China Trade

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:30): A further supplementary arising from the original answer. In his original answer, the minister referred to the South Australian businesses that went on the trip to China with him. Can he name those businesses and, in particular, will he please inform the house who the three wine companies that he keeps referring to are?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:30): I am not entirely sure whether the three wine companies are comfortable with it being public yet. I will double-check with them. I know who they are and from anecdotal evidence around the industry most people know who they are, but I don't know whether it has been publicly announced.

The Hon. C.M. Scriven: Don't want to be associated with party boy Ridgway?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: What on earth was that? Where was that comment from?

The PRESIDENT: Don't respond to it.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Mr President, I am happy to try to answer the question, but there are these inane interjections from the other side of the chamber—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Mr President, I am happy to identify those companies if they are prepared to be identified.

The Hon. E.S. Bourke: Your own minister said that you had spoken about them before in this chamber, so you can name them now.

The PRESIDENT: Order! Allow the minister to answer.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I will get a list of them. A whole range of wineries and food producers came to the CIIE. I don't have that list with me and I wouldn't want to try to list it off, but I will get that for the honourable member.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: You don't know who they are.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I do know who they are.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: No, you don't.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: There was a whole range of wineries.

The PRESIDENT: Don't engage with the Leader of the Opposition. The Hon. Mr Ridgway, direct your comments through the President.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I will get you the list.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, this is not assisting me either.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Then, of course, during the one in July we had the University of Adelaide, we had Flinders, UniSA; we had some TAFE people there. We went to the UniSA campus at Suzhou. They have an office and a building and some space there. I will get a list of all of the people who were on that trip as well. You can rest assured, I will find out if those three companies are happy for it to be made public.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: It's private deals that they have done. We know that they have done it, but I am not going to—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: So nothing to do with you?

The PRESIDENT: Through me. The Hon. Mr Ridgway, do not respond to him.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: They say nothing to do with it. Actually, when I met Infinitus in China, I said, 'Is there anything else you want?' They said, 'We'd love to buy some wine.' I said, 'Okay, we've got the best in the world.' They then came here. Their buying group came here. We had a little reception cocktail party with them at the Apothecary—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Allow the minister to answer.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —about a month after that first trip. That's my job as the trade minister, to go out there and spruik what we have to offer and encourage people to come, to build relationships with people, build long-term relationships so that people feel comfortable to come to this state and invest and buy our products and do business with us. I am going to continue doing that as often as I have to, anywhere in the world, to grow our state's economy.