Question Time

WORLD FOOD MEDIA AWARDS

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Tourism a question about the World Food Media Awards.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: In the past, Tasting Australia featured the Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards. These awards provide global recognition to the very best in international food and drink publishing and broadcasting industries, the foodie equivalent of the movie Oscars. In 2010 the Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards acknowledged the work of food and drink professionals, writers, educators, TV presenters and producers. They recognised excellence across a broad range of publishing and broadcasting on food and drink: books, magazines, newspapers, television, internet websites, guidebooks and photography.

Le Cordon Bleu is one of the world's most prominent organisations dedicated to culinary, hospitality and tourism education. It was founded in 1895. Today Le Cordon Bleu has a presence in some 20 countries with more than 30 international schools attended by some 20,000 students annually. The very last Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards were presented in Adelaide in May 2010 as part of Tasting Australia. There were 24 categories, and many South Australians were recognised. Alas, the awards are no more; because of this minister the awards have, for South Australia, passed into history. My questions are:

1. Why were there no Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards as part of this year's Tasting Australia?

2. Can the minister guarantee that they will be part of the 2014 event?

3. What is the value of holding these awards in the state of South Australia to our economy?

4. Why forgo this economic boost to the economy?

5. Was abandoning the awards this year a reflex action or a reflux action?

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) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his question. He is no doubt deeply concerned about this, because it is one more free feed that he does not have available to him. The Tasting Australia event for 2012 has been an enormously successful event, a huge success. The event is carefully planned by the SATC, which takes responsibility for all operational matters. The plans for Tasting Australia evolve. It is an event that cannot stand still. You have to keep changing and shifting, and encouraging different events and activities. You cannot allow an event like this to become stale, so to speak. It is for that reason that the program keeps changing from year to year, biennially actually.

It is a very carefully crafted event, and it is a highly successful event. It has gone from its inception as a fairly small event that created minor interest to now the event at Elder Park. The weekend centrepiece of Tasting Australia at Elder Park at the weekend attracted 40,000 people over the weekend (that was the figure that was reported to me). That is absolutely incredible; record numbers of visitors to that event. The event remains as successful as it is because the event's organisers keep evolving the program and keep a very interesting and different program every year.

As I said, the first event was held back in the late 1990s and it has grown from a fairly minor event to something that is now highly successful. There was a whole range of really exciting events at this year's Tasting Australia. They included things like cookery demonstrations, hands-on cookery classes, gala dinners, and intimate lunches and dinners with celebrity chefs in some of South Australia's most picturesque locations. This year's event included more than 80 public events and saw us host celebrity chefs from right around the world, as well as some of Australia's most popular food and wine personalities.

Staged on the banks of the River Torrens at Elder Park, it was a free event that enabled people to sample great food and wine. Not only was it a delightful location but the weather was particularly lovely as well. I was able to pop down there and join in and it was just fabulous; tens of thousands of people and, as I said, a highly successful event. It generates an enormous amount of activity and visitors into the CBD, and also to the regional events which we conduct and which also attract visitors.

It very much promotes our fabulous food and wine. It does not just promote it to local South Australians but, as I said, it promotes and showcases what we do to the nation and to the world. It is something which we can be very proud of, and I congratulate the event organisers for such a highly successful event. No doubt they will continue to keep looking for new and novel activities to ensure Tasting Australia remains a highly successful event. Tasting Australia will continue in two years' time, so we can look forward to that. The SATC owns the brand Tasting Australia. Hopefully, we will be able to announce new event managers fairly soon. As I said, it will continue to be a highly successful event and attract many tens of thousands of visitors to the state.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway has a supplementary.