Export Economy

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Trade and Investment. Can the minister update the house—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The member for MacKillop has the call.

Mr McBRIDE: —on how the Marshall Liberal government's international trade offices are supporting South Australian businesses recover from the pandemic and create export opportunities?

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON (Morphett—Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:41): I thank the member for MacKillop for his question. His electorate is obviously an export powerhouse for South Australia, so when the member for MacKillop invited me to take a visit to see some of his businesses last week of course I jumped at it. One of those in Robe was Sky Seafoods. I met with a fantastic business owner there, Andrew Lawrie, who happens to be a Norwood supporter as well, so even better.

It is great to hear of the challenges they are facing and also the way they are trying to work around it. He is obviously an exporter of rock lobster, but he has found other ways by processing his lobster and selling it over the counter in his store right there in Robe. That is great innovative work by him, and of course it's boosted by the massive surge in regional tourism that is going on. That is helping to counterbalance things.

The member for MacKillop is very interested in what our export figures are doing, and just this week we have seen some preliminary data released for the month of April, and they are very encouraging results. It showed that merchandise exports are up around $1.3 billion for the month of April. This is only the third time it has exceeded $1 billion in the state's history—fantastic news. If you look at the 12-month period, from April 2020 through to April 2021, there's a combined export figure of $12.5 billion coming into our state economy. That is up 15 per cent and really shows South Australia leading the nation.

This follows on from the previous months' export figures, with the 12-month period to January up $11.5 billion; 12 months to February, $12 billion; and to March, $12.1 billion. This is sustained exports here in the state. It is fantastic news. We don't have a breakdown yet of the April figures but, if we just look at the data for March, as I said, it is $12.1 billion of money into the state's economy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport!

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON: —the rise is attributed to iron ore, lead and copper. Of course, there is a resurgence of our vital primary industries recovering and rebounding from some hard and challenging years of drought and bushfires, particularly in barley and wheat. This is great news. It is always good to compare us to the national average to see how we are tracking. If you look at what was going on in challenging times for the country, the national trend over the 12 months was that overall the country's exports declined by 3.9 per cent. So South Australia is in positive territory and really kicking goals. Of course, we do know there are challenges ahead and that's why we have lent into this with our $5.4 million Wine Export Recovery and Expansion Program.

We also continue to work at our critical overseas trade office networks. In our short three years of government, we have opened offices in China, Japan, Houston and New York in the US, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and also in South Korea and India. These are important key markets for us. That is why I am thrilled to inform you, Mr Speaker, that we have also opened our Singapore office, a vital international trading hub for freight and investment. It marries up with our trade office in Hong Kong and covers that vital north-south area of the South-East Asia region.

I would like to commend our new regional director, Kristan Dooley, who comes to us with 20 years of experience in defence. She is also a former Austrade Director of Defence and Security based in Singapore. I look forward to working with her. She has some fantastic insight and she will be working hard for South Australians. We know that if we back South Australian businesses, back them to export, that will help grow jobs and grow the South Australian economy.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the leader, I call to order the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and I call to order the member for Ramsay.