Adelaide Beer and BBQ Festival

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries on something that is very near and dear to my heart. What is the government doing to support craft brewers and distillers in South Australia?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I enjoyed a glass of Prohibition on Friday night.

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) (14:47): A very good gin indeed, Mr Speaker, and I congratulate you on your fine taste, drinking South Australian produce. We know that the member for Colton is also a very keen whisky drinker and supporter of South Australian companies.

The South Australian government is pleased to support Adelaide's Beer and Barbecue Festival this July, celebrating the state's beer and ciders. There will be 38 South Australian companies represented there, and that is terrific because you do not have to go back too far to a time when we did not produce that much locally produced beer, cider and spirits. So, it is tremendous to see this resurgence at that craft brewery level. I know that just in my own electorate we have Jeff and—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I love the Woolshed Brewery up at Wilkadene, just above Renmark. I reckon Tom and Sarah make the best IPA in South Australia. The Pirate Life is pretty good too, but Tom and Sarah do a tremendous job at the Woolshed Brewery. I was very pleased to be there with the member for Chaffey a few years ago, when I had one of the most pleasant jobs in my political career: to open a brewery. To have your name on a plaque at a brewery is just terrific.

In my own electorate, it used to be hard to leave, with three breweries. Now that we get out, we have breweries right around the state. I was down in Robe earlier in the year, and Robe Town Brewery is doing a tremendous job down there. They are using the old-school method; they actually have a wood fire underneath the kettle where they brew everything, and it brings a little Eastern European influence.

We have a couple of brewers up in the Barossa now. It is fantastic to head up to Clare; that Bulls Eye brew is tremendous. The red ale—they used to call it 'ranga ale'; I think they had to change its name—is quite good. Getting back to my own electorate, Jeff and Mary Goodieson run a fantastic family company called Goodieson Brewery. They are doing a tremendous job. Jeff used to work for one of the big brewers in Australia and he decided to have a bit of a tree change and look after his family down there.

We have Dan Wright at Swell Brewing Co., and they have just moved all their beers into cans. Look out for their golden ale; it just won a big award recently. Of course, Vale Ale is very well known and on sale right throughout Australia at many good bars and dispensers of fine alcohol. Keep an eye out for those and all locally-produced beers.

Pirate Life Brewing is an interesting story. It is actually a Western Australian company, a family company once again, that moved to South Australia because of the business conditions here and because of the way they get the support from the state government. It speaks to who we are as a state and our second highest economic priority—well, my highest, but the Treasurer loves his minerals and energy. Maybe they are equal first but, I tell you, my stuff tastes better than your stuff.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: You can't make it without our stuff.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: That's true, we do need some energy to go into the process. They moved to South Australia and South Australia does have that economic priority of premium food and wine, and I think we have to add beers, ciders and spirits as well.

One person I really want to congratulate too is Sacha La Forgia from the Adelaide Hills Distillery, who in San Francisco at the World Spirits Competition, which is the most respected and influential spirit competition in the world, picked up a gold, silver and bronze for their 78 Degrees Gin, their orange bitters and newly released rum. That is one thing about the bitters: 90 per cent of the botanicals in South Australia are actually bitter and they are perfect for these kinds of drinks. It is great to see us taking on the Italians and those established countries in producing fine beverages.