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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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/277644
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DEBATES - Thursday 21 October 2010 the South Australian Minister for Mines in Singapore coming from a conference in China whilst I was heading to a mining conference in China. That was one of the few times ministers from other states travelled to China; obviously they discovered the Territory is there and they better lift their game because the Territory will be the main attraction in Australia. Our government, especially through ministerial visits in other states, has played a central role in establishing key relationships with major investment program partnerships in China. The member for Goyder knows how difficult these visits are it is not a junket as people say. Some of the dignitaries accompanying us commented on the hard work. From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed you are meeting people, greeting people, talking about the Territory, promoting the Territory, attending forums, having PowerPoint presentations in order to sell the Territory for a good price - only for a good price. We want people here under our terms and conditions, our rules and regulations many do exactly the same. We want to entice them to form partnerships with our local mining companies. We take mining companies to China and introduce them to potential investors, and I am very pleased to say quite a few have successful partnerships with Chinese companies. We have formed strategic partnerships as a government with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Metals and Minerals, the CCMC; the China Mining Association, CMA; the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce; and the Hunan government. These partnerships provide access to thousands of companies across China. The CCMC has over 4000 members in China. My department signed a cooperation agreement with CCMC in late 2007 which has resulted in seven Northern Territory investment seminars running in the intervening period; five in China and two in Alice Springs. The relationship has allowed us to showcase and promote 60 Territory exploration products to the Chinese market. The Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar held in Alice Springs in late March 2010 had 285 delegates. The CCMC led the delegation with 37 Chinese delegates. This represents a 32% increase in the attendance of Chinese executives. An AGES Chinese specific seminar and meeting program is conducted to assist Chinese delegates become more familiar with doing business in Australia, and to highlight Territory exploration and investment opportunities. These programs are run by our government, in cooperation with CCMC and the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China. The Peoples Republic of China is very impressed with what we have done, and following the latest AGES seminar in Alice Springs, Mister Qui of the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China wrote to me stating: The week long Northern Territory trip gives me a deep impression not only of the splendid and distinct scenery but of the huge potential of cooperation before us. With our joint efforts we can push China and the Northern Territorys trade and economic relationship to a new era. It is not only our mineral wealth China is interested in. China is interested in oil and gas opportunities, and they want to participate with some of our exploration companies in joint ventures to exploit oil and gas. In addition, Chinese banks have shown interest in the Territory to finance some of the projects. The China Development Bank, with whom we signed an MOU in 2008, attended the AGES seminar and advised they are prepared to invest in some of the big projects in the Territory. They have a large amount of money and are not afraid to invest it. The importance of the Territory as a producer and supplier of mineral resources and oil and gas can be highlighted by the visit, in June 2010, to the Territory of the Vice President of the Peoples Republic of China Mr Xi Jinping. The Vice President came to the Territory, Melbourne and Canberra and nowhere else. I was advised yesterday that Mr Xi Jinping has been elevated to one of the most significant positions in the Chinese government, and is only the second civilian to be in command of the Peoples Republic of China Army - the Red Army - the other is the President, Hu Jintao. That is very important. Why did he come to the Territory? For the simple reason the Territory has what they have oil and gas offshore and, potentially, onshore. In order to support this industry we have to have a supply and support base in the Territory because, in the waters north of the Territory, there are significant gas fields - some big enough to warrant pipelines coming onshore and LNG plants, some of them not as big. However, it needs to be done on-site and we may see some floating LNG platforms around the Territory. Some are in the Bonaparte Gulf around the Blacktip area. Some of the smaller gas fields can be exploited by floating LNG platforms. Some are in waters which can be very tricky, like the Abadi, an Indonesian gas field. Indonesia has expressed the wish not to bring it to Australia for liquefaction, instead having it done either on Indonesian soil or floating platform. Because Indonesian islands are quite a distance from that gas field, the only option is the platform. It is expected in the next 10 years we might see up to seven floating platforms in the shallow and deep sea waters around the Territory. We 6524