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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-04 Daily Xml
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QANTAS AUSTRALIAN TOURISM AWARDS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:56): Will the Minister for Tourism tell us the results for South Australia at the Australian Tourism Awards on Friday night?

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH (Adelaide—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:56): South Australia did exceptionally well at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards this year, which awarded prizes across a range of areas for the 2008 calendar year. The awards ceremony was held in Melbourne, and I was really proud to find that South Australia triumphed, winning three awards across a range of categories. It is a credit to the 26 entrants from South Australia that they have developed such extraordinary levels of service delivery and dedication to the tourism industry. They represented us really well in very tight and competitive areas.

I would firstly like to commend the Clipsal 500 event. Once again, it has proven what a fantastic event it is as it celebrates its second consecutive national win at the tourism awards, taking out best major festival and event category and triumphing over other top name events such as the 2008 Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

As we all know, this is more than just a car race: it is a four day festival of motor sport and the biggest in Australia. As well as being a motor sport festival it is, of course, a massive community event, which gathers extraordinary support across the community. It not only develops the motor sports industry but it also produces four fantastic days of entertainment, with entertainment at night, a party atmosphere and a huge bonus for the economy in South Australia.

Narnu Farm, which last year also entered South Australia's Tourism Hall of Fame, won the national category for standard accommodation. If people have not ventured to Narnu Farm I would recommend that they and their family go there. It is, indeed, a unique business, providing families with a rural experience and showing visitors the farming way of life amongst the natural beauty of Hindmarsh Island.

Especially pleasing was the Adelaide Convention Centre's win. It was awarded the national category for meetings of business events, rounding out our hat trick. As the first purpose-built convention centre and conference hall in Australia, it has proven still to be the best in the business, delivering quality service and attention to detail that is second to none. Part of its winning formula, of course, relates to its environmental values. For those of you who do not know, not only does it sell packages of sustainable convention activities that have carbon offsets in a carbon neutral capacity but it also has an enormous worm farm, which takes in all the unused food products—

The Hon. J.D. Hill interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH: It is amazing. It produces almost no landfill, because it puts its food scraps from the plates into the worm farm and the untouched food from the Convention Centre is recycled in the kitchen and turned into gourmet soup packages with herbs, garlic and spices, which are then sent to the soup kitchens around Adelaide. This is a wonderful example of sustainability and corporate awareness, and I commend it.

Winning a national tourism award provides tourism operators with a marketable competitive edge, and it is one that they use with pride. Consumers understand that businesses displaying their awards and their marketing collateral provide a quality product and tourism experience.

In addition, I should commend the former owners and operators of Wilpena Pound Resort, Lynette and Keith Rasheed, who pioneered the beginnings of tourism in the Flinders Ranges and Outback South Australia. They were also acknowledged amongst their peers for their outstanding contribution to tourism. I applaud them for their dedication to South Australia and the industry.

I should also mention that South Australia received a commendation in the national judging for Cleland Wildlife Park. It was commended for its entry in the tourism attraction category. The state and our winners should be very proud of their achievements. I know they will use this competitive advantage for the good of their businesses, and these wins help industry across South Australia in promoting ourselves as having some of the most exciting destinations in Australia.

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