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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-12-04 Daily Xml
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Export Industry

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for the Public Sector) (14:50): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: It is with great pleasure, as the Acting Minister for Investment and Trade, that I rise today to update the house on the performance of South Australian exporters. Exports are the backbone of South Australia's economy. Whether it is our farmers, winemakers, miners or manufacturers, they are playing an important role in supporting jobs and investment by identifying and capturing new markets.

I am happy to inform members that the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures published today show South Australia's exports reached a record $12.3 billion in the 12 months to October. Analysis of the ABS data also shows that the pace of export growth achieved by South Australian exporters during this period outperformed every state as well as the nation. South Australian exporters can be very proud of their efforts.

In a very challenging market, our state's exports grew 10.2 per cent in the 12 months to October. This is faster than the national growth rate of 6 per cent, faster than the resource-rich states of Western Australia and Queensland. The ABS data show exports grew in Western Australia and Victoria but fell in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. I think those results clearly put South Australian exporters' achievements in perspective.

South Australia can continue to be a place that makes things, that produces premium food and wine for global supermarket shelves and unlocks its mineral potential to support the growing economies of China, India and South-East Asia. Premium food remains a mainstay of our trade within the region. Our meat exports grew 46.2 per cent to surpass $1 billion in the 12 months to October. Fish and crustaceans, very popular in Asian markets, grew 6.6 per cent.

Mineral resources and energy companies are also contributing, with a 3.8 per cent increase in exports of metal ores and scraps, a 46 per cent increase in coal and gas exports and a 40.7 per cent rise in petroleum and petroleum products exported to the world. Copper exports grew to almost $1.4 billion

Further analysis of the ABS data shows exports to China grew 29 per cent in the 12 months to October, to $3.2 billion—more than a quarter of our total outbound trade in that period. Our exports to India grew 15 per cent, to $732.6 million. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) received $1.97 billion worth of exports from South Australia, an increase of 6.1 per cent

The opportunity exists to further expand South Australia's economy by promoting our world-class goods and services to overseas markets. Even as I speak, the Minister for Investment and Trade is flying to China to continue our efforts to strengthen our already close relationship with our sister state in Shandong Province. Our China and India strategies are working to improve access for our exporters to those markets and work continues to finalise a similar strategy for the huge market offered by South-East Asia that will no doubt help to generate exports to the countries of that region.

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