Flood Recovery Charity Match

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister update the chamber about the Flood Recovery Charity Match that was played at Coopers Stadium this past Sunday?

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—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —and his very active participation in said event. This past Sunday, two teams, made up of players, shall we say, with varied experience and varied skill levels in soccer, were formed, one being the state government team, which included parliamentarians and state government representatives, and they played—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —against the Pick a Local, Pick SA team, made up of industry representatives. They went to toe to toe at Coopers Stadium for a curtain-raiser, before an Adelaide United versus Western Sydney Wanderers game. The South Australian Produce Market, Pick a Local, Pick SA, and Foodland, together with Bank SA and the state government through PIRSA, partnered together for a very special cause: to raise funds to be collected by the Rural Business Support Relief Fund to support farming families who are doing it tough as a direct result of the South Australian River Murray floods.

I am delighted that state government and industry associations could partner together to assist regional communities during these challenging times. The event and subsequent funds raised would not have been possible were it not for the generosity of supporters, with major donors including the South Australian Produce Market, the Adelaide United Football Club, Foodland, Rural Business Support and Bank SA.

Mr President, as you know and since you were there and involved in a very positive way, players put their best forward in what was certainly a sunny day, if not sweltering conditions, though I think it's fair to say that most if not all players were very pleased to hear the final whistle blow. I want to thank members of this place for their participation in the event, including the Leader of the Opposition in this place, and I must say it was great to see her fully decked out in red for the event—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —as indeed, Mr President, it was wonderful to see you also so attired. Much to the surprise of I think just about everyone involved, the state government team were victorious, winning the game five goals to two. Indeed, from the start of the game, the South Australian government team maintained a lead position, but overall it was a fantastic game played in good faith with a strong sense of sportsmanship.

Nevertheless, it would be remiss of me to not remark that the member for Hartley, if he is ever looking for a career change, I am sure he has a career in acting after his eyebrow-raising attempt at a penalty call, which was ignored entirely by the referee. From this place, I want to thank you again, Mr President, and also the Hon. Frank Pangallo, the Hon. Nicola Centofanti and the Hon. Justin Hanson for their support and participation in the day. In the other place, I want to thank the member for Wright, the member for Waite, the member for Hartley, the member for Adelaide, the member for Gibson, the member for Davenport and the member for MacKillop.

These days do not simply happen. There is an enormous level of planning that goes into these events. I want to thank Angelo Demasi, the CEO of SA Produce Market, for the leadership that he has shown in initiating this event back in January and for assisting in putting together a very formidable and passionate industry team.

I also want to thank Brett Smith, the CEO of Rural Business Support, for the role that he played in organising the event, and especially Mon and the team also at RBS. Thank you, too, to Professor Mehdi Doroudi, the chief executive of my department, PIRSA, and my colleague the Hon. Reggie Martin in assisting to put together a state government team that went on to be victorious on the day.

On Saturday morning, I joined both Angelo Demasi and Brett Smith to announce that the state government would match all donations received dollar for dollar up to $100,000. This is in addition to the combined federal and state $194 million financial assistance package for flood-affected communities, businesses and households that have been impacted by this once-in-50-year event.

I am advised that in total so far the event has raised over $155,000, which will go straight into flood-affected communities and support our resilient and hardworking primary producers. I pay tribute to all who were involved from this parliament. Sometimes it can be something of an acrimonious environment here, but in this sort of event we had the opportunity to band together to show real teamwork in support of a very worthy cause.

We can still donate to the cause via the Rural Business Support website, which is ruralbusinesssupport.gov.au. It is also important to thank Franklin dos Santos from Foodland for the very pivotal role he played, with Foodland being a major sponsor also. I encourage anyone who hasn't as yet donated to go to that website and support a very good cause. Well done to everybody.