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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-24 Daily Xml
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FORESTRYSA

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Forests. Given that the minister told the forestry forum in Mount Gambier on 20 October:

Because of my old socialist leanings, I've got a bit of time for retention of this asset in state government.

Did he have any discussions regarding sale of the state's forests on his recent trip to China, and what were the outcomes of those discussions?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Northern Suburbs) (14:46): I thank the—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Yes. I thank the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Yes—very serious question. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. I would just like to clarify a comment made—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: No, I would like to clarify a comment made by the Treasurer. If you look at the transcript—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: —and this proposition that somehow me going down there and actually taking people into my confidence has created a level of angst that was not there prior to me going is a bloody nonsense. I said quite specifically that we will be doing a rigorous regional impact statement because we want to get this process right. Mayor Sage asked:

With the impact statement, is there going to be any opportunity for us to have input into that?

So, I was talking about the regional impact statement down there, and I said that it was going to be rigorous. I said:

I think you are going to sit at the heart of the impact statement, and, as I said, the reason that I'm down here tonight is to start the process. I have got a bit of a feel now for the concerns, and as far as is practicable they will be taken into all the conditions that are attached to the contract.

There being a disturbance in the gallery:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: As for my visit to China, I did a number of things while I was there. In Shanghai I visited Elders Fine Foods and wine; and, as an old Elders' executive, they wanted to show me their new facility. The cold rooms are stacked with T&R beef (which comes out of South Australia), a lot of Barossa fine lamb and seafood. They wanted to show me their facility and the opportunities for further growth of South Australian beef and lamb and also South Australian seafood.

We talked about options to increase their profile as far as South Australian wines are concerned. I returned and I have put a number of wineries in touch with Elders. I visited Michell's wool in Shanghai to have a look at its wool-processing facility. David Michell spent a day with me. He wanted me to meet the deputy director of the trade zone in which this facility is operated. There is an issue in there in that it is on a yearly contract. They felt that having a government minister might give a bit of longer term surety to their presence in Shanghai.

In Hong Kong I participated in the opening of the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Fair. Why that was important was because in addition to the fact that this is Asia’s pre-eminent wine and spirit fair, with something like 450 exhibitors and 9,000 purchases, Australia this year is the partner country and we did not have ministerial representation either at the commonwealth level or the state level. So, I was there basically representing the nation’s wine producers. I believe that that is my role, because South Australia is pre-eminent in the wine industry, with something like 60 per cent of our production going overseas.

I auspiced a group of young South Australian wine producers from the Barossa, who needed a bit of representation—the Old Vine Charter boys—and I co-hosted with the Australian Consul General a lunch at his residence with a selection of Old Vine Charter wines. The interesting thing here is that we are going head to head with the French in this market, but, because of the phylloxera outbreak, the oldest grenache, shiraz and, I think, riesling wines are actually from the Barossa Valley. So, we have a very good story to tell in the Asian market in terms of the age and historic legacy attached to our wine industry.

I visited Shandong Jinan, and met with the Vice-Governor of Shandong province. We have a sister state relationship and I—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Are you going to get to timber?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I cannot hear the minister and I cannot hear the deputy leader.

Mr WILLIAMS: On a point of order: the question was, did the minister discuss the sale of timber to the Chinese, and we did not expect to get a travelogue from the minister.

The SPEAKER: Minister, I think you could wind up your answer fairly shortly.

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Just to conclude, I thought the other side of the house might be interested, particularly in Elders and Michell, but at no stage did I have any meetings or have any discussions about the sale of timber.

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