Newland Electorate

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (15:32): I rise today to speak about the enormous tourism potential that exists within my electorate, particularly in the fantastic local businesses in the Adelaide Hills areas of Newland. In South Australia, we are so lucky to have so close to the CBD regions like the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, all of which generate some of the highest quality produce in the world and make such a significant contribution to South Australian tourism.

As a proud South Australian, I have a great appreciation of the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and areas of the Adelaide Hills, such as Hahndorf. However, as the member for Newland, I have much more affection for and pride in the areas of the Adelaide Hills within my electorate, such as Inglewood, Kersbrook and Paracombe. These areas are perhaps lesser known than the others, but they are home to not only some of the best produce that South Australia has to offer but also some of the most genuine and hardworking people in the state.

Last week, I had the pleasure of holding a tourism round table with the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon. David Ridgway from the other place, and a number of local businesspeople from the Adelaide Hills areas of Newland. I was also very pleased that the member for Morialta was able to attend, particularly as I know that he is a fierce advocate for areas neighbouring Newland, such as Cudlee Creek, Gumeracha and Birdwood.

The purpose of the round table was to discuss how we can take advantage of the significant tourism potential of the area, which has not garnered as much attention as other areas across the state. In addition to having the opportunity to raise with the minister directly any questions or issues that local businesses had, it provided a forum for businesses to begin working together to improve outcomes for the whole area. It is also important to note that we were also quite pleased to have representatives from the South Australian Tourism Commission, as well as the Adelaide Hills Council and Adelaide Hills Tourism.

The ability of these businesses and organisations to work together is an important factor in the region being as successful as possible, and each business represented at the round table was incredibly enthusiastic about the possibilities that will result from working together because they know that increasing the number of visitors to the area as a whole means that there will be more customers for their business and, in turn, more jobs for locals.

These include businesses like the Inglewood Inn, Paracombe Wines, Paracombe Premium Perry, Kersbrook Hill Wines and Cider, the Topiary Cafe at Newman's Nursery and the Templewood Horse Riding Centre. Just across the border into Morialta, we also have the Applewood Distillery, the Gorge Wildlife Park, the National Motor Museum, the Cudlee Creek Cafe and the Cudlee Creek Tavern. This diverse range of wonderful businesses are all incredibly passionate about what they do and incredibly keen to work together to advance interest in the area.

It is also worth noting that something this government is doing that will certainly go a long way to increasing visitor traffic through the area is opening up the South Para Reservoir for recreational activities. I was quite excited to be at the reservoir with the Minister for Environment and Water, as well as the member for King, when we released 180,000 fingerlings there. We released golden perch, silver perch and Murray cod to provide enormous fishing opportunities down the track as well as a very exciting opportunity to support businesses and provide incentive for people to pass through the area.

As far as the round table is concerned, I would also like particularly to acknowledge the work of Peter and Milly Howell for advocating a much more coordinated approach to attracting visitors to the area. They have been doing this for quite some time now, and so it was quite fitting that this first round table was held at the stunning Inglewood Inn, which has outstanding views of the local area and so much incredible history.

I am very pleased that all those who attended approached the discussions with incredible enthusiasm; in fact, they have formed a working group that will meet at regular intervals over coming months and really help to take advantage of this initial opportunity and continue to advance interest in the area and put this region of the Adelaide Hills on the map. I would certainly be eager, if any members in this place were keen, to take them on a tour of this area. As the local member, I am certainly very proud of the area and look forward to seeing their plans come to fruition.