Limestone Coast Regional Media

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (15:50): It gives me great pleasure today to speak about regional media in my home town of Mount Gambier and in the broader Limestone Coast. Members may be aware that The Border Watch, The South Eastern Times and the Penola Pennant closed down in September of this year, with only a couple of days' notice to the staff and the community. Many people in my community relied on The Border Watch, The South Eastern Times and the Penola Pennant for information about issues directly affecting residents in the Limestone Coast.

While state papers, such as The Advertiser, may cover issues relating to the Limestone Coast from time to time, The Border Watch, The South Eastern Times and the Penola Pennant had been embedded in our region as a source of news dedicated specifically to our region. The announcement of these closures led many local residents to question how they would access a regular and reliable source of information. Who would report on the deliberations of local council meetings, for example? Indeed, several of my elderly acquaintances asked, 'How will I know who has died?'

During the height of COVID-19 in South Australia, earlier in the year when there were significant restrictions put in place and people were forced to stay at home, regional papers, particularly The Border Watch, The South Eastern Times and the Penola Pennant, played a crucial role in ensuring residents were kept informed and not left completely isolated. Indeed, many regional papers played a crucial role in keeping people connected and allowing people to feel just that little bit less alone.

Papers, such as the Naracoorte Community News, emerged as new publications during that time and also played a critical role in supporting their community. Peri Strathearn created a digital publication in Murray Bridge, the Murray Bridge News. In Mount Gambier, Lifestyle 1 adapted to be more news focused and The SE Voicewas born.

Regional journalists form part of the community, and they are a trusted source of information. So it was with absolute delight that I heard that The Border Watch would be publishing again under new ownership and in a somewhat different format, but publishing again nevertheless. It will be a weekly paper and will be launching this Friday. It will have the goal of growing to publish twice a week in the future. There are also hopes that The South Eastern Times may also be able to be published again.

In order for this to happen, it is vital that everyone gets behind our regional papers and supports them in any way they can. I encourage everyone to purchase their paper, subscribe to the online edition or indeed take out advertising in the paper wherever that is possible. On this point, I also urge the state government to better support regional papers by taking out advertising space to publish public notices. This was something that was done for many, many years and was only withdrawn under this Marshall Liberal government. Under Labor it continued and was an important source of revenue for regional papers.

I understand that some of this has been reinstated during COVID, but it is important—indeed, I would say it is essential—to regional media that it is reinstated on a permanent basis. Many regional residents do not necessarily access online notices and other online information, so it is important that those notices are published in a hard copy regional newspaper. Regional residents want to know what is happening in their communities in the Limestone Coast, and we have been given a great opportunity to once again have access to local regional media. I urge everyone in our region to take full advantage of it.

I want to commend the passion and commitment to regional journalism of people such as Raquel Mustillo and Brett Kennedy, both from the former Border Watch and, I am pleased to say, coming to the new Border Watch as well. I am confident that the paper's circulation will grow extensively under their scope and that the paper will continue to cover stories that matter to local people and will ensure regional residents are kept up to date and well informed about what is going on in our community. Welcome back, Border Watch—and #RegionalMediaMatters.