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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-12 Daily Xml
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River Lights Mannum

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister advise the house of the results of the Illuminate Mannum-River Lights and the event's impact on residents and small businesses?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:49): I thank the member for her interest in this area. We all know that the recovery along the Murray River following a flooding event early this year is ongoing, and the Malinauskas Labor government continues its support of our river community.

The impact of the flooding of course was exacerbated in our small business areas, and of course we saw a reduction in tourists going to the river at what is traditionally the peak season, and that impacted not only our tourism operators but also many of these small businesses that are supported by tourists visiting their town. Our government has rolled out a comprehensive support package to the region, including our River Revival vouchers, a targeted marketing campaign, infrastructure support and small business grants, and can I thank my colleague the Minister for Small and Family Business for her work in this space.

Other than the tourism vouchers and marketing campaign and following the hugely successful Adelaide City installation I asked the directors of Illuminate, Rachael Azzopardi and Lee Cumberlidge, to help me support the river community by taking River Lights to Mannum with the support of the SA government. River Lights Mannum was an overwhelming success. I had the opportunity to go up to launch it on 4 August. Can I thank the Mayor of the Mid Murray Council, Simone Bailey, for her strong advocacy for her community in getting this activation to Mannum.

It saw more than 20,000 people attend and engage with this amazing public art display. The influx of people to Mannum was a boon for the local economy and businesses that have struggled with the downturn. What I really heard from the mayor was that people had been cautious about coming back, and having this event in Mannum gave them the confidence, if they had not reopened, to make the decision that that was the date they were going reopen.

The Pretoria Hotel, which has experienced a number of floods over its history, advised that its business had doubled over the period of River Lights. The Mannum Hotel ran out of a number of menu items due to the increased demand, and the Deja Vu ski shop, which was forced to shut down due to flood waters, noted that this was the best business the shop had done during the winter period thanks to River Lights attracting the people. It was a free public activation on the waterfront, and the economic benefit and the confidence it brought to Mannum cannot be underestimated. Can I just thank the local businesses that really rose to the occasion, with many of the local shops remaining open to 9pm throughout the whole period of River Lights. We really saw how that was able to support the area.

Of course, we have seen the impact of the support packages throughout the whole Riverland, Murray Lakes and Coorong regions. Business owners like Stephen Edwards from Riverbend Caravan Park has been in touch through this very difficult time and has provided feedback on the support packages and marketing campaign. Stephen has reinvested in his business and is optimistic about its future. He has built new, fully accessible cabins and created new, powered caravan sites.

Also, Minister Michaels recently spoke to stakeholders like Mike Goryan from Riverfun Houseboats, who is also optimistic about the future and looking forward to a booked out summer holiday season. It has been a very difficult time of uncertainty, but the attention paid around the vouchers, the business support grants, and of course the campaign, has enabled people to continue. Both the Riverbend Caravan Park and Riverfun Houseboats received the Early Business Closure and Flood Recovery grants through the Office for Small and Family Business. They have also benefited from the River Revival vouchers, which assisted people coming back to the region.

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