West Java Memorandum of Understanding

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (15:04): Supplementary, sir: why did the MOU with West Java lapse?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:04): You could go back in history on that into the life of former governments, because it was in place for some time. You know, the important thing—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer and the member for Adelaide are warned.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: —with the sister-state relationships that we are developing with Shandong—and we are also seeking to rejuvenate our relationship, by the way, with Penang, which was more of a sister-city relationship and now with West Java—is that we are getting on with breathing life back into them.

The City of Adelaide had a number of sister-state relationships with a number of sister cities. From time to time they have been active, from time to time they have lapsed, and, frankly, I think we could have done more, and so that is what we are doing. We are reactivating some relationships that needed reactivation and further attention.

The MOU with West Java is an example of that because we see our relationship with Indonesia as being critically important. These things need constant attention from government, and you will find that, under this Premier and under this minister, we are going to reactivate those relationships and get value out of them.