Brand South Australia

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon M.C. Parnell:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges the contribution of Brand South Australia, an independent, not-for-profit organisation that promotes economic growth and pride in South Australia;

2. Recognises the achievements of Brand South Australia in its work managing the state brand and running a range of programs, including the successful I Choose SA program, delivering millions of dollars of value to South Australia every year and supporting local jobs;

3. Notes the decision of the Marshall Liberal government to cut funding to Brand South Australia, resulting in Brand South Australia having to cease operations as at 30 June 2019; and

4. Calls on the Marshall Liberal government to immediately reinstate its funding to enable Brand South Australia to continue its valuable work.

(Continued from 5 June 2019.)

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (17:19): I rise to support the motion before the chamber and to give my full support and indicate that the Labor opposition will not be supporting amendments filed by the minister that dramatically change the intent of this very important motion put forward by the Hon. Mark Parnell. Brand SA and the I Choose SA program have been a remarkable success. I want to pay tribute to the work they have done to promote South Australia, as well as South Australian businesses and produce, within this state and also interstate and overseas.

I have had the pleasure of attending a couple of the regional showcases that Brand SA has put on over the years. I have found them a remarkable success in showcasing some of the very best that our regions have to offer. I think it has been an important organisation that has done a lot to highlight regional South Australia and what has come out of it.

We have heard the Premier attempting to defend the cut to Brand SA with the glib line that the government is going to focus their efforts interstate and overseas. That, quite frankly, is an absolute cop-out. It is predicated on an illogical fallacy. It is possible to promote SA here in South Australia as well as overseas and interstate at the same time. The Premier's comments also denigrate the good work that Brand SA has already done overseas and interstate.

It is also important to point out that promoting South Australia to South Australians is crucial. People have a choice: they can visit Bali, New Zealand or Tasmania or they can stay here and see what their own backyard has to offer. They could choose interstate or overseas products or they could choose South Australian products. We want to see locals choosing to find those hidden gems, like going on a gin tasting flight at the Twenty Third Street Distillery in Renmark, sampling some topnotch craft beer at breweries like Little Bang Brewing or eating a sausage roll at the Ok Pie Shop—doing things in South Australia, using some of the best that South Australia has to offer.

I would like to congratulate the Hon. Mark Parnell on the way he has crafted this motion. It does not mention the Hon. David Ridgway at all, and I think that is very wise. What we have learnt in the last few sitting weeks is that the minister is being kept in the dark about cuts in his portfolio. His colleagues know he is out of depth and not up to the job. Most in the chamber know he is out of depth and not up to the job. It is at the stage where bets are now being wagered on when the minister will be dumped from the ministry.

Last sitting week, a letter from the chair of Brand SA, Mr Peter Joy, addressed to the Speaker of the House of Assembly and copied to the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition, was tabled by my colleague the Hon. Emily Bourke in this chamber. That letter sets out a clear time frame of events in what we have learnt about this sorry saga. We learned that on 8 May 2019 the head of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and also, it needs to be pointed out, the acting head of the minister's own Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment advised Mr Peter Joy, the well-respected chair of Brand SA, that funding had been cut.

Then, one week later, on the evening of 15 May 2019, that letter reveals that the minister had a conversation with the CEO of Brand SA at which time it was agreed that nothing would be said publicly about these funding cuts until such time the minister had a meeting with the Premier, scheduled for 4.30 the next day. Then, at 12.14pm on that very next day, the chair of Brand SA received an email from the Premier confirming that Brand SA's funding had been cut. A little over two hours later, on that day, Thursday 16 May, the minister was asked in question time about cuts to Brand SA, and the minister feigned ignorance and said nothing would be revealed until 18 June.

So the minister talks to the CEO of Brand SA on a Wednesday night and says he has a meeting lined up the next day with the Premier at 4.30. In the meantime, that very next day, the Premier, obviously knowing that he has a meeting with minister Ridgway, emails a letter confirming that Brand SA has been cut. No-one thought to tell the member about this email or forewarn him that that was happening. Minister Ridgway was directly asked whether he was aware of the Premier's email from 12.14 on 16 May, and the minister's very definitive answer was 'No'.

The Hon. R.P. Wortley: He looked baffled.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: He was baffled and he knew nothing, which is a very common response for the minister. The minister was then asked whether he had any explanation as to why such a letter would be withheld from him for over 2½ hours prior to question time. The minister had no idea, which again is a very common refrain from the minister.

We are seeing evidence of a concerted campaign showing that either the Premier's office or, much more worrying, the minister's own office has so little regard for the minister that they are wilfully withholding information to keep him in the dark. Maybe they do not trust him with information. We know that that meeting with the Premier went ahead; we know that because the minister told us that. What was discussed at the meeting? Did minister Ridgway try to prevent the cuts from happening? I think the minister needs to let the chamber know what he did to try to stop these cuts. What was the purpose of that meeting? Was it to try to stop cuts that the Premier, even before the meeting, had made without telling the minister? It does show that the minister has no control over his own portfolio.

We are helpful, as I said yesterday, in this opposition—we are constructive—so we have lodged a whole series of FOIs in order to find out more of what has happened with these murky circumstances, whether anyone from the minister's office actually knew; whether it was the Premier's office or the minister's own office keeping the information from him.

We have heard in dispatches that the minister was completely cut out of the budget process, which is evidenced by the fact that he did not know that these cuts were taking place. He would likely not even know that Brand SA was going to be cut. He probably did not even know when or where the budget meeting was happening that was making these cuts. He is not held in high regard by the Premier, obviously, or by the Treasurer, if this is what is happening.

The reason these cuts happened is because the minister could not stop them. He is not across his portfolio; he is out of his depth and not up to the job. You cannot really blame the minister personally, which is why it is just as well he is not named in this motion, because on the minister's own admission he had no idea what was happening. It is pretty hard to sheet home the blame to a minister when he answers to, 'Did you know what was going on?', 'Oh, no,' or to, 'What do you know?', 'Oh, I don't know,' which is a common response from the minister on these matters.

I think, quite wisely, the motion has not sheeted home the blame to the minister for making these cuts, but what the minister should be blamed for is not being able to stop them. So we wholeheartedly support this motion and we will be voting against the minister's attempts to deflect the blame after the fact with these matters.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (17:27): I also rise to support the motion, and the Hon. Mr Maher has outlined the chaos, the confusion and the charade, which is what this cut has been for the minister.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Poor minister!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: 'Poor minister', the Hon. Mr Maher says. It certainly has been a sorry tale to hear. To revisit the crux of the issue: it was in the other place on Thursday 16 February this year that via the opposition's questioning we discovered that Brand SA would be closing its doors on 28 June. It was a successful not-for-profit operation, supported by government members and sponsors. While they are known for being the keepers of the state logo, lovingly used by nearly 9,000 South Australian businesses, they also run many other programs: the I Choose SA program, with about 4,500 members, Hello from SA, the regional showcase, as the Hon. Mr Maher mentioned, fastest moving businesses, and so on.

The government, in defending this decision, declared that the Joyce review recommended the cutting of Brand SA, but this is simply not true. The Joyce review recommended that Brand SA move from DPC to DDTI and have more of a focus on interstate and international promotion of SA businesses. Brand SA welcomed that recommendation and looked forward to the new direction. All previous funding was directed to within SA.

So the cover story is not holding up. We have anger, disappointment and outrage from those within the sector. Brand SA works; I Choose SA works. I Choose SA, for example, is easily identified to encourage and direct South Australians to choose South Australian products and services. Many people comment on how useful they find that, because many of us, I am sure, here in the chamber are keen to support South Australian businesses and local jobs.

Fifty-three businesspeople put up their name to be an I Choose SA ambassador. As consumers, we have many choices in the products we buy and the services we use. I Choose SA gave us the clear knowledge of which of these were made in South Australia. Many businesspeople spoke out publicly against this cut and, as a result, Brand SA, when issuing an expression of interest recently, noted that both I Choose SA and the state brand would both be returned to the state government.

Some of the influencers who opposed this cut included: Colin Shearing from Independent Retailers; Phil Sims from Robern Menz; Peggy Valoudos, T Bar; Mark Gleeson, Food Tours; Fleurieu Milk; and the list goes on. Many more spoke to the opposition about what a tremendous mistake this decision was.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: The minister for mistakes.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: The minister for mistakes perhaps, as the Hon. Mr Maher mentions. Where there is an I Choose SA campaign in Woolworths, Coles, Aldi or Foodland, sales increase. It is a tough and competitive retail market and I Choose SA makes a difference. People felt so strongly about this bad decision that they launched a change.org petition. When Brand SA announced its closure it received 2,500 reactions. The post was shared more than 700 times and people left 991 comments, all within quite a short period of time. For example, the Fleurieu Milk Company said:

Very, very disappointing to hear. Thank you for all of the hard work and support you have shown for our brand and SA.

Spring Gully commented:

We are more than disappointed to hear this news. Brand SA and I Choose SA campaigns have been significant supporters of our business.

She Shopped stated:

This is so disappointing, so much progress has been made and now we will regress. The digital distribution achieved through Brand SA and I Choose SA was enormous.

Other comments expressed to the opposition included, 'The ecosystem will lose ground and we will not get it back.' I commend the industry for coming out so strongly in opposition to the cuts to Brand SA and I Choose SA, and I thank them for getting behind the campaign to retain this iconic brand and program.

Most recently, we were advised that both the state brand and the I Choose SA program are owned by the state government and will be returned, so-called, to the Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Whether they will continue to be funded and utilised as an economic stimulator for local business is what remains to be seen. Chairman of Brand SA, Peter Joy, said publicly:

If we gave it to a commercial organisation it would lock out other people using it. If we returned it to government, to be honest, we would feel that maybe it wouldn't get the coverage and support that we've given it. We need some time to evaluate that.

This now remains a major concern because without funding, resources and people to progress the SA brand and I Choose SA it will quickly diminish in capacity to stimulate economic growth and business, be it here, interstate or internationally.

Meanwhile, Brand SA has advertised for expressions of interest from like-minded organisations to continue other Brand SA programs, such as Hello from SA and the Regional Showcase. Normally, an investment of $1.6 million in taxpayer funds, which were then matched by investment from the private sector to generate income and to generate jobs for South Australian businesses, would be hailed as an enormous success—but not, it seems, by the Marshall Liberal government.

We call on the government to reverse this decision and continue to fund Brand SA as an independent, not-for-profit organisation, dedicated to helping grow South Australian businesses.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (17:32): I will continue with the theme and try to help the minister for 'I don't know' understand what South Australians love doing—and that is backing a local. You only had to walk through the aisles of any South Australian retailer, particularly our proud independent grocers—who I have been lucky enough to stand here and advocate for many times—to see the benefits of Brand SA.

Brand SA's membership was well into the thousands, with well-known South Australian small businesses and companies not only putting their name to the program but flourishing under the promotion and support it provided. Among its members were Haigh's, Penfolds, Foodland, Charlesworth Nuts, Nippy's, Pirate Life, Port Power, the Crows, Qantas, Robern Menz, Beerenberg and Thomas Foods. Brand SA was also at the forefront when helping to save South Australia's favourite, Spring Gully.

Essentially, Brand SA gave local South Australian businesses a leg up by helping their products not only get onto suppliers' shelves but also into the shoppers' baskets. Its members comprised both old and new businesses, helmed by both seasoned professionals and young entrepreneurs, many of whom owe at least part of their success to Brand SA's commitment to placing the spotlight on local businesses.

I Choose SA is one of the many Brand SA initiatives that has superseded expectations and brought invaluable economic benefits to our state. The program encourages South Australians to support local businesses by including extensive promotion both in store and through advertising, and included the popular I Choose SA Day in October. This day provided an opportunity to do what South Australians love doing: backing their state.

More than 4,600 South Australian businesses were registered with I Choose SA, but the flow-on effect of this program had resounded far beyond those businesses' registrations. When they are shopping for any kind of goods and services, South Australians have instilled at the front of their mindset that picking a local not only is good for the state but most of the time means a fresher product and better service.

Time after time, we have heard this Marshall Liberal government label themselves as the government that supports small business, but what evidence have they provided? This government is increasing fees and charges to the point where, if a plumber, electrician or gasfitter wants to go out on their own, they will have to pay 10 per cent more for their contractor's licence and registration. They will pay almost 5 per cent more to renew their driver's licence and will face the same hikes the next time they go to register their tradie car or ute. How is that being a friend to small business?

How are they being a friend to small business by pandering to the large interstate retail chains to deregulate shop trading hours and avoiding helping small businesses by allowing them to trade on the 11 days of the year where they actually make a little bit more money? If there were issues with Brand SA or how the program was run or if there were efficiencies they should have met, why did the Premier not ask them to do them? Did the Premier give Brand SA and its employees time to change things to suit their agenda before telling them all their jobs would be gone in a month? The answer is no.

Brand SA, in fact, was open to addressing these needs to promote South Australian products interstate and overseas, which was recommended by the Joyce review. Many have asked why would Premier Marshall take away South Australia's not-for-profit organisation designed to promote and support South Australian small businesses, one that is proven to be effective and proven to be popular among the state's business operators? Why would Premier Steven Marshall take that away and offer no real alternative?

We should be doing everything we can to support South Australian small businesses, not cutting down programs that are there to help them. These businesses, these brands, these South Australian icons all carry names that we not only know and trust but love—names my family love. These are brands that my three young girls point to and know when we are out shopping at the local markets, in the local independent grocer or visiting the local supermarket. The keyword that they all are is 'local'. To the member for Dunstan and Premier of this state, I say that it is not too late to choose SA and reverse the decision to cut Brand SA. Let South Australians continue to do what they love doing: let them knowingly back a local.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (17:37): I, too, rise on behalf of SA-Best to speak in support of the Hon. Mark Parnell's motion, acknowledging the work and many achievements of Brand South Australia and, in particular, calling on the government to reverse its funding cut to such a valuable organisation. I do not know if any of us truly recognise just how lucky we are to live in this wonderful city and to make South Australia our home. We have so much to be proud of, from our wonderful national parks, Parklands and world-renowned Adelaide Oval to our world-class wine regions.

On that note—Ben, if you are listening—we should all send a big shout out to the winemakers at Kellermeister Wines in the famed Barossa Valley, whose South Australian-produced 2015 Wild Witch shiraz was judged the best wine—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Show respect to the Hon. Ms Bonaros.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: That is okay, Mr President, I am happy to take the interjections. It was judged the best wine in the world at the London Wine Competition earlier this year, outshining a field of international wines. The Barossa is absolutely brimming with eateries. Kangaroo Island has plenty for foodies. Eyre Peninsula's seafood is world renowned, and Adelaide boasts a cracking cafe culture and restaurant scene as well as the most visited attraction in the state, the iconic Adelaide Central Market. South Australia enjoys more than 5,000 kilometres of coastline, which equates to hundreds of brilliant, pristine beaches.

The entire state is blanketed with terrain so beautiful it belongs on a postcard—and often, much of its breathtaking landscape is: the Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island; the epic Murray River that winds through South Australia; the craters along the Limestone Coast, like the volcanic Blue Lake and Umpherston Sinkhole in Mount Gambier; the vast Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre; the mammoth natural amphitheatre of Wilpena Pound in the stunning Flinders Ranges. The list goes on and on. These are just some of the reasons why I choose SA.

'I Choose SA', of course, references the successful campaign run by Brand South Australia. Brand South Australia has played an integral, a vital part in promoting this state and everything in it. Brand South Australia, as an independent and not-for-profit organisation, has done a stellar job in promoting our state, and it should continue to do so.

The Hon. Mark Parnell spoke at length on the reasons to retain such a vital and important organisation so that it can continue to promote this wonderful state of ours as it has done successfully for years. I echo all of those sentiments and cannot comprehend why the Marshall Liberal government has chosen, without consultation, to de-fund such an important organisation despite its substantial proven success.

The Premier continues to say South Australia is open for business, yet this decision appears myopic and ill-advised. I agree with Peter Joy, chair of the soon-to-be defunct Brand SA, that handing its flagship l Choose SA program to the government simply would not deliver the same benefits to the state's 7,000 to 9,000 small business on its books in the same way and with the same results the independent organisation has been able to achieve.

For these reasons we support the Hon. Mark Parnell's motion as printed, and I indicate for the record that we will not be supporting the amendments to the motion that have been circulated by the government.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (17:41): I know the members opposite will interject relentlessly through this contribution, but I would like to move an amendment to the motion. I will try to do it as briefly as I can. We are supporting the first paragraph of the Hon. Mark Parnell's motion; however, I move to amend paragraphs 2 to 4 of the motion as follows:

Paragraph 2—Leave out ', delivering millions of dollars of value to South Australia every year and supporting local jobs';

Paragraph 3—Leave out 'cut funding to Brand South Australia resulting in Brand South Australia having to cease operations' and insert 'reallocate the responsibility for Brand South Australia to the Department of Trade, Tourism and Investment to increase the focus on marketing interstate and overseas, in line with the Joyce review'; and

Leave out paragraph 4.

The government is passionate about promoting South Australia to the world, and certainly we love to see South Australians supporting local products and businesses. There is no doubt that the I Choose SA campaign had a role in having that confidence in our own state as an important foundation for businesses to grow and thrive as they launch into interstate and overseas markets. I acknowledge Brand South Australia's important contribution to state pride, and we now have a state brand and logo which has strong local recognition.

The open door logo has the full support of the state government, but now it is time to open the door to the rest of the world. Promoting ourselves internationally in our key growth sectors is a key component of this government's mandate, that mandate being strong economic growth. There may have been an opportunity for Brand South Australia to have some role in the renewed strategy had the decision to cease operations not been made.

We recognise the contribution that Brand South Australia has made to promoting the state, both in its current iteration and throughout its history as Advantage SA and SA Great. I thank their 16 staff for the role they have played in assisting South Australian businesses to build their profile to the point where industries are now ready to step up to the world stage.

The Joyce review recommended in March 2019 that the responsibility for positioning and marketing the state be transferred to the Department of Trade, Tourism and Investment, which is the effect of a machinery of government change on 1 July 2019.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: At that point the responsibility for funding agreements for Brand South Australia sat with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, I cannot hear the minister and you have had your go. Minister.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President, for that important protection. I am advised that since its inception over $15 million of taxpayers' money has been given to Brand SA. Clearly, with the government's new focus on selling South Australia to the world and DTTI's huge role in developing the Growth Agenda, that shift makes perfect sense.

We are looking at which aspects of local promotion still have a place in our much broader strategy, and these will be the aspects that the industry sees value in moving forward. I am confident those aspects in the model we implement can be delivered for probably a fair bit less than the $15 million we have provided over the last five or six years, and have a strong impact.

The government has a mandate and a bold agenda to increase exports and jobs growth in South Australia and sees international promotion as a priority. We remain strongly committed to the state brand, and DTTI is working with Brand SA to transition the management of the state brand to the department by 1 July 2019, ensuring that the brand and the open door logo continues to be accessible to local businesses.

Our strategy to market South Australia to South Australians will ensure that targeted inbound and outbound international activities are leveraged to showcase the state. Our overseas offices are key generators of market promotion and, where appropriate, resources from across government are combined to maximise return on investment.

I thank Brand South Australia for its work over recent years and trust that the individuals and businesses associated with the organisation will continue to be strong advocates for this wonderful state.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (17:46): As the mover of the motion I will sum up the debate, and I would like to begin by thanking the Hon. Kyam Maher, the Hon. Clare Scriven, the Hon. Emily Bourke, the Hon. Connie Bonaros and the Hon. David Ridgway for their contributions. I would also like to thank the members of the Labor Party and SA-Best for their support for the motion.

It will come as no surprise to members that the amendments moved by the Hon. David Ridgway on behalf of the Liberal Party are not acceptable to me, and they are not acceptable to other members of this chamber. It never ceases to amaze me that when any member of parliament moves a motion that is either heavily or vaguely or even lightly critical of the government that the government feels the need to amend it to an unrecognisable form, when really the correct response would be just to suck it in, vote against it, realise you do not have the numbers, and save us all the drama.

I do not propose to add anything further to the contributions that have been made. I associate myself with the remarks of the members of the Labor Party and SA-Best. They understand the importance of Brand SA. I look forward to the successful passage of this motion. We will not be supporting the amendments. If the government feels a desperate need to divide it might be an educational opportunity for members in the gallery, but it will not change the result.

Members in this chamber have made it clear: they support the motion as it stands, and we call on the Marshall Liberal government to reinstate funding to Brand South Australia to continue its valuable work.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, I would like to do my bit now. This is the motion I am going to put: that the amendments moved by the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment be agreed to. If you like the amendments you vote for the ayes and if you do not you vote for the noes.

An honourable member interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I am doing the serious bit. Can we just cut out the comedy?

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: The Fringe is a few months away.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway!

Amendment negatived; motion carried.