Agricultural Town of the Year

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (15:55): The hunt for the 2022 South Australian Agricultural Town of the Year is down to five. The five finalists were selected from 54 nominated towns across the state after more than 4,000 public votes were cast. The five finalists towns are Crystal Brook, Kapunda, Mypolonga, Orroroo and Waikerie. Every nominated town should be incredibly proud, and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter their town and cast their vote.

All South Australians benefit from a strong agricultural sector and strong regional communities. They are the backbone of our state. Our regions and the industries that make up these regions contribute $29 billion to the state's economy each year, with less than 27 per cent of the state's population. We punch well above our weight.

It is important that we acknowledge the importance of regions in all of our lives and celebrate this contribution, particularly given the challenges our regions have experienced in recent years. In the last couple of years alone, they have adapted to drought, frost, COVID-19 restrictions, bushfires and trade barriers.

Previous finalists and winners of the South Australian Agricultural Town of the Year have unearthed stories of resilience, community spirit and determination. I am very proud that this award, established in 2019, was an initiative of the former Liberal government, and I am pleased to see that the current government is continuing this excellent program.

It is a wonderful way to highlight our regional towns and their support in promoting agriculture. It is about recognising townships that excel in agricultural lifestyles and the influence these towns have on the region. It is also a valuable avenue for communities to learn from one another, showcase their innovation and help to build capacity and increase growth in regional South Australia.

The inaugural title was taken out by Cleve on central Eyre Peninsula in 2019. The winter break was so long that I was able to visit Cleve twice during that period as well as other areas on Eyre Peninsula. Cleve is a buzzing country town that has a strong agricultural community and active agricultural research groups, which are constantly working towards improving agricultural practices throughout the region and beyond.

In 2020, the Agricultural Town of the Year was Pinnaroo, a town I am very familiar with, having visited often during my time as a mixed practice veterinarian in the Riverland and Mallee region, and in 2021 Kimba, a town with a rich agricultural history, especially with dryland farming, was named Agricultural Town of the Year.

It is fantastic to see a diverse range of finalists vying for the title in 2022, representing different aspects of agriculture but all bringing jobs to their area and driving regional development in this state. Incredibly, Kapunda has been a finalist every year since the first award in 2019. Orroroo and Mypolonga have also been finalists before, and it is wonderful to see Crystal Brook and Waikerie as new additions to the top five this year.

The town of Kapunda is a town that primarily produces cereal crops, such as wheat, barley and oats. Their use of local value-adding services has increased productivity in the region—services such as stockfeed milling and hay processing, which is really benefiting the community. Orroroo, north of Peterborough, is a town that is a service centre for the surrounding farming district, which is largely cereal cropping and pastoral land. It has seen heavy drought in recent times, but the community resilience has been remarkable.

Mypolonga, a town along the Murray River, has also been incredibly resilient. It has been traditionally an orchard and dairy farming soldier settlement but has adapted into new industries and evolved into a boutique market town which is bustling. Crystal Brook, a town in the South Flinders Ranges, has been an agricultural hub for generations, and there is a real sense of productivity in the town, with many start-up local agricultural businesses flourishing, helping to drive jobs and regional growth.

Lastly, Waikerie, located in my home of the Riverland, is a town with a diverse set of industries. From agriculture and dryland farming to horticulture, with many citrus orchards and vineyards, Waikerie has a wonderful sense of community and a proud history in irrigation with the Golden Heights irrigation scheme.

Finalists will now go through a judging process with an independent panel of judges to visit each of the finalist towns individually. The 2022 Agricultural Town of the Year will be announced on 4 November, and I wish all of the finalists the very best of luck. I think they are all worthy of taking out the prize, and I am glad I am not on the judging panel, as they have a tough job ahead of them.