Agricultural Town of the Year

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister update the chamber about the 2023 AgTown of the Year competition?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for his question. I'm very pleased to provide an update about where the AgTown of the Year process is up to for 2023. Although it was only weeks ago that celebrations took place to commemorate Mypolonga's 2022 win after celebrations were delayed by the flooding, the process is now well underway to find the 2023 winner, with nominations received from the public for 49 different towns.

It's a fantastic representation of towns and regions across our state, covering the width and breadth of our communities, from Koolunga to Kingscote to Kingston South-East and from Loxton to Langhorne Creek. The nominees are also a great representation of small towns and larger regional centres, each with their own stories and their own important roles across all the agricultural sectors. All seven Regional Development association areas are represented, with the highest number coming from the Yorke and Mid North with 14, followed by the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island, with 10 towns nominated in that RDA area.

The public can now vote for their favourite town, with the top 10 from the public vote being announced in early July. From there, 10 will be refined down to three and the competition will really heat up to join past winners Cleve, Pinnaroo, Kimba and of course Mypolonga, before a final winner is announced in November.

As I have said on many occasions in this chamber, regional communities are the backbone of our state, and economy and agriculture are the backbone of our regional towns and communities. The two are inextricably linked, with nearly $30 billion in economic activity coming from our regions each year, and that supports tens of thousands of good jobs that retain people in the regions.

I will never tire of talking about ways in which we can celebrate the contributions of agriculture and regional communities, and this award is one of the best ways we can do that, not only giving due recognition for the great things that are happening in every region across the state, but more than that, as we saw with Mypolonga this year, creating a real sense of town pride along the way, which is absolutely priceless. It's a shame that those opposite think instead that that is something to laugh at.