Debates Day 3 - Thursday 21 October 2010
Parliamentary Record 15
Debates for 11th Assembly 2008 - 2012; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 11th Assembly 2008 - 2012
2010-10-21
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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DEBATES - Thursday 21 October 2010 fantastic night. I have attended these awards for many years and the number of nominations has gone through the roof. We had businesses big and small, even some micro-businesses that had entered the awards, and it was wonderfully refreshing to see the energy, commitment and enthusiasm of our business sector in establishing those export markets, pushing hard and being successful. The 2010 winner was Porosus Pty Ltd, awarded the Agribusiness Award and NT Exporter of the Year. To Mick Burns and the team, fantastic! Crocodile skin exports overseas - how Mick and Michael Hannon have grown that business over the years. We export the finest crocodile skins in the world to Paris for Herms to turn into handbags of extraordinary value - I could not contemplate a present for Stacey of that expense. I understand one of my great heroes, guitarist Eric Clapton, has had a guitar case specifically crafted for him by Herms from Northern Territory crocodile skins. Goodness knows how much Eric Claptons guitar case is worth! This product is acknowledged on the world export stage as being fantastic. To Mick, Michael and all the team at Porosus, fantastic; it is great you have achieved that award. Skinnyfish Music was recipient of the Austrade Arts and Entertainment Award. We all know Skinnyfish Music, a wonderful Northern Territorybased company which works in providing opportunities, particularly for Indigenous musicians, to record music and have it made available around the world. Skinnyfish is going from strength to strength. The Arts minister probably knows more about its success than I do. A fantastic Territory business and doing very, very well! SRA Information Technology, Steve Rowe - someone I know very well; I worked with him in the IT industry. His company was recognised with an Emerging Exporter Award. Steve is taking the company from strength to strength - innovation in the Northern Territory! It is magnificent to see them doing well. Territory Resources Limited was awarded the Regional Exporter Award. Territory Resources produce iron ore from down the track, and it is fantastic to see them getting a Regional Exporter Award. SEIT Outback Australia, an Alice Springs-based business, won the Small Business Award. SEIT Outback Australia is a new company, its marketing has worked and it is doing very well. ERA at Jabiru has been awarded the Minerals and Energy Award, with the Small to Medium Services Award won by DITS. These winners will now progress in the national finals at the 48th Australian Export Awards program. The National Export and Industry Awards celebrate and pay tribute to Australian businesses which are at the forefront of our export industry and who are highly competitive in the global marketplace. In December, winners of the 12 national award categories and the prestigious Prime Ministers Australian Exporter of the Year Award will be announced. This special event will take place in Sydney Town Hall. To Territory businesses that nominated and the winners: thanks for your contribution to our economy and community. To Porosus, good luck at the national awards. There were other activities in May. I attended the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference and exhibition in Brisbane, where I held a briefing session for 85 key executives from the petroleum industry and a number of one-on-one meetings with key stakeholders. APPEA is a great opportunity every year to promote the oil and gas sector in the Northern Territory, host a number of specific events focusing on the Northern Territory, and catch up with companies important to the Northern Territory in one place. Leveraging off the Territorys planned participation at the Offshore Southeast Asia Conference in Singapore in November 2010 my department is examining opportunities to host an investment seminar in Singapore to showcase a range of investment-ready opportunities across the Territory. One emerging area of new investment potential is commercial property development, and my government is always keen to work closely with industry to promote those opportunities. Exporting is the key to the Territorys economic future, however, government can only do so much. We can assist business by opening doors, making the introductions, providing a platform for business to display their exports, opportunities for joint venture or investment in their companies, and will continue to do so. It is going from strength to strength, and I commend the minister and his department for this new trade strategy. When I was sworn in as the new Minister for Asian Relations and Trade in 2001 - very excited at being sworn in as the first Labor Minister for Asian Relations and Trade - and having my departmental briefings, I asked for a copy of the departments trade strategy. The public servant had a blank look on her face. I said: What is the 6510