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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-12 Daily Xml
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Australian International 3 Day Event

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (14:55): Goodness me, sir, what a surprise! Thank you. My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister advise the house what attendees can expect to experience at this year's Australian International 3 Day Event?

An honourable member: There will be horses!

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) (14:56): They might expect a little bit of horse activity, a bit of equine involvement. It is a fantastic event. It's the biggest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere—the only four-star three-day event in the Southern Hemisphere—and one that we are all very proud of.

Tomorrow sees the first of two days of dressage, then on Saturday we will have the cross-country through the Parklands, and on Sunday we will wrap up with the showjumping. We will have some of the world's best riders in action. It's the only place in the world where an event of this nature and this size is held in the heart of a major city.

We have Dirk Schrade—the German Olympic gold medallist and World Equestrian Games winner—and crowd favourite Chris Burton, who is an Olympian and a World Equestrian Games team member. He was a very popular winner of the event last year. We will also have Wendy Schaeffer, who of course won gold in Atlanta in 1996 on Sunburst. She is a terrific South Australian. Unfortunately, Wendy was there last year, but she was on crutches as she had an injury. Megan Jones, who won silver at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, was also on crutches last year, so it's going to be great to have a couple of local heroes back competing this year.

There is also Polo in the Park on Friday night, with plenty of representation from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It is a bit of a social scene and a big night out in the beautiful Parklands. The government, through Events SA, is the major sponsor of the three-day event, and we are very proud of the way we put on events of this type; 23,000 people came to last year's event, and we are looking for numbers even better than that this year.

I would like to also place on the record my thanks to Gill Rolton, who of course, on Peppermint Grove, won Olympic gold in Barcelona in 1992 and backed that up in 1996 in Atlanta. Gill has done an amazing job since she has taken over the running of the Australian International 3 Day Event.

I want to thank her for the tireless work that she has done in advocating for her sport and also for organising everything that happens. It's very difficult to put on an event of this magnitude and she does it brilliantly. She has also been promoted to the highest level by the FEI (the International Federation for Equestrian Sports). So congratulations to Gill, and on behalf of all South Australians, I would like to thank her for the tremendous contribution that she has made to South Australia both on the horse and in administration as well.

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