Cycling Events

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:38): Supplementary: can the minister inform the house of what he has done to specifically attract an international cycling event to Mount Gambier?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:38): I have been in quite a significant amount of discussion with the Events SA team around the logistics of Port Lincoln, Kangaroo Island, up into the Flinders, Mount Gambier and how we can get cycling events further out. The members opposite should remember that one of our policies was to develop a cycling trail from Adelaide to Melbourne. It probably will go through Mount Gambier. The reason I want to do that is to drive more tourists to your home town, with that trail linked up.

It is interesting to see that obviously the federal Labor Party enjoy it too, because they have announced $280 million for cycle trails. Clearly, they have taken that lead from our policy announcement. I am continuing to look at ways we can get the Tour Down Under or other events, and the opportunity with the Adelaide-Melbourne trail will give us a whole range of opportunities. There are loops being discussed. We have the business case being done at present. So I think it is a bit rich to say—I am constantly looking at how we have this reputation globally now. It is the biggest cycling event outside of Europe in the world—again, a Liberal initiative from some 20-odd years ago. We look at it as a chance to—

The Hon. R.P. Wortley interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The Hon. Mr Wortley says some mumblings back there. I did pay tribute to the fact that at the change of government the former government continued to invest in it. I think it is one of these events that enjoys bipartisan support, so it is good that Mr Bignell is over there trying to do a bit of work, but at the end of the day we are onto that particular issue. When it comes to Mount Gambier I am constantly looking at how we can take that event further but, as members opposite would know, the Tour Down Under is a little bit complicated because the riders always like to sleep back at the Hilton, in the one venue, each night. So then there are the logistics: how do you get them there?

So it has to be a different event, I suspect, not a leg of the Tour Down Under but one of these white road races or one of these, what they call, monument races. A single day race could easily be down the Limestone Coast; it could involve Mount Gambier; it could be on Eyre Peninsula; it could be on Kangaroo Island; it could be anywhere around Yorke Peninsula. So we are always looking at those options and we will continue to explore that and continue to be in close contact with the UCI to make sure that we continue to build on the fabulous reputation we have of being the biggest cycling state and the biggest event in the world outside Europe.