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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-03 Daily Xml
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Adelaide to the United States Direct Flights

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (14:23): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier please inform the house how South Australians will benefit from direct flights from Adelaide to the US?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:23): I thank the member for Elder for her question. The member for Elder is a worldly individual and has a high consciousness of how much South Australians can benefit from having an open-hearted position to other parts of the world and how we can learn so much from them. I think it would not be unreasonable to say that for more than 20 years South Australia has wanted a direct flight to the US. It's been going on for well over 20 years, and today, because of the actions of this government, we now have direct connection into the US.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The Leader of the Opposition interjects saying, 'Oh, San Fran, San Fran.' The Leader of the Opposition would do well to familiarise himself with the fact that under the stewardship of the former government a trade office was set up in San Francisco, and it was done for a good reason.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Let's just reflect on the fact that this is one of our top three trading partners and, depending on which measure you use, either the largest or second-largest economy in the world. In terms of population size, it is the third biggest country in the world and it is a country with which this nation has had a long-held relationship that is not about to change anytime soon.

One of the reasons why we haven't had a direct flight into the US in the past is because no airline has had a sense of confidence that it would stack up economically, until now. They look at the fact that we are the fastest growing economy in terms of state GSP per capita, they look at the relative position that we have on a whole range of metrics in respect of our national performance and the fact that we consistently are ranked as one of the top-performing economies anywhere in the country.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: They don't particularly like that. The airlines look at these metrics and they are able to formulate a position on whether or not it stacks up economically to establish that flight. With respect to San Francisco, the reason why San Fran is because the connectivity into 75 separate destinations in the US through United Airlines is able to be achieved out of San Francisco versus any other airport.

If the Leader of the Opposition wants to change the arrangement in the future, if he ever gets elected, and remove San Fran, then he will start taking cities off the list that are otherwise able to deliver direct connection. Now, South Australians will be able to go Adelaide-San Fran and then San Fran onto 75 other destinations throughout the United States of America. It is an unprecedented opportunity for South Australians to get greater access to the US market.

That speaks to convenience for holidays and businesspeople alike, but what we are far more preoccupied with isn't what is going out but what is going to come in. That is what we care about. We want the front of that plane, coming from the US, 75 different destinations—San Fran to Adelaide direct—full through economic opportunities where the US wants to invest in our state, where they want to continue to see relationships built upon as a result of AUKUS, as a result of what we are achieving in the space and defence industries, in higher education, amongst others.

No government before this one has been able to achieve it. The Minister for Tourism deserves great credit for the work that she and the team at SATC have done. We are very proud of this achievement. Those opposite will snipe and snigger. What we will do is we will just keep delivering for this state like no-one else has before.

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