Q&A – Paul Tighe | Australia’s Consul General: ‘Australia-Macau relations go beyond gaming’

Paul Tighe

Paul Tighe, who is leaving his position as Australia’s Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau after five years on the job, hosted a business cocktail reception on behalf of the consulate last week at Galaxy Macau.
Having now finished his term, Tighe will return to Australia to continue working in the country’s diplomatic service in an internal position.
On this occasion, the Consul General sat down with the Times to look back at some of the developments in the last five years, including how Macau’s change in economic circumstances has been reflected in the kind of business it does with Australia.
Tighe also said that he expects Australia’s significant expat presence in Macau to flourish in the near future, and that their contribution to the city’s economy is likely to continue expanding into different business sectors. He sees less involvement in gaming and hospitality and more interest in construction, engineering and food and beverage.

Macau Daily Times (MDT) – Looking back at your time as Consul General, what have you observed over the past five years in Macau?
Paul Tighe (PT) – What I’ve seen during my time [in Macau] is a little bit of a change in economic performance; obviously the gaming sector was booming when I first arrived, and that’s tailed off over the last two years or so. But even as [that was happening] we have seen continued interest in Macau from Australians. Macau authorities have attempted to shift the economy to be less dependent on gaming and more into areas like hospitality and entertainment. That’s generating a demand for people in the areas that Australia is able to provide, for example in the areas of food and beverage, entertainment, design and hospitality management and training. There is room for improvement, but I think we have made some good progress over the last five years.

MDT – How would you describe the relations today between Australia and Macau?
PT – I think that [gaming] is always going to be one of the cornerstones of the [Australia-­Macau] relationship. There is also the Melco connection, which is a substantial part of our bilateral relationship. What is good to see, however, is that the relationship is expanding past that. I think that Australia has a great reputation in Hong Kong and Macau for its quality products, in areas like food and beverage and even consumer products, like high-end jewelry. It also has a reputation for providing these products reliably and with good safety and hygiene [standards].

MDT – There are many Australian expat workers in Macau’s large hotel resorts. Do you think this presence is here to stay, or will it begin to trail off?
PT – I think that it will continue; as best we can tell there has been an increase in the number of Australians in Macau during that [gaming downturn] period, and they are in more sectors than they were in previously, for example not just hotel management but also construction, engineering and education. The other thing that has surprised me recently is the number of Australian tourists that visit Macau. We estimate that to be about 120,000 per year – which is a larger number than I had imagined – so it’s good to see there is an interest in Australia in coming to Macau. I suspect that the majority of those people are not coming for the gaming component; they are coming to see Macau and some of its cultural heritage.

MDT – Why do you think Australian expats decide to work in Macau and Hong Kong, as opposed to other places overseas?
PT – The expat communities in both cities find them relatively easy environments in which to operate. Hong Kong in particular because of the British heritage, which is familiar to Australians [in the sense that] it has commonwealth jurisdiction, the rule of law and an independent judiciary. I suspect that’s why there are so many Australians there, because they feel familiar with that sort of system. Equally the expat presence in Macau seems to be very welcome. There is a slightly different way of doing things but once people have adjusted to it, they feel quite comfortable.

MDT – What do you hope your successor focuses on?
PT – I’m sure they will do a fantastic job. The key thing in my period, in Hong Kong especially, has been an increase in the flow of capital from Hong Kong and China into Australia. That’s been an area of particular growth and I think that there are a lot more opportunities there, so I hope that will continue.

MDT – Hong Kong steals the limelight sometimes. Did you do enough in Macau over your term?
PT – I hope that we have done our bit. It’s always hard to get that balance right, and you can always do more – I’m sure that’s true. However, given the critical mass of both areas, we have hopefully got the balance about right.
We also provide a critical role in providing government services [to the two regions] like passport services and consular services, and we take some comfort in the fact that, although its not so hard to get from Macau to Hong Kong if you really need to, we also bring a team up once a month [to provide the services locally]. I think people will always want more, and they appreciate the effort that we are already making.

MDT – What’s next for you?
PT – I will go back to headquarters, which means Canberra. The normal way that our service works is that you do a term offshore and then a term in headquarters, so I’ll be there for the foreseeable future.
I think that the pace of activity in Canberra is quite different to when you’re overseas [in the diplomatic service]. In Canberra it is closer to normal office hours, so it will be nice to spend a bit more time at home in the evenings as well.