Australia meeting to miss key player

When the S.C. Department of Commerce’s first official trade delegation lands this weekend in Brisbane, Australia, the man responsible for bringing the two state’s together will be most noticeable by his absence.

Peter Beattie, who nurtured the relationship through three S.C. governors, stepped down last month as premier of Queensland.

Beattie resigned Sept. 13 to make way for his successor Anna Bligh, the deputy premier.

Beattie also had served as minister for trade as well as premier, and had used the offices to promote connections with South Carolina going back to conversations with Gov. David Beasley.

Andrew Craig, the new commissioner for Queensland trade and investment for the Americas, said Bligh absolutely shares Beattie’s “enthusiasm for pulling Queensland up” and that its relationship with South Carolina will remain important.

Craig’s office is in Los Angeles, but he said Bligh might decide to put someone on the East Coast too.

Queensland has “a wonderful relationship with South Carolina and it has great potential,” Craig said during a visit to Columbia last week.

The 23-member state delegation led by S.C. Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor arrives in Queensland today.

Part of the delegation will attend AusBiotech 2007, a major biotechnology conference in Brisbane, while others will participate in business briefings and one-on-one business meetings. The delegation will be in Australia through Friday.

While this will be the first official state trade mission to Queensland, two state delegations have visited since Beattie and Gov. Jim Hodges signed a sister state agreement in 1999.

State Sen. John Drummond led an official state delegation to Queensland in 2000.

USC vice president Harris Pastides led a delegation in February on a research and education-related mission.

Since the signing of the sister state agreement, Queensland and South Carolina have entered into about a half-dozen Memorandums of Understanding on everything from Commerce to tourism to student exchanges to education.

For many in Columbia, the most visible sign of that growing friendship and collaboration was the gift of two koalas to Riverbanks Zoo.

But Beattie and Queensland’s outreach to South Carolina has gone well beyond the koalas.

Beattie has personally made five visits to South Carolina. He said he found a great deal of commonality between Queenslanders and South Carolinians.

On Beattie’s last official visit in May, he and USC president Andrew Sorensen signed two agreements outlining joint efforts in developing hydrogen energy and commercializing technology coming out of USC and the University of Queensland. Beattie also spoke at USC’s graduation ceremonies and received an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Developing greater commercial relationships between the two states had always been the one item on Beattie’s agenda that did not move as fast as he had hoped.

But on his last visit, he said the relationship was now “a seven out of 10.”

Perhaps the S.C. trade delegation can help to make it a 10 out of 10.