MCLAREN VALE REGION

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:30): I rise today to inform the house of a new map that was released last week. It is a geological map that shows the different rock formations in the McLaren Vale region. Some of those rocks date back 1.6 billion years. It is very important for a winegrowing region to understand what is below the soil. In fact, there is a huge impact on wine, depending on what sort of rocks it is grown upon.

I would really like to congratulate Philip White, the wine critic, Jeffrey Olliver, PIRSA's geologist Wolfgang Priess and William Fairburn who, 35 years ago, when they were working together here in Adelaide and all very much interested in geology, came up with the idea of mapping South Australia's wine regions, their geological formations and their importance. It took a while and there were several years of no activity at all but, for these four guys, their dream became a reality last week. I would also like to thank PIRSA for its contribution in helping make this map a possibility.

There were more than 140 people at the Bocce Club at McLaren Vale for the launch of the map last week, showing just how important it is to the region. There are seven distinct terrains in the McLaren Vale wine region and, as I said, each of those has a very important impact on the taste of the wine, which is why people may have seen Philip White getting around in vineyards over recent years, licking rocks. It always looks a little strange, but he says that what you taste in the wine is what you taste in the rocks, and I will take Whitey's word for that.

Ms Bedford interjecting:

Mr BIGNELL: He is very dedicated, and he is also a very avid reader of Hansard, and I am sure that he will be reading this note of congratulation. We have also had another big week. I have come in here many times to talk about what a wonderful region McLaren Vale is. Two nights ago in Melbourne at the National Produce Awards, McLaren Vale was named by Delicious magazine the best region in Australia. This is what the judges had to say:

With its mix of outstanding wineries and restaurants, great produce and a stunning coastline, South Australia's McLaren Vale was the natural choice as this year's winner. Being a wine region by the sea is definitely an advantage. The chefs here at places like Fino, Salopian Inn and Russell's really know how to make the most of the produce and seafood, and the Willunga Farmers Market is a highlight. There's a great synergy. It's one of the most active regions in the country for permaculture, and you see it at the market.

I would also like to congratulate David Swain, the chef and part owner of Fino restaurant in Willunga, for taking out the award for 'Outstanding use of regional produce by a chef' at the same awards. Fino was named South Australia's restaurant of the year last year. This Friday, I will be at Fino with the tourism minister, who has shown a very active interest in McLaren Vale as a tourism region. I would also like to thank the Minister for Trade who, on Tuesday night, hosted a function where three McLaren Vale winemakers discussed the possibilities of exports with some Chinese importers. That was very good. It is great to see the support of ministers for our region in McLaren Vale.

I would also like to thank the Minister for Planning for his ongoing support of my fight to have not only McLaren Vale but also the Barossa preserved under an agricultural preserve because, once those vineyards are ripped out and replaced by housing, we cannot get that land back. That is something that I have been fighting for. We had a meeting back in November last year and we had another meeting two weeks ago where we had four members from the Barossa and some members from McLaren Vale. We sat around the table with the head of planning, the head of PIRSA and the acting head of tourism. We also had people there from DWLBC and the Department for Environment and Heritage. These people in the Public Service need to understand that, once houses are put there, that will be the last crop we get, so we need to protect it.

We have a fight on our hands down there at the moment with Seaford Heights, which was rezoned residential back in 1993 when the Hon. Robert Brokenshire was the local member. Then in 2001, when the Hon. Robert Brokenshire was a member of the cabinet, that land was moved inside the urban growth boundary. So, it is something that was done several years ago, and now we are seeing that there is a proposal to put a lot of houses in there, which will be a blight on the landscape. I am working with the minister and the local council to ensure that those houses are shielded from view so that our great tourism region is not ruined.