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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-13 Daily Xml
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FINNISS ELECTORATE

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:48): I would like to take a few minutes today to talk about the tourism industry, particularly in relation to my electorate. March is an interesting month. Much is made of what happens in the city and the metropolitan area with various events, whether it be WOMAD, Clipsal or whatever. However, outside the metropolitan area, tourism is the vital hub that keeps many communities going, and it is most important, particularly in my electorate.

The weekend just gone was an interesting time and, given the wonderful March weather we have been experiencing, we had significant numbers of visitors right across my electorate. It was good to go out and about, and on Saturday I attended the AFL NAB Cup game at Encounter Bay. Let me pay full credit to the Encounter Bay Football Club and the Great Southern Football League for the outstanding way in which they presented everything, particularly the wonderful way the oval came up, and for the hard work of Richard Littley, President of Encounter Bay Football Club; Sharon Crispin, the secretary; and Alan Swain, who just about slept at the oval to make sure that it was in good condition. It was a resounding success. It is just a pity it was not a Port v Crows game instead of a Port v Fremantle game. Nevertheless, over 5,000 people attended and everyone had a wonderful time. It certainly was a magnet to, in this case, Victor Harbor.

The number of people at the country market in the morning was incredible, as was the number of people just around the town. Not only that but they were gearing up for the triathlon the next day, which is run by a unique character by the name of Sid James. He has been quadriplegic for 18 years and he is an amazing fellow. He is the race director for the triathlon and he does it all the very hard way, from his wheelchair. He is an amazing chap. This year the triathlon was oversubscribed. They had more people than they knew what to do with.

On top of that, the Victor Harbor trots club held a trotting meeting on Sunday afternoon, and that was just in the Victor Harbor area. Right across the broader Fleurieu we were inundated with people having a long weekend off and coming down to enjoy the weather. Across the water, on the island, that was also the case. They put additional ferries on and the domestic visitation over the weekend was terrific. It is just a pity that we seem to do everything in March, including turn on the good weather.

One thing I do point out to the house is the magnificent tuna fishing season we are having. The tuna have been around since mid-January. They have been a sight to behold along the west end, the south-west coast, the north coast of the island, off the southern Fleurieu Peninsula and out around the Pages. Multitudes of people are going out and getting their quota of six tuna in pretty short time and there are some good stories, some good pictures and some even better eating taking place. Fishing for tuna has certainly been a wonderful success this year and it will probably go through to the middle of May, which is about when they start to run out.

I mention all these things because the tourism industry is critical. One of the things that a lot of the people who deal with the international visitors who come to our country and our state are particularly concerned about at the moment are the deteriorating economy in Europe and the pressure on the economy in the United States which, combined with the high dollar, are making it more and more difficult for the very good operators we have to entice visitors here. There is some growth in the Chinese market and that will bring issues to bear on operators that they have not had before. They are used to dealing with Americans, British, Germans, French, Swiss and Italians, but the Chinese market will be different again, as is the Indian market.

They are extremely important to our state, particularly the self-drive visitors who come through from Victoria, down the Great Ocean Road and the Fleurieu on their way to the island. They are particularly important to my neck of the woods and we need to work particularly hard to keep them coming.

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