Speeches
Tuesday, 14 April 2026
Investor Roundtable Beijing
As Governor of South Australia, and as a former Australian Ambassador to China, it’s a pleasure to be in Beijing today.
I am pleased to share with you South Australia’s key priorities in the renewable energy sector, and how we can work together towards a clean, green future.
South Australia’s economy is growing more strongly than any other Australian jurisdiction, with a straight run of rises in consumer and business confidence, business conditions, capital investment and expenditure.
These strong foundations will stand us in good stead to weather continued global turbulence as well as the challenges that will arise in the wake of the current Middle East conflict.
China has long been a great friend of South Australia, both from a cultural and an economic perspective.
China is our largest two-way trading partner - in the 12 months to February 2026, South Australia exported $3.9 billion worth of goods to China.
It is also our third largest source of investment, particularly in the renewable energy and the metals and minerals sectors.
This aligns with South Australia’s leadership in the clean energy revolution, and our priorities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – priorities I know we share with China.
We are at the vanguard of the global energy transition, with our unique combination of sun, wind and valuable minerals.
Since 2007, we have transformed our energy system into one of the highest renewables grids in the world, surging from 1 per cent to 78 per cent renewable generation – one of the fastest transitions achieved in a developed economy.
Australia has advantages that set us apart from the rest of the world – and many of these advantages are concentrated in South Australia, particularly around our Upper Spencer Gulf region.
We host co-located solar and wind at scale and we are highly prospective for copper, magnetite iron ore, graphite, nickel, uranium, cobalt and gold – critical to global decarbonisation and electrification.
We also sit at the centre of Australia’s freight network, with direct rail, road, pipeline and fibre connections to all mainland states.
We are focused on creating a stable platform for energy-intensive industries such as green iron, hydrogen and critical minerals processing.
These strong credentials, combined with South Australia’s stable regulatory environment, make us an ideal investment partner with companies in powerhouse markets such as China.
Our state presents a compelling investment environment for international engineering, construction and resource companies, including firms such as Sinosteel Corporation and China Energy Engineering Corporation.
South Australia welcomes the opportunity to explore new avenues for collaboration between our two regions in this critical sector.
I look forward our discussion.