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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-19 Daily Xml
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TOURISM SA NUMBERPLATES

Mr PISONI (Unley) (11:31): I move:

That this house calls on the state government to promote the attractions of South Australia by including Tourism SA's website address on all new numberplates for South Australian registered vehicles.

I was motivated to move this motion after witnessing the effectiveness of this campaign in the United States. It is fair to say that what generally starts in that free enterprise mecca flows here to Australia at some point. If it is going to come to Australia, why should South Australia not be the first state to do it? My guess is that the first state to do this in Australia will get enormous free publicity throughout the country. Just imagine the benefits it will bring to South Australia. States like Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and South Carolina all have numberplates that are moving billboards that promote their state and what it has to offer.

This is virtually a no-cost initiative for the state government to implement because, up until October last year, we had numberplates in South Australia that were tagged either 'The Festival State' or 'The Wine State'. If you did not have a preference, I believe that you ended up with 'The Festival State' on your numberplate. That came free, and we see many of those; it has been a great branding exercise over the years. We have had other slogans on our numberplates—'The Electronics State' and 'The Creative State'—and at one stage we were quite excited and even suggested 'Going all the Way' for our numberplates.

Mrs Geraghty: I've still got that.

Mr PISONI: The member for Torrens says that she still has that, and I am pleased to see that she does enjoy going all the way.

Members interjecting:

Mr PISONI: All the way with South Australia. From my interest as the shadow tourism spokesperson, and from talking to tourism operators, people feel that the message is not getting out there. We have this great state with great facilities and attractions, but people do not know a lot about South Australia. I put to members that all the families, the grey nomads, who tour around Australia with their southaustralia.com numberplates, would be moving billboards around the country. Whether they are stuck in traffic on the Sydney Harbor Bridge or in a caravan park in Northern Queensland, people will notice that their numberplate is from a different state, from South Australia.

However, there will be that extra package for them. There will be the information about the website, which may very well inspire them to log onto www.southaustralia.com, which happens to be the address of the South Australian Tourism Commission, where one can find information about this state. The slogan 'South Australia. A Brilliant Blend' appears on the front page. The regions are also displayed: the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Eyre Peninsula, Fleurieu Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Riverland, Murraylands, Limestone Coast, Kangaroo Island, Flinders Ranges and the Outback. They are all there for people to click on and see what those regions have to offer.

If we compare that to what www.maryland.com has done, for example, we can see that very similar information is available on that website. I happen to know about that because I saw a car in a car park in Washington with 'www.maryland.com' on it, which inspired me to find out more about Maryland by going to that site.

That is the whole intention of this motion. If our own numberplates had this dotcom address on them it would act as an advertising billboard wherever we went. The reason why it is opportune to raise this now is that in October last year we began moving to a new numberplate system that drops the slogans altogether. Now our numberplates only say 'South Australia'. There is no advertising logo or branding on them. So, it is a perfect opportunity to put—

The Hon. R.B. Such: What about 'The Festival State'?

Mr PISONI: The member for Fisher asks me whether 'The Festival State' is still there. The answer is no. There is no slogan on the new numberplates at all. They start with the letter S, then there is a series of letters and digits and the words 'South Australia'.

I feel that this is an opportunity for South Australians to go out there and promote their state, and it would be a pity to waste that opportunity. This applies not only to South Australians who are travelling interstate in their motor vehicles but also to tourists who stay in our hotels here in the city. They come here to attend the events we hold or to visit tourist destinations that they know of. If they cross the road at Victoria Square and notice that all the numberplates have 'www.southaustralia.com' on them, when they have some free time in the evening they will think, 'I'll go and see what's on that website,' and while they are in South Australia they will be able to see those extra attractions.

We all know how easy internet access is these days. As a matter of fact, even on a mobile phone you can access the internet very easily, particularly with the phones that have the quirky keyboards that enable you to type as if it were a typewriter. That makes it very easy to do a Google search or to search a web address.

Tourists who come to Adelaide for a convention, one of the festivals or an event that we hold here, may very well wonder, 'What am I going to do on my free day?' So, they see this website on a numberplate, they go to their hotel room and look it up and discover the Barossa Valley; or it may be McLaren Vale and they want to go down and experience some of the fantastic accommodation there. They may well want to go and experience the high standard of accommodation at McLaren Vale. Without that dotcom address on our numberplates, they would be oblivious to the fact that those facilities and attractions exist in South Australia. It would be a concerted sales campaign—a little like giving people the ability to have fries with their order.

It is the upselling of South Australian tourism attractions. When you go into a fast-food outlet and ask for a burger, the first question they ask is, 'Do you want fries with that,' so it is an upsell; or you ask for a thickshake, and they ask, 'Would you like large'—an upsell. In this case, we are saying to people who are already visiting South Australia, 'Go to our website. We want to upsell to you. We have more things to offer you while you are in South Australia.'

I know that the Premier is very keen on bipartisanship, and he often mentions the word 'bipartisanship' in his speeches in the parliament and in the media—not quite as often as when he was in opposition. When he was in opposition, it was every second word, but now that he is in government, he is a little less reluctant to be bipartisan. I encourage him to pick up this idea and be the first; we know how the Premier is keen to claim to be the first—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

Mr PISONI: The Marj wasn't his idea, that was John Hill's idea—we heard that yesterday. When an announcement is made for South Australia, he always likes to use the term 'the first', or 'world first', or 'Australia first'. This is a great example of where the Premier can pick up this initiative and we can be the first in the country to have dotcom numberplates and sell our fantastic message about tourism in South Australia. I call on the government to support this motion, to show some bipartisanship, to show that it is interested in South Australia and interested in promoting tourism in this state.

We know that tourism is going through a tough time. It is a tough time for tourism operators. They are small businesses but big employers collectively. Whenever we lose 100 or 200 jobs or Mitsubishi closes, it is big news, but no-one ever hears about the 50 or 60 jobs that might be lost over, say, a two month period in a series of small businesses because it is not a sexy headline. However, I can tell members that that is the tourism industry. The tourism industry is many small businesses, each of which will employ one or two staff, for example, and when the going gets tough—that is, when the pie from which they are fighting for their fair slice shrinks—they have to make some tough decisions. For instance, when they receive their land tax bills, particularly those involved in accommodation, they have to make some tough decisions about their staff.

Why should we not use every possible option we have open to us—at no cost, mind you—to promote the industry in general and South Australia not only to people who are visiting South Australia but to other Australians through South Australians visiting the rest of Australia? I think this is an exciting idea. I do not claim it to be an original idea. I am a little like the Premier in that, if I see an idea somewhere else, I will grab it; but, unlike the Premier, I do not call it my own idea. This is a great idea. It has been successful in the United States. As a small state in Australia which has only a small piece of the pie, I recommend that the government grabs hold of this suggestion and be the first in the country to implement the dotcom numberplates in South Australia and sell our tourism industry to the rest of the country.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:43): I commend the member for Unley for bringing forward this motion, which I think is worth exploring. Anything we can do to promote South Australia and its tourist attractions the better off we as a state will be. I am not quite sure why the move was made to delete slogans from numberplates. Obviously some were more popular than others. Some time back, I suggested to the government that it might even allow people to have numberplates—and pay the extra, of course—to say 'South Australia: Home of the Crows' or 'Home of Port Power' and other male and female sporting teams, but nothing has come from that. Obviously, we are going for a different sort of numberplate arrangement.

Someone made reference to that famous (or infamous) slogan 'Going all the way'. I was a minister at the time and there were two ministers who strongly opposed that. I still have that numberplate, which is now probably a collector's item. I know people have moved on from cassette days, but I have the Pembroke Girls Choir singing Going all the Way—which is another interesting slant on it. I digress. I was going through some pens in the office the other day and I found one labelled State Bank, so that is probably a collector's item, as well. I do not think the pen works—and, obviously, the bank didn't at the time.

I return to the thrust of this issue. There is merit in the government's looking at this matter. I will take the concept further. I have suggested to the government in the past that on government stationery—there would be some envelopes on which you would not put a tourist slogan—it should print: Have you visited Yorke Peninsula recently? Have you visited Fleurieu Peninsula lately? They do it in England; I have it on envelopes from areas such as the Cotswolds. Why not use every opportunity to promote tourism in this state? It would cost two-thirds of nothing to overprint an envelope, because it is overprinted anyway to print 'SA government' or whatever. A little reminder could be put on the back of the envelope: Have you been to Port Lincoln lately? Have you been to Mount Gambier lately? Have you visited the Southern Vales? Have you been to the Barossa? Every now and again it could put a different slogan on the back of government-printed envelopes.

Another issue relating to promoting South Australia for tourism has concerned me for some time, given that I put forward the idea of having large visual photographic signs with a feature of South Australia near entrances of the state. Apart from those signs—which I think are great and which were implemented at the time Joan Hall was the minister, if I remember correctly—when one comes into South Australia by road there is nothing terribly attractive in the immediate area of entry to South Australia, other than that large visual photographic representation of a scene of some part of South Australia. If one comes through Yamba, for example, there is little or nothing in the way of information, nothing that is terribly inviting and nothing one could check out in terms of tourist information or suggestions about visiting a particular region. I think that issue needs to be addressed, as well.

The suggestion of the member for Unley is worth exploring. As he acknowledges, it is not an original idea, but marketing is critical in terms of promoting our state and its tourist opportunities. I ask the government to look at, and I support its looking at, this suggestion.

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (11:48): I support the member for Unley and commend him on his foresight in moving this motion. Admittedly, as he said, he picked up the idea when travelling. We do not talk about MPs' travel but, as we move interstate and overseas, we see things. In this instance, the member for Unley saw something, even just a numberplate, and thought, 'I will take this idea back to South Australia.'

He is right: Australia will follow. I cannot see any reason why we cannot lead the way, as we do in many other areas of Australia, or why South Australia cannot be the first. I think it is a great idea. I represent the fifth most recognisable wine destination in the world. He has given me the idea of not only putting it on my number plate but also putting it on my mail. I will print a sticker, 'Have you visited the Barossa lately?' and put it on my mail; every piece of correspondence. It is amazing when someone says, 'No, I haven't actually, and there's no reason why I can't go this weekend. Come on, dear, we're off,' and we will look after them. It is about people sitting in traffic and seeing that numberplate in front of them.

The Hon. R.B. Such interjecting:

Mr VENNING: I just heard what the member for Fisher said. What happened to 'The Festival State'? I had 'The Wine State' on my numberplate—always the wine state—but we ought to move on and keep changing it. At the moment, to have nothing, I think, is a huge waste, a total waste. I do not know why we have only a blank space; it is not a very good look. As the member for Unley very capably said, these numberplates will become mobile billboards and move around not only within our state but also interstate. Of course, the big thing is that there is no cost to the state government and probably minimal cost to the licence plate holder. I think we could convince or con the printers of the plates to do it at no charge because it is all about promoting our state.

We do have great destinations; we know that. Many are not widely known and this is a great opportunity for them to do this. People today, as the member for Unley said, are very mobile. Particularly as we are an ageing population we are looking to move, to travel, to look around and to have a change of lifestyle when we retire. We therefore have a touring population. The grey nomads have been mentioned. When people come to our state and hire a car, bingo, it is on the hire car; they have got it straightaway. There it is—if it is a South Australian car, that is.

The Barossa is always looking for new ways to put our premier tourist region before the population at large. I think that my electorate, and particularly the Barossa Wine and Tourism Association, would pick this up with two hands and say, 'Hooray, someone has got an idea; why didn't we do it before?' We see so many things and we think, 'Well, why wasn't this done before?' It is so basic, simple, cheap and, obviously, a good idea. I do not know why we did not do this. I think that a numberplate with a 'www.satourism' or 'southaustraliantourism' or just 'southaustralia.com'—

Mr Pisoni: It would be 'southaustralia.com'.

Mr VENNING: Just 'southaustralia.com'. It is something that can be remembered. You do not have to write it down. When you get back to your motel room at night you can just punch it in and, boom, there it all is. It is all there for you to look at. It is a good idea and it is low cost. It is not a good message to have an empty space there. I think that '.com' numberplates is a good idea. When I first heard it I thought, 'Yeah.' I smiled and I thought of the previous member for Unley who came up with some ideas like this. It must be something to do with the suburb.

It is a good idea and I am happy to support that. I commend the member for Unley for bringing it before the house and urge the house to support this. I cannot understand why the government would not just say, 'Yes, we agree' and go for it. I cannot see how you can amend it, because I think it is just a good idea. Accept what it is and let us get on with it.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:52): I also support this motion by the member for Unley. I think it is an excellent motion. It makes me wonder why, as of late last year, we do not have any slogans on our numberplates. We do have a great state and we should be doing everything we can to promote it. Obviously, when he was overseas, the eagle eye of the member for Unley noticed the Maryland-plated vehicles and this style of advertising where people can link straight into the website. In this day and age, some of us over 35 struggle with the internet at times and getting used to things such as YouTube and Facebook, which are fast becoming the mediums of communication this century, and I am sure they will be run over by something else in the very near future.

Obviously, it is the only way to go in terms of promoting this state. We can look at the diversity in this state from the Far North, the Far West and the Upper North, through to the Flinders Ranges and down through the Mid North and the wine-growing region of Clare. You then come down through the Barossa Valley, obviously through Adelaide and down to the McLaren Vale area, and I do note some excellent accommodation in the McLaren Vale area which I think should be absolutely promoted. It has not been promoted well by some, but it should be noted that some excellent opportunities exist down there and that some excellent people work in the industry down there. A friend of mine, Chester Osborn, at his d'Arenberg winery does a fantastic job promoting wine from that area.

When you look at tourism through the Mid and Upper North you get to the River Murray and, for a lot of reasons—including, obviously, lack of water—there is a perception that nothing is happening on the Murray in a tourism sense. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a lot of drama with people unable to access water and a massive problem with low allocations and that sort of thing—a lot of stress up and down the river—but there is still the opportunity to hire houseboats. Where you can find a boat ramp to put in your boat, there is still plenty of opportunity for skiing and other activities on the river. It is certainly having its problems, and slumping and that sort of thing is occurring, but people are managing to get by.

I note that in a lot of senses tourism has suffered an unfair hit with all the negative publicity about conditions up and down the full length of the river. But it is interesting, as you come down the river and look about, especially when you get to the bottom end—and Meningie and places such as Goolwa and Milang have copped their share of negative publicity—that it is opening up a new environment for visitors to see. I was talking to a friend from Meningie only the other day and he said that people are driving out on the exposed lake bed of Lake Albert and looking at the new environment and seeing what is happening out there. There is still a massive number of people stopping on Highway 1 to see what is happening and looking at different things along the length of the Coorong. Even though these areas are suffering, and suffering big time, people are still going there.

I am well aware that a lot of boats have left the Goolwa area, but a lot of people are still going there to look at the beautiful town and the area—on Hindmarsh Island and, also, around at Clayton and Milang. All these areas have suffered because of some low inflows, but it is very interesting what you see. As I mentioned previously, you see a changing environment, especially at Milang. I think I have noted it in this place before. You go there now and you see the natural self- regeneration of plant life on the lake bed that has been exposed in the last 18 months. I have heard it has to be mown to ensure kids can play there without a snake issue.

We need to promote tourism throughout the state, including up and down the river. Then we go further down to the Upper and Lower South-East. Some would say that the Lower South-East is the place of milk and honey in these times. It has always been a relatively wet place and is certainly wetter than where my property is in the Upper South-East. They are blessed with groundwater they can access not only for irrigation but also for stock and domestic needs—as is the Mallee in my own electorate of Hammond.

We should be promoting the www.tourism.sa site on our numberplates and the beauty of our national parks—even parks such as Ngarkat. It is fantastic to get out in the natural bush. We used to get out all the time with a group on the October long weekend and have a great camping experience. I remember a very interesting trip I had with my then fairly heavily pregnant wife. From Tintinara, we came in the back way to the Lameroo end of the national park in an old three-speed Land Cruiser, and I do not think she will forget the trip, either. I said to my friends at the other end, 'If we do not make it we have plenty of food on board. I can be three days out here if I need to.'

Ms Chapman: Was she thrilled with that?

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, I will not go into the detail of the story.

Mr O'Brien: And she married you!

Mr PEDERICK: She was already married. She was heavily pregnant. I must clarify that for the chamber. I believe she was pregnant with my first son, Mack. Getting back to that, it was interesting that, when I was talking to my wife about getting married, I made it perfectly clear what I did out there in the bush and that sort of thing, but she was still keen. So that was a good thing.

Members interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Be that as it may, I will get back to tourism. I could not put her off marrying me, put it that way.

Members interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: I meant in light of my career as a farmer and that sort of thing. She came from a staunch ALP-voting family but I have managed to mend her ways. I am digressing and I apologise for that.

Mr Griffiths: Turned her from the dark side!

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, as the member for Goyder said, 'Turned her from the dark side.' I have lost my train of thought after all that.

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Tourism, yes. We have done the Ngarkat thing. We do want to promote all of our tourism icons in this state including something like natural bushland. Yes; they do suffer fires in Ngarkat and I think we need better management in parks like that, and in Messent down in the South-East, as well. South Australia has such great diversity, whether it is in wetter climates, drier climates or just the sheer beauty of the Flinders Ranges. A lot of these things are close to home—wherever you live. I commend the member for Unley for this motion, which I think should be supported in a bipartisan way to benefit South Australia as a state.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (12:03): It is also my pleasure to support this motion, and I commend the member for Unley for bringing it forward. The honourable member is a very observant man; there is no doubt about that. When he talks to people and when he drives around he is constantly reviewing things and trying to identify opportunities for the state. This one, while relatively simple, is a very positive step forward.

Representing, as I do, an area which has over half a million tourist visitors per year, I recognise, as much as anyone in this chamber, the need to promote tourism at every possible opportunity. Tourism needs an enormous investment from private individuals to develop facilities that can house and capture people and get them to take money out of their pockets to enjoy themselves. Displaying the website for Tourism SA on numberplates—given that there are hundreds of thousands of vehicles being driven around South Australia (although I understand that it will impact only on future registrations, and that vehicle numbers may change)—is a small step forward that will make an enormous difference.

Tourism is suffering as much as any industry. People are choosing now to reduce their discretionary spend, and that is a human nature aspect which I acknowledge. While we want to encourage that spending to occur, it is important that we make people aware of what opportunities there are. Nearly every home has access to the internet these days, many people possess laptops, and many are constantly reviewing what they can do via mobile phones. With internet availability you never know when a chance is going to come up for someone to see that little website address and to think, 'Yes, I will have a look at that and I will look to see where I might spend the next couple of days' break that I might have.' That is all it takes.

If we could just get people out there for a few more days than they might otherwise spend, travelling to an area that they have either been to before or not yet experienced, and give them the chance to experience what South Australia has to offer, is a good step forward. There is no doubt that tourism drives the economy of the state in many ways. My own area has half a million visitors spending 1.7 million nights and it is identified as one of the lowest spend areas when it comes to tourism in this state. However, people enjoy it because it is an easy drive to Yorke Peninsula across the Adelaide Plains. There is a vast array of opportunities for them to be accommodated, be it in caravan parks, hotels or in shacks that are available for rent.

Some people have made very good businesses by coordinating the availability of holiday shacks in beachfront areas. I know one business operator who has people working for her and who has 200 homes under her management. The member for Unley has identified an opportunity to adopt a practice similar to one previously used, which for some reason has now dropped off, and has decided to pursue it. I think that any support the chamber, in a bipartisan way, can give to improving tourism opportunities in South Australia is important. I hope that all members rise as one to support this motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Ms Breuer.

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