❓ Dr. Honey questions the Minister about the removal of a permanently based trade commissioner in India, replaced by a fly-in fly-out commissioner covering a broader region. The Minister deflects, citing a review prompted by an incident in Japan and a need for a more strategic approach.
AnsweredQoN 281Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INDIA — TRADE COMMISSIONER
281. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for State Development,
Jobs and Trade:
Given
that India has been identified as the largest market for export growth from Western
Australia, why has the minister removed the trade commissioner
permanently based in India and replaced them with a commissioner who covers all
of the Middle East and Africa, the Persian Gulf and India, and who is now
fly-in fly-out to India from Dubai?
281. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for State Development,
Jobs and Trade:
Given
that India has been identified as the largest market for export growth from Western
Australia, why has the minister removed the trade commissioner
permanently based in India and replaced them with a commissioner who covers all
of the Middle East and Africa, the Persian Gulf and India, and who is now
fly-in fly-out to India from Dubai?
AnswerView source ↗
As the member would be aware, as a result
of some events that took place in Japan, the government undertook an extensive
review of all our trade commissions. We could go into some detail, member,
about those events in Japan, but clearly they involved some cultural immersion —
Several members interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK : — in
which a member of Parliament soaked up the cultural experience that Japan had
to offer.
Mr P. Papalia : They immersed
themselves.
Mr R.H. COOK : Indeed, they
immersed themselves and slid right across the details of what they could find
out by working very closely with the trade commissioner in Japan!
Obviously, an extensive review of
our trade missions was undertaken by the government in its first term. A range
of observations came out of that. One was that we needed to make sure that our
trade missions undertook a much more proactive
and strategic approach to how we address issues of trade, particularly in the
South-East Asian market , and that we
had an opportunity to pivot out of longstanding arrangements to ensure that we
could undertake strategic activities
in relation to emerging markets. For that particular reason, under the previous
McGowan Labor government , we put those changes in place. There has been
some hindrance in how we see this new model working. That is fundamentally
because many of our trade commissioners are not able to travel overseas, for a whole
range of reasons, which will be obvious to one and all.
In relation to how the system works,
in the coming months and years we will see just how important these new arrangements are. We have a fresh team of energised,
intelligent, qualified and strategic-thinking trade commissioners who I am sure will do this state proud and ensure
that we can continue our strong economic relationship with West Asia and
South-East Asia.
of some events that took place in Japan, the government undertook an extensive
review of all our trade commissions. We could go into some detail, member,
about those events in Japan, but clearly they involved some cultural immersion —
Several members interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK : — in
which a member of Parliament soaked up the cultural experience that Japan had
to offer.
Mr P. Papalia : They immersed
themselves.
Mr R.H. COOK : Indeed, they
immersed themselves and slid right across the details of what they could find
out by working very closely with the trade commissioner in Japan!
Obviously, an extensive review of
our trade missions was undertaken by the government in its first term. A range
of observations came out of that. One was that we needed to make sure that our
trade missions undertook a much more proactive
and strategic approach to how we address issues of trade, particularly in the
South-East Asian market , and that we
had an opportunity to pivot out of longstanding arrangements to ensure that we
could undertake strategic activities
in relation to emerging markets. For that particular reason, under the previous
McGowan Labor government , we put those changes in place. There has been
some hindrance in how we see this new model working. That is fundamentally
because many of our trade commissioners are not able to travel overseas, for a whole
range of reasons, which will be obvious to one and all.
In relation to how the system works,
in the coming months and years we will see just how important these new arrangements are. We have a fresh team of energised,
intelligent, qualified and strategic-thinking trade commissioners who I am sure will do this state proud and ensure
that we can continue our strong economic relationship with West Asia and
South-East Asia.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.