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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-09-11 Daily Xml
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Motions

Singapore Airlines

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (10:48): I rise with a motion that I think is very important to South Australia's economy, the visitation economy, but also as an anchor tenant for trade relations into South Australia out of South-East Asia. I move:

That this house—

(a) congratulates Singapore Airlines for 40 successful years of operations in Adelaide;

(b) acknowledges Singapore Airlines as Adelaide's longest-serving international airline;

(c) recognises the significant impact Singapore Airlines has had on the visitor economy, international student market and international trade and exports sector over the last 40 years;

(d) notes Singapore Airlines has played a pivotal role in South Australia's COVID pandemic recovery and was one of the first international airlines to reintroduce flights in mid-2020 to help repatriate South Australians and to transport South Australian exports to global markets; and

(e) commends Singapore Airlines for its long-term commitment to work in partnership with Adelaide Airport and recognises the airline's important contributions to the tourism, transport and aviation sectors in South Australia.

Mr Speaker, I am sure that you, as an avid traveller, have experienced Singapore Airlines in one way, shape or another, whether it is a flight direct to Singapore from Adelaide or whether it is being used as a stopover on your way to another country. I think it is worth celebrating the 40 years of operation here at the Adelaide Airport.

It is Adelaide's longest serving international airline and it has been an incredible contributor to the South Australian trade, tourism, aviation, transport, international and student education sectors. A little bit of history tells us that on 31 March 1984 Singapore Airlines' inaugural service with a Boeing 747 landed in Adelaide, and it really did change the landscape of international travel into Adelaide.

I vividly remember, as a young aspirant traveller, that when Singapore Airlines came to Adelaide it opened up the door of opportunity to travel internationally. It gave great scope for freight and to put some of South Australia's goods and services, food and beverage into the bellies of those planes, and introduce it to a market that we had struggled with previously.

Just 18 months after Adelaide Airport's international terminal opened, we saw Singapore Airlines really leaving its mark, and today it is a legacy that we enjoy. It has been a strong supporter of the South Australian market, operating nonstop, except for a small period through COVID, but it was the first international airline to reintroduce flights in mid-2020, repatriating South Australians and keeping our exports alive.

I commend the former federal government for some of the initiatives that they put into place, subsidising some of that international air freight. That was critical in putting some form of continuity into exports into countries that had seen a stop sign put in front of them and had seen a significant amount of disruption. Hats off to Singapore Airlines.

In 2018, they chose Adelaide as a global launch port for its new A350 MH aircraft. At that time, it had the highest seating capacity of 303 seats, and it was the primary aircraft used for the Singapore-Adelaide route. As of October last year, they upgraded the route to a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 337 seats. For many of us, we would understand that the Dreamliner has been a game changer for international travel. It has long-range capacity and it really does bring a mid-sized aircraft into what I would consider the luxury capability of international travel.

What we have seen, particularly with Singapore and the SA trade relations, is that it is the busiest international freight route to and from Adelaide. There was seven tonnes of cargo in the 2023-24 financial year, and that equates to $257 million of export value, but there was also $1.88 million of import value. This was facilitated by the trade office reopening under the former Marshall Liberal government.

We cannot go past noting that wine is South Australia's largest export into Singapore. It is our fourth largest market for South Australian wine. It is about 8 per cent of all wine out of South Australia, but it has dropped to second place this year. I also want to commend Martin Haese, the Special Envoy to Singapore. Genevieve, his wife, is a Singaporean and he is doing an outstanding job with relations from South Australia into Singapore. Using Singapore as a hub-and-spoke approach, I think that he has the capacity to move the dial into some of our trade relations.

I think we need to keep that role bubbling along. We need to put a capacity there that will see a significant growth industry into South-East Asia. I know, from writing policies in a former government, it really did open up the opportunities of what the hub-and-spoke approach would mean into South-East Asia, and Singapore being one of the hubs, I think has really paid a dividend.

What I would say in regard to tourism is it is the second busiest international passenger route behind Bali and it is the fourth largest market for visitor expenditure. It generates about $96 million every year and last year we welcomed 15,000 visitors from Singapore. It is our most mature travel market from Asia daily, direct access into Adelaide, but 91 per cent of Singaporeans who visit Adelaide have visited Australia before. Some of the experiences that Singaporeans want to experience—and do experience when visiting South Australia—are, of course, the food and wine sector, the nature and wildlife experience, but also self-drive journeys and road trips.

We all know that Singapore is a very small country and to come and experience the vast opportunities here in South Australia is a bit of a culture shock. The tyranny of distance has for a long time been a bit of a challenge for some of our international visitation. I think people are now better prepared and also better organised when visiting South Australia to enjoy some of the great experiences that we have here on our doorstep. Twenty-eight per cent have visited regional South Australia and I expect that to grow significantly over the next five years. Some of the top locations visited are the Limestone Coast, Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula.

As to the future of international airlines, currently we have eight international airlines flying direct from Adelaide: Fiji Airways, Batik Air, Vietjet Air, Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Malaysia, Qatar and Singapore Airlines. I think Singapore really have been that anchor tenant here in South Australia, operating 37 flights into Adelaide every week. Next month, Singapore Airlines will increase flights from Adelaide to 10 per week. That is an extra 105,000 seats per year and that will move the dial in our visitation economy, so it is great to see international airlines getting behind South Australia.

I attended the Friends of Tourism function last night, compliments of the Minister for Tourism, thank you, and there are some more announcements coming. I will not burst the minister's bubble, but it is great to see more international airlines re-acquainting themselves with South Australia and I think that is just a boon not only for tourism, for our economy, but it is also about giving tourists a great experience and then, when they go home, they are one of the great ambassadors in their country to fly the flag for their family and friends to come to South Australia to visit and experience some of the great opportunities that we have to offer.

The unlocking of some of those new international routes and trading opportunities will enable the establishing of new markets and growth into the international audience—as I have said, the ambassador-type program. However, business and education visitation from Singapore is still below COVID levels and so there is much more work to do to reinvigorate an experience here in South Australia, but to do that what we are hoping to see is the reinstating of those two airlines, Cathay Pacific and China Southern.

In regard to fixing broken trading partnerships, especially with countries damaged by what I would consider putting a lot of our trading eggs into the China basket, China is a very important trading partner, inbound and outbound, but we have to learn from some of the issues that we had with sanctions put on to commodity trading hurdles—headwinds, if you like—that significantly hurt South Australia's economy. We have seen that that relationship has been mended but we need to make sure that we have learnt our lessons: diversifying our trading experience, diversifying countries that we have reliance on with trade relations, particularly in the commodity sector.

We also need to be very cognisant of the service sector that South Australia presents. Education is one of those, health care is another one, but it is also the emerging industries within defence, within space, within cyber, and within some of the country's security issues that we face today that we did not experience five years ago, so it is a huge opportunity.

What I would like to say in closing is that I congratulate Singapore Airlines on 40 years of successful business to and from Adelaide. It is incredible, the ongoing support to South Australia's growth and opportunity. Bringing visitors into both metro and regional South Australia is something we must be more focused on. Too often we see the experience of our international travellers who come to Adelaide and do day trips, whether it be just to the urban fringe of Adelaide.

We need to have more packages, more opportunities so that they can stay those few extra days, and they can travel to those slightly further away destinations that I think every traveller should experience. So I look forward to Singapore Airlines growing our relationship, not only with their presence at Adelaide Airport but for those visitors who grace our shores and further and grow the experiences that we offer here in South Australia. Congratulations to Singapore Airlines.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (11:01): I rise to support the motion congratulating Singapore Airlines on 40 years of their operations here in Adelaide. Of course, they are based at Changi Airport and they are the national carrier of Singapore. It is an incredibly extensive network that Singapore Airlines operates, covering 76 destinations. With one stop here from Adelaide, you can connect to Asia, North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. One of the key things is the Star Alliance program which Singapore has been part of since 2001, but it is their continuous operation here in Adelaide that we are recognising today.

I particularly want to recognise the work during COVID, and the IFAM, which is what the member for Chaffey talked about. Singapore Airlines and Qatar were the only two international airlines still travelling and flying internationally from Adelaide, and they continued to do so during that time. It was a very difficult time and we want to make sure that when we recognise these 40 years we pay particular recognition to the pivotal role they played in our pandemic recovery. They were the first to reintroduce flights in mid-2020 and repatriated South Australians and transported our exports to the global market.

I had the opportunity to meet with Singapore Airlines to thank them for this role that they played in 2022. It was a really fantastic face-to-face meeting for them to talk about the challenges that they had during the COVID lockdown in Singapore and how they were building back and where they were going to go. They were ambitious about our opportunities. We know that we have connections through international students, and trade and exports, and that has been developed over 40 years, but I had the opportunity to host a lot of the trade travel when I was in Singapore and we had some very frank discussions about what Singaporeans want in South Australia.

They want five-star farmstays with good water pressure and no spiders. I said, 'Okay, good to know.' They particularly want to have a really high level of accommodation. Food and wine is something really important to them but they are keen to get into the outback and experience a true immersion in our natural landscape. It is good to hear what they want. That is how we then market to them but they also want that support when they are here as well.

As the member for Chaffey spoke about, in August 2023 Singapore Airlines added an additional 238 weekly seats to its Adelaide to Singapore service, replacing its aircraft with the B787-10 Dreamliner. That was a significant investment in this route and we thank them for that work. They will then increase that to 10 flights per week from October. This is something that is really important. When people are looking at coming here as international students or as tourists, that certainty that you can get that flight 10 times a week adds a lot of benefit to our economy, and of course we want to continue to invite people to come.

I really want to touch on one particular area that Singapore Airlines has been incredibly supportive of, which is their long-term partnership with sponsoring the Santos Tour Down Under. It has really been quite pivotal for us in increasing supporting women's equality in the Tour Down Under event. In January next year we celebrate 25 years of the Tour Down Under, and it simply would not be at the event status it is had it not been for Singapore Airlines' long-term sponsorship.

I know the former Minister for Tourism was very keen on advocating the role of bringing elite women to the Tour Down Under, paying them the same amount of money and hosting them as well as we can. That has been recognised, and now we have the elite women here as well as the elite men. That could not have happened had we not had Singapore Airlines give that long-term support to get people here.

It is incredibly important that we continue our relationships. Singapore has a deep relationship with South Australia. In fact, I remember that one of their former prime ministers actually studied here at Adelaide University and remembered us very fondly. When I was at university at Flinders, there were many people from Singapore studying here as well.

In order for us to be recognised as a great place for international students and tourists, aviation connection is supreme, and we have been fighting to reinstate all the flights that we had prior to COVID. I was happy in February to recognise that Emirates are coming back on 28 October, and I look forward in the near future to making announcements of other airlines that are coming back to increase our connectivity. But today this motion is about Singapore Airlines. We thank them for their 40 years and their commitment to South Australia. I support the motion.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (11:07): I will just say a few words on this—I know that we have Father Stavros and Father Michael and His Grace here ready for a motion about their parish and their celebrations—and on the experiences that I know that many Greeks and Italians in particular have had with Singapore Airlines. The member for Chaffey pointed out that it was the first international airline. Before the Tonkin government, there was no international airline or even a terminal here in South Australia.

I know that it made life for my father easier, when going back to Milan, to travel from Adelaide to Singapore and then from Singapore to Milan via Rome. I know so many other Greek families were also able to get back to Greece so much more easily, particularly in the 1980s when there was very little choice for leaving Adelaide directly for an international flight.

I do not think we can overestimate the value that brought to South Australia's multicultural community, particularly those who came here in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of them were able to get home to see relatives and family for the first time. I know that my father was here for more than 25 years before he was able to get back home, even though when he left he told his parents that he would be back in two years when the contract had ended—but, of course, life overtook his plans.

Of course, Adelaide has developed a relationship with Singapore because Singapore Airlines was an early mover in establishing a base out of Adelaide for South Australians to get to Europe in particular. I used Singapore Airlines a lot in the early 2000s when I was expanding my options with my furniture business and doing business in China. It was the most efficient and quickest way to get to Shanghai where I spent most of my time when I was in China.

The trade with Adelaide and China was obviously enhanced with the freight network that was developed through Singapore Airlines' connections here in Adelaide. So many of our producers of fresh produce, quality produce, produce that people were paying a premium for in Singapore and other parts of Asia, have that direct route out of Asia.

I know it was very important, as other speakers have mentioned, during the COVID period, ensuring that international currency kept coming into South Australia and that customers who had acquired a taste for the quality dairy products and meat products and other bespoke manufactured food products that came out of South Australia required that direct air freight, that short-as-possible time in getting their product to market in Asia, benefiting enormously from Singapore Airlines being a first mover for international flights out of South Australia. Congratulations to Singapore Airlines. We certainly hope there is at least another 40 years of the relationship to continue, and that both Singapore and South Australia will continue to benefit from that relationship.

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (11:11): It is my pleasure to rise in support of this motion. This is a well thought out motion and the moment I first heard about it, it was something I felt very strongly that I wanted to talk about. I am not the first and I certainly know I will not be the last migrant kid who gets to speak in this chamber. My story as a young toddler who came over from the UK is not unique and I am certainly not fishing for any sympathy in raising this, but back in 1982, my mum and dad rightly decided that life would be better for us on this side of the world and made the bold decision to migrate. They had never been to Australia and I am pretty sure many of their friends and family back home thought they were pretty mad.

Growing up, I used to see my friends enjoy the company of their cousins, their grandparents and their uncles and aunts. I could see how much joy these special people brought to their lives and yet for me all I had were my parents and my sister. I felt that there was something missing, especially when my family spoke about these relatives on the other side of the world with such fondness.

I can always remember telephone calls to England where, at some crippling cost, you would have all of three seconds to say hello before the phone was frantically passed on to someone else. Then at Christmas time when a parcel of treats would arrive from the United Kingdom, you would just long to meet these wonderful people who were spoiling you but you just knew so little about them. You really wanted to meet them and just be like everyone else by having that extended family in your life. It was a gap as I grew up that I really was not fond of.

Thanks to an airline from a part of the world that, at the time, I knew very little about, things were about to get a lot better. It was 1984 that marked the arrival of Singapore's first flights into Adelaide. They gave us affordable flights and connected us to lands that seemed so far out of reach. Most of all, they brought families back together. We all go through difficulties in our lives and the tyranny of distance was one that haunted my family long after we migrated. But, for several weeks at a time, I can remember just how super happy my family was because my grandparents were finally staying with us, and this was that special moment where I could get to know and grow to love these special people in my life.

Clearly, it was a commercial decision to fly into Adelaide, but as a young boy it meant so much more. For this, on behalf of all the migrant girls and boys who got to know someone special, I say a deep and sincerest thank you.

Singapore Airlines, over 40 years you have brought so much happiness to my family. I am confident that my story is not unique, nor am I alone in expressing this sentiment. As a company, it is clear they understand the value of bringing and keeping our families together. South Australians will never forget how Singapore Airlines stood with us during the COVID pandemic. The role they played was pivotal in pandemic recovery, and it is not forgotten that Singapore were one of the first airlines to reintroduce flights in mid-2020 to help repatriate South Australians.

I will defer to the member for Chaffey as the expert, at least in this chamber, but our appreciation also extends to the role they played in transporting our exports to global markets at a time when it was critical to get our perishable food back onto foreign plates. While I could not find a more updated figure, I do note that in June 2022 over 6,000 tonnes of South Australian cargo, made up of export products such as lobster, lamb, poultry, fruit and wine, travelled through to Singapore and then on to markets such as Hong Kong, China, the US, Vietnam and Thailand.

Singapore Airlines have brought many of our products to corners of the world where we could only dream of and, in the process, further bolstered our reputation as a state that produces clean, green, quality produce, to the envy of many. I am sure that the number has got bigger as their expansion into Adelaide continues.

Interestingly, in the same report that I unearthed that figure, I found that, overall, across all Australian markets—keep in mind this is 2022—Singapore Airlines were the largest international carrier to Australia at 17.1 per cent market share. While this was two years ago, I think it is reasonable to say that when a company has stood with South Australian events, families and businesses we do not begrudge this success, for their support translates into $100 million in tourism spend for our state each year, and we could not be more grateful.

The good news is we expect their success to grow further with their plans to increase flights into Adelaide to 10 a week from next month. The future looks bright, but in those 40 years since the first plane landed in March 1984, there have been both ups and downs. The grand prix years were amazing, yet its loss was a blow that took some time to heal. We had the economic doldrums of the recession of the 1990s and the global financial crisis that followed decades later, but, throughout all of that, this proud company has stood by our side.

We are good as South Australians at brushing off the dirt and getting back up again and rebuilding, or adding value to great events such as the Tour Down Under, Tasting Australia, LIV Golf and our Fringe and Adelaide festivals. Let's not forget that in the past 40 years we have built a solid reputation as a destination for international conventions and a growing hub for foreign students.

To home in on an area where Singapore Airlines really has gone above and beyond, I refer to the Tour Down Under. I understand this is our biggest international event. While I thank the airline for its sponsorship, I feel that this is really more of a partnership in which the airline has invested itself significantly in ensuring our success as an events destination. For an event that last year generated $87.2 million in economic activity for South Australia and attracted an estimated total attendance of 770,600 people while creating 490 full-time equivalent jobs, it is reasonable to suggest that there is no way we could do this without the support of Singapore Airlines.

You cannot have an event without riders. Through a social media post I unearthed, it is quite telling that, through their assistance as the official airline, they have connected close to 300 members from the 28 cycling teams from cities across Europe to Adelaide for this year's event alone. While they have signed on as an official premier partner to the event, what this means to its success is invaluable. They have been incredible in their assistance in supporting women's equality in the event, which also speaks volumes for the company and what they stand for.

The success of the events that I mentioned, including the Tour Down Under, must be shared with the airlines that have supported us. In raising support throughout this 40-year journey that we discuss today, we also fondly remember how Singapore Airlines were the first international carrier to operate daily flights into Adelaide from 2006, and how our city was chosen as their global launch port for its brand-new A350 MH aircraft. I could go on for quite a while, but the reality is, as a parliament, I feel confident. We just want to say a big congratulations and thank you all for what you have done.

There are many layers to this of which I am just scratching the surface, but we appreciate how you brought families together, supported our events, exported our products and brought lots of friendly visitors to our shores, which in the past year amounted to 15,000. To Louis Arul, Singapore Airlines Regional Vice-President South West Pacific; Goh Choon Phong, CEO of the airline; its 14,800 employees and those who have made it great and proud in its 77-year-long history, we say a heartfelt thanks. On this happy note, I am very pleased to support this motion and commend it to the house.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:20): As I mentioned earlier, I know that you, Mr Speaker, are an avid traveller, and I am sure that you have spent a number of hours in a Singapore Airlines aircraft. The minister jogged my memory, and I just want to acknowledge that, obviously, Singapore Airlines are and were the inaugural airline sponsor of the Tour Down Under, and I think that cannot be overstated for what it has meant for our global reputation but also having that airline as an anchor tenant.

Just in closing, I do want to thank the minister and the member for Unley for sharing their personal stories and, of course, the member for Playford, who has quite eloquently given his contribution on this motion. I think we all have a personal story to share. As the shadow minister for trade, I think this motion does ring the bell for visitation, and it is the highway for the trade economy into South Australia. I think the motion is worthy, and I commend it to the house.

Motion carried.

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