The Committee for Adelaide is a non-partisan membership-based organisation providing an independent voice for the state of South Australia. It is committed to its namesake, Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia.
Established in 2013, the Committee for Adelaide is part of the Committees for Cities and Regions Network.
Its founding members are Ernst & Young and oil and gas company Santos Ltd and its foundation was influenced by political lobbyist Ian Smith.[citation needed]
Its inaugural chair was Colin Goodall, a retiree from the oil and gas sector. He was replaced by James Blackburn, a partner with PwC in November 2017[1] and by Professor David Lloyd, the vice chancellor and president of the University of South Australia in August 2019.[2]
The first general manager of the Committee for Adelaide was Timothy Horton,[3] who was followed by Matt Clemow[4] in 2014. The first full-time chief executive officer of the Committee, Jodie van Deventer,[5] began in September 2016.[6]
It has also prepared submissions into foreign policy white papers and infrastructure inquiries as well as given evidence at various parliamentary hearings[18]
In 2017, it launched its business attraction project Boards without Borders[19] and in 2019 launched its talent attraction program Adelaide Abroad,[20] designed to attract skilled migrants and expats and make their transition back to Adelaide easier.[21]
In 2020, the Committee for Adelaide hosted a workshop with the 50 most influential people[35] in South Australia as identified by The Advertiser. This followed a call from one of the 50, Sam Shahin from the Peregrine Corporation, for those on the list to use their influence for the good of the state.[36] Ten key ideas emerged[37] with the Committee for Adelaide taking an active interest in energy, education, superannuation and a youth forum.
In 2017, the Committee for Adelaide made national headlines[38][39] when it met with then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull[40] regarding energy security, company taxation and migration.
Australian Financial Review journalist Phil Coorey, speaking on Adelaide radio station FIVEaa, said at the time that it was the Committee's Canberra delegation – that included medium-sized businesses – that had helped "take the sting" out of the company tax debate opening the way for Nick Xenophon MP to agree to cuts for businesses with turnover of up to $50 million. The deal included a $110 million loan for a massive solar thermal plant in South Australia and a study into constructing a long-mooted gas pipeline from the Northern Territory[41] to South Australia.
In 2016, and following discussions with Kevin Scarce and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, the Committee for Adelaide organised a delegation to visit several nuclear industrial facilities in Europe in April 2016. According to Matt Clemow, the committee's tour aimed to "create a cohort of SA people who have experienced the operations of the nuclear fuel cycle and will be able to contribute to the public discourse..."[citation needed]InDaily reported that the delegation visited the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant and Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository.[42] The delegation returned to Adelaide a day before the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission delivered its final recommendations to the Parliament of South Australia. On 6 May, spokespeople for the delegation expressed their support for the establishment of nuclear waste storage facilities in South Australia.[43]
