Adelaide Engage Work Experience Network

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:34): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister update the house about the great work being done through the new Adelaide Engage pilot program that is assisting international students to expand their skills, networks and experiences in South Australia?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for his very good question and his ongoing interest in the international students here in Adelaide. On Monday night I had the honour of opening the Adelaide Engage Work Experience Network internship program at the National Wine Centre. Adelaide Engage—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Mr President, there is a conversation going; I'm trying to inform the house and they are distracting me.

The PRESIDENT: Let me handle it, Hon. Mr Ridgway.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President. I will have to start again, I've lost my place.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: That's why it should be left to me, Hon. Mr Ridgway.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: On Monday night I had the honour of opening the Adelaide Engage Work Experience Network internship program at the National Wine Centre. Adelaide Engage is a two-year pilot program, designed to give up to 130 international students from South Australia's universities the opportunity to work as business consultants in a business, local government or not-for-profit organisation over a three-week period. This gives students invaluable hands-on experience working on real-world problems in the South Australian business environment, enhancing their job prospects both here and abroad, and strengthening their skills base, experience, cultural immersion and language skills and expanding their connections and networks.

The program provides a structured learning environment, where students are divided into groups and are given a project to deliver for one of the participating businesses, local governments or NGOs. Participating businesses provide experienced mentors to guide the students through the initial stages, and task them with delivering the project over a three-week period. The students are responsible for managing the project, scheduling all meetings, conducting research and strategic planning, and ultimately presenting the project to their mentors.

Monday night was a very good event. I think we had about 13 or 14 tables, 10 students in each task force sitting down with their mentors. I went around and discussed and had a look at a number of the projects, and I am certainly looking forward to their completing their projects.

The businesses and organisations that were participating in the program include SA Water, Bupa, Barossa Fine Foods, BankSA, StudyAdelaide and more, and I thank them for getting involved. It is a fantastic initiative that will assist in deepening the ties international students have to South Australia. It is my hope that they will all act as ambassadors to encourage other students and potential leaders to either come here or stay here and study and pursue a career here in our state. This is the first group of students to undertake the program, with further intakes to occur in November this year and February 2019.

The Liberal government has a positive agenda about bringing more international students here and enriching our community and our economy, because international students will shortly, I expect, go past wine as our single biggest export. I commend the University of Adelaide, the Flinders University, the University of South Australia and Torrens University Australia for their corroboration with the South Australian government, and of course the students participating in the program. No doubt it will be a positive and worthwhile experience, and I will be excited to see the outcomes of all students and projects, and I am hopeful that upon completion of the Adelaide Engage program and their studies in South Australia many of these students will choose to put their talents, skills and knowledge to use right here in South Australia.

It was interesting to note that yesterday I also had the opportunity to help launch the Westin Hotel investment down in the GPO—

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order, Mr President: he was asked a very specific question about a specific program, and he has said absolutely nothing at all about—

The PRESIDENT: I understand the point of order. I will allow the minister some latitude; it may have some relevance to the question. Let me listen.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: It does and I do beg the opposition to just sit for a moment.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: On a point of order, no, not in terms of relevance, but in terms of the time this answer is taking—it has been an inordinate amount of time compared with—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, let me assure—

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —some of his erstwhile colleagues, who have now learnt that brevity is an admirable quality.

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, rest assured, my eye is on the clock. He has to respond to his Leader's public—

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: It is only one page, not the 20 pages that minister Hunter—however, the point I want to make is that the investor and the businessman behind the Westin Hotel is a Mr Nicho Teng, a former international student who came to Adelaide 14 years ago. As a former international student, he is exactly the sort of person I have been talking about. He has come back and invested $200 million in our great state. He is a great example of how international students can grow our state's economy.

The PRESIDENT: It was relevant, Leader of the Opposition.