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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-08 Daily Xml
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Sam Smith Concert

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:04): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Did taxpayers pay for Sam Smith to post on social media from a McDonald's car park on their account? If not, can the minister detail what they did ask for—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members! Member for West Torrens! The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Frome!

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens! The minister has the call.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:05): Well, I can assure you that it wasn't McDonald's in Mount Gambier.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morphett!

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: He has done it again—another chicken reference.

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Chaffey is called to order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: When you have people come here, and you have a contractual arrangement, there are certain things that they are asked to do.

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Sam Smith fulfilled that—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —but I can tell you that we were very satisfied, and we have achieved an advertising value equivalent of $32 million. We saw an opportunity. We know that to grow back our international market we have to turn heads, and that's why—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for a final time.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —we delivered on the Ten Pound Pom competition, which 16,000 people entered.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hammond!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We have to be noticed, we have to stand out in the world, and with Sam Smith—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Flinders!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —the promotional opportunity was just that. Sam Smith are a global sensation, a global icon.

An honourable member: So are Macca's.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for West Torrens! The question does not concern a fine Scottish restaurant.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Sam Smith has a global—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Sam Smith attracts a diverse global audience, and just this week they won a Grammy. With more than 30 million people across their social media, this was an opportunity that we were presented, we bid for and we won. We want to grow back international tourism and we want to be a destination that is sought after. That means that we have to go out and be innovative and try things that turn people's heads. I will make no apology as the Minister for Tourism to focus on exactly what my job is, and that is to grow tourism. We are nearly back to where we were pre-COVID, but we have ambitions and we have aspirations to get to—

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, I anticipate that there is a point of order on standing order 98.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Sir, avoiding the question again, thank you: 98.

The SPEAKER: Minister, having the question well in mind, there being under a minute remaining, perhaps you will chart a course closer to the question.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We are committed to growing tourism in South Australia, we have filled out the events calendar, we have brought back the VALO Adelaide 500 and we will continue to look for promotional opportunities. We will do some of the traditional things. For those who want a little more, it is out there, and we will run through to wintertime. We've got that in TV and radio and we've got it on outdoor advertising. We were able to do that because of the additional money in the marketing budget. It is working, and do you know what? The tourism industry is seeing the results of this commitment.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: No-one is buying it.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: No-one is buying it? Really?

The SPEAKER: The minister has concluded her answer. Member for Elder.

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