TOURISM

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:59): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Tourism a question about international visitors to South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: New figures released last week paint a grim picture for South Australia's international tourism industry. Tourism Research Australia's latest survey, which, of course, if the minister was not so lazy and disinterested, she would have read last week, shows that South Australia had fewer international visitors last year than any other mainland state. Others do a much better job attracting visitors to their state. Can the minister explain:

1. Why is our share of international holiday travellers' expenditure just 3 per cent of the total, the lowest of any mainland state?

2. Why did we have fewer visitor nights here from international tourists than any other mainland state?

3. Why has South Australia's share of international backpackers visiting Australia been dropping since 2007?

4. Why do international backpackers spend less time in South Australia than in any other mainland state?

5. Why do international tourists spend less money in South Australia than in any other mainland state?

5. Why do international visitors to Adelaide spend less money in Adelaide than in any other mainland capital city?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (15:00): I have already answered this question. This is how slow, lazy and indifferent this opposition is. They are a disgrace, an absolute disgrace. They are just such a joke of an opposition.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Why don't you get on and answer it?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I have already answered this question during an interjection during a government question. The honourable member interjected and asked after the international visitor rates.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You said nothing about it.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I did answer the question.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: What did you say?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: He didn't even listen, Mr President! That is how slow he is. He can't even remember the answer I gave about 15 minutes ago. He can't even remember the answer I gave him on international visitor rates 15 minutes ago. He is a disgrace, an excuse for a leader in this place, an absolute disgrace! He can't even remember that I answered this question before. He is so silly, he gets up and asks me the same question again. That is how slow, lazy and indifferent they are. They sit there asleep. They sit there in that front seat asleep, nodding off, dozing off. They are an absolute disgrace.

The information I gave in my first answer was that the international visitor numbers in fact had decreased slightly. However, the international spend had increased significantly. We are growing in terms of international visitor spend. I then went on to talk about how important that is, given the current climate, where we have a high dollar. It is much more difficult to attract backpackers with the Australian dollar the way it is—extremely difficult. How thick!

Our commission has a strategy of trying to attract bigger spenders. Backpackers, in terms of the way the Australian dollar is at, are very difficult to attract in this climate. So, we have been attracting higher spenders, people who can afford to visit Australia when the dollar is high. As I said in my previous answer, and as I have already stated—which the Hon. David Ridgway was too lazy to even listen to—I did say that our numbers were down but our spend was growing, and that is a very positive trend. That is something our commission and tourism operators should be congratulated for.

Not only is our international spend growing, but we are way above the national average on all the recent domestic tourism rates that have just been released today—way above, sometimes two or three times, the national average. So, our domestic growth rates are right up, right across the board. We are above the national average on all the current measures in terms of domestic tourism and, in addition, in terms of our international spend in relation to our tourism, the numbers are growing. The opposition should be thanking and acknowledging the tremendous efforts of the South Australian Tourism Commission and our tourism operators.