Australia: Shipbuilder wins reprieve from eviction

South Australia's largest privately owned shipbuilding business has won a last-minute Supreme Court reprieve from eviction by the state government over a long-running rent dispute. Independent senator Nick Xenophon yesterday waded into the row, which has been simmering since family-owned Adelaide Ship Construction International was first hit with a 200 per cent rent increase in July 2007.
As ASCI won a late injunction to stop moves against it, the government last night appeared to be backing down from its hardline position of last Friday, when Premier Mike Rann, who also is Economic Development Minister, gave the company until close of business yesterday to pay $127,612.65 in rent arrears or have its lease terminated.
Mr Rann yesterday refused to comment, but Industrial Relations Minister Paul Caica later said "both parties are working through a process to resolve this matter".
ASCI manager Marijan Glamocak told The Australian he had been advised by the government to "stop talking to the media" if he wanted the dispute resolved.
Senator Xenophon said he was disappointed by the government's actions, saying "this company should be encouraged to do business in South Australia, not kicked in the guts by the Premier".
ASCI has been at the Port River site since 1980 and specialises in the construction, modification and repair of steel and aluminium vessels of up to 1200 tonnes. It had been paying about $55,000 a year in rent to the government's Land Management Corp since 2002.
But when the Port Adelaide Maritime Corp took over the rental lease from the LMC in February 2007, it conducted a rent review and in July of that year increased the annual rate to $152,000.
A similar property next to the site, sold freehold to the Samaras Group, has a rent agreement with the government for 20 years set to CPI.
The ASCI rental lease, now controlled by Defence SA, was recently revised down to $108,000 a year.
Opposition infrastructure spokesman David Ridgway said Infrastructure Minister Pat Conlon had promised four years ago to "fix" a situation where ASCI was forced to lease the land, rather than have it converted to a freehold title so it could be purchased by the company.
"The promise was broken and here we are several years later and the business is facing eviction," Mr Ridgway said.
Mr Conlon refused to comment yesterday.
Senator Xenophon said the Rann government's rhetoric about making South Australia the shipbuilding hub of the nation "rings hollow".
"You expect dodgy developers to try to make a fortune out of a swampland site, not the state government," he said.