Question Time

Overseas Investment

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment regarding overseas investment.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The minister has, in the past 18 months, travelled overseas some eight times, including six trips to China. On 1 May 2019, the minister was asked whether there were actually any tangible benefits or results coming out of his travel, and he said:

I have already sent some emails and I have received some…

The minister went on to say of those emails that they were, 'Only a couple, only single syllable words.' The minister told the chamber of the persuasiveness of his monosyllabic emails by saying:

There are already some contacts, and I know they are wanting to come to Adelaide. One of them is coming for a vacation and is definitely coming here for a visit as part of his vacation.

When pressed on this one vacationer the minister said:

I don't have the exact dates. There are people coming...

We don't need to, apparently, worry about the highest rate of unemployment in the nation because according to our minister there are people coming. There are people coming.

The PRESIDENT: Keep the rhetorical flourishes to a minimum, please. Get on with the question.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: In relation to signing agreements and making deals, on 4 July 2019 the minister told the council of his deal-making prowess and that others are so convinced because they say:

You're a good bloke; that sounds like a great place…

The minister went on to tell the chamber of his understanding of international trade completion to say, 'Yes, [it's] a deal. It was a handshake.' The minister also garnered significant media attention when he compared attracting investment to sexual relationships. He even, on a separate occasion, revealed that a Chinese dignitary throws away the name cards of Australian businesspeople. Finally, as recently as yesterday, when he was asked what specifically he had done to contribute to tourism in this state, the minister said:

What I do as the minister is provide some good, solid leadership and a strong relationship with the Tourism Commission. I am constantly embarrassed by the number of people who say, 'Thank God we have a great government and a great minister.'

He simply could not help but to congratulate himself on how good he thinks he is.

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, this is not a brief explanation. Get to the question.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Now that the minister has made six separate overseas trips to China in the last 18 months, can the minister outline one single business that came to SA, one single job created in this state that could not have been created if the minister had not had six taxpayer-funded trips to China?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:23): I guess I thank the honourable member for his interest in growing the South Australian economy. It's interesting, they talk about the number of trips overseas that I have done as Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. I would like them to actually just spend a moment, when they have got time in their office, staring out the window, to look at the number of trips that the Hon. Leon Bignell and the Hon. Martin Hamilton-Smith did. If you actually look at the number of trips that they did, I think you will see there is a stark contrast. When it comes to—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Mr President—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: If you want to hear the minister, you need to remain in order.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Where we are heading with this—the South Australian government—is that we have sector priorities. We are opening trade offices around the globe. We have opened China and Japan. We will be opening an office in Houston very shortly. We will be doing one in Dubai and one in Kuala Lumpur.

The honourable member asked about jobs and export deals. The Infinitus group from China—my meeting with them, inviting them to come to South Australia, resulted in the largest single ever export of wine to China. I met with them and invited them here to South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, I allow supplementaries with leave. You know that it annoys me you shouting out questions—which happen to be, surprisingly, within the standing orders—from a seated position. Let the minister finish and then you can have your crack.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The honourable member asked about this. There is one very good tangible example of a visit to China to meet the company, to talk about bringing their high-value salespeople here. We talked about wine. They then came to Australia, met a range of wineries, and it resulted in the single biggest order ever to China in the history of the South Australian wine industry.

Our approach, as you know, is different from the former government and the 200 or 300-people trade missions. Of course, they have already done an arrangement ahead, so then the premier and the minister turn up, they cut the ribbon and they get the accolades for something that has already been done. That is not our approach. Our approach is to focus on our nine important sectors. What we do is have a whole range of meetings with those particular stakeholders in country, whether it's in China, whether it's in Japan, whether it's in the US, whether it's in the UK, or whether it's in Germany, to continue to promote the things that are good here.

For example, the UK space collaboration, which is called space Catapult, wanted to have a space bridge, following a meeting between their space agency and our space agency. On my return, I wrote some letters to the UK government and now we have a space bridge bringing technology from the UK here to South Australia.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order: I think it was from 4 July, but I stand to be corrected. The minister is repeating almost verbatim the answer he gave then.

The PRESIDENT: He may well have been, but you have asked him a very broad-ranging question about what he has achieved in trade. If you want to ask specific questions, then come to me about relevance, but after what you have actually asked the minister, he could talk about his whole portfolio if he wanted to. Do not take that as a permission, the Hon. Mr Ridgway, to go on a frolic.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President. I can hardly be held responsible if the honourable members talk all the time and don't listen to the answer. The members opposite ask what we have. We have some clear sector strategies. Look at international education, the number of jobs that is bringing to South Australia, with the highest number of international students in the history of this state. It is unbelievable.

Look at some of the other activities around space, as I mentioned yesterday. There is great excitement about South Australia. In our sector plans, we are having a whole-of-government approach. A number of ministers meet with people when we are overseas, and we are continuing to grow the nine important sectors.

Yesterday, I was asked, as the honourable member mentioned, about tourism. What have we had? We have had extra money for the winter campaign, an extra $30 million provided in the budget by my good friend the Treasurer to continue to market South Australia. We are now at $7.6  billion. The members opposite yesterday were critical of being at $7.6 billion. Go back out into the regions and talk to the operators that are having some of their best and most buoyant times. I met with the Caravan and Camping Industries Association yesterday. They have had some of the best years they have ever had. The RAA have some record figures with tourists into our region.

I find it bemusing that on the topic of tourism, where 43¢ or 44¢ of every dollar is spent in the regions, these people sitting opposite (some of whom, in fact, if I look at them—one, two, three, four at least—belong in the regions) can't see that that's a great benefit for regional South Australia. They are critical of it.

We are constantly looking at ways to grow the economy. I had a range of meetings that I would love to talk to you about in the United States, where I had to sign non-disclosure agreements. We have record numbers of international students. Tourism expenditure is at a record high. We have had some of the biggest wine sales. Our wine industry is now booming, as we know, now over $2 billion. Every time we go overseas, we talk and play to our strengths. Wine is one of our strengths.

Members opposite have the very crude, blunt and almost insulting comment about a pub crawl I did on the Fleurieu Peninsula. When they mentioned that, they insulted all the hardworking mums and dads who borrow money and try to grow our economy and give businesses an opportunity. Members opposite simply do not understand.