Adelaide Lightning

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sport questions on Adelaide Lightning.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: The Adelaide Lightning, South Australia's most successful sporting team and five-time national champion, is at risk of folding and being removed from the WNBL. Even though the club wants to stay in the league, owner Steve Wren from the Pelligra Group says that they have been rejected for the upcoming season.

New WNBL CEO Jennie Sager has said in recent media that the league still wants a team in Adelaide and is looking at new ways to make this happen. Despite this, the current owners, who hold the rights of the Adelaide Lightning, have indicated that they have not been recently contacted by the WNBL with regard to next steps. My questions to the minister are:

1. What discussions has the minister had with the WNBL?

2. Does the minister know what new ways the WNBL is looking into?

3. Will the Adelaide Lightning remain in the WNBL?

4. What is the government doing to help secure the future of this important club?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for her question. This was brought to our attention formally yesterday. We met with the WNBL yesterday, working through those options and what they look like. There are new owners of the WNBL at a national level. We need to be working with not only that league but also Basketball SA, finding out the situation. There are a lot of moving parts at this very point in time with a very short timeframe that has now been made available. So we have definitely entered into the conversations. We would like a quick response to this as well and we will be continuing those conversations.