Best of Wine Tourism Awards

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister inform the chamber about the Best of Wine Tourism Awards in Argentina?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am pleased to inform the chamber that a local South Australian wine tourism experience has won global recognition at the prestigious 2023 Best of Wine Tourism Awards in Argentina. Grapes for Good, which uses South Australian wine to highlight the plight of endangered animals while enticing tourists to visit multiple wineries across the region, has been recognised as a 2023 Best of Wine Tourism global winner.

The project began when Langhorne Creek based Kimbolton Wines joined forces with Zoos SA in 2021 with a cabernet sauvignon raising funds for cheetah conservation. It has since grown into a partnership with six Langhorne Creek wineries: Bleasdale, Bremerton, Lake Breeze, the Winehouse and Vineyard Road as well as Kimbolton Wines. Each winery donates part proceeds of a limited edition wine to conservation work for a different threatened species. These have included—

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Point of order.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, sit down for a second. What is your point of order?

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Point of order: the minister is reading from a press release that has been tabled in this parliament.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: No, I am not.

The PRESIDENT: The minister assures us that she is not reading from a press release.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Including the ring-tailed lemur, the plains zebra and the giraffe. I am very pleased to say that visitors have been encouraged to experience all the Langhorne Creek wineries along the way. They have driven increased tourism—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, I can't hear you because of your benches.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, Attorney! Minister, please continue.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —in turn helping to multiply conservation efforts. I would like to extend my congratulations to all involved in the Grapes for Good initiative, which highlights not only South Australia's world-class wineries but also its trailblazing innovators, who work together to create top-shelf visitor experiences. I am sure all of us would join in congratulating this amazing achievement.

This international recognition puts South Australia and the Langhorne Creek wine region on the global stage and helps to cement our state's reputation as a must-see wine destination. Pre-pandemic, 36 per cent of international tourists to South Australia undertook an activity that involved visiting a winery. Wine is a major tourism drawcard, and it is wineries like Kimbolton Wines that attract visitors to our state and make South Australia known as Australia's—

The Hon. N.J. Centofanti: Wine capital.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —wine capital.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Two words, two words.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, can you please conclude so we can move on?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: But I still have so much more to say.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I know this is an important topic, but please.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: It is, indeed. I am glad the opposition does realise that South Australia is recognised as a great wine capital; after all, the achievement of South Australia as one of the great wine capitals was an achievement of the former Labor government, and all credit to the member for Mawson for being part of that achievement.

The gala dinner was in Mendoza, Argentina, on 3 November 2022 at the Great Wine Capitals annual meeting and conference. In South Australia, the awards are coordinated by a Great Wine Capitals steering committee, which includes representatives from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), the South Australian Tourism Commission, the South Australian Wine Industry Association, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. The announcement of Grapes for Good as a global Best of Wine Tourism Award winner is further proof that South Australia's wine tourism experiences are among the best in the world.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I can't hear the minister.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: I commend the founders for their innovative pairing—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —of wine with animal conservation work. Congratulations to the South Australian winners and nominees of the Best of Wine Tourism Awards. I particularly congratulate Grapes for Good. This is global recognition for the outstanding wine tourism experiences on offer right here in South Australia, and I hope that all of those in this chamber will offer their congratulations to Grapes for Good, an outstanding example of what we can do here in South Australia.