China Trade

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:09): My question is directed to the Minister for the Arts. Minister, how will our local arts and cultural institutions benefit from last week's delegation to China?

The SPEAKER: The cultural attaché.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (15:09): To the Court of St James—who will be in Adelaide very soon, I am happy to say, at the Cabaret Festival. Can I thank the member for Ashford for her question. She is a true champion of cultural exchange. The strong historical relationship between South Australian arts and cultural organisations and their counterparts in our sister province were further cemented during last week's trade mission. While some connections are still in the infant stage and some outcomes are yet to be realised, I would like to fill the house in on just a few of the results we have achieved over the five-day trip.

The delegation was led by Alex Reid from the Department of State Development and Douglas Gautier from the Adelaide Festival Centre. Since the focus on Shandong during last year's OzAsia Festival, Douglas and his team at the Festival Centre have been pivotal in forging relations between the Shandong Province and South Australia. I am pleased that, during the trip, they were able to establish groundwork for an SA cultural showcase to be held in Shandong in 2016, as well as connecting with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in China, which will see more of China's best performers tour our city and our state.

One of the biggest outcomes of the trip was the State Library signing a historic memorandum of understanding with the Shandong Library to progress the implementation of the One Card system into Shandong (as opposed to one child). This new partnership will see information trading and staff exchanges between the two libraries, with the first staff from Shandong looking to arrive in South Australia later in the year.

History SA was successful in reaching an agreement with the history and cultural heritage department of Shandong University to organise a joint international conference on cultural heritage management, which will be managed jointly by History SA, University of South Australia and Shandong University, in collaboration with Artlab. Along the same vein, the South Australian Museum is in the process of negotiating an MOU with Shandong Museum. It will look at exhibition exchange and staff training, the conservation of objects—also working with Artlab—and general museum management and skills exchange.

There were positive conversations between SALA Festival Director Penny Griggs and Nici Cumpston from the Art Gallery of South Australia's Tarnanthi Festival with Shandong Galleries around visual arts and artists exchanges, and in the area of screen development. Chief Executive of the South Australian Film Corporation Annabelle Sheehan progressed plans to hold a writers' workshop in May 2016.

This is just a snapshot of the work that our cultural institutions achieved during their time in China. I look forward to updating the house on other successes that stem from the delegation in the near future.