House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-10-31 Daily Xml

Contents

ADELAIDE CITY WI-FI PROJECT

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (14:36): Minister, the Riverland is the first region in Australia to have free wi-fi. It has already been installed, without the help of the state government.

The SPEAKER: Minister. There is no question there, okay.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport) (14:36): There wasn't a question, but we do appreciate the work that the local council has done in the Riverland to put in free wi-fi for people who visit there. It complements what is happening here in—

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order. Mr Speaker, you just ruled there was no question there. What is the Minister for Tourism doing?

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Stuart to order for a purely opportunistic point of order. The member for Chaffey made an utterance that was in order because I called him. If it wasn't in interrogative form, nevertheless any minister on the front bench can respond to it. The Minister for Tourism chose to respond to it and therefore he is in order. Now, I did not call him, that is true, but normally he is the best behaved minister in waiting for the call and those ministers who were roaring that there was no question there were all out of order; they weren't ruling on the question. Minister for Tourism, feel free to take your whole four minutes.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I would like to congratulate the local government in the Riverland which has worked to put in the free wi-fi. It is a very important thing for tourists who come to South Australia. When I have been up there I have met with a lot of French backpackers and people who don't have a lot of money while they are travelling. If they can get the free wi-fi while they are out picking grapes and seeing our great state and using the free wi-fi to check in on social media to tell everyone about the great beauty of the Riverland, the fantastic river and the jobs that they can do in helping pick fruit and grapes up there, then I think it is a wonderful thing. So, congratulations to the Riverland for being pioneers in wi-fi. I also congratulate the state government for working on bringing free wi-fi to the CBD; it is terrific.