Strategic Partnership Agreement

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (14:45): My question is to the Premier. What were the outcomes from the joint meeting of the South Australian and Northern Territory cabinets in Alice Springs last week?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his question. This was an historic moment. As members would be aware, in 1911 we relinquished our Northern Territory—a sad day indeed. Last Wednesday, I executed a strategic partnership agreement with the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory signalling a new era of cooperation. This transcends the usual cooperation that occurs between states and territories that occurs from time to time. This is a comprehensive strategic partnership which covers a range of domains.

A joint meeting of the South Australian and Northern Territory cabinets, which I understand was an Australian first, was used to discuss our vision and ambition for the new partnership and to endorse the strategic plan, which outlines some of the specific projects over the next 12 months. One of the projects is the further development of the South Australian and Northern Territory central trade corridor, with the aim of expanding freight flows into and out of Asia.

I must say I was disturbed to see, if the reports are accurate, that the federal government knocked back a proposition by the Chinese government to establish a one belt, one road link between the Northern Territory and South Australia. If that is indeed true, it is disappointing we were not consulted and it is inconsistent with the very things we are seeking to achieve.

Another project is renewing the iconic driving experience from north to south, the so-called Explorer's Way, and expanding tourism products, services and experiences to immerse visitors in lots of Indigenous experiences. Between us, we really own the outback. Most of the tourist outback icons are shared between us, and there are some fantastic marketing edges that we could involve ourselves in. As I said at the time, you can be eaten at both ends of the continent—by a crocodile at one end and a shark at the other. That's a rare experience—in fact, unrepeatable.

The other opportunity is supporting our vulnerable and disadvantaged children through programs and services targeting improved participation for children and their families. There are a lot of opportunities there for us to cooperate, in particular in the cross-border areas where we share the Anangu peoples who roam between the various states and territories and, indeed, into the Western Australian areas of the state.

Also our governments have agreed to develop joint long-term National Disability Insurance Scheme implementation strategies to focus our collective efforts on maximising employment, especially in those remote regions. The NDIS is a massive employment opportunity, not only here in Adelaide but also in our remote regions, and if we get this right it could be a fantastic win for local communities.

The South Australian and Northern Territory governments have had a memorandum of understanding in place since May 2015 that has been the catalyst for some important work in relation to cross-border policing, the development and promotion of shared tourism assets and the improvement of shared infrastructure networks. The cooperation around policing is really important. We know that a lot of perpetrators move between the jurisdictions to evade detection. We know that lines of drug running and alcohol breaches of the dry zones do move between various states and territories, so it is crucial that cooperation occurs.

This new partnership is a foundation for what we think is a new idea in the federation—interjurisdictional cooperation. There are many wonderful reasons why we would collaborate together. There are many differences between us and the territory, but our differences also give us wonderful opportunities for collaboration.