Socceroos' Match

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:12): My question is to the Minister for Recreation and Sport. Can you inform the house on how ticket sales are faring for tonight's FIFA World Cup qualifying match between the Socceroos and Tajikistan at Adelaide Oval?

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) (14:12): I thank the member for Little Para for the question. I can say that I know that the member for Little Para is a keen soccer supporter. When you head over the beautiful Adelaide Oval footbridge to the Oval tonight, you won't be walking alone. We have so far sold about 30,000 tickets for tonight's game, and we are hoping to get about 35,000 people in there. I will be there.

It is going to be a terrific game. It is the first time since 2004 that we will be hosting the Socceroos in a competitive game, and it is actually a 2018 World Cup qualifier. The last time the Socceroos played in a competitive game in 2004, it was in front of just 2,000 people at the Marden sports park, so we have come a long way.

It is going to be a terrific night in terms of the tourism boost for the state. We know that the Adelaide Oval pumps about $320 million into the economy of South Australia each year and that 7 per cent of the people who go to the Adelaide Oval have come from interstate. Half of those people have come specifically because of an event on at the Adelaide Oval. We have hosted the Rolling Stones, AC/DC and Liverpool. We had the very first day/night test in the world with Australia versus New Zealand last year. So, from the tourism point of view, it is a terrific result for South Australia.

I look at that oval as not just one of the finest sports grounds in the world but as a monument to jobs. It's a monument to the jobs that went into the construction of the oval, and it's a monument to those wonderful people who work at the Adelaide Oval. And then it's the people who are employed in hotels, some who had jobs before, some who have been taken on since then. It's the people who have been working—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I can't hear, sorry. It's the people who work in the four new hotels that have been built by the private sector since the Adelaide Oval opened two years ago, and it's the people who will work on the six hotels that are on the drawing board to open in Adelaide in the next two years. So, it's been a terrific boost for the economy of South Australia. This weekend the Adelaide Oval will welcome its 4 millionth visitor. We've got Port Adelaide versus the Saints down there on Sunday, and that will be a great game, and the week after, of course, it's the Showdown, so we'll have the Adelaide Crows hosting Port Adelaide, and it's—

Ms Hildyard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is called to order.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: —one of those great events that really gets a big local crowd. But the other thing I like about having the Socceroos in town—and it was a bit the same last month when we had the women's Australian golf open here and we had 31,000 people going down to see the best women golfers in the world—is that when we have the Socceroos here, they're the heroes of the younger generation.

I know that the member for Little Para's son, Jimmy, who is playing for the under 16s with Adelaide City, is going to be down there seeing our national team at one of the best sports stadiums anywhere in the world—not that he needs much more inspiration. Since he could walk he's been kicking soccer balls around the place. He's a great young player, but there's thousands of young people in South Australia who haven't seen their national team play here for over 12 years, and we're giving them the opportunity to get out there and see the wonderful Socceroos.

Ryan McGowan is a young fellow born in Adelaide, raised at Para Hills. I met up with him earlier in the week. He's so pumped to be back in Adelaide and to see what we've done with the place because, when he left, Adelaide Oval hadn't been revitalised, and the small bar scene hadn't happened. He congratulated us on what a great job we've done running the state in the 10 years since he left town to take on the world. So, to all the Socceroos tonight: go well and get the points!