Trade, Tourism and Investment Department

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Can the minister update the council about the recent appointment of a new chief executive of the Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment, and the wealth of international experience they bring to the role?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:42): I thank the honourable member for his ongoing interest in trade, tourism and investment. I am delighted to inform the council today of the appointment of Ms Leonie Muldoon as the new chief executive of the Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment. This is a fantastic appointment, and I am very excited to talk about it today. Ms Muldoon brings with her a wealth of experience in the trade and investment sectors internationally.

She was formerly the senior trade and investment commissioner for Austrade in Singapore, and before that the senior trade commissioner for South Asia. Ms Muldoon has spent almost five years in senior Austrade roles in Japan, another key market of ours and the location of our second office, and she has experienced working across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Ms Muldoon has experience across both the public and private industries, having been a lawyer and former partner with Mallesons Stephen Jacques in their Sydney banking and finance practice. She is also fluent in Japanese. Ms Muldoon's in-depth knowledge of export markets in Asia, which are a crucial pillar in our state's economic growth, will be invaluable as we strive to further strengthen our export and investment opportunities into the future.

There is no doubt that Ms Muldoon has the expertise to drive the South Australian growth agenda and implement the endorsed recommendations outlined in the Joyce review to grow our economy, grow our exports and create local jobs. We have an ambitious agenda to grow local jobs and strengthen our economy, so much of which is done through our thriving trade and tourism sectors. Getting the 3 per cent annual growth will not be an easy task, and Ms Muldoon's experience and expertise across the globe will help us deliver the growth, creating jobs and driving our economy as a whole.

I would like to thank Mr Michael Hnyda for his dedicated service as chief executive of DTTI, who retired in March, and acknowledge the work of Mr Jim McDowell, who has acted as the department chief executive since that time. I look forward to welcoming Ms Muldoon into the role of chief executive of the Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment when she officially begins next month, and working with her to grow the state's economy and to continue building South Australia.

It is interesting to note that, on a LinkedIn post, in less than 24 hours well over 5,000 people from across the globe have endorsed the Marshall government's decision to appoint Ms Muldoon. In fact, in the first 15 minutes of being in the chamber another 25 people joined that chorus of people endorsing the Marshall Liberal government's appointment of Ms Muldoon.