China Southern Airlines

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (14:23): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house of the benefits for South Australia of attracting international airlines flying direct into Adelaide?

The SPEAKER: I think I neglected to say that I warn the member for Unley a second and final time. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:23): The government recognises the importance of these direct flights from overseas destinations to South Australia. I was very pleased today to be down at Adelaide Airport celebrating the in-principle decision by China Southern to have a direct link from the Chinese mainland here into Adelaide. This is an extraordinary win for South Australia.

We were in competition with other Australian jurisdictions to actually get this link into South Australia first, and I am very pleased to say that we have got there through a sustained period of advocacy, calling on a range of international partners to join with us in this enterprise, including—and I must say we are very grateful for the support of the Consul-General of the new Chinese consulate, Consul-General Rao, who is here in South Australia and has offered his support to this important enterprise.

An honourable member: Chairman Rau?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, not 'Chairman Rau', Consul-General Rao. Can I say, about this link, that not only does it tick off on four of our ten economic priorities (international tourism, international students, premium food and wine, and also the international connections), but it does something more profound than that: it links the largest urban conurbation on the face of the planet to Adelaide—an extraordinary connection.

That is not just an economic connection; it is a cultural connection. It begins to create an ease of movement of people and allow their decision-making to actually promote South Australia's investments and jobs. This could be one of the most profound decisions that have been made to South Australia's economy in recent memory. This is a—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is an incredibly important decision for South Australia. When these Chinese billionaires begin to look up and consider the world in which they invest, they very quickly focus on Australia. When I spoke to one of these Chinese billionaires recently, he identified at least eight reasons why Australia is a destination of choice for their investment. South Australia needs to be amongst their targets for this investment.

They are familiar with the big global cities of Melbourne and Sydney, but what they need to have is Adelaide on their radar. When they have a place where they can see their investments with a quick, direct flight connected from Guangzhou into South Australia, it enables them to be more comfortable with making these investments. That is why there is such a profound connection between this new airline and jobs and growth in the South Australian economy.

We know that we have invested about $35 million into the tourism sector in the last state budget to grow this state as a destination of choice. You cannot create preference without awareness, and we are doing that through the agreements that we have reached with China Southern to jointly market our two regions. We are expecting that the new visitors flying direct to Adelaide will create not only the jobs in the servicing of the plane (which is around 100 jobs just by itself) but also in the hotels, the education services and the goods and services that need to be provided to those various bodies.

The Australian Hotels Association believes the increase in Chinese visitors will allow further investment into high-end luxury accommodation. They see it as underpinning the economy of the existing tourism opportunities in South Australia. In closing, I want to repeat what Chinese Consul-General Henry Rao said this morning:

It is a big day, an exciting moment for South Australia and for Adelaide. This will not only boost Chinese tourists to South Australia but enhance and strengthen our cooperation in other fields—trade, investment, education and culture—as well as people-to-people exchange.

The SPEAKER: For interrupting the Premier's answer, I call to order the member for Adelaide, I warn the members for Schubert and Stuart for the first time, and I warn the member for Chaffey for the second and the last time. Leader.