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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-03 Daily Xml
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TOUR DOWN UNDER

The Hon. L.R. BREUER (Giles) (15:08): My question is to the Minister for Recreation and Sport, and Tourism. Can the minister update the house on Australian cycling?

The SPEAKER: In the broad.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport) (15:08): Yes; delighted to, sir. There was fantastic news overnight from Nice that Australia's first professional team for the first time has claimed the yellow jersey in the world's biggest international cycling event. Simon Gerrans, who won the stage on Corsica the day before, and to all the GreenEDGE team, including Stuart O'Grady, who is riding his—

Mrs REDMOND: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: A point of order from the member for Heysen.

Mrs REDMOND: I am just wondering what the minister's responsibility is for this.

The SPEAKER: Yes; I thought the question was rather broadly phrased. It might even apply to my cycling around my electorate on Saturday. I would hope that the minister for sport confines it to the areas of his responsibility.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Yes, sir. Tomorrow the Premier and I will be announcing the routes for next year's Santos Tour Down Under. I am sure there are plenty of members on both sides keen to hear where next year's race will race. There is no better time to launch this than when the eyes of the world are on Australia and the fantastic efforts of the GreenEDGE cycling team.

We all know that it's very important that we keep the Santos Tour Down Under here in South Australia. Tomorrow night, I will be heading off to Austria to the Tour of Austria and then on to the Tour de France. We will be having talks at the highest levels with cycling officials from many nations, as well as the head of the International Cycling Union.

On Monday, it will be my very great pleasure to throw a function to recognise Stuart O'Grady. He has ridden more Tours de France than any other cyclist in the history of this great race. They are going around France for the 100th time this year. I think it's something that people on both sides of the house should be very proud of. A guy from Ingle Farm, with a lot of guts and a lot of determination, has gone on and taken on the world. So, we will be there with some Coopers beer, some d'Arenberg wine, some Haigh's chocolates and—

An honourable member: Vili's pies.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Some Vili's pies, exactly. We've got the Vili's pies packed. We'll be presenting Stuart with a special present—a very important memento from South Australia—to mark his 17th, as we spread the news to the overseas journalists about what we are doing here with the Santos Tour Down Under next year. So, these are very exciting times for cycling around the world, of course. Fans from all around the world are focusing on what's happening in France. We are cashing in on that timing as well by announcing next year's Tour Down Under route.

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