RecFish SA Fishing Adventure Day

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:09): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I would like to hear the question.

The Hon. H.M. Girolamo interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Girolamo! The Hon. Mr Ngo.

The Hon. T.T. NGO: My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister inform the chamber about the RecFish SA Fishing Adventure Day in Happy Valley and how events like this encourage more participation in recreational fishing?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:09): I thank the honourable member for his question. It was an absolute pleasure to attend RecFish SA's hugely popular adventure day at the Happy Valley Reservoir a few weeks ago with my colleagues Minister Hildyard and the member for Davenport, Erin Thompson.

While weather on the day initially did not look particularly promising, it didn't deter around 200 attendees from coming, and it really was great to see so many young people and families and friends enjoying the day, with the weather holding out just long enough for the event to go ahead largely unaffected. Prior to the last state election, the now Labor government—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The two leaders, enough! Please continue, minister.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Certainly, Mr President, and given there are 360,000 recreational fishers in South Australia, I would have hoped that the Leader of the Opposition in this place would see that they are also an important part of our structure.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Prior to the last state election, the now Labor government made a range of commitments to strengthen recreational fishing—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —including the reinstatement of RecFish SA as the peak body for recreational anglers.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Point of order: the minister is clearly misquoting the Leader of the Opposition. Can she please retract the comment?

An honourable member: What comment?

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: That she doesn't support recreational fishing. Retract it right now.

The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order. Continue, please.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: As I was trying to say—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —prior to the last state election, the now Labor government made a range of commitments to strengthen recreational fishing, including the reinstatement of RecFish SA as the peak body for recreational anglers; recognition of fishing as an activity in the sport and recreation sector, which enables fishing clubs to become eligible for grants and other funding through the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing; and, importantly, increasing participation in fishing amongst women, children and multicultural communities.

Working in partnership with RecFish SA, the state government is well on the way to delivering on these commitments, and events such as the recent one in Happy Valley go such a long way to encouraging young people to be involved in recreational fishing and experience its many benefits in a fun, supportive and educational environment.

At the event, I was particularly pleased to meet RecFish SA's women's fishing advocate, Kristin Goodchild, who will take on an important role in advocating for inclusion of women in the management of our fisheries, and in fishing events. Kristin will work towards creating a program for women interested in fishing to be able to build networks, and learn and develop skills and knowledge, including about fish habitats, sustainability, fishing techniques, and a number of other things. It was great to see Kristin interact with the many young girls and boys at the event, and I think she clearly must be a natural in teaching fishing because she was even able to help me throw a line, which is no mean feat given my lack of coordination when it comes to fishing.

It was also fantastic to see SA Water, Fishcare volunteers and the RecFish SA team, including executive officer Asher Deszery, chair Andrew Harris and deputy chair Barry Brown all on hand to help make the day the success that it was.

Four hundred silver perch fingerlings were also released on the day as part of a larger restocking program that has seen SA Water release over 100,000 fingerlings in recent months, including species like golden perch, silver perch, Murray cod and rainbow trout, across a range of reservoirs. It was heartening to see the many young people in attendance so excited to help release the fingerlings into the water. Congratulations to RecFish SA on a very successful event, the first of, I hope, many more.

The PRESIDENT: You have a supplementary, the Hon. Mr Pangallo.