Feature
Issue No. 3 - December/ 2001/january
Reversing the Brain Drain
by James Bowman
In a rather quiet, understated way one of Australia’s biggest – possibly the biggest — advanced manufacturing and applied research estates is taking shape just north of Adelaide.
The 650ha Edinburgh Parks development, on surplus Defence land surrounding the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) research complex at Salisbury, will create thousands of new jobs and help transform the economy of Adelaide’s northern region, as well as cementing South Australia’s place as the centre of Australia’s defence industry.
Around 7000 people currently work on the site, including those employed at the RAAF Edinburgh base and DSTO, which is the largest defence research facility in Australia. This number is expected to more than double over the 15—20 year development of Edinburgh Parks.
However, it’s not focussed just on the defence industry. Already an Automotive Precinct has been launched, creating a dedicated automotive supply park adjacent to Holden. This will play a major role in future expansion plans by Holden and ensure its Elizabeth plant remains globally competitive.
Launched by former Premier John Olsen in June this year, the Automotive Precinct alone is expected to create about 1100 new jobs and eventually add more than $2 billion a year to the state’s economy through increased automotive components and vehicle manufacturing.
Additional precincts for aerospace and manufacturing, logistics support and defence technology are being developed, ranging in size from 10ha to more than 100ha.
Already, BAE Systems has announced plans to invest $20 million in redeveloping its 13ha site within the Defence Technology Precinct – the second of the four precincts in which construction and development work has already begun.
More than 90 per cent of the new roads in the Automotive Precinct, including a new bridge linking it with Holden, have been completed along with their associated engineering s...
