Supply Bill 2023
Tuesday 16 May 2023
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (11:34): I rise to speak on the Supply Bill 2023. It is hard to believe that I am speaking on a supply bill already for the second time, because the time has completely flown. But when you look at all our government has been able to achieve so far it makes sense that we are here again, reflecting on what we have achieved and ready to do more.
It feels like our state has well and truly come back to life bigger and better than ever before, and I want to thank our Premier and Minister for Tourism for playing such big roles in that. To lure tourists back to our wonderful state we spent $45 million to market South Australia to people interstate and overseas, significantly more than our election commitment of $20 million over two years. The investment was front-ended, with $15 million this financial year to provide additional support to tourism businesses, with an additional $10 million per year across the forward estimates.
We are also delivering on our election commitment to the Tourism Industry Council of South Australia of $1.6 million over four years. These funds are being used to build capability through workshops and one-to-one business coaching as well as a program to encourage young people to consider a career in tourism.
Last year, we delivered on our election commitment to protect the giant Australian cuttlefish in the Upper Spencer Gulf, stopping the taking of the cuttlefish in the waters north of Arno Bay and Wallaroo. Our government worked really quickly to put in place the temporary arrangements during the 2022 spawning event, which saw a 28 per cent increase in cuttlefish numbers compared to 2021, after the former Liberal government allowed protection to lapse.
We have since enacted a regulation change to make the closure on the taking of giant Australian cuttlefish in the Upper Spencer Gulf permanent from the beginning of this month. Making the protection permanent allows the community and tourism operators on the Upper Spencer Gulf to confidently build upon a really popular nature-based tourism experience while also giving the iconic giant Australian cuttlefish the best chance to grow in numbers well into the future. I am very keen to put on a very thick—very, very thick—warm wetsuit and check it out one winter soon.
While on the topic of nature-based tourism, our government has established a $2 million nature-based tourism fund to show off our state's natural landscapes and to encourage visitors to enjoy South Australia's natural and cultural assets. The South Australian Tourism Commission's Experience Nature Tourism Fund is designed to boost South Australia's visitor economy and encourage investment in nature-based tourism experiences.
The funding program runs over four financial years, with up to $500,000 available in each year for grants from $10,000 to $50,000 for new and improved nature-based tourism products and experiences that are in or near a national park, reserve, wilderness protection area or marine park.
Moving a bit away from nature and into some lights, technology and art, we have Illuminate. Illuminate Adelaide is supported by our government through the Tourism Commission, and last year it attracted more than 1.2 million attendances. Bringing people into the city on cold, wintry nights can be tricky, but Illuminate Adelaide managed to do just that, and the great thing was that many visitors did not just see something and leave; CBD businesses reported the strongest trade they had ever experienced in winter, experiencing the highest ever spending for a July in the city.
Illuminate drove an incredible $44.8 million in economic activity generated for the state, contributing to the strongest July on record. The night-time economy contributed to a third of overall spend, with spending levels between 6pm and 6am even higher in July than in the Mad March period last year.
The Australian premiere of the major exhibition Wisdom of AI Light, by Istanbul-based artists from Ouchhh Studio, attracted more than 40,000 people. Light Cycles returned to the Botanic Garden, attracting more than 123,000 people, of which my partner, Miss Six and I were three. I tell you, it went a lot better for our family last year than it did in 2021. In 2021, our little one completely broke down when we walked out of the Botanic Garden when she realised that it was all over and she was not allowed to just walk straight back in. Last year, she learnt from her mistakes, she took it all a little slower and we managed to leave without any tears but still a lot of love for a really incredible experience.
It was not just the city that shone brightly during Illuminate. Illuminate also attracted massive numbers for three regional shows: Renmark's In Depth, which attracted 11,213 visitors over four weeks; Mount Gambier's Digital Garden, which saw 17,398 people head to the state's South-East over 2½ weeks; and Victor Harbor's Harbor Lights, with a total of 21,742 spectators.
In August, we saw close to 37,000 spectators attend as international rugby returned to Adelaide Oval. Before heading into the afternoon games, thousands of people took the opportunity to enjoy our city's pubs, cafes and restaurants, which we love to see. In September, our government partnered with the 36ers to get them to the USA to further raise our beautiful state's profile across the world.
Our relaunched Brand SA—that was another election commitment delivered—backed the 36ers to play against two NBA teams, with our state's brand being prominently displayed in both Oklahoma and Phoenix, including our state's logo on their uniforms. After the tour to the US, the new partnership continued to provide other promotional opportunities and extended through the regular 2022-23 NBL season.
The partnerships then continued with Adelaide's baseball team the Giants and the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants, thanks to the hard work of our Minister for Trade. Members of Japan's most successful baseball team came to Adelaide to connect with elite South Australian sporting organisations on a trip set to pave the way for future training and development opportunities. The Tokyo-based Giants have sent a team of experts to gain insight into how local clubs operate, including the Adelaide Crows and Adelaide Giants, as the global superstars explore making Adelaide their long-term spring training destination.
The tour was a direct result of the Malinauskas government meeting with the Giants on a trade mission to Japan, demonstrating the value of sports diplomacy and a growing relationship between Adelaide and the world's third largest economy. The visit by these experts from Tokyo happened just three weeks after South Australia attracted 70 students from some of Japan's top universities to compete in a Junko baseball series against the Adelaide Next Generation Giants, pumping an estimated more than $100,000 into the local economy.
Controversially, I am not a massive cricket fan. I blame my older brothers. When I was about six years old, I remember walking into the lounge room and asking, 'Who is winning?' Then, with rolling eyes, I was told, 'That's not how cricket works.' Many years later, after that rough start, I did go to and really enjoy some T20 games. I do really like cricket in that format, which I understand is a bit blasphemous to some cricket fans.
I was stoked that with the state government's support, 10 teams played in Adelaide as part of the T20 World Cup. I was even more stoked when more than 100,000 spectators helped international cricket deliver almost $95 million in economic spend across South Australia in November. Even for those who did not make it to Adelaide for the cricket this time around, the event had 6.58 billion video views across all ICC platforms and a global dedicated TV audience of 1.28 billion, so people still got to see our city from afar.
In November, the fun just kept coming in Adelaide with the return of the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant to the streets of Adelaide. We made public transport free to make the pageant that little bit easier to get to. I really want to shout out to the children who got to ride Nipper and Nimble. I hope you got to bask in the joy of that honour because that was a dream of mine for many, many years.
While I did not make it to the Christmas Pageant—please do not tell Miss Six that she missed out—I did make it to the Harvest Rock music festival and, despite the rain, had such a great time. I love live music, and so when you throw in some food trucks as well I feel almost as happy as I think I would have felt if I did ever get to ride on Nipper or Nimble.
It was not just me who enjoyed Harvest. The event was such an incredible success, with hotel occupancy rates high and great crowds. The event saw almost 24,000 festivalgoers, more than 30 per cent of whom were from overseas or interstate, and it generated $16.5 million in total economic activity for Adelaide. I am looking forward to it coming back to Adelaide later this year. After the Harvest Rock festival, the East End made a quick switch and was once again home to car racing.
After being elected in March, we were able to pass legislation through parliament in July to re-establish motorsports in South Australia more broadly, and we then hosted an epic event in December. In 2019, before the former government axed the Adelaide 500, the race attracted over 200,000 people and generated over $45.9 million in economic activity. It was a major draw for our tourism and hospitality sectors, attracting 15,200 interstate and international visitors and supporting 90,000 visitor bed nights.
The 2022 VALO Adelaide 500 generated a record $51.85 million benefit to the South Australian economy, in a resounding endorsement of the race's long-awaited return. Preparations are now well underway for the 2023 VALO Adelaide 500, which will be held in November 2023 to 2026 and headlined by—I am getting all goosebumpy—heart-throb Robbie Williams performing at the Sunday after-race concert. I have not seen Robbie live since I won tickets to his concert at the Entertainment Centre by calling in to SAFM and being the right numbered caller back in 2001. Suffice to say, if you cannot tell, I am pretty excited.
Since the new year and the VALO Adelaide 500, there has been a heap more on. The Tour Down Under included the world's most elite female cyclist for the first time in the event's history. The elevation of the women's event to the UCI Women's World Tour put it on equal footing with the men's competition, which also sees elite UCI World Tour men's teams come to South Australia.
I was also really lucky to attend the tennis and see Novak Djokovic play just weeks before he won the men's singles title at the Australian Open.
Ms Savvas: Did you get a selfie?
Ms CLANCY: Yes, I did get a selfie. All these events help to put our beautiful state in front of the world. They do not just bring excitement and money to our state while they are on, they help to make us a destination for many visitors in the future.
While January was big in Adelaide, the regions also saw incredible amounts of tourism. The best average occupancy for any January on record and an all-time high revenue of $25.2 million were among the celebrated figures for regional South Australia in the summer of 2023. All-time highs were clocked for the Limestone Coast in January, which saw its highest ever occupancy of 84 per cent; highest ever room nights occupied, at 31,000; and highest ever revenue at $5.9 million—all monthly records for the region.
The combined wine regions of Adelaide Hills, Barossa and Clare Valley reached the highest occupancy for any January on record, at 70 per cent, and toppled their pre-COVID occupancy of just 59 per cent in January 2019. The Eyre and Yorke peninsulas saw a combined average occupancy of 77 per cent in January 2023, the best January result for the regions on record.
But, while these regions thrived, it was of course an incredibly difficult time for our river communities. In February, our government announced the Rise Up for our River campaign. This campaign includes three rounds of vouchers, expected to inject millions of dollars into the communities hit hard by the recent flood. More than 25,000 vouchers will be released over three rounds this year, the first of which started to be used in April. With values of $50, $100 and $200, the vouchers can be used for experiences and accommodation in the Riverland and Murray River, Lakes and Coorong regions.
A $750 houseboat voucher will also be introduced in rounds 2 and 3, allowing South Australians to plan an iconic houseboat holiday in the winter and spring periods, when most houseboats are expected to be fully operational again. For the first time in the commission's voucher program history, caravan park sites have been included, adding several thousand more options across the region as the larger parks reopen, such as Discovery Parks Lake Bonney, BIG4 Renmark Riverfront and Waikerie Holiday Park. An additional $500,000 will also be provided for a further round targeted towards businesses that are still to reopen, such as affected areas of the Mid Murray Council region, and I am really looking forward to visiting the Riverland with the Suicide Prevention Council later this year.
We have continued to really earn our badge of the Festival State this year with a record-breaking Mad March. Like many in this building, I am sure, I did not get to attend any of the Fringe events last year—we were a bit preoccupied with something else—so it was exciting to get to a few shows this year and to attend a show on the last night of the Fringe, when we hit one million tickets sold for the first time.
WOMADelaide and the Adelaide Festival were also both incredibly popular. WOMADelaide sold out of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and multiday tickets in advance for the first time in its 31-year history, and the Festival exceeded box office targets. Adelaide Writers' Week, one of my personal favourites, also brought so many interesting, engaging conversations into our city and libraries and people out and about into our cafes and restaurants.
Again, it was not just us locals enjoying it all. The week ending 11 March was the strongest week ever for Adelaide accommodation, with an average 9,140 room nights occupied—87 per cent occupancy—and revenue of $2.5 million each night. Adelaide accommodation occupancy on the Friday and Saturday of the March long weekend was 90 per cent and 93 per cent respectively. On Tuesday 7 March, Adelaide recorded the third highest revenue of all time at $3 million, driven by Mad March events as well as the Ed Sheeran concert at Adelaide Oval.
Nearing the end of March, we had the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, but things did not settle down in April. Our Premier fought to get the Gather Round here, and it is clear many, many South Australians loved that he did. All nine matches sold out. We saw tens of thousands of people travelling into South Australia. I know local hotels in my electorate of Elder, such as the Marion and the Tonsley, were incredibly popular with people trying to stay there so they could get to the games. Now we have this awesome event secured in Adelaide until 2026.
We then had some glorious weather for horses and golf, with LIV Golf and the return of the Adelaide Equestrian Festival. Tasting Australia wrapped up on 7 May, and I love that Rose Adam, from local Elder cafe The Middle Store but also MasterChef, got to show off her skills as part of the program. Now we take a little breath before State of Origin is in town on 31 May. In July and August, we have five games of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
We can and we should be proud of our government's investment in tourism in our state. Visitor expenditure in South Australia in the 12 months to December 2022 hit $8.3 billion, a new all-time record for the state that is truly worth celebrating. These investments support our tourism sector, bring incredible economic benefits and make our state an even better place to live. The work ethic, determination, understanding and passion of our government mean we can do all of this while also making significant investments in health, education, housing, infrastructure and much more.
