. All of these things that seem futuristic; they’re just around the corner and they’ll only be advanced by governments prepared to strike out and take steps.”

Mr Weatherill also flagged continued investment in driverless cars and renewable energy, an outlay — when added to the Government’s $550 million energy plan — he said would essentially recreate the privatised ETSA “piece by piece”.

“You’ve seen a couple of elements fall into place — the big battery, the state-owned power plant … there’s, of course, the solar thermal plant and a really exciting development is ZEN Energy, a South Australian- based retailer, now a new retailer in the SA energy market,” he said.

“You’ll have to wait and see but there are lots of exciting new announcements in energy and, particularly, the renewable energy space.”

ETSA was sold by the Liberal Government in 1999, with a 2016 poll by The Advertiser showing South Australians blamed the state’s energy woes on its privatisation more than any other factor.

Mr Weatherill staunchly defended his Government’s record, despite polls showing increased disillusionment with his performance, saying he could point to “four years of extraordinary achievements”.

For the first time since he became Premier, more than half of voters said they were “dissatisfied” with his performance.

But Mr Weatherill said his team had never “squibbed” the big issues, helped the economy get through Holden’s exit, and had shone the light on its own failures. “I think about all the things that have gone wrong, many of them have been the result of reports we’ve commissioned or reviewed ourselves and we’ve never shied away,” he said.

“When we’ve made a mistake, we’ve stood up and we’ve accepted responsibility and worked hard to try to fix them up.

“I’ve never looked forward to a political campaign more than I look forward to this one.

“I’m genuinely excited about talking about what we’ve done in the last four years and also trying to show people a picture of the future that they’ll find persuasive.”