Adelaide 500

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): Supplementary arising from the answer: in relation to the first race of the season, why has there been such a delay, and why have you stuffed up the post-race concert and when will tickets be announced for that?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:19): I think it is a bit rude to accuse me of stuffing things up. The former government stuffed up and couldn't find a sponsor.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order: the supplementary did not refer to anything about sponsorship. It was very specifically about the post-race concert.

The PRESIDENT: I am allowing the minister some latitude to respond to your question.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President. The member, if he had been paying attention when he was a minister in cabinet with his colleagues, would understand that a lot of these things are quite linked. We have needed to lock down a sponsor so we can do some of the other components, and the sponsor wanted to know what some of the other components were. They go hand in glove. All that work is underway. The announcements are in the near future. There has been no stuff-up. There has just been somewhat of a delay to try to get a sponsor, because, of course, we had a government before that was unable to get a sponsor.

We saw just recently that National Pharmacies is sponsoring the Christmas Pageant. In fact, with the buoyant business conditions in South Australia, the Tourism Commission is experiencing people actually knocking on their door and wanting to sponsor events, something that I think the former government had not experienced, and the business community actually wants to get on board and help. I have even had people who missed out on the Christmas Pageant lobbying me, disappointed that they had missed out.

We are in an unusual environment. The Adelaide 500 will go ahead. A new sponsor will be announced. All the details will be announced in the near future, and I suggest the members opposite sit and wait, and all will be revealed soon.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Supplementary arising from the original answer.

The PRESIDENT: I saw the Hon. Mr Pangallo first. I will give you the call in a minute.

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Don't try to block out the crossbench.