ADVANTAGE SA REGIONAL AWARDS

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:01): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development and minister responsible for agriculture, food and wine a question about regional South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Held annually, the Advantage SA Regional Awards celebrate and showcase the achievements of organisations and individuals that have made considerable contributions to regional South Australia. My question is: will the minister inform the chamber on how the government recognises and supports South Australians who provide premium food and wine from our clean environment?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for his important question about the difference that a Labor government is making to South Australians and to our state, including those South Australians who live in our regions.

The Labor government of South Australia has constantly advocated for and supported South Australians who work in the regions in our agriculture, food and wine industries. The government believes that it is important to also publicly recognise the hard work of South Australians in our regions and acknowledge the importance of the contribution our world-renowned food and wine industry makes to our state economy.

Our food and wine industry, obviously, is a very important sector to our state economy, generating around $16 billion in revenue annually, and it employs about 150,000 people, so it is obviously a very important employer as well. The government is pleased to continue its support to the industry and to regional communities and for that reason the government, through the regional development portfolio, is a major partner and a category sponsor for this year's Advantage SA Regional Awards.

The Advantage SA Regional Awards are designed to acknowledge the South Australians who have set the benchmark for excellence in their field in each of seven regions of South Australia. By supporting the Advantage SA Regional Awards, through the South Australian government's premium food and wine from our clean environment initiative, we are very proud to champion our food industry, one of the most dynamic and innovative, we believe, in the country.

The state government continues to fund the innovation category of the Advantage SA Regional Awards through the Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy. Several of the innovation category winners in 2012 are leading food producers and key contributors to the government's key strategic priority of premium food and wine from our clean environment.

I am delighted to inform the chamber today that this year there will be two awards under a new category sponsorship by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) to recognise contributions in regional South Australia to this most important government priority, premium food and wine from our clean environment. These are the Food SA Food Award and the PIRSA Wine Award. Both of these awards are open to all South Australian regional producing or manufacturing wine companies which have been established for over two years and where the head office of the business, including franchisees, or at least 50 per cent of business production is based in South Australia.

South Australian wine producers are incredibly proud of their industry and rightly so. One out of every two bottles of Australian wine is made in South Australia, and this wine is exported to more than 100 countries. South Australia also produces some of the most famous premium wines in the world and, due to the government's rigorous biosecurity measures, South Australia is free of the vine-destroying pest phylloxera and, obviously, because of that, we have some of the oldest grapevines in the world, and from those fantastically aged vines we produce some of the world's very best wines.

The fantastic achievements of our wine industry will be recognised through the Premium Food and Wine from our Clean Environment—PIRSA Wine Award. This new award aims to acknowledge those wine companies that are leaders in the industry in using their sustainability practices or environmental credentials to increase the credence values of their products.

The Premium Food and Wine from our Clean Environment—Food SA Food Award will see the winners from each category become automatic finalists in the highly acclaimed SA Food Industry Awards. Primary industries deliver enormous economic benefits to our state, along with maintaining its reputation for the best quality produce.

Nominations for the 2013 Advantage SA Regional Awards are now open and will close on 21 June 2013. As Minister for Regional Development, I am obviously constantly impressed when I visit regional areas in South Australia by the passion and enthusiasm of our local communities for their areas and produce from those areas.

Just as winemakers know the importance of their terroir to wine to create unique flavour, so too regional businesses know the impact that their particular combination of soil, water and specialist expertise bring to create South Australian products. It's this excellence which is celebrated by the Advantage SA Regional Awards. I encourage all of those who are eligible to nominate, and I look forward to being able to keep the chamber updated on the marvellous work in primary industries and regional communities being recognised and supported by the Jay Weatherill government.