APPELLATION SCHEME

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:13): My question is for the Minister for Food Marketing. Can the minister inform the house about his recent announcement about proposing an appellation-based scheme for food made in South Australia?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Urban Development, Planning and the City of Adelaide, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Food Marketing) (14:13): Some weeks ago I had a meeting with a number of people who are prominent in the food industry here in South Australia and we discussed a number of issues of interest to them. One of the issues that emerged was that they felt that there was a need for some additional protection to be given to the very good name that some of the regions in South Australia have for their fine produce, as already happens in many cases in relation to wines. I know the member for Schubert knows a great deal about this, as do the member for MacKillop and others.

Last week, we announced down in the Central Market that we would be looking towards an appellation scheme for South Australia, directed towards protecting the very high value brands that we have in South Australia.

An honourable member: Isn't that a French word?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: It is a French word, yes. We had people from Kangaroo Island. It might interest members to know—the member for Finniss in particular—that somebody who does a lot of work on Kangaroo Island was there and made the very good point that, because Kangaroo Island canola is GM free, they have a market for that canola in particular in Japan, where they get a premium price for that canola. Part of what we are looking at here is how we can get premium prices for great produce from regional South Australia and put more money into the pockets of people in those regional centres.

Of course, there are many areas of South Australia that look very much like candidates for this sort of scheme: McLaren Vale; the member for Schubert's area, the Barossa Valley; and the member for Finniss and the member for Bragg, both of whom are well known for their great support for that jewel—Kangaroo Island.

We need to have a bit of imagination about this because there are many opportunities. I did a bit of research today to give some examples. People may not realise that in Italy and France a number of products have names which are derived from the place from which the product comes. For example, in the world of cheese, members opposite might know of Beaufort. My pronunciation is not very good, by the way, and I might make a mistake on some of these. I think the member for Schubert is well known to like a nice camembert—'Camembert', you see? All these names are familiar to us.

I don't know, but I think even the member for Unley might like one of the famous goats cheeses which is called—

Mr Pisoni: Don't tell me what to do!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Wait for the name!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I think your favourite is Crottin de Chavignol! Anyway, there is also roquefort, and I don't know who over there would like that one. There are opportunities coming up all the time, and I hope to see a very good debate about this. We are putting out a discussion paper about this, and I would encourage particularly those members opposite—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: We discuss things, we consult, and we are consulting on this. We look forward to the community views and the industry views. I think, member for Finniss, member for Schubert, we would very much like to hear from you about this because you have, in your areas—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, very good. You have in your areas some magnificent producers of great products and they deserve to have those great names protected and enhanced to get them a premium price in the marketplace.