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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-13 Daily Xml
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China Trade Mission

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:27): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier please update the house about his trade mission to China?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Waite, member for Elder, member for Newland! The Premier has the call. Order, member for Chaffey!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:28): I thank the member for MacKillop for his question. I have spent time with the member for MacKillop and also with the member Mount Gambier, in their local communities, and have seen firsthand how dramatic an impact the punitive tariffs from the People's Republic of China have been on constituents.

I know that the member for MacKillop cares about his constituents and the impact these tariffs have had, and I know that the member for MacKillop is a strong advocate for seeing change in this area so that the standard of living of those people can be somewhat more similar to what was occurring prior to the tariffs.

This government chooses to engage. We choose to engage with China at the highest levels to make sure that the decisions they make, particularly in respect of a tariff regime that affects South Australians, are done in a more thoughtful way and a way that is not a consequence of sabre rattling or irresponsible domestic political leadership.

The country has seen the consequence of ill thought-through sophisticated diplomatic relations with China. We think that's worthy of being addressed. Absolutely—absolutely on every occasion—state and federal governments should stand up for basic principles that we care about deeply. This state government will certainly be doing that.

We travel to China on this trip because we want to see the stabilisation of the relationship that has occurred at a federal level have practical implications for the people of South Australia. China is our biggest trading partner; $46 billion worth of two-way trade has occurred with China, between South Australia and the PRC, over the course of the last decade. It is an incomprehensibly large number, but it isn't at the level that we would otherwise like to see in South Australia because of those tariffs.

The relaxation of the barley tariffs has been a positive step in the right direction, but the big ones that really matter in South Australia are in respect of viticulture and aquaculture. We want Chinese consumers to again be able to enjoy some of the best wine produced anywhere in the world. We want Chinese consumers to be able to celebrate over their beloved Red Dragon or our rock lobster produced in one of the best biosecurity regimes anywhere in the world. We are capable of delivering those services if we can get better outcomes with China.

This trip alone, and I have stated this publicly previously, is not going to immediately change the tariff regime, although we would like it to, but we do know that active engagement can result in movement in the right direction. What I say to the member for MacKillop is that it's not just about those industries that I know matter to him and his region, and he covers a large number, but also in respect of international students, who we know are fundamentally important to our universities and the state's economy more broadly. On these matters and others we seek to engage, and we very much look forward to the opportunity to do so.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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