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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-05 Daily Xml
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WOMADELAIDE

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (14:23): Can the Premier update the chamber with details of the seventh annual WOMADelaide Festival, which is due to commence tomorrow night?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:23): I am looking forward to seeing the Leader of the Opposition in cheesecloth or maybe even a caftan, and maybe even holding a crystal—I do not know. But I can say this: starting tomorrow night, we are set for another fabulous weekend of the sights, sounds and culinary delights of our globe. Maybe he could take down a copy of Albert Camus—I don't know. Anyway, I will ask Catienne later.

Over three magical days and nights, 380 artists from 30 different countries will perform in Adelaide's Botanic Park. Opening WOMAD tomorrow night will be the infectious rhythms of Egypt's Bedouin Jerry Can Band and, throughout the weekend, both local and international acts will play side by side. A small taste of those international performances include New Zealand's Neil Finn. Of course, the Finn brothers, from memory—because they were contemporaries of mine, as you would imagine—came from Te Awamutu, just near Te Kuiti in the North Island of New Zealand, while I was down the road in Mangakino, which means muddy stream. They also include the West African music with a modern edge of Rokia Trerore; one of East Timor's leading musicians, Ego Lemos; the fierce energy of Paprika Balkanicus, playing music of the Balkans and Eastern Europe; the exotic sounds of Mauritania's Dimi Mint Abba (that is not the Swedish Abba; this is the Mauritanian Abba); and the Kaki Kings' edgy solo acoustic guitar performance.

Couple these performances with Australian acts like the Audreys, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, and also the Cat Empire, of which I know the Deputy Premier is a keen fan, it is easy to see why this WOMAD promises to be an amazing experience.

Everyone there can take the opportunity to relax and indulge in the delights of delicious food and wine as they explore the special WOMAD Woods Bagot global village of arts, crafts and workshops. With recent rains, Botanic Park promises to be in pristine condition.

WOMADelaide is a wonderful experience for the whole family, with KidZone providing entertainment, arts and crafts, and workshops for the popular samba parade on Sunday evening. In keeping with WOMAD's green themes, they have again engaged Greening Australia to revegetate local bushland to offset carbon generated by the festival. One dollar from every ticket sold for WOMADelaide 2009 will go towards this local biodiverse tree replanting scheme.

Of course, already this cabinet, including its newest members, the new ministers, is the first carbon neutral cabinet in the nation, one of the first of I have ever heard of in the world. Last year's WOMADelaide produced an estimated net economic impact of $7.1 million in gross state product and brought 9,000 visitors to South Australia specifically for the event.

The result is a demonstration of the continued strength of this festival. Even though I am a sensitive soul, I have to say that I was stunned by the criticism about making WOMAD and the Fringe annual. Since going annual in 2003, they have had massively increased sales and attendances.

I have to say that, despite the deplorable condition of the River Torrens last week and the predictions that the Adelaide Film Festival would be a wipe-out, I am pleased that there has been a 30 per cent increase in attendances. So, if members wish to enjoy the fabulous sights, sounds and tastes of WOMADelaide this weekend, I would suggest buying a ticket quickly if they have not already done so.

Of course, a couple of weeks from now we will host the Clipsal 500. The Adelaide Cup is on Monday, and then, coming up, is the fabulous Rugby Sevens, an area in which I have special expertise.

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