Australian International 3 Day Event

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:58): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment regarding the Australian International 3 Day Event.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: The Australian International 3 Day Event has been running for more than 20 years in Adelaide's East Parklands. It is one of only six equestrian events in the world held at the highest level and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. The event makes it possible for the best horses and riders from Australia and New Zealand to compete at the highest level from their home base in the region.

The event attracts up to $5 million in new economic spend, with more than 50 per cent of the spectators attending from interstate and overseas generating in excess of 13,000 bed nights for the state. In previous years, the SATC has provided sponsorship to this major event, but the government's $23 million cuts to tourism have led to cuts to events such as the Adelaide Motorsport Festival and the Adelaide Fashion Festival. My questions to the minister are:

1. Did the SATC sponsor this year's event?

2. Will the government sponsor next year's event?

3. Have there been any negotiations with the event's organisers for ongoing support for the event?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his ongoing interest in matters equestrian. Indeed, the three-day event, the Mitsubishi Motors Australian International 3 Day Event, is a particularly important event. It has been hosted here annually since 1997. Indeed, the Tourism Commission is supporting the event again this year. It starts on the 14^th, which of course is today. It is a significant day in my life, and certainly it starts today and runs across the weekend.

It is important this particular year because it is an Olympic qualifying round. Of course, it is the last one of the events in Australia for our equestrian team to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo next year, so we expect to see a particularly strong field of contenders across all the different disciplines. This year, I was fortunate enough to be down at Victoria Park, where the equestrian team has renamed the arena in front of the old grandstand the Gillian Rolton Main Arena, in commemoration of the contribution that she made to this particular sport.

The Tourism Commission is more than happy to support the event again this year. As always when we look at events, I have been in constant discussion with the organisers of the three-day event about how we can raise its profile. Interestingly, I think Bill Gates's daughter showjumps at three-day events in the US, and we have talked about how we might be able to attract people like her here. The Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips also rides in those sorts of events. We wondered whether we might be able to attract her. Interestingly, Bruce Springsteen's daughter also rides in these events.

We are having some discussions as to how we can, I guess, if you like, try to raise the international profile. It's one of those great events that, from an equestrian point of view, is a very high quality event, but with all the events we need to make sure that we are constantly driving the biggest possible benefit to the visitor economy. We are very happy to support it this year, and we will be continuing to work with the committee and the team, Belinda Lindh and Greg Rolton and others, to try to make sure that this event continues to provide the sort of return on investment that South Australians want.