House of Assembly Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1) 53 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Clipsal 500 Clipsal 500 Mr GEE House of Assembly Napier Clipsal 500 Mr GEE (Napier) (14:57): My question is for the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister inform the house about the economic benefit of the 2014 Clipsal 500? Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Minister. The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL House of Assembly Mawson Minister for Agriculture Minister for Forests Minister for Tourism Minister for Recreation and Sport Minister for Racing The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:58): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, and I thank the member for Napier for this question and acknowledge his close association with General Motors-Holden. What a great year it was for Holden cars at this year's Clipsal, particularly Craig Lowndes, who finished with a first and two seconds. It was good to see the Volvos in their first year getting second place in the second race on the Saturday, the 125 kilometres. The economic impact for this year's Clipsal 500 is a record $59 million for the South Australian economy. It is a terrific event that injects so much money into our economy. It is also an event that fills every hotel room in Adelaide. I was at a hotel this morning, the Ibis; they have 330 rooms coming online in about two or three weeks' time, one of three hotels that will bring an extra 600 rooms into the Adelaide tourism market—and perfect timing too as we see record crowds coming from interstate to watch football at the Adelaide Oval. I was talking to the manager at the Ibis. He has backed up what we thought would happen with the India versus Pakistan cricket match. They have had a number of six-day bookings for the India-Pakistan game. We have had the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes; 70 per cent of the tickets were sold to people interstate and overseas. That means there will be 35,000 people coming into Adelaide bringing money into our South Australian economy. They will be here for six to seven days, making sure that we get them out into the regions. The economic benefit of those visitors to our state should be about $35 million. That is another terrific event that we have coming up in February next year with the Cricket World Cup. I want to congratulate the Motor Sport Board, who do a tremendous job putting on the Clipsal 500 each year. They are always trying to tweak it a little bit and come up with new initiatives. This time, we had two races on the Saturday. One was a twilight race, which was a 125-kilometre race followed by a bit of a break and then another 125-kilometre race, with a 250-kilometre race the following day. Keith Urban was among the entertainers. He was the Treasurer's first choice, wasn't he, Keith Urban? I want to thank the Treasurer for his input into the choice of acts. Already, the team at the Motor Sport Board is working on next year's Clipsal to make it even better than this year's. We are seeing the Supercars series change as well. Last year, we had the introduction of Mercedes and Nissans and, as I mentioned, this year we had the Volvos. It is perfect for twilight racing: the lights are always on. As I said, Scott McLaughlin finished second, so did a whole lot better than the Mercs and Nissans did last year An honourable member interjecting: The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL House of Assembly The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Yes, I said he is a Volvo driver, and I said he finished second in the opening race of the V8 Supercars series. I think the Volvo people should be pretty happy with that. Their first podium was right here in Adelaide, the capital of motor sport in Australia. It is a terrific place and a terrific race, and I congratulate everyone involved on achieving a sensational economic impact. The Hon. J.R. RAU House of Assembly The Hon. J.R. RAU: I rise on a point of order: I am just wondering whether it is orderly for the member for Schubert to be continually showing other members the internet. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: That was an entirely bogus point of order and I not only call the Deputy Premier to order, I warn him for the first and second time. The member for Mount Gambier.