Trade Missions

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (15:13): Final supplementary: can the minister advise if any Liberal donors have accompanied the minister on any taxpayer-funded overseas trade missions?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:13): While my travel may be paid by the taxpayers, the actual businesses pay for themselves, so they are not taxpayer-funded on that behalf. In the lead-up to the election, nearly every business in South Australia was donating to the Liberal Party; they wanted to get rid of this lot. But we certainly have no criteria. They were falling over themselves to give us money; they wanted to kick that lot out. That is not part of any selection criteria at all.