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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-02 Daily Xml
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Ramsay Electorate

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay) (15:54): I rise to talk about some great visits that I made last week in my electorate—or areas soon to be in my electorate—to significant businesses in the Salisbury area. With the highest unemployment in the nation, it is important that we recognise these local businesses that continue to grow their organisations and employ South Australians.

I went to visit Mayne Pharma in Salisbury South last Wednesday, accompanied by the shadow minister for health, Chris Picton. Mayne Pharma are somewhat of a quiet achiever. They employ 212 workers. They have people with PhDs in research and development and they hire a lot of graduates.

In fact, they are very involved with the universities in encouraging people to come to do some training for their third or fourth year of their degrees, and they are very connected in terms of providing students with that experience. They also do a lot of in-house training. One of the key things they left with me was the length of stay of some of their employees, who are very well supported. It is a great atmosphere.

The company manufactures medicines, which are sold here and used by patients here and also exported around the world. It is located on a 12-hectare site with 12,000 square metres of manufacturing space. The facility has comprehensive manufacturing capabilities that allow for commercial scale solid, oral and topical manufacturing and filling of a range of products, including pellet products, powders, tablets, capsules, liquids and creams.

Mayne Pharma are GMP accredited, which is short for good manufacturing practice. That accreditation covers every stage of the process, and I understand it is a global accreditation. It gives them accreditation to formulate the development of pharmaceuticals, to analyse and test the products and to manufacture product for distribution and export.

I asked them if there are some products we perhaps might know of. One of the things that they manufacture is Betadine; they do not own that, but they do contract manufacturing. They also do significant work in the area of Parkinson's medicines and export quite a few of those. That was really interesting to me. Mayne Pharma was established in 1845. The company name was known as F.H. Faulding & Co. until 2001, when it acquired Mayne Pharma Ltd.

Another Salisbury gem that I got to spend some time with is Mitani, famous for the Mitani chicken salt. It is a family-owned and operated South Australian business with 80 employees, based in Salisbury Plain.

The Mitani family story began in 1954, when Elia 'Loui' and Trianka Mitani arrived in Australia as migrants, with their young son, Tas, and the dream of a better life. Within a few years, they started a market garden and quickly progressed into food retailing and, ultimately, manufacturing. Mitani was passed to the next generation, with Loui transitioning the running of the business to his four sons, Tas, Con, Jim and Les. Today, it is the third generation who are taking over the reins, although I have to say that Tas is as active and engaged as ever.

Initially, they pioneered the commercial production of chicken salt, but it is their relationships with other food companies and their efficiency and responsiveness that enabled them to expand into areas of food production, including stuffings, dressings and seasonings. The company has grown to be one of Australia's most innovative food product developers, supplying some of the country's largest and best-known companies. Both of these businesses export products to the world: Mayne Pharma exports to the US and Korea, to name some; and Mitani exports to New Zealand.

Our state, let's remind ourselves, is founded on the success of exporting our meat, wine, wheat and metals. Today we also export our services, such as tourism and international education.

In fact, 76,000 jobs are dependent on exports here in South Australia. For the past 10 years, we have seen year-on-year growth in the value of our exports, but of course now we face a backlash against global trade. It is these trade wars and conflicts that benefit nobody but impact businesses and their employees. What we know is that merchandise and service exports are slowing and that means fewer jobs here in South Australia. I congratulate these local hero companies but recognise that we are in a very difficult time for exports and it needs this government's attention.

Time expired.

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