Trade Missions

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Investment and Trade. Can the minister advise the house on feedback his agency has had regarding the effectiveness of international trade and business missions?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Health Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:01): I thank the member for Little Para for the question because it is timely, given recent claims based on comparisons of survey data from 2015 and 2016. The effectiveness of the international engagement strategies of the government is judged against several benchmarks. New markets, new companies exporting and new jobs created are the three most important criteria we apply.

We consider the data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Austrade. We value very highly the feedback from the now record number of businesses coming on trade missions and from the buyers, sellers, freight forwarders and industry associations. By all these benchmarks, we have responded to calls for support from the business community and we are succeeding in our aim to enable those businesses to grow international connections and opportunities. But it hasn't stopped the pessimists, or should I say the lone pessimist, the member for Chaffey, who consistently peddles—and has in fact been caught out peddling—distorted data to The Advertiser. Before I get on to the honourable member's misunderstanding of survey data—

The SPEAKER: Point of order.

Mr PISONI: By referring specifically to statements made by the member for Chaffey, the minister is entering debate.

The SPEAKER: No, he was asked about what feedback his agency had and he is sharing that with us.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Before I get on to the honourable member's misunderstanding of the survey data, I advise the house of the following: South Australia is exporting more than ever, reaching a new high of $15.643 billion in the 12 months to June 2017. The latest value data on individual commodity categories shows massive growth in the areas that are the focus of trade mission activity.

In the year to September 2017, vegetables and fruit, up $307 million (55 per cent)—well done to the minister for primary industries. Wheat is up $259 million (24 per cent). Wine is up $259 million (24 per cent). We export more wine than copper now. Services exports also continue to rise, with the latest ABS figures showing an 11 per cent increase, faster than the national rate of 9 per cent. I know they missed the mining boom; they don't realise it happened.

Our target markets are showing good growth—China is up 5 per cent, India is up 71 per cent, ASEAN 26 per cent and Japan 27 per cent—yet the member for Chaffey went on the record earlier this month to claim that it was all terrible. He compared the results from the 2016 exporters survey that showed 70 per cent of mission delegates found it effective, down, he said, from 79 per cent in a 2015 survey. He said that there are no strategies. Of course, he hasn't read all the strategies everyone else has read for each particular region, but we will put that to the side for a moment, because he actually compared oranges to lemons, because they don't add up. In the 2015 result, 79 per cent applied to those who participated in an outbound mission—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order: by providing analysis on the feedback that he has received—

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: —but the 2016 result he quoted applied to companies that have participated in—

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated.

Mr GARDNER: —the minister is debating.

The SPEAKER: By?

Mr GARDNER: By going further than the leniency that you gave him before and providing analysis on the feedback, he is clearly debating.

The SPEAKER: Full marks for trying. I will listen carefully to the minister.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: He is comparing a set of figures from one year to another on a completely separate dataset. One was an outbound mission and one was inbound and outbound. They can't even add up. If you don't know the difference between an inbound and an outbound mission, then trade might not be the portfolio for the member for Chaffey. We might need to find somebody who understands the facts and the figures, someone like the member for Schubert maybe or—well, after that, I start to run out of ideas.

Our benchmark data and feedback shows increasing support and appreciation for our strategies. In 2016, we led missions to 14 countries. We have lifted that to 23. The number of jobs is up to 72,000 and there are 202 new exporters. If only someone opposite understood what was going on out there with business, maybe we would get some bipartisan support for that.