TRANSCRIPT 🔗
00:00:00
Speaker 1: Well, as you're aware, the state government hoping to attract the Climate Change Conference COP thirty one. It's going to be called here to Adelaide. It involves tens of thousands of people, countless heads of state and a lot of people in private jets flying around the world. So it seems anyway, look, let's have a chat about getting it here to Adelaide in the first place, and the premius Climate Change Council, the chair, Martin Hazy is on the line.
00:00:27
Speaker 2: Martin, good morning, Good morning Matthew, thank you for having me on the program.
00:00:31
Speaker 1: What will it mean for Adelaide?
00:00:33
Speaker 2: This is truly significant, Matthew. To host, to potentially host a United Nations Conference of Parties a COP in South Australia would amount to South Australia's largest conference that we've ever held. We would expect that it would be thirty thousand plus people attending the conference should we secure it, and the economic benefit would just be true significant for many small businesses in South Australia, including the hospitality in the accommodation sectors, but also its ability to attract investment into South Australia into many of our renewable energy and lower mission projects in the future. It is an enormous win win.
00:01:18
Speaker 1: Okay, can we house thirty thousand people?
00:01:21
Speaker 2: Yes, we can if we look at major events like live golf and other major events. The Adelade five hundred and I mean South Austrade is really good at doing this. We can house thirty thousand people. We can certainly accommodate them. A COP conference runs for approximately twelve days. If we were successful, it would be held in November twenty twenty six, so it's called COP thirty one. It's the thirty first conference that the United Nations has held on this topic matter, and people would literally come from all around the world.
00:01:53
Speaker 1: All right, do we have space at the airport for all the planes and that's not facetious because they will fly in on their own.
00:02:02
Speaker 2: Well, we do. The Department of Premier and Cabinet has done a great deal of due diligence. There's been an independent report which has helped substantiate South Australia's ability to hold this. And I must say, Matthew, this is an enormous credit to Premier Melanaskis and Deputy Premier Susan Close because if we are able to achieve this, it would quite literally be the largest conference that this state has ever held.
00:02:26
Speaker 1: Now renewable credentials presumably, and this is where you come in, particularly his chair of the Climate Change Council. I suppose you'd probably even be delivering a speech. I imagine Martin.
00:02:35
Speaker 2: Well, I'd expect to be. South Australia leads the world in terms of the uptake of renewable energy and in many ways securing a conference of parties with the United Nations is like a validation of the work that South Australia has done over many years. So our credentials are very strong, Matthew, to hold this conference for all the right genuine reasons. We've been very, very ambitious and very successful in terms of the uptake of renewable energy. By twenty twenty seven, South Australia will be effectively have one hundred percent renewable energy in its grid, will then become a net exporter into interstate jurisdictions of renewable energy. It's a really exciting future and this conference, should we secure it is an absolute rubber stamp, a very positive rubber stamp for all the work that we've done in the past.
00:03:29
Speaker 1: So you'd been talking about the wind farms and solar farms around the place and the big battery out of peter Borough.
00:03:35
Speaker 2: Yes, and also of course South Australia's ambitions for a hydrogen economy. So in my other role which is special envoid to Singapore and Southeast Asia for the state government, my role as investment attraction, and it's very tangible the interest that interstate and overseas investors have in South Australia result of that leadership in hydrogen, in wind, in solar, in battery technologies, in circular economy that we're leading in a number of areas and it's really begin to get cut through globally. So that's why we're bidding for this conference and it would be super exciting if we were able to secure it.
00:04:19
Speaker 1: Martin, appreciate your time. Thank you, Thanks so much. Matthew Martin Hazy, Chair Premius Climate Change Council. Sean de brun Is, CEO Tourism Industry Council for essay. I'm sure he'd welcome thirty one thousand people coming to Adelaide, Shaw and good morning, good morning. It does sound exciting. If we can secure.
00:04:36
Speaker 3: It, mayd be wonderful. I agree with all of them comments it would be an amazing economic outcome, but arguably more importantly will just position South Australia so well in a global contact and adelaide in terms of the credentials that we have in the environmental space.
00:04:57
Speaker 1: So how what would the industry cope with that? Do we have enough tourism services for thirty one thousand people in one hit?
00:05:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm sure DPC have done the study on this. It's obviously a larger number than we've ever seen before. I would anticipate that it was a twelve day conference and you wouldn't have all thirty thousand people at the same time. That would be you know, there'd be two or three weeks of activity in terms of people coming in an hour. But we have hosted large events before, and we do events exceptionally well. We really get around and the city and the whole state support these events and we always deliver when it comes to delivering vessels and events.
00:05:42
Speaker 1: It is kind of exciting in that you know, US presidents tend to come to these things. I could see Kamala Harris coming if she's successful next month. Maybe not so much Donald Trump, but you might get actors coming by, and of course their views are so critical to climate change
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00:06:01
Speaker 3: That's you know, one of the you know, the halo benefits if you like Matthew in that you know, South Australia as a tourist destination as a place to come and visit, we do environment very well. We have some amazing you know, natural wildlife and landscape and seascape experiences that people travel from all over the world to visit. And then again as Martin highlight, and we have some great credentials. You know, our story around renewables is unlike anywhere else in the world. Single use plastics is another one. But we've led the world and you know and in some of these environmental areas that matter and that the world's looking at. So I think it'll go so well for us in terms of that brand positioning. How do people think about South Australia, Well, they should be thinking about us as a fantastic place for the environment and great from nature based type tourism. At the moment, not enough people do and this would really help.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: And of course the Adelaide City Council will have a field day with all the buses parking in wrong spots and issuing finds.
00:07:06
Speaker 3: Hopefully we'd be able to work out some dedicated pickup drop off.
00:07:13
Speaker 1: How's that going.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: By the way, there's a conversation's happening. Bus say are involved and you know it's constructive is obviously the councilors and obligation to the general public, but also we're very keen to see that visitors get looked after and they get a class experience when they come here. So we've working through detail.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: I'd love to know the solution to that when it happens. But this is pretty exciting too. Good on your show. I appreciate your time.
00:07:39
Speaker 3: Thank you.
00:07:39
Speaker 1: Sewan de Brun, who is CEO Tourism Industry Council of Essay from the Essay Business Chamber. Kendall Crow, General Manageer Policy and Advocacy Kendall good morning.
00:07:49
Speaker 4: Good morning, how are you good?
00:07:50
Speaker 1: Thank you? This is exciting. If we can pull it off, it is.
00:07:54
Speaker 4: Very exciting, as the Martin and Sewan have both already said, yes, very very exciting. And here at the Chamber where we've been asking for this for some time. We advocated the head of the twenty two election and have been advocating ever since for the state government to look into this and see whether it's visible, and it looks like when they've crunched the numbers, it's certainly going to pay off if we can get the federal government to agree to it.
00:08:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, so they've got to do the bidding as well that I suppose I do as a federal government.
00:08:25
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:08:25
Speaker 4: So, as I understand it, Australia is up against Turkey, and so if Australia can get it, then the federal government needs to decide between Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. And we're hoping that with the credentials that have been sort of already gone over earlier, that South Australia and Adelaide certainly seems like the logical choice.
00:08:44
Speaker 1: And that's the renewable stuff that we've got going on here.
00:08:47
Speaker 4: Absolutely, yeah, yeah, everything that's already been discussed, but that solar and wind piece, the hydrogen plant, all of that, and the fact that we've already been able to hold many sort of big global events in the past as big as this. This is pretty exciting.
00:09:03
Speaker 1: Interesting you talk about hydrogen because Gavin has just texted in in the last minute and he says, in my opinion, Cop thirty one is premature. I think they should wait for twenty twenty eight, as the hydrogen plant will be operating hopefully in twenty six and we're being told, say, will be running on one hundred percent renewables by twenty twenty seven. So I guess if we can get us, you get it when you get it, I suppose, and you want to lock in whichever of those times you can.
00:09:29
Speaker 4: As I understand that that's exactly right. We've for Australia's put its hand up for the twenty twenty six one, the COP thirty one. I don't know if there would be an opportunity that would come around anytime soon after that. I think it's a little bit like the Olympics for climate change. So I think you have to grab that opportunity when it comes to you.
00:09:48
Speaker 1: Now, for the state and for business, primarily your your advocacy group. What's it going to mean if we get it.
00:09:55
Speaker 4: We understand that business delegates spend around four times that of leisure tourists you could call them people just on holidays, so the inflow of money into the state will be phenomenal. But also, as Sean mentioned, putting Adelaide on the map would also be fantastic to drive investment into the state. We're also presuming these types of delegates would probably want to explore a bit beyond Adelaide after the conference, so that eco tourism piece, I think will completely kick off again. We've obviously got Kangaro Island, which is a no brainer, but I think there's plenty of other places within the state that we'll see the flow and effects of this. But imagine the gatheround vibe over eleven or twelve days with I think someone who was telling me Kira they had eighty four thousand people?
00:10:48
Speaker 1: Is that right out?
00:10:49
Speaker 2: Yeah?
00:10:50
Speaker 1: Can we how that many people? I know it's over a couple of weeks.
00:10:54
Speaker 4: I don't know. That's this is where the fensibility study comes in, I guess, and I haven't had a chance to have a look at it, but that was what has been said, which I know that that is a Bonker's number in Cairo is a much because city than Adelaide. But imagine that many people in their city. And I know that there's probably some people hearing that and going to run, But I think for the business community having that many people walk through their door, or the potential for that many people to be their customer will be phenomenal.
00:11:24
Speaker 1: Well, the airbnb industry will go nutswine it with eighty four thousand, but that's about seven percent of Adelaide's population.
00:11:30
Speaker 4: I know, Look, I don't know. I just I got somebody in my team to say how many people went to Cairo just to get a bit of an idea because they talk about thirty thousand delegates. But you know, people I guess bring their families or other people want to be around it when it's happening. You mentioned before. You know, you've got movie stars decide that they want to get on board and all the rest. So yeah, it's it's a very exciting proposition. And from what we hear, dpc's done its work and decided that yep, it's going to bring in the dollars and so we're going to go for it.
00:12:02
Speaker 1: Okay, very good, we'll see Kendall Crow. Appreciate your time. Thank you so much. General Manager, Policy and Advocacy. It's SA Business Chamber used to be Business Essay