Asia in SA

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:33): Thank you, Mr President. I am delighted to rise today to speak about a new organisation and its very successful inaugural event called Asia in SA. As a member of parliament with a rich Asian heritage, I have given my full support for the establishment of Asia in SA right from the beginning. I would like to congratulate the co-founders, two very successful business exporters, Mrs Susan Lee, who is the Director of Soniclean, and Gerald Lipman, the Chief Executive of the International College of Hotel Management. Both business leaders have brought together a dynamic team of volunteers to organise the inaugural Asia in SA event. I have known Susan Lee and Gerald Lipman for a long time and would like to acknowledge their strong commitment to fostering strong relationships, trade links and business opportunities between South Australia and Asia.

The inaugural gala event was actually held on the eighth day of the eighth month (August) of this year, with eight renowned chefs. So, it has the trifecta of eights, if you like. If anybody knows Asian people well, we really like the number eight because it is associated with money and prosperity, so I think that makes the theme very interesting. We were invited to attend the gala event on 8 August, together with the Leader of the Liberal Party, Steven Marshall. I would also like to acknowledge that the minister, the Hon. Gail Gago, was also present.

I would like to put on the public record the names of the eight chefs who were involved with the event. These renowned chefs came from across Australia and around the world: chef Jeffrey Tan, chef Alvin Leung, chef Ikuei Arakane, chef Adam D'Sylva, chef Mark Normoyle, chef Pierrick Boyer, chef Tony Hart, and chef Cheong Liew, who is our very own renowned South Australian chef.

In addition to the gala dinner, I also hosted a parliamentary afternoon tea for the chefs and the organising committee. They had such a fun time because they had never been in parliament before, so it was a bit of a different routine for them, coming from the kitchen into parliament. We had very intellectual debates and conversations, and they were very impressed by the fact that we also have a formal dining room, which I explained is used to host international dignitaries when they visit South Australia.

In addition to the chefs, we also had sommelier Masahiko Iga. The other team members I would also like to acknowledge are Daniel Lim and Roslyn Foo. Daniel is a very bright young man. During the Parliament House tour and afternoon tea, we had the pleasure of making him the newest Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International, together with chef Jeffrey Tan, for his community work—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Only good people are Paul Harris Fellows.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Correct. For those who want to understand what being a Paul Harris Fellow means in the Rotary International scene, only somebody of a high calibre receives that fellowship. I would also like to once again congratulate the cofounders of Asia in SA. I think this sort of event is used as a platform to acknowledge and honour the outstanding contributions of Asian migrants in South Australia, while at the same time recognising South Australian businesses achieving great success in Asia.

Australia has experienced 23 years of economic growth. Over the past decade, the value of our exports has risen fourfold. The rapid rise of Asia has witnessed a major power shift from the west to the east of the international system. Asia, being the most populous region in the world, is home to 3.8 billion people. This shows that over half of the world's population is in Asia. We must recognise that Asia is the engine room of global growth.

Having Asia in SA as a platform to strengthen South Australia's competitiveness is the key to our future prosperity, and I am sure that we will position ourselves really well, particularly with the Australian free trade agreement signed between China, Japan and Korea in recent days. I am really proud to say that those involved with the gala event have worked continuously, and I would once again like to congratulate the organisers.