The one hard constraint on SA’s generational economic opportunity

For the first time in generations, SA has a long, predictable 20-to-30-year runway of industrial investment, writes McKell Institute executive director SA/NT Hannah MacLeod. But there’s one hard constraint.

The $30 billion commitment to submarine construction under the AUKUS contract confirms South Australia is entering the largest economic transformation since the post-war manufacturing boom.

Billions are flowing into Osborne. Thousands of construction jobs will be required in the immediate term. Over the coming decades, submarine design, build and sustainment will demand an industrial workforce the likes of which many of us have never seen. Add the Torrens to Darlington completion, the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and the broader defence and infrastructure pipeline and the scale becomes immense.

For the first time in generations, South Australia has a long, predictable 20-to-30-year runway of industrial investment. That kind of horizon is rare. It creates certainty for business. It attracts capital. It reshapes the state’s........

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