On the 17 feb i had a meeting with Steven Ciobo MP who is the minister for trade and tourism. The attached preamble was sent earlier to him as it high lighted the concerns of our industry. He displayed a good knowledge of the Chinese market and was aware of some of the opal shows in China particular Changsha. The week after he was on a trade mission to China. He was not aware of the problem with the inbound tourist market on deceitful selling of opals in Australia but was aware of the kick backs that tourist companies charge. My impression was that he thought there was enough rules in place to control this but i made it clear that i felt most of them were un enforceable. He said will look into it and reply soon. As soon as i get a reply i will inform members of the Opal association.
Letter attached below