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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-28 Daily Xml
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Schubert Electorate

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (15:34): It gives me great pleasure to stand in this place today to be able to talk about the fact that the Barossa, a place that over the last 4½ weeks has been subject to a different kind of COVID-19 reality, as of tomorrow is now able to go back to being part of the rest of broader South Australia and essentially have the same situation and experience as the rest of the state. It is a fantastic day and one that I know my community has been looking forward to for weeks and weeks.

It all started on 29 March, when parts of the Barossa were identified as a higher risk area for COVID-19 after two separate clusters were recognised. The first of those was in relation to a tour group from the US who were staying in a prominent accommodation facility locally and visiting cellar doors and the like around the community. The second was a group of tourists from Switzerland who were staying at a second venue and also were at a series of events over the course of that. We are home to international tourists, so I think the fact that this came to the Barossa before it came to many other places was inevitable, given how open we are to international tourism.

The restrictions that were put in place were largely around the decision to close schools and limitations on cellar doors and local businesses, but those directed restrictions also came with strong advice to the Barossa community to stay home to be able to stop the spread. My community responded in a way that makes me so proud to represent it: by doing exactly what we were asked, not necessarily because we were forced to but because we wanted to do everything we could to really knock this cluster on the head.

As a community, as we always do, we banded together and we looked after each other. The countless stories I have heard of families, friends and neighbours leaving care packages at the front doors of our most vulnerable or those who were in self-isolation, just because people can, really did lift people's spirits. The Easter weekend was a very different Easter for people in the Barossa. Certainly, everybody I spoke to was doing what they were supposed to do: staying at home, helping to contain the spread of the virus in the Barossa but also depriving themselves of being able to see loved ones and family. Especially at this difficult time, it resonated even more, but that we did.

As somebody who had a care package left at my front door, it was certainly a time to be grateful for the beautiful community we live in. A series of other things was done in our community. The Southern Barossa Alliance worked with The Barossa Council to develop the Barossa Cares platform to connect vulnerable community members with the services they needed most during this crisis. We also saw people busy at the grassroots level simply showing that they care, helping our local businesses to adapt.

Rather than sit back and accept the fate that existed, the Barossa has evolved to our new normal, whether that be hardware stores offering home delivery of materials or whether that be the myriad new options for takeaway across our different cafes and restaurants. In fact, if there is one silver lining to this crisis, it is the fact that a lot of these restaurants, which I have loved to visit over the course of my time as the local MP and before, are now offering their menus for me and my family to be able to eat at home. I think it is a fantastic innovation and one of those silver linings from what is a very difficult period.

I would also like to thank the Attorney-General and her team for their hasty delivery of short-term liquor licences, which significantly helped our local hospitality industry to implement these changes to the new regime, the new way we need to operate to survive. We have seen significant changes in the way we live, the way we work and the way we socialise. It has certainly been challenging, but through it all the Barossa community has stood strong and united and determined to get through this together.

The fact that this restriction is being lifted tomorrow is in large part because of the very strong health response that was put in place, but it is very much in large part because the Barossa community came together, did what they were asked, helped each other out, did the right thing and saw a massive reduction in the number of cases; in fact, in the end, there was only one case of community transmission in the Barossa. The result of our good work over the past 4½ weeks culminates in the fact that as of tomorrow we can go back to taking our place as just a normal part of the broader South Australian community.

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