Tasting Australia

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (15:25): I rise today to discuss one of the great South Australian events—Tasting Australia. Tasting Australia has just been completed in the last couple of weeks. It is in its 25^th year. It was a visionary event that was established by a Liberal government in 1997. I suspect it was envisaged then to be a media event where journalists, food writers, wine writers, etc., were brought into South Australia and shown some of our great culinary and wine opportunities. It was during 2014 that Events SA took over the management of that particular event. I think there has been an evolution to see it now more as a consumer event, as well as having some media involved.

At the very successful Town Square in Victoria Square, this most recent event, we saw some particularly good numbers, notwithstanding a bit of an inclement day on the Saturday. I spent a little bit of time there on Sunday when it was winding up talking to some of the operators who had had a particularly good time and record numbers, in some cases up 30 per cent on the attendance and takings of the previous event.

What I really want to focus on are some regional events and a particular one in Streaky Bay. In 2018, I had the good fortune, as members know, to be the Minister for Tourism and to speak at a Christmas event put on by the South Australian Tourism Industry Council. I spoke for a few moments and was then asked some questions. One particular question by Mrs Lyn Finch from the Streaky Bay Tourism and Business Association was, 'How can we get Tasting Australia to Streaky Bay?' I said to Mrs Finch, 'Why don't you put on an event that is worthy of being part of Tasting Australia and I am sure the South Australian Tourism Commission and Events SA would look favourably upon that.'

We fast-forward about six months, or maybe only four months, to April 2019, and indeed the Streaky Bay Tourism and Business Association did put on an event. It was not a Tasting Australia event, but it was in a similar time frame and it was a very successful event. There is a platform on the land end of the Streaky Bay jetty where bales of wool and wheat and things were put in years gone by for ships to pick up. This is now a platform open to the public and the lunch was held on that particular platform in 2019 and was a great success. There were well over 100 people there, including the local member for Flinders, Mr Peter Treloar, and other members of the community, the mayor, etc.

Sadly, with COVID-19 last year, there was no event on anywhere in regional South Australia, but this year they came back with a vengeance. On 2 May, an event was held in Streaky Bay and this time it was a Tasting Australia event. It was not on the end of the old jetty because that has fallen into a little bit of disrepair. I think it is great news that the Marshall government has provided $30,000 to the community to repair it, so maybe next year it can be back on the end of the jetty.

Although the weather was a little inclement, it was held on the deck at the front of the Streaky Bay Hotel, which shows that the whole community gets involved. This year, it was an even bigger event, with more people than in 2018, but more importantly there were people there from Victoria, Northern Territory and Queensland. In fact, I think the Queenslanders won the major raffle and the Victorian attendees are coming back to a long lunch featuring Streaky Bay seafood at the Wine Centre in a few weeks' time.

Also, 40 per cent of attendees at this particular event were from outside Eyre Peninsula, so it was not just locals enjoying the wonderful ambience of Streaky Bay on that afternoon, it was people from other parts of the state and other parts of Australia. In fact, one of the features of Tasting Australia is the Tasting Australia Airlines, which flew into Port Lincoln on the day before and did an event in Coffin Bay. That was very successful.

The success of the Streaky Bay event highlights the importance of trying to get more regional events on the Tasting Australia calendar. Maybe you cannot do them all by air, because of course you cannot fly to Port Lincoln and it is a 3½-hour drive to Streaky Bay. I am hoping that the Tourism Commission and Events South Australia look at ways to promote events. Now we have our national borders closed, as the federal government is saying, potentially until the middle of next year, it is a great opportunity for the 2022 Tasting Australia to really promote getting more and more out into our regions and encourage communities, like Mrs Lyn Finch and the Streaky Bay Tourism and Business Association the hard work they have done, to get more regional communities to put on events that showcase their local produce and grow our regional economies.