The South Australian Business Chamber, South Australia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Andrew Kay has welcomed this morning’s AUKUS announcement, saying today is a landmark day for South Australia’s economy.
“Having the Prime Minister of Australia, standing side-by-side with leaders of the United States and the United Kingdom announcing the most sophisticated piece of technology the world has seen will be built in South Australia, sends a key message about our state’s capabilities.
“Today’s announcement presents a multitude of opportunities for business in South Australia, with an estimated 12,000 local jobs to be created from this project.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for South Australia to create an entire business ecosystem servicing the construction of submarines. For it to materialise, the business, government and education sectors will all need to work in unison to establish structural and regulatory frameworks, supply chains and importantly, a skilled workforce of a size and complexity never before seen in this state”.
The announcement by the Prime Minister, outlined the requirement for 1500 new jobs at the Osborne shipyard by 2026 to manage the Life of Type Extension for the Collins-Class submarine, as well as 4000 workers needed to design and build the infrastructure for submarine construction.
“Work will need to begin straight away on planning recruitment and upskilling of workers. With such low unemployment, businesses are struggling to find one or two skilled workers, let alone the 5500 needed over the next few years”, Mr Kay added.
