Regional Tourism, Recreation and Sport

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:53): My question is directed to the Minister for Tourism and Minister for Recreation and Sport. How is the state government supporting tourism, recreation and sport in South Australia's regions?

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) (14:54): I thank the member for Ashford for that question. The government helps in a lot of ways, particularly through grants to tourism operators and food and wine—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned. The member for Davenport is on a full set of warnings for a previous outburst.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: —and recreation and sport—and I know people in Kangaroo Island are very happy with the money that went to Dudley United Netball Club; $203,000 went there for a brand-new facility that was opened just a couple of months ago. Of course, McLaren Vale received $293,000 for their women's change rooms at the netball club.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is now on a full set of warnings.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: The netball club in Willunga also received $500,000. I know there is a lot of good stuff happening out in the regions. In the Wine Industry Development Scheme, $1.8 million for the Wine Industry Development Scheme is going into cellar doors and into regional wine associations to make sure that our cellar doors are as good as anywhere in the world. It has been a tremendous program. I know that 17 wineries in McLaren Vale received grants and three on Kangaroo Island.

But one of the great funding initiatives that this government has come up with is the $20 million Fund My Neighbourhood idea. It has been terrific to see local communities right around the state come together, and I think if anyone wants to look at how a community does it really well, Willunga managed to pick up three of the Fund My Neighbourhood ideas. The CFS got $100,000. There was a Willunga to Aldinga bike trail which received $150,000. There is a new Nature Play playground in the rose garden at Willunga which received $150,000. I think Willunga probably, pound for pound, has taken more money out of that fund than any other town in South Australia. Myponga also did well with their community centre getting $150,000 to upgrade their stormwater facilities around the community centre.

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

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

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: The McLaren Vale Primary School received $50,000 for a new air conditioning system in their gymnasium, so that is going to make the voters feel nice and cool on 17 March when they all go to the polls and line up there in McLaren Vale. It is a great polling booth for the people of McLaren Vale, but now it will also have air conditioning, as well as when we go for functions, assemblies and sporting events in that wonderful school gymnasium.

As we saw around the state, it was town versus town, street versus street, suburb versus suburb. But on Kangaroo Island we had a great competition between a mother and a daughter. We had Jayne Bates who put up a project to get a swing bridge at Penneshaw to connect the two sides of the sculpture park; $150,000 went to Jayne Bates's project that she put up. She beat her daughter, Megan Harvey, by seven votes because Megan wanted something else for Penneshaw. She wanted a Nature Play playground by the skate park at Penneshaw. It was great to be on the island on Monday to see Jayne and her daughter, Megan. They were back on speaking terms and things were going well.

I really think this Fund My Neighbourhood idea has been absolutely terrific. When we go out for our country cabinets, we ask people for their ideas. I know that at Parndana, they received $28,000 for the memorial which we are doing up, and also while we were on Kangaroo Island for the country cabinet, we gave $110,000 to the people at Kingscote for a new skate park. This is something these people have wanted for 25 years. The local member never came and asked us for it, but we went down there and the Premier announced it. There was a woman called Marie who burst into tears she was so excited in the hall that night in Kingscote. Thank you, Premier, for this wonderful Fund My Neighbourhood project.