Industry experts ponder the future for Holden's Elizabeth site

The Holden site at Elizabeth, South Australia, is expected to cease manufacturing by the end of 2017. Thoughts are now turning to possible future uses for the site, which currently employs about 1600 workers.

A Holden spokesman said the company would work through the options, but wanted to “do something with the site which would be a contributor towards the state, whether that be selling it to the government or to private enterprise, or any one of a number of different options”.

Associate Professor John Spoehr from the University of Adelaide said the clean-up itself could be a jobs generator, with the cost of rehabilitating the site before it could be handed over estimated to run into the millions.

“The remediation of the site will be a major project in its own right and require considerable investment by GMH (General Motors Holden),” he said.

Advanced Manufacturing Council Chairman Goran Roos produced a study for the SA government in August 2013, which listed six possible uses for the site.

The report noted that: “The plant should not be considered suitable for future high-tech manufacturing unless major costs to redevelop grounds and buildings are allowed.”

The options listed in the report were: renewable energy equipment manufacturing; ASC subassembly and manufacturing; flat pack advanced material housing fabrication; a large injection moulding centre of excellence; special purpose (eg, defence) vehicle manufacturing; and a long-term parts and accessories supply centre.

Professor Roos said studies had shown that in order to have economic renewal there first needed to be social renewal, so investment in community facilities was paramount.

Prof Roos said the state would benefit from a ‘food park’ being built somewhere in the state, where companies could come together and value-add products.

“There are many things you can do but it needs quite a thought-through approach and it’s not about changing one company or one activity but it’s multiple firms building an ecosystem in their own right and hence getting impetus as a group.”

One idea which has been floated is that the site be converted into an advanced manufacturing hub. Santos Managing Director David Knox recently advocated for the creation of three such hubs to provide an opportunity for small and medium enterprises to collaborate with university researchers, bigger companies and government agencies.

An idea put forward recently by Alinta Energy Chief Executive Jeff Dimery was that money from the federal government’s Renewable Energy Target be diverted to projects such as building a battery factory at the Holden site.

Dimery said there would be a large demand for batteries to store solar power and other renewable energy in the future, allowing houses to go off the power grid.

The development of such large battery factories has a precedent in the US, where electric car company Tesla Motors has plans to build a US$4-5 billion ‘giga-factory’ producing batteries for half a million vehicles by 2020.

Seeley International founder and Executive Chairman Frank Seeley said economic rejuvenation needed clear thinking.

“When disaster strikes the natural reaction is to replace like with like; however, often the best and smartest reaction is to replace it with something else.

“If we are hopeful of another giant coming in to take over from the disabled giant, then I believe we are doomed to being disappointed. However, if we apply the old adage ‘divide and conquer’, then I believe we will have a potent recipe for success. There are lots of manufacturers in SA who are doing things well and will therefore survive.

“However, if they were to do things better, then they, and all of us, would thrive!

“I believe that the principles of continuous and radical innovation and automation can transform small enterprises into potent performers that can prevail on a global scale and, in the process, together, they have the capacity to more than compensate for the jobs which will be lost as a sad result of Holden’s closure.”