Tamworth Sheep Abattoir
Page: 8346
Mr WINDSOR: My question is addressed to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the House of any progress relating to Peel Valley Exporters' proposal to establish a sheep abattoir in Tamworth?
Mr CARR: I am delighted to say that I have received representations from the honourable member for Tamworth and his local council on this matter.
Mr O'Farrell: What have you done about them?
Mr CARR: The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has asked me what I have done about those representations. That is the nature of my answer.
[Interruption]
Members opposite should not worry about my answer. Let us get to the substance of my answer. Let us work together to get jobs for the people of New South Wales. I answer this question on the platform of, first, the lowest unemployment rate in Australia; secondly, the Government having achieved its job creation targets for the State; and, thirdly, a veritable boom in apprenticeships and traineeships, as I demonstrated in the House yesterday. In that context, I said to our bureaucrats, "Let us take the proposal, about which the honourable member made representations, backed by his local council, and see if we can make it a case study in prompt consideration by local and State authorities."
I am pleased to report that both this proposal and another proposal have resulted in a new employment base for the great city of Tamworth. These two projects—and I am about to report them to the House—represent investment of about $12.5 million in the local economy and will create 235 full-time jobs. Members opposite are all feeling blue, they have all gone into a deep depression. The Minister for Health should give them some antidepressants. I know the honourable member for Tamworth will be very pleased because the first project is the one he raised specifically.
Peel Valley Exporters, part of the J. S. A. Jackson and Sons group of companies, is a small stock processing facility producing lamb and sheep products. This processing and boning operation processes 2,500 lambs and sheep per day, five days a week, and specialises in lambs for the domestic and export markets. Representations were made on this project, but it can now be ticked off. The other Tamworth project is the first phase of an expansion program by the American giant Cargills, which is leasing the former council abattoir. Further stages will see the company double its operations within the next 18 months.
[Interruption]
If the Deputy Leader of the Opposition is a vegetarian, that is a matter between him and his chef. If he thinks that I will discriminate against projects that process meat because of his reservations, he is wrong. It is a matter for consumers to determine for themselves. What an extraordinary interjection! This company is a major supplier of beef products for the Woolworths chain. The expansion will see the creation of 65 jobs and an increased focus on value adding to products in the domestic and export markets. These two projects are a great win for the people of Tamworth. They will expand the jobs base and economic foundation of this important regional city.
I take this opportunity to announce—and honourable members will be pleased to hear this—that one of Europe's largest financial institutions, Scandia, the global Swedish funds management company, after looking at all the cities in Australia, has chosen to base its headquarters in Sydney. Sydney has 65 per cent of the nation's financial industry. Why would that company not come here, given that under this Government our total liabilities have been reduced by almost $7 billion? The Coalition Government—that appalling economic manager—chalked up $6 billion in budget deficits. Even with the sale of GIO and the State Bank the Coalition Government could not reduce the State's liabilities.
When the Coalition was in government, total State liabilities rose by $4 billion. Under this Government total State liabilities have gone down by $7 billion. Honourable members know how reluctant I am to make partisan points in such exchanges. However, that comparison demonstrates that this is continuing the great New South Wales Labor tradition of good, sound financial management. We know that it is a burden for Liberal members to attend Liberal Party branch meetings, where there are more people at the official table out front than in the body of the hall. I know it is hard to have anything to talk about at these gatherings, so I have produced a check list, a bookmark, of the State's economic and financial indicators.
The check list is written in simple language so that Liberal members will not have trouble using it. I would not make the same claim about their National Party colleagues who sit with them. Members opposite can carry the bookmark in their pockets. They can pull it out and refer to it, and tell their branch members that New South Wales has 75 per cent of the headquarters of domestic and foreign banks in Australia, 70 per cent of the information technology industry, 41 per cent—our share —of information technology professionals, and 44 per cent of Asia and Pacific international call centres. All these indicators have emerged, strong as they are, in the past 5½ years.