Mawson Electorate

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:26): This has been a terribly difficult start to 2020 for so many people and so many businesses in the electorate of Mawson. First of all, those on Kangaroo Island were hit by the devastating summer bushfires that claimed two lives, wiped out 89 homes and destroyed half of the land mass of the 4,500 square kilometre island. Of course, people just started to get back and visit the island and a few weeks later the world was hit by the coronavirus: the worldwide pandemic that has meant that people cannot travel like they used to. In fact, Kangaroo Islanders pleaded with people not to come and visit their island because they only had one respirator and a population that was fairly susceptible to something like COVID-19.

We have seen some businesses close that will never reopen. Others have closed but from yesterday or from this coming Friday will try to reopen and get people back through their doors under very different and difficult circumstances, which we all know we have to do because we cannot just have open slather and risk a second wave.

No-one is complaining about what we have to go through and, indeed, we all need to be mindful of the social distancing that needs to happen. We need to be mindful and caring of those people in the hospitality and tourism sectors who are there to serve people, not to be security guards trying to monitor how many people are coming in and telling people what the rules are. At this time, we need to remember to be kind to people.

We need to remember what the expectations are, such as how many people are allowed in a certain area. If you are in a cafe and they can only have 20 people and there are four of you sitting there two hours after you have finished your coffee, it is probably not the best thing for that little business. So keep the tables turning over and keep a good sense of humour with those people who are there to serve you because so many of them have been through so much emotional and financial stress during the past 12 weeks or so because of the very changed business circumstances that they have had thrust upon them.

I know that Deep Creek has had some very heavy bookings for this coming June long weekend and I really hope it is the same for the Delamere General Store, which sells pretty much everything, including probably kitchen sinks or camping gear or a sausage roll from either the Normanville Bakery or the Yankalilla Bakery—they serve both.

They are great people in there. Kaye has done a tremendous job. It was always her dream as a little girl to own the Delamere General Store and she does a terrific job but, gee, they have been hit hard because when people stopped going down to Kangaroo Island because of the fires the traffic dried up just before Cape Jervis and then because of coronavirus it meant that everyone basically stayed home or stayed in their postcode and did the right thing and did not get out and travel to regional South Australia.

I want to urge everyone to go for a drive, stay safe, do your social distancing, but drop into one of these country stores, drop into a country cafe or a bakery and spend a little bit of money. Be respectful of all the rules we need to abide by and try to get out and visit people.

One of the things that has been a bit disappointing is the state government's $10,000 emergency payment that they said they would give to businesses doing it hard because of the coronavirus. I have had to write to the Treasurer on behalf of a few businesses that were approved over the phone two months ago but still do not have that $10,000. I have to say that they are doing it really, really tough at the moment, so if the wheels of government could speed up and get that $10,000 out the door and into these businesses that would be tremendous.

Let's hope for a good long weekend, one where people get out of their homes and get back to some normality. Gee, it has been a pretty tough time for people who have gone through the downturn of business. Some people have lost their jobs, some people have lost their businesses and I think others are still scarred from homeschooling their kids. Let's hope that we can have a little bit of fun on this June long weekend and get out and enjoy everything we have in South Australia. It is a tremendous place, and the quicker we can get the wheels of our local economies going, get people fully employed again, the better it will be for all South Australians.