AFL Gather Round

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Would the minister inform the chamber about the benefits of Gather Round to South Australia's regions?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for her question about what was another incredible week for our state that I hope we would all be proud of. South Australia has shone in the national spotlight with an incredible weekend, showcasing the best of our state.

Of course, we know that some of the very best things about our state are our producers and our regions that have, once again, significantly benefited from Gather Round. From lunches, dinners, food and wine festivals, pop-ups, activations and everything in between, South Australian produce was as much a part of the festivities as the football itself. One thing is clear: the many thousands of interstate visitors to our state couldn't get enough of it.

Both games in Mount Barker had crowds of over 9,000 people, an incredible turnout. I think the sight of the rolling hills around the ground was a stunning backdrop to the excitement on the field. The food and beverage area highlighting local produce, the Terrace, proved to be a huge success and provided a party-like atmosphere, truly unique to Gather Round. The Adelaide Hills were abuzz and with so many businesses and community groups holding their own events around the festivities, it really was just fantastic to see so many people enjoying what the region has to offer.

With the announcement of a game in the Barossa next year during Gather Round, it's another incredible opportunity to shine a spotlight on our premier wine and produce regions. Certainly, the Adelaide Hills have represented our regions extraordinarily well in the way that they have hosted AFL games over the past two years.

As we saw last year, it wasn't just Adelaide, Norwood and the Hills that were able to get in on the excitement of Gather Round. With tens of thousands of people making the trip by car from the Eastern States, and in particular Victoria, regions all the way from the border to the city have seen huge influxes of travellers coming through in a great boost to businesses and communities who, no matter their distance from Adelaide Oval, have been able to share in the excitement and benefit to our state that Gather Round brings.

The Gather Round Community Footy Roadshow kicked off again this year, stopping in 30 regional towns across 21 days, covering more than 4,000 kilometres, and included the Riverland, Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide Hills, Barossa, Whyalla and many more, visiting schools and clubs with four very important pieces of silverware in tow: the AFL men's and women's premiership cups, as well as the SANFL equivalents.

Last year's Gather Round saw more than 25,000 visitor nights generated outside of Adelaide, and the match in Mount Barker injected $2 million into the Adelaide Hills alone. I look forward to seeing—as I am sure we all do—the figures from this year's event, which are expected to increase upon the phenomenal results of last year.

I can only say, having been both in the South-East and the Riverland within the last week, the buzz that people were reporting, the increases in business, particularly of course hospitality and accommodation businesses, and the real sense of excitement was almost palpable to see. That is just anecdotally some of the excitement associated with Gather Round in the regions.

It truly was an incredible week. One can only hope that after seeing it for themselves twice now, some of the last remaining critics of Gather Round, namely the South Australian Liberal Party, will finally come on board and realise the huge benefit that events like Gather Round have for the whole South Australian community, including local producers and all of our stunning regions.