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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-03 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE PLAINS CUP FESTIVAL

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (15:48): I wish to speak about the Adelaide Plains Cup Festival, which commenced on Friday 27 February. As the very proud representative in the South Australian parliament of the majority of the Adelaide Plains region, it was my great pleasure to participate across the three days, and I wish to take a few minutes to recognise the events that occurred, the people who contributed towards the festival and the difference that it makes to the region.

The day started with the Emu Awards on Friday last week at Snowtown, which is a community that has suffered terribly in the last 10 or 15 years but which is making every effort to invigorate itself. The Emu Awards is an opportunity for people across a few areas to be recognised. While I was there it was fantastic to see across those awards the community groups that were nominated. The Two Wells Community Craft Shop was nominated and also the Blyth Progress Association, which has been a participant in the KESAB Tidy Towns Awards for the last 25 years. Also nominated was the Mallala Economic Development Board, which is really invigorating that community, and CornerStone Cottages at Balaklava, which is a project of the Balaklava Church of Christ, which has been partially funded by the state government to build three units.

Also nominated was the Courthouse Gallery in Balaklava, which has some 50 volunteers, and the Snowtown View community newsletter, which started in 2002. There was also the Mallala and Districts Historical Society, which I have been to many times, which is a great place. There was also the Owen Community Centre Cropping Committee, which was a recipient of the community award, and in the last year it has undertaken a project to remove seven kilometres of disused railway line, sold that scrap metal for over $8,000, and increased the area they can crop.

The nominees for the individual awards included John and Gwenda Griffiths (no relatives), who are wonderful people from Mallala, and Tanya Bertelsmeier from Blyth, who organised a drought relief event which involved Lee Kernaghan. The winner of this award was Mrs Lorraine Samuels from Snowtown, a great lady who was carrying a baby kangaroo. She and her husband have dedicated their lives to caring for animals. In addition to winning the individual award, she was the overall winner of the Emu Awards, and she received a $600 cheque from the Church of Christ, which was well done.

The business nominees included Penny Matthew of Mallala, who operates Happy Hearts Fitness, which engages a lot of people in the community, and Carol Weepers from Snowtown, who operates Carol's Homestead Cafe. Penny Matthew of Mallala was the winner.

In the Event Award was the Balaklava Cup, which many in this chamber would have been to. The cup involves probably between 15,000 and 17,000 people. It is a wonderful day in early September, and let's hope that many of us get the chance to go there again. There was also Snowtown's Painting the Skies, an arts festival in the Clare Valley, and the launch of the Clare Valley Regional Festival in 2008. The winner was the Free as the Air Festival Fun Day, which involved the Premier officially opening the wind farm in the Snowtown area.

That was the start of the first day. There was a variety of other events held. There was an art and craft festival at Two Wells, an art exhibition at Balaklava, which went over all three days, and an art and wine gourmet dinner at Snowtown on the Friday evening. On Saturday, Two Wells held a market, and Balaklava had garage sales in so many homes all around the area. There was a regional art and craft festival at Two Wells, and the Balaklava Museum was open. On Saturday there was a golf event at the Balaklava Golf Club, the Welcome to Wakefield at Balaklava, an art exhibition, again, and Adelaide Plains touch football at Mallala. Unfortunately, that had to be cancelled through a lack of participation.

There was a Soapbox Derby at Mallala, which I think the Mayor of Mallala District Council, Tony Flaherty, wants to make more of an annual event. There was a poetry competition at Mallala, and the museum was open there. There was a murder mystery night at the Balaklava Town Hall. On Sunday there was a junior tennis tournament at Balaklava. Hamley Bridge had a garage sale. There was a community fund-raising walk at Mallala, and an art exhibition at Balaklava. The museum was open at Mallala, and, importantly, we had the Adelaide Plains Cup, which was held at the Balaklava Racing Club. About 2,000 people attended—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: I am not sure of the winner of race 7, Attorney, but a great day—

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: It was a strong field, obviously. It was a great weekend supported by wonderful people, involving thousands, making a difference to the region. This is a region that believes in itself. It has recognised that it was a go-through place before; it wants to make itself a destination point.

I congratulate all who were involved, particularly Mayor James Maitland from Wakefield Regional Council, who is the chair. I pay homage to the financial supporters of the program: the District Council of Mallala, Wakefield Regional Council, the Virginia Horticulture Centre, Yorke Regional Development Board, Alano Water, Balaklava Racing Club, Primo, which is a wonderful business at Port Wakefield, Balco Group, and Adelaide Plains Life Care Churches of Christ. Well done.

Time expired.

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