Frankfurt Trade Office

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan) (16:38): Australia is a trading nation. Seal skins, whale oil and baleen were our first exports, helping sustain a tiny, fragile, colonial economy. The export of merino wool—close to many people's hearts in this place—began in the early 1880s, quickly becoming the cornerstone of Australia's long-term early prosperity. The export of gold laid the foundations for Australia to achieve the highest standard of living in the world by the 1880s.

Poor decisions by subsequent governments squandered the natural advantage that we enjoyed at that time. Isolationism and the White Australia policy undermined Australia's economic success during the first half of the 20^th century. For too long, we turned inwards and turned our back on the advantages of international trade.

Australia's trade liberalisation policies from the early 1970s onwards have produced a more flexible, more resilient, more successful national economy. Part of that has been connecting with Asia in a meaningful fashion. The Colombo Plan can be seen as the progenitor of Australia's eventual embrace of its role in Asia and the significant trade advantages that it has delivered. The benefits are plain to see. Australia avoided recession for 30 years before the pandemic struck. This period included the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis.

Australia's economy is always best served by the free trade and open markets of the rules-based international order. Our domestic markets are simply too small to achieve the economies of scale necessary to produce competitive products and services. The effects of these iron laws of economics are magnified in South Australia, a small state economy in a small national economy. South Australians will not get rich by selling lattes to each other. We need to trade internationally if we are to maintain and improve our standard of living.

Trade offices have an important role in generating opportunities for South Australian companies to export goods and services to international markets. They are local eyes and ears with a depth of knowledge well beyond the capacity of individual South Australian companies hoping to trade in foreign markets. That is why I went to the 2018 election promising to double South Australia's existing trade office network by establishing new offices in Tokyo, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and additional offices in the US. We delivered our commitment and I am pleased to say South Australia's export revenue is significantly greater today than when we came to government.

In 2017, South Australia exported $12 billion worth of goods. By 2022 that figure had grown to $16.5 billion. Obviously, trade figures bounce around, particularly when an economy's exports are based on the agriculture and resources sectors, as it is here in South Australia. Indeed, the volatility of commodities trading was an important reason my government was so focused on transforming Lot Fourteen into a centre for innovation, entrepreneurship and world-class research.

To reinforce the fundamentals of our economy, we need to penetrate the global markets in defence, space and the digital revolution. Progress has been made. It is great to see companies based at Lot Fourteen recently receiving national and international awards. The fact Inovor Technologies took home Space Business of the Year at the Australian Defence Industry Awards and QuantX Labs was awarded SME of the Year indicates we are on the right track, as do the successes of Fintech company Apexium and next-gen point-of-sale innovator MyVenue at the Premier's Business and Export Awards.

However, I do need to raise one note of concern. In June 2021, my government announced and budgeted for a Paris trade office. That decision was driven, in part, by Brexit. When Britain was part of the EU, the London trade office could effectively represent South Australia's interests on the continent. Britain's withdrawal from the EU changed that. With the world emerging from the pandemic, it was time to establish a trade office in the European Union.

Unfortunately, when we lost government, the new government axed the Paris trade office. The Minister for Trade and Investment justified the decision, claiming it would create a saving equivalent to hiring six nurses. Employing the minister's logic, the $35 million the Malinauskas government ploughed into the 2022 Adelaide 500 is the equivalent of hiring 467 nurses.

What also seems to have escaped the trade minister's attention is the fact that the EU is the third largest economy in the world, accounting for one-sixth of global trade. As I speak, South Australia still does not have a trade office anywhere within the EU borders. Brexit was completed on 31 January 2020.

In May this year, the Premier did announce, whilst touring Europe, he would be establishing a trade office in Frankfurt. While I would dearly like to see that Frankfurt commitment fulfilled as soon as possible, I do need to point out a couple of salient facts. Firstly, data from the Department of Treasury and Finance shows South Australian exports of goods to France have recently surged: in the last 12 months they totalled $235 million. Germany took just $105 million. Go further back 12 months and the gap is even greater. Frankfurt, Paris, Rome—the city the trade office is located in is less important than having a trade office within the European Union. It really is time to get on with it.