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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-09-11 Daily Xml
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South Australian Trade and Investment Office, USA

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:44): A supplementary: was the earlier plan for the standalone office to be in San Francisco and, if so, why did that change to Houston?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her question. I do not believe there was ever an earlier plan for an office in San Francisco. We canvassed a whole range of options, but we looked at the actual alignment of our sectors and the things that are strong. The other thing you also have to remember is that San Francisco and California are pretty busy marketplaces. Every state is in there, and you battle against Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales.

Texas and South Australia are perfectly aligned, and I went through all the sectors we are aligned on: a place in the US for 'can do' business; it is growing faster than California; and it is likely to be the biggest economy in the US within a decade. It has the largest number of people moving interstate from other states of the US into Texas, from California, because there are actually more job and career opportunities than California.

I direct members opposite to a lecture given by Alastair Walton, who was our Consul-General in Texas and who is now in New York. I think it was entitled, 'Texas, the Super State'. I am sure you have got it—and I can see the Hon. Mr Wortley struggling to stay awake at the moment, but—

The PRESIDENT: Don't reflect on the member's behaviour in the middle of a ministerial answer. The Hon. Mr Ridgway, could you please apologise to the Hon. Mr Wortley.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I am sorry, Mr Wortley. I should not have—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Get on with the answer.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I would like to try to finish. I direct members to the video of Alistair Walton talking about why Texas is the place to be. It just makes sense on all our key sectors, on the fact that we can be there in a state with which we have a lot of synergies. I recently met someone who described South Australia as the Texas of Australia, so I think we will have been successful when they describe Texas as the South Australia of the United States. It will be a few generations before we get there, but I think it is a perfect alignment.

We canvassed a whole range of options: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York. In the end, Houston and Texas was seen as the best fit for our economy.

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