Industry Development

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (15:29): I rise today to talk about industry development within my region and within my electorate. Right at the outset, can I say that by my comments here I do not seek to pass judgement on other efforts in different parts of the state but merely make a point about relative effort and relative outcome when it comes to state government investment and state government focus around industry development.

The main industries in my electorate are wine, tourism and food, and very much in that order. The wine industry in my electorate is huge. The best estimates that I can put together show that my electorate exports around $250 million to $300 million a year worth of wine. Tourism is a huge focus, and wine and tourism are very much intertwined. We get a lot of day visits from Adelaide and a lot of interstate visitation. We do not get as much overnight visitation as other regions, like the Riverland, for instance, but we are certainly one of the major tourism attractions in the state.

Food is a two-pronged sector in my electorate, from the fine food and dining experience through to small to medium food manufacturers that manufacture products that sell throughout South Australia, interstate and overseas. The Barossa in particular is a well-celebrated region and it brings a lot of people to South Australia and helps put South Australia on the map. Indeed, when I talk to winemakers who spend a lot of their time overseas, they say that there is probably greater recognition for the Barossa than there is for South Australia as a state.

I would like to congratulate the Labor government at this point on having done something right, and that is the Barossa. Be Consumed campaign. You will not hear me congratulate the other side that often, but the anecdotal evidence and some of the stronger evidence says that there has been around a 15 per cent to 20 per cent increase in visitation and spend since the introduction of the ad. I was very glad that the government put in about an extra $2 million for the next 12 months to have that ad continue in key interstate markets.

As I mentioned in my maiden speech, the Barossa is a region that tends to look after itself. The people are resilient and very self-reliant and, as such, are often forgotten by government. In government, money is often given to this squeakiest wheel, money is given where there is the most media focus, and money is given to a crisis situation; and there is merit in that. We need to look after communities that have experienced significant shock. On that, obviously the previous speaker talked about the loss of the car industry, and there is a focus on the drought in the Riverland, and Kangaroo Island seems to have a focus on its commissioner. There are a number of sectors that this government has chosen to highlight; however, too often, I believe, we focus our industry development on trying to save jobs and working through crisis situations instead of looking to grow our economic base by reinforcing and picking winners.

If we are to look at the recovery of the state's economy and say that the regions are going to be very much a part of that recovery—and I do believe that most sincerely, and a lot of the economic data bears that out—we need to look at reinforcing our successful regions. What I am trying to do is make a plea for the Barossa in that the Barossa is an extremely successful region. It has strong capabilities, strong diversity, and offers a unique product that gets sold right around the world, and it brings people to South Australia. I contend that a dollar spent in the Barossa region reinforcing that success is worth as much as spending a dollar on crisis situations in other areas around the state.

There is strong industry development infrastructure in my region through various industry groups such as Tourism Barossa, the Barossa Grape and Wine Association, Barossa Food and the Barossa Regional Development Australia organisation, which is fantastic in coordinating a lot of efforts, and the Light, Barossa and Mid Murray councils. In those bodies there is a strong industry development infrastructure that the government could use and reinforce to help bring more strength and growth to the South Australian economy. It is not always that we need to lurch from crisis to crisis. Indeed, with better management and planning, and a better understanding of bang for buck, I believe that regions such as the Barossa could be more heavily supported to help bring about greater prosperity for South Australia.