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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-30 Daily Xml
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Clipsal 500

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Minister, can you update the house on how announcements of new additions to the Clipsal 500 race schedule have affected ticket sales for the 2015 event?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (15:01): Ticket sales are going very well. We have sold 61 per cent of the grandstand seats already and going very well. We saw a 60 per cent spike in ticket sales a few weeks ago when we announced that the Ferrari series was coming to Adelaide.

We have 30 drivers coming over here to race their Ferraris around the circuit, the first time this has happened in Australia, and on top of that we have 150 Ferrari owners from around Australia coming to Adelaide for a Festival of Ferraris. It is expected that they will bring an extra 3,000 people into Adelaide specifically for the Clipsal 500. It is a terrific event. In the last sitting week, we announced another great attraction, which will bring more and more people to the Clipsal 500. Robby Gordon's stadium super trucks will be out on the track. The minister—

The Hon. M.L.J. Hamilton-Smith: We've already had a test run.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: —and I snuck away during the lunchbreak of the last sitting week and had a drive around in these super trucks. They can go up to 200 km/h, they get six metres in the air over the ramps and stay airborne for about 40 metres. I actually thought that we were going for a ride in a semitrailer sort of rig, but we turned up and it was something completely different. They guaranteed a smooth landing, and I have to say that, when you're hurtling towards one of these ramps and you're about to get airborne, you wonder whether it is going to be a smooth landing. But just like the minister's transition from that side to our side, it was a very smooth landing, wasn't it?

The Hon. M.L.J. Hamilton-Smith: Very smooth.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: It was high paced. You probably didn't have any doubts at all on the ramp as we took off. It was terrific—

The Hon. M.L.J. Hamilton-Smith: It was fast and furious.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: It was terrific. Fast and furious, as the minister says. Robby Gordon is a NASCAR champion and he has come out here, and this is going to be another great attraction. It was terrific to be along with the head of the V8 supercars today, and many of the V8 drivers, as we launched the Clipsal 500 for 2015. It is going to be one of the greatest Clipsals we have ever put on.

I am very happy to say that Clipsal have agreed today—and we announced this at the luncheon—that they have signed on for an extra two years. So, they will take their sponsorship through to 2017, and we thank Clipsal very much for that sponsorship. We thank all the sponsors and the corporate backers. Of course, the government puts a lot of money into this race, but it brings $36 million worth of economic activity into South Australia. It fills nearly every hotel room in the metropolitan area and a little bit further out as well. It is just terrific.

The member for Hammond, who is still dancing around because of his great time at the Kiss concert two years ago, told me that he is delighted that Jimmy Barnes and the boys have Cold Chisel back together again to celebrate 40 years of Cold Chisel, obviously a band born and bred here in Adelaide. It is going to be terrific to see them on the Sunday night at the concert. So, there will be plenty of things for people to see on and off the track. Four days later, we have the Foo Fighters down at Hindmarsh Stadium as well. So, there is a terrific amount of activity happening in Adelaide.

We had the Rolling Stones last Saturday night, of course, and didn't Adelaide put on a terrific show. Mick and the boys were very happy with the two weeks they had in Adelaide. They loved the place, and they got a lot of satisfaction. It was terrific. We believe in having a vibrant city, a vibrant state, and we are out there trying to get more events and to grow the events that we have at this time.

The SPEAKER: I think the minister has answered the question.

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