Fleurieu Peninsula

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:39): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister update us on his recent visit to the Fleurieu Peninsula?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:39): I thank the honourable member for his question and his ongoing interest in regional tourism. Indeed, I did recently travel to Fleurieu Peninsula just to catch up with a view of the tourism operators in the region.

As the members in the chamber would know, the Fleurieu is one of our very important tourism regions. It's home to a large number of wineries. In fact, it has 90 cellar doors and boasts some of the best wines and wine regions in the world. The annual visitor summary from December 2017 to December 2018 saw that there were over 792,000 overnight visits, 2.6 million domestic daytrips and 94 international daytrips.

Some of the notable places I went to and one I was very interested to see was Naiko Retreat near Deep Creek. I was hosted by the owners, Tony and Christine Johnson. It was really quite a wonderful demonstration of a unique tourism opportunity destination, built on a 2,000-acre operating sheep property. It also showcases some giant grass trees, some xanthorrhoea, that are some 1,500 years old.

A range of other places I went to was the Ridgetop Retreat, with the owners, Jane Formato and Barry Duykers. I was hosted at Leonards Mill, a 161-year-old flour mill, which I think is a real testament to the current owners who are really trying to have a—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Who are the owners?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The current owners are—

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition—

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —Hayley Pember-Calvert and Iain Calvert—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway—

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I know that I shouldn't respond to interjections—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway, I'm speaking; that means you stop. The Hon. Mr Maher, they are all very good supplementaries, but they don't get given seated. How long have you been in this chamber? I don't want to hear them. I want them asked if you wish to ask them. Continue on, the Hon. Mr Ridgway.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I went to the New Terry Hotel and Golf Resort. Members may not know that was the old Wirrina resort. It was good to see and meet Mr Andie Xu, the new general manager, and Jodie Vanderlogt, the general manager, and the plans they have for the redevelopment and resurgence of the Wirrina, or, as we know it now, the New Terry Hotel and Golf Resort. I also had a great opportunity to catch up with the Yankalilla council and talk to them about the plans for regional tourism in the area.

Finally, in what is a wonderful reuse of the old shearing shed just out of Carrickalinga that has now been turned into a craft brewery, although they are not brewing there at the moment, Forktree Brewing. It was actually wonderful to see that an old shearing shed that I expect had no useful life had now been turned into a venue that is frequented by holiday-makers and locals when they are there. A particular guest is the Hon. Alexander Downer when he is down there visiting during his summer retreat.

The most important thing is, when I went to visit all of these people, these are the business owners and the hardworking mums and dads and people who borrowed money to create these businesses that are benefiting from the winter campaign that we have just had, and they will continue to benefit from the very successful and current 'old mate' campaign.