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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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ADELAIDE OVAL

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:49): Good choice, Mr Speaker. My question is—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Davenport is warned for the second and the final time. Member for Ashford.

The Hon. S.W. KEY: My question is directed to the Minister for Tourism and Minister for Recreation and Sport. Minister, this would probably be an unusual question from me to you, but I would like you to update the house on cricket at Adelaide Oval.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport) (14:50): I thank the member for Ashford for that question. If you wanted a score update, South Australia are 0/40, chasing the 434 Western Australia made. Obviously, there is a fantastic batting deck down there at Adelaide Oval, and Damian Hough, the curator, has done a tremendous job. I was talking to him yesterday morning. He says that he thinks what he has prepared is the traditional Adelaide oval pitch, and very much like the test pitch from last year. It was fantastic to be down there yesterday with the Premier as the Premier tossed the coin before the game.

I know the opposition has been hoping that something will go wrong down at Adelaide Oval. The gates opened yesterday and the only thing that went wrong was that, when the Premier tossed the coin, Western Australia won the toss and elected to bat. But that was a game of chance, and nothing has been left to chance by this government with the Adelaide Oval right the way along. I want to congratulate and pay tribute to the member for Elder for all the fine work that he has done over many years to make this happen. It has not been easy to bring cricket and football together and to get them down at the Adelaide Oval. I also commend the current Minister for Transport and Infrastructure on the fine work that has been done there, as well.

Adelaide Oval is a game changer for this city, and it is not just people in South Australia saying that, it is people from around Australia, in cricket circles and the AFL. Lonely Planet named Adelaide Oval as one of the reasons it picked Adelaide to be one of the top 10 cities in the world to visit next year. The economic boost that we are going to get from this half a billion dollar investment of taxpayers' money is worth tens of millions of dollars a year. It is a great thing for South Australia and it would be great to have the opposition on board instead of crossing their fingers, hoping that something will go wrong. Get behind it and recognise it as—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, that will be quite enough. Will you be seated? I do think in respect of an infrastructure project like Adelaide Oval, to say that the opposition hopes that something will go wrong is imputing improper motives. Accordingly, I withdraw leave for the answer and call the member for Davenport.

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