Sam Smith Concert

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:57): When did the minister determine that AVE was an unsuitable methodology, as she has just advised the house she did, for SA Tourism and direct them so? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order from the Treasurer, which I will hear under 134.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: It's customary for a member, when asking somebody else in the house a question, to direct the question to a particular member.

The SPEAKER: Indeed it is.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: My question is to the Minister for Tourism. When did the minister determine that AVE was an unsuitable methodology for SA Tourism, as she has just advised the house that she did and direct them accordingly, and when did she direct them accordingly? Sir, with your leave, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Yesterday morning, the South Australian tourism chief executive was on the radio defending the use of advertising value equivalency as a measure of success. Two hours later, the minister told media she had directed SA Tourism not to use the measure anymore.

The SPEAKER: There is on one view the cusp of an argument or opinion in the language of the member's question. I have in mind particularly the suggestion that the minister has informed the house X, Y and Z. The minister may not also form that view, but I am going to permit the question.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:59): I will restate the conversation. There has been a lot of conversation about this unique publicity event that we had, and because of that I instructed—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Flinders!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I instructed SATC to evaluate and do a review, because I think it was important for us to know what was the purpose of this event, which was to attract an international crowd, a global audience. We used many different measurements, of which AVE was one, and we used that because it's been used for years and years, including by the opposition when they were in government, so the grand hypocrisy that this measure is not okay is just ridiculous.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morialta!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: So let's just remind ourselves—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer is called to order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Let's just have a little conversation about the SATC annual report 2018-19, when we had—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Florey!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —the full illustrated 2019 swim edition and KI was one of the six destinations worldwide.

Mr Cowdrey: How much negative exposure was in that? Nothing.

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: The activity resulted in US media coverage at an advertising space rate of $32.5 million and reached an audience of 2.2 billion. That was used for AVE.

Mr Cowdrey: How much of it was negative?

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Colton!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I remember talking to David Ridgway, now our Agent-General. In 2019 in fact, the extent of free publicity on the 'old mate' campaign attracted in excess of $2 million of earned media value. He goes on to say, 'and the demographics of all ages enjoying South Australia in the ad, including the Old Mate'.

Members interjecting:

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

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: So just as the former government used influencers all the time, they also used—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Flinders is on a final warning.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —AVE all the time. So this is a regularly used way of calculating.

Mr Telfer: Why are you chucking it out then?

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders!

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: However, my role is to grow the tourism economy, and we have done that, and we will continue to do that. My role is also here to represent South Australians, and questions have been asked. My questions caused me to reflect, which was reflected also in the review, and that decision, after time of conversation and discussion, that we would not be using this going forward. That decision was made, and I instructed my department to that measure.