Tourism

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:25): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is supporting the recovery of the tourism, arts and events industries?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:25): I thank the member Colton for his question. We are well on the road to economic recovery in South Australia. Anybody who reads the most recent ABS statistics would be buoyed by the fact that the most recent statistics show very clearly that wages over the past two weeks have only been 1 per cent down than before COVID.

This is a remarkable variance compared to any other jurisdiction in the country. In fact, Australia is down in excess of 4 per cent; with that same series, South Australia is down 1 per cent. But of course it is not even, and there are some sectors of our economy which are very significantly further hurt and burdened by—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the effects of the coronavirus. Some of those sectors that have been adversely affected and continue to be adversely affected include the tourism sector, the accommodation sector, the arts sector and the events sector here in South Australia. That is why we are continuing to focus on those areas and try to get as many jobs stood up as quickly as we can.

We were the first jurisdiction in the country to roll out our stimulus package—$350 million in our first package—and part of that package which went to small business was almost 19,000 firms here in our state that received $10,000 cash payments to help these businesses through their tough times.

Part of our initial response for the arts sector was $2.9 million worth of stimulus. This is money that went to independent artists and arts organisations in South Australia. This is very similar to the package that we rolled out immediately for the tourism sector. In this first package it was $5.7 million, and it went to a range of tourism business grants, marketing support, regional events, a tourism fund and programs that enhance the digital capability of people that were operating in this sector.

Since this time we have continued to invest in the tourism sector, because we know it is a major employer here in South Australia. Two weeks ago, I announced our $20 million tourism infrastructure development fund, which would support the development of tourism infrastructure right across regional South Australia. To date we have been inundated with applications.

I note that the opposition were saying we were very unlikely to get any applications. Actually, it is now a situation where we may be overwhelmed. But we have been—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: We just said it was small and late.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Lee is warned.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Like your leadership.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is warned. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Other initiatives, of course, include our $4 million Great State voucher program and $5 million worth of support to our nature-based tourism investment fund, again two programs that have showed extraordinarily strong interest to date.

In the past few weeks, I have visited the West Coast and Eyre Peninsula more broadly. I have been to the Barossa, I have been to Clare, I have been to Tailem Bend and I have spoken with tourism operators. I can honestly say that they have been really, really buoyed by the interest shown from people in metropolitan Adelaide heading out to regional South Australia, spending money in those economies, creating jobs. It has been absolutely fantastic to see.

We have more events coming to South Australia. Some of these are sporting events. We know that the AFL footy finals—go the Power—begin next week here on Thursday night. The first NRL State of Origin game will be here on 4 of November. We've got a great summer of cricket with international cricket, a revamped Christmas pageant and also new events like Illuminate Adelaide, which we are investing significant money into.

Today, I announced further support for the arts sector. This is a $10.2 million arts recovery fund in addition to other money that we have already announced. This brings it now to $20 million worth of support for this extraordinarily important sector of our South Australian economy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for West Torrens, I call to order the member for Hurtle Vale, I call to order the member for Ramsay and I call to order the deputy leader.