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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-06-30 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Oval

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:22): My question is to the Minister for Recreation and Sport. Has the state government paid any money to secure a one-day international cricket match at the Adelaide Oval for the 2015-16 season?

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) (15:22): No; the state government has not paid a cent towards securing a game of cricket in an oval that we rebuilt with $550 million of taxpayers' money.

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I hear the member for Hartley saying 'shame' that the state government has not paid one cent to get a cricket match—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We spent $550 million of taxpayers' money. We made that investment on the back of getting 22 AFL games at the Adelaide Oval each year, we made that investment on the back of having a test match at the Adelaide Oval each year, we made that investment on the back of having a Twenty20 game on Australia Day each year. That was the reason we spent $550 million on the oval, because of the matches we already had there.

We will go out and we will pay for new content, we will pay for games like Liverpool, and we will pay for World Cup games. I noticed today that some independent advice showed that $50 million was injected into the South Australian economy by 38,000 international visitors who came here for the World Cup in February and March. If you think it is a good idea for me to hand over $1 million of state government money to get something—

The SPEAKER: No, minister; the opposition thinks it is a good idea.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Sorry, sir. If the opposition thinks it is a good idea for me to hand over more than $1 million of taxpayers' money to pay for something we already have, they have rocks in their head. That is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard. We have stood up to Cricket Australia and we will be getting the first ever day-night test match at the Adelaide Oval starting on Friday 27 November. I am pretty confident, in our discussions, that we will also get cricket back on Australia Day.

An honourable member: What about the Rolling Stones?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: An interjection that we paid for the Rolling Stones. Of course we did; we got 10,000 people coming here from interstate and overseas. That is what we do, we pay for new events that will attract people from interstate and overseas. Unlike the opposition, we refuse to get caught up in a bidding war with other states. We were the only state to get the Rolling Stones Hyde Park stage out here. We also had a deal that for two weeks no-one would know that the Rolling Stones were going to play anywhere else in Australia. We had this exclusive deal. People going online trying to buy tickets did not know they were going to play in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne; they only knew about the Adelaide concert. We managed to sell 50,000 tickets, including 10,000—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Of course we have used taxpayers' money to get the Rolling Stones staged at Adelaide Oval. It was a huge winner; 10,000 people coming in. I cannot wait until 20 July to see Liverpool out at the Adelaide Oval. It is possibly the best cricket ground in the world. It is certainly the best stadium anywhere in Australia, but we will not be paying for games that we already have.

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