Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:50): Supplementary: can the minister confirm who else was present in the room while you did this deal by handshake?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:50): I can't recall the name of the restaurant where I bought—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Mr President, this is where this lot don't get it. You want to go to the other side of the world, you make an appointment to see somebody, and I said, 'I want to have a talk to you about it.' He had just flown in from another part of the US, so we met in a restaurant, had lunch and, over the next two days, when I was at the World Blockchain Summit, which, for members opposite, a blockchain would be something you would pull a truck out of a bog with—they wouldn't actually understand.

When I was at that summit, I interacted with him a couple more times. At the end of the summit he said, 'We're coming to South Australia.' There wasn't anybody else in it. It was about going to the other side of the world, using our friends and networks. Of course, the members opposite have no friends, they have no network, they have none. They just simply don't understand that how we grow this state is actually by selling our state to the world and by—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Take it on notice, Ridgy, please. Sit down, Ridgy. Ridgy, seriously, sit down, please.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Why should I sit down when you ask me to sit down? It is about building relationships and growing our state, and today—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: This lot laugh at the world's best, number one university and you want to laugh at it. You are a disgrace. You are a disgrace. You are a disgrace. I cannot believe that they think that this is a joke for bringing the number one university in the world to Adelaide. Clearly, they don't understand and they deserve to spend a long, long, long time in opposition.