ADELAIDE HILLS

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development a question about the Adelaide Hills area.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The Adelaide Hills form a wonderful backdrop to the city. They are not just a tourism experience, but contain a wide range of horticultural and viticultural enterprises as well as some thriving towns. Will the minister please advise the chamber about her recent visit to the Adelaide Hills?

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) (14:36): It was a great pleasure to be able to head up into the Adelaide Hills recently to have a look at some of the important economic drivers in that very diverse region. It was a particularly beautiful day as well. During this visit, I was able to visit Lenswood Co-operative, situated in Lenswood. It is a very large community organisation which has grown to become an extremely successful enterprise since its founding in 1933. The cooperative includes apple, pear and cherry growers, but it is primarily known for its apple production and storage.

As a cooperative, the founding principles of the organisation were to provide facilities for local growers for the storage, packing and marketing of fruit. Today, I understand the co-op comprises 82 members, many of whom are descendants of settlers of the area who arrived in the nineteenth century. The cooperative has developed very effective cold storage facilities and over a number of years has expanded its fruit washing, processing and packing lines. I understand the packing facility has been recently assisted under the Co-operative Loan Scheme, which enabled it to update its packing lines.

The fruit washing and sorting for size are now fully automated and it is quite a remarkable thing to observe. The cooperative has also taken great strides to improve its environmental sustainability by re-using water as much as possible. Indeed, one of the washing lines only discharges its water once a year. I understand that the cooperative supplies nearly 70 per cent of apples exported from SA and is taking great strides with its penetration into the large eastern states markets, including the two major supermarkets.

I was also able to visit the PIRSA regional centre at Lenswood, which houses a number of services provided by PIRSA, including staff from Rural Solutions, Biosecurity SA Animal Health and Livestock staff, and SARDI research staff. The veterinary staff at the facility are involved in a number of programs, including exotic disease detection, primarily for livestock but also zoonotic diseases, which are those that move from animals to humans, and those diseases which can be transmitted from wildlife to livestock. They are also involved in trade certifications and work on endemic diseases.

One of the major groups which is supported by the South Australian Sheep Advisory Group is surveillance and education around a number of diseases. Ovine Johne's Disease has been a particularly successful one that we have been able to control here in South Australia. I understand we have the lowest rate of this disease of any mainland state.

Of course, this is not the only focus of the work undertaken. We also do work around foot-and-mouth disease prevention and education. I was advised, for example, that education continues regarding the importance of ensuring the proper feeding of pigs. Animal health officers also continue to maintain contact with farmers, whether they are small hobby farms or large commercial concerns.

There is also significant work done to ensure national reporting of diseases and the management of an on-site laboratory. Some education work is done by staff based there. The staff based at Lenswood from Rural Solutions and SARDI also perform a wide range and variety of agricultural research and extension project work, including soil carbon research and natural resources management work.

I was also able to catch up with the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu and KI RDA board, including: the chair, Mayor Ann Fergusson; board member, Angus Williams; and also CEO Barry Featherstone. I met with them to discuss their work to help develop strategic projects around the area. As well as being very advanced with their annual revision of their roadmap, the RDA is also working on a cross-regional plan for regional tourism and walking trails to take advantage of the various scenery. I thank the RDA for its strong involvement in the development of new tourism destination action plans, which the South Australian Tourism Commission has been working on throughout our regions.

Just to complete the visit, I visited an up-and-coming tourist destination, Sticky Rice Cooking School in Stirling. It is a three-year-old business that has demonstrated that 'build it and they will come' philosophy, combined with a good business plan and hard work. They have certainly delivered the goods. The success of the school has led to expansion plans, which include the construction of three villas on site. The South Australian Tourism Commission has helped to fund the creation of that attraction in the Hills through a grant of $50,000 and by helping the proponents to successfully win a grant from the federal government of around $100,000. I wish them all the best in their expansion endeavours.