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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-11-14 Daily Xml
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CLIPSAL 500

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:13): My question is to the Premier: can the Premier inform the house about the plans for next year's Clipsal 500, as they are very interested in my electorate?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:13): I acknowledge that the member for Taylor is a very avid motorsport fan, some would say 'a revhead', in the kindest possible way that that term can be used.

Today, we did see the launch of the 2014 Adelaide Clipsal 500. The Clipsal 500 is the largest ticketed domestic motorsport festival in the nation and it has attracted huge attendance figures year after year and provided impressive economic benefits. This year, there has been an almost 9 per cent increase in attendance over 2012. The event generated more than $36 million for the South Australian economy, and a feature of the success of the event has been the continual revitalisation to keep it fresh.

This year, the renewal will continue with the biggest change to the racing format in its history. For the first time in Adelaide, we will have a V8 twilight race on the Saturday. Saturday's traditional 250-kilometre race is being divided into two 125-kilometre races: one in the middle of the afternoon and one starting at 6.30pm. So, on Saturday fans will get to see two V8 Supercar race starts, two finishes, and the drivers going flat out with valuable championship points awarded for each of the 125-kilometre races. We will then have the race decider on Sunday, with the longer 250-kilometre format.

Earlier today, I had the great pleasure of attending the launch of the event, and I met with James Courtney, one of the drivers. James is, of course, from the Holden Racing Team and he, like many South Australians and Australians, is concerned about the future of car manufacturing in this nation, and he has added his voice of support for Holden. James represents hundreds of thousands of Australians who love Holden, and he wants them to stay here in Australia.

One of the reasons we are pressing on with the More Than Cars campaign is so that these Australians can have their voice. Make no mistake, Mr Speaker, we know that this federal government does respond to campaigning and pressure. We have seen that with the successful education reform campaigns, when Tony Abbott became Julia Gillard for a brief moment. So, we do know that, with a quality campaign, we can change attitudes in the federal government, and we intend to change attitudes in this federal government. That is why we are investing in keeping Holden here, that is why we are leading a community campaign, and it would just assist us if those opposite could find their voice.

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