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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-02-17 Daily Xml
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Investment Attraction

Mr MURRAY (Davenport) (14:58): My question is directed to the Minister for Trade and Investment.

Members interjecting:

Mr MURRAY: Listen up. Can the minister advise how the Marshall Liberal government is building the ecosystem that is attracting international companies to invest in South Australia?

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON (Morphett—Member of the Executive Council, Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:58): I thank the member for Davenport for his question and note that he has run international operations in the UK and New Zealand and so understands not only the difficulties in running a business internationally but also the benefits that can bring not only for the company but also for the country itself.

Ever since coming to government we have really been working on building what matters. I know that we have had ministers talk about infrastructure, schools and hospitals, but underpinning all that is making sure that we are building our economic ecosystem here in South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON: —because that will grow jobs and also attract investment here to South Australia. It is about getting all the fundamentals right, of course: electricity and bringing that down. We have heard from the Minister for Energy and Mining about bringing that down. It has a massive impact on business—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford!

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON: I will let him take all the credit for that because we know that is important. Fundamental to this, though, is we know that to compete on the world stage you need to have levels of excellence. We have not stopped working to attract centres of excellence here into South Australia, such as the Australian Space Agency setting us up as the nation's capital for space, recognising where the world is going.

Data is so important, ensuring data safety is important, so we have brought the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre to set up right here in South Australia, which is fantastic. Alongside that, we have the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, one of the top three institutions in the world for artificial intelligence machines, competing right up the top there. Those fundamentals are really important, as they get big world companies looking at South Australia.

We have attracted MIT, setting up their Living Lab here in South Australia. That is going to be important for us going forward, as it helps bring partnerships with South Australian businesses. BankSA are working with them and Optus has set up, and this is very important. It is all about making sure we're doing the transformation of our economy, making sure we're transforming it to where we need to be into the future, whether that is the cyber or artificial intelligence.

That is why it was very pleasing when I joined the Premier at Lot Fourteen to hear the announcement that Amazon Web Services are setting up right here in South Australia. It is fantastic that Amazon, one of the top two companies in the world alongside Apple, have set up here in South Australia. They have seen what we're doing, they have backed it in and we're a magnet for their investment. They have arrived here and it is fantastic.

Not only will that be jobs for South Australians but it will also help our businesses here in South Australia. It will give them access to world-class technology, and it will allow them to set up and digitally transform their business in a very cheap and cost-effective manner into the cloud. We were joined by Davinia Simon from Amazon Web Services. What is the cloud? You can think of it like turning the switch on for electricity: if you want to get involved in the world—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON: —you just click on a switch via the cloud. 'Wow,' they say over there. Well, wow it is absolutely—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.J.R. PATTERSON: —because what that does is it allows South Australian businesses to connect into the world straightaway. Not only can they provision here in South Australia quickly and rapidly but they can provision in whichever country they want to go in, whichever key market. That's fantastic for South Australia and what that is doing is attracting talent back here to South Australia. Instead of net migration going backwards, with 6,000 to 7,000 leaving, now we have them arriving here, coming back—we have turned that around.

That is fantastic for South Australia and it is fantastic for business. We know skills are so important to our businesses. This government will not stop, though. We will continue to attract world-leading businesses here because we know that grows the ecosystem and the economic ecosystem here in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Reynell, I warn the member for Ramsay. The member for Lee, the member for West Torrens and the member for Playford will leave for the remainder of question time in accordance with standing order 137A.

The honourable members for Lee, West Torrens and Playford having withdrawn from the chamber:

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

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