House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Beef Industry Beef Industry Ms PRATT House of Assembly Frome Beef Industry Ms PRATT (Frome) (14:13): My question is to the Minister for Trade and Investment. How has the minister assisted the South Australian beef industry, like Princess Royal Station at Burra, to attain access to new markets over the last six months? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Ms PRATT House of Assembly Frome Ms PRATT: Just over six months ago the minister said, and I quote: We'll continue to work closely with the industry to assist them with their efforts to attain access to new markets to further diversify. The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Croydon Premier The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:13): I thank the member for Frome for her question. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders is on his final warning, and the Minister for Education is on a warning as well. The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Croydon Premier The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I thank the member for Frome for her question. The member for Frome would know better than most, I would have thought, the value and the power of governments at both a state and a federal level working in a strategic way to open as many markets as possible. Now, there is more than one way that can be achieved. One way, of course, is the commonwealth negotiating free trade agreements with as many jurisdictions as possible, and we have seen that being undertaken at a pace really unlike we have ever seen before, notwithstanding the fact there has been a consistent bipartisan effort at the federal level towards achieving free trade agreements and opening up markets. The biggest two markets Australia has in terms of exports, of course, are the US and China. It was this federal government that stabilised the Australia-China relationship to allow us to be in a position to again export beef to that country, along with barley, along with wine, along with other products, which was absolutely fundamentally important. The reason why that is able to be achieved is that we have a federal government that is working cohesively, we have a federal government where everyone knows what their respective ministerial portfolios are without wondering whether or not the Prime Minister has taken them off of them in secret, and they have been able to get on with the task of stabilising the relationship with countries like China without compromising basic, fundamental principles that all of us in this place presumably hold dear. But more than just foreign affairs and defence posture and trade policy at a commonwealth level, there are also actions that we can pursue at a state level. We are very glad that as a government we have been seeking to undertake a range of actions to achieve that. Let me give you a for instance. Only this morning, in terms of getting access to other markets, one of the things that informs that beyond trade policy is actually having a freight corridor to be able to transport your product. As of this morning, South Australia is now connected to the largest economy in the world—direct. That's not just important for tourists. That's important for businesses, including primary producers who want to be able to get their product to the US market in the belly of the plane. That will make a big difference. Those policies, amongst others, will ensure that this state is able to continue to see the sort of export growth that we have already been able to deliver. It is this jurisdiction that has led the nation when it comes to export growth in recent years. We want to maintain that trajectory of growth through thoughtful policy and leadership, and that's exactly what we are going to deliver.