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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-29 Daily Xml
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OVERSEAS TRADE OFFICES

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood) (14:40): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade. Why do South Australia's trade offices in Chile and Vietnam remain unstaffed? What trade opportunities have been missed by having the Santiago office unstaffed for the past nine months?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:40): I think that the opposition are a bit confused about the role of trade offices. The state government is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The state government makes no apologies for the approach it has taken to trade representation. I think the days of having highly paid offices open up all around the world are well behind us. I think the establishment of overseas offices focuses on major economic growth in emerging markets such as China, India, South America and South-East Asia.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Norwood, stop yelling across the chamber.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He is very excited, ma'am. ABS statistics show that South Australia's exports, during this period that the member for Norwood is talking about, hit an all-time high of $12 billion in 2011. This growth rate of 29 per cent is the highest in the nation.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Norwood, you will be the first person to take a walk if you are not careful.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He will be missed, ma'am, by all of us.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He is the future. He is the only one we fear. Efficiencies have been achieved by locating representatives within Austrade offices. The current vacancies in Santiago, Chile and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam are due to staff moving on to other roles. While the state government-funded positions in Santiago and Ho Chi Minh City are vacant, Austrade continues to provide its service. I know this is shocking for the Liberal Party of South Australia, but we are part of a federation. We are a subnational jurisdiction and we use the offices of the federal government—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Very successfully.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes. Where South Australia does not have an office or a dedicated resource (North America is an example), South Australian exporters can utilise Austrade's arrangements in those regions. I think it is important that we maintain a presence in Chile through Austrade, and we are looking at the—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: You would like the job, would you?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It is important that we raise the awareness of South Australian products in growing markets demanding these goods and offering strong economic opportunities for South Australia. There is a growing interest in Australian mining services, manufacturing and technology companies that are exporting to Latin American mining industries. South Australia and Australia are competing quite fiercely with South America in terms of mining and mining services. We are undertaking a review and we want to get that practice absolutely right. I tell you what we will not be doing. We will be taking a considered approach to this, not just shouting.

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