South Australian Trade and Investment Office, USA

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): Further supplementary arising from the answers given: can the minister inform the chamber whether it was an election commitment of the then Liberal opposition to have standalone trade offices in the jurisdictions he has mentioned?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:41): I thank the honourable member for his ongoing interest in that particular aspect of it. As you saw with the Joyce review—and I won't waste the chamber's time going through the Joyce review—Steven Joyce recommended that we co-locate where possible with Austrade. It provides a cost-effective, efficient way of doing business and getting into the market.

We commissioned the Hon. Steven Joyce to do this report and a review into our outward-facing agencies, and the recommendation that was endorsed by cabinet earlier this year to give us the best opportunity, to get the best cut through and to grow our economy was to have offices co-located with Austrade. Why would you spend money on a consultant and not listen to their advice? The Labor Party might do that, but we listened to Steven Joyce and we are implementing his recommendations.