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

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:06): My question is to the Minister for the Arts. Minister, what were the outcomes of the 2015 Cabaret Festival?

Mr Marshall: Another Liberal initiative, sir.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (15:06): Yes, in a day when the Liberal Party had ideas, Mr Speaker, they indeed did come up with the Cabaret Festival. I pay credit to a former minister, I think it was arts minister Laidlaw of blessed memory, in a day when the Liberal Party in this state actually had something positive to say, something constructive to say, something we don't see out of them under the current Leader of the Opposition.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for the Arts will return to his text.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I shall. Our internationally renowned Adelaide Cabaret Festival is over for another year. We have been absolutely privileged to have had Barry Humphries grace us as the artistic director. He promised us brilliance and he delivered, with more than 350 artists in 152 performances. There were 50 international artists and around 192 local South Australian performers starring across 18 world premieres, six Australian premieres and six Adelaide exclusives.

Barry's program took us on a rollercoaster of genres from the incredible Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Greta Bradman taking to the stage in Peter and Jack to the risqué Clover Club featuring Adelaide's very own Miss Burlesque, Sapphire Snow. We were even honoured by the presence of the cultural attaché to the Court of St James, Sir Les Patterson, who so many decades later still manages to entertain and shock the audience, and the international gigastar herself, Dame Edna Everage.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: Did you say gigastar?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Gigastar. She is a gigastar—moved beyond megastar to gigastar. The Cabaret Festival is not only a wonderful event for our local community, it also has a national and international reputation. A concerted advertising campaign in the Eastern States, featuring Barry, saw an increase in tickets sold outside South Australia.

On behalf of the government, I would like to extend my utmost thanks to Barry Humphries and the entire Adelaide Cabaret Festival team for all of their work in making this year's festival such a roaring success. Too often, we hear the terms 'world's largest' or 'biggest' ring hollow but, for this event, there is no doubt of its excellence, and I congratulate Frank Ford and the former minister for the arts, the Hon. Diana Laidlaw, who inspired this initiative.

As with many of our other festivals, our Cabaret Festival is now being copied interstate. They are nowhere near as good but they are trying. It's important that, while we bask in the brilliance that was 2015, we also look to how this wonderful institution can become bigger and better. To that end I would like to put on my record a warm welcome and congratulations to new Festival co-directors Ali McGregor and Eddie Perfect. Following on from Barry Humphries is no easy task, but, having seen both these incredibly talented artists perform, I have no doubt that they will put on spectacular events as they direct the 2016 and 2017 festivals.

I would also like to place on my record my thanks to the team at the Adelaide Festival Centre, in particular John Glenn who hosts and produces this great festival every year. All South Australians should be proud of their festivals; they are an important part of our cultural identity and create a vibrant and artistic community all year round.

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