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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-06-25 Daily Xml
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South Australian Tourism Commission, $66,113,000

Administered Items for the Department of Treasury and Finance, $4,403,410,000


Membership:

Ms Pratt substituted for Mr Teague.


Minister:

Hon. Z.L. Bettison, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs.


Departmental Advisers:

Ms E. Terry, Chief Executive Officer, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Ms S. Rozokos, Chief Operating Officer, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Ms H. Rasheed, Executive Director Events SA, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Mr E. de Roos, Executive Director Marketing, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Mr N. Jones, Executive Director Destination Development, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Mr C. Burford, Executive Director, Strategic Communications and Engagement, South Australian Tourism Commission.

Mr M. Radcliffe, Chief Executive Officer, Adelaide Venue Management.

Ms M. Carrall, Chief Finance Officer, Adelaide Venue Management.


The CHAIR: The portfolio is the South Australian Tourism Commission and the Adelaide Venue Management Authority. I declare the proposed payments open for examination. I call on the minister to make a statement, if the minister so wishes, and to introduce her advisers.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I will not be making an opening statement, but let me introduce who is here. Steph Rozokos, who is to my right, is the Chief Operating Officer, Emma Terry to my left is the Chief Executive Officer, and Hitaf Rasheed is the Executive Director of Events South Australia.

The CHAIR: Thank you, minister. Over to the member for Frome.

Ms PRATT: I am guessing it is me, the lead spokesperson. Good morning, and thank you to all of the public servants who are here today. With today's new release on the sector plan—for the Chair's benefit, of course, I will be referring to Budget Paper 4, Volume 4, at the moment page 126, highlights, where the government or the agency, 'Consulted with industry on the development of the South Australian Tourism Plan 2030 outlining a strategy,' the plan replacing the South Australian Visitor Economy Sector Plan 2030.

Having consulted on and now released that, to achieve the target of $12.8 billion the sector is going to need to support employment growth and significant visitor growth across those four fields of international, interstate, intrastate and day trips. How will the government go about achieving that growth to reach the target of $12.8 billion, where on simple calculations it is about $2.9 billion a year in the next five years to get there?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Obviously, we are quite ambitious here. We spent some time working on our place-based strategy, and we wanted to be clear, along with the industry—and more than 400 people participated in the production of this tourism plan—about what our ambition is and how we would get there. The focus is around where we are in the appeal sector in the Australian market. Currently, South Australia is considered number six for appeal. The goal is obviously to increase tourism expenditure, but to increase that appeal to number three. That is our ambition that we want to do here.

Your question is: how do we go about that? There are many different things about making us a destination that is appealing to Australians and to international travellers as well. We are looking at new and evolving products and experiences. We recently introduced the Experience Development Program. What I call that is part of the business of tourism: you have a great product, but how do you actually get it into international markets? How do you make it part of the itineraries? How does it work in that way?

Other things we have been doing, of course, are around investment. The AHICE Industry Conference has been held here, I think, for four years now, where we have a gathering of all decision-makers for hotel investment throughout South-East Asia coming to Adelaide. We have held quite a few different events, and we are very excited to be hosting the Australian Tourism Exchange in 2026.

These are different things we have been doing. Investment is part of product and experience, but most importantly it is us working out who we are and what we have to offer to Australians and to people internationally. We know that we are already number one in food and drink and we have a great reputation there. We are also very known for our events and festivals.

One of the areas that we believe is a great area of growth for us is 'tourism for good', or tourism as a force for good, which supports both the environment and people. Our connection to wildlife and to the outback is very strong, but it is not necessarily something that people have known about South Australia, it is not what first comes to mind, so that is one of the areas we are going to lead in to drive demand.

One of the more practical ways of how we build it is we increase international aviation links. I am very pleased to say that we have had all the airlines that were flying here pre-COVID now returning, or they have indicated that they are going to return, plus a few additional airlines as well. I speak specifically to the great announcement about United Airlines coming here, starting seasonally at the end of this year. Those airline connections are incredibly important.

At the moment, we would need to aim to have 20,200 seats internationally coming into Adelaide every single week to achieve that $12.8 billion, and that is what we are going to look at, focusing on how we get there. That would require 6,000 seats, but we are at about 13,000 seats a week now.

Ms PRATT: Thank you. For the first part of this session, I will just pull apart some of those statistics a bit more. Firstly, let me say on behalf of the opposition and all South Australians, we share the aspiration of the government and SATC to grow the visitor economy to reach that target of $12.8 billion, to bunny hop other states up the domestic ladder. The challenge, then, for the agency and the sector is the how. Where the target is meant to be reached in five years' time, on average, we are looking at growth of about $2.9 billion a year.

Coming back to the how, the annual report or the minister's own performance agreement and stretch targets start to document across those different fields the how. The annual report for the financial year 2023-24—because there is not one tabled yet, so it is 12 months old—did reflect a decline of about 1 per cent in that annual growth. How specifically are we going to pursue or achieve, on average, a $2.9 billion growth per annum for the next five years, factoring in that that is assuming that everything is glowing and rosy and going well and not factoring in global factors, international flight diversions and those sorts of things? How confident can we be that every year is going to show growth?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I think the answer is not every year will show lineal growth. We know, even in the last five years, we have probably not had a normal year. Right now, dry and drought conditions are impacting on our economy, as is the cost of living. We know that tourism is particularly part of disposable income. Because we have a higher percentage here of intrastate travel and day trips, we have actually seen that impact in South Australia more heavily than in other states. That is why increasing our international tourism is incredibly important, to balance out the pie as to where our expenditure comes from, to get more interstate travellers coming here, whether it be for tourism, for holidaying or for business conventions and conferences. That is how we will build out the pie.

I am quite confident in the work that we have done to build our Celebrate the Simple Pleasures place-based strategy. It is very authentic. It is who we are and what we want to represent to the world. We also think there is a need for what it is that we have here, and that was identified through many different interviews taken to form up what was our new marketing campaign. So it will require concentrated effort. Do I think that every single year we will see that $2.9 billion go up? No, we will not.

Of course, the biggest shock we have ever had in the last few years was COVID, where our borders shut. Then we bounced out of COVID quite well from a regional point of view. Regional tourism went up, particularly when people were prevented from going interstate and overseas. Every year is going to see some changes. Other challenges we have had in more recent times have been the bushfires at the end of 2019 and in early 2020 and of course the high water that we experienced along the River Murray. So at all times we have to be agile and flexible.

We know what it is that we have to offer, and we think that we are a great answer for the complexity in the world. We know we are good in food and wine. There is a really great opportunity for nature and wildlife to be developed further. It is interesting, because people say, 'Is this what people want?' and we are hearing that this is what people want: they want to connect to nature and they want to connect with their families.

One of the great things about South Australia is that, once you are here, it is very easy to get around. You can be in great wine areas within an hour and you can be in the outback in only a couple of hours, and these are things that we need to keep putting forward.

Regarding the challenges ahead, of course it is a hypercompetitive industry, and every other territory and state minister for tourism, and the federal minister for tourism, is competing for the same amount of pie. So we have to grow the pie and we have to look at those experiences and those products. I feel quite confident that we can do it, and international aviation links are a key part of that story.

Ms PRATT: What do we understand about the South Australian domestic intrastate traveller in terms of the consumer behaviour of South Australians? In the annual report for the year 2023-24 we saw a decline in daytrip expenditure by 14 per cent. How is the Simple Pleasures campaign, or any other campaign, appealing to South Australians?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I will just get you to make your reference to the budget.

Ms PRATT: Absolutely. I refer to page 127, where the final dot point stipulates that additional funding will be allocated for the Regional Tourism Alignment Initiative to bolster regional tourism. When it comes to bolstering regional tourism, have we seen a decline in daytrips and in South Australian travellers interacting with their own tourism experiences?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We have seen some expenditure falling for daytrip expenditure: it is down 20 per cent from December 2023 to December 2024. I think there are two things that I can talk to about why it is quite significant. The first, of course, is cost-of-living concerns: people have been more limited in their own budget. But it also comes from a great high coming out of COVID. As I spoke to previously in terms of daytrip and intrastate movement, South Australians had much more freedom of movement than other states did, so we saw people discovering their own backyard very quickly and we actually came up high really quickly.

I would say that what we are seeing is normal, except of course with the challenging economic times. Nationally, there was a significant decline in daytrip expenditure of about 7 per cent for the year, but we have seen that that is more of a normalisation of activity for that. At the same time, we have also seen an increase in people travelling overseas. In 2022 and 2023 we saw people still holidaying more in their own backyards and maybe interstate, and then, probably in the last year, we saw a significant uplift in how many people were going on international holidays as well.

Can I say as well that we are seeing some improvements, on a quarterly basis, in regional visitor expenditure. It improved from $3.9 million in the year to September 2024 to $4 billion in the year to December 2025. It indicates that the decline that we had there has been arrested. Within that, we see that regional accommodation grew particularly strongly back in March 2025, where we got up to 64 per cent, and we have seen that being quite strong as it goes along. There are lots of different ways in which we look at how things are going, but there is no doubt at all that daytrip performance has been challenged.

Ms PRATT: I refer to page 124, objective, the first paragraph on SATC and the government looking to support industry and businesses to grow the visitor economy and create jobs for the state. I do not have a figure in the budget for private sector jobs, but I understand that the announcement today speaks to jobs growth as well, and setting a target for 2030 calculations I made, again on average, would have been looking for growth by about 2,400 employees in the sector—not agency staff but job sector growth. What target has the agency set for sector growth per annum or by 2030, and what investment is going to support that growth?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: The target in the 2030 strategy is 46,000 jobs, up from 40,600 in June of last year (there is a delay in that figure)—

Ms PRATT: Minister, this is respectful, I am going to reference the annual report just to put into context last year's figure, which was 52,000. We are seeing a shift backwards, so can you speak to that, if you do not mind?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: There is a change. We particularly saw a reconsideration of that data coming out from COVID, where the growth trajectory we were on—which was forecast back from 2019—did presume or project that that is what it would be, in the 50,000s. We have seen that slow down. I think people certainly became more efficient during COVID and there has been lots of training about employment. The net growth in jobs of 5,000 that we are forecasting does remain similar to the previous plan but starting off from a lower base.

If I can just talk about the tourism jobs, the aim is to get to 46,000 and you are asking how we will do that. One of the key things we did on coming into government was have our agreement with the Tourism Industry Council of South Australia. I had been speaking with them in depth about what we wanted to do, and we supported them to develop a careers guide in tourism. We felt there was a lack of knowledge in the wider population about the diversity of jobs within tourism.

People often think about a hotel receptionist, they might think about a tour guide, but there are lots of other different pathways, whether it be within marketing and sales, or the production of conferences and conventions. That careers guide provides a significant diversity of what those jobs are and the training you would need to equip yourself for those roles.

Ms PRATT: In terms of growing confidence within the sector to have the confidence to recruit, obviously the careers guide is there to support that, but we have also seen perhaps greater efficiencies, doing more with less, in the sector. To push the point for regional tourism operators, because I do not know what the split is in terms of workforce, metro versus regional, but what is the industry's approach to supporting regional tourism operators to grow their employment base?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Some of the work the Tourism Industry Council does—and I think they do an incredibly good job—is to do a lot of training sessions to support their members. They also look at those vocational, education and training pathways and at the national tourism micro credential courses.

Over this past year, which is part of our agreement with them, $1.6 million goes to TICSA over a four-year program that focuses around business capability, careers in tourism, and cultural development. The deliver 21 workshops across 11 regions and are on track to meeting the target of 30 workshops across nine regions by the end of this financial year. They are getting out there and supporting people within the regions, how they can build their businesses.

One of the key themes I had over the last few years is around collaboration within regions. Often people are very busy working in their own business; it takes a lot of work to run their business, but often it is those collaborations with other tourism experiences and product within that region that can really build out their business even further. So the Tourism Industry Council does a great job within that.

Ms PRATT: Minister, in case I do not get back to it, I think looking at regional tourism operators is an important and fantastic topic to be on. The challenges you have listed over the last five or six years have included COVID, bushfires, the River Murray flood, cost of living, and I will now add the drought. There was a release today that speaks to a Regional Event Fund.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Yes.

Ms PRATT: I am happy to draw the attention of the chamber back to page 127, bolstering regional tourism. In light of the drought and the impact to not just farmers but small businesses in country towns, is the drought not a challenge, a barrier and a limitation now to, currently, agritourism and the Regional Event Fund? How is an approach to agritourism and the Regional Event Fund actually going to bloom and blossom in the middle of a drought?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Agritourism is a particular area that I have championed over the past few years. It is actually a good diversity of alternative farm income. Obviously, none of us want to be in the situation we are in right now. We are in very difficult situations, but we have the sector plan and the agritourism framework to support people who are interested in building out agritourism within their facilities. We can see that it provides alternative income into the farm.

We know that over the course of time we are going to have dry conditions. We are also going to have conditions where there is too much rain at other times. We know that climate instability is something that is a challenge, so to support people to have alternative income into the business is something that we have looked at.

Today, we announced an additional $400,000 for the Drought Relief Regional Event Fund to host events in drought-affected regions. People can apply from 1 July for $25,000 up to $75,000 per event. This is in addition to the current Regional Event Fund. It is part of the $73 million drought package that we have as a state.

Ms PRATT: Thank you.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We want to support the resilience of people in our regions. We want them to know that we hear them and we see them and that they are not alone. Driving visitation to regions is one part of the package that we are proposing.

Ms PRATT: What data do we have about overnight stays currently in the regions? In my region, for example, the Clare Valley and Goyder Burra area, certainly tourism operators, RDAs and councils understand the challenge of housing seasonal workers in accommodation. Are seasonal workers captured in that overnight regional stay dataset? Can the minister speak to that?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: There are some challenges in the way we get the data because you need to have more than 10 accommodation facilities within it. I cannot speak directly to the Clare one, but we know that occupancy is currently at 64 per cent within the regional area, which was up 3 per cent on the same time in the previous month. Over the calendar year, regional hotels saw an occupancy of about 58 per cent, down just 1 per cent from previously. That has been fairly steady for the past few years, as far as regional occupancy goes. Specifically to that question about whether—

Ms PRATT: Are seasonal workers captured in those regional overnight stays statewide?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I would have to take that on notice.

Ms PRATT: Would you mind?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: This is national data that is captured so it measures apples with apples, so I would have to—

Ms PRATT: It would be a national challenge anyway.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: It would be a national capture. It is sometimes challenging to capture within regions. You need a cluster of accommodation to be able to compare that, but I will take that question on notice.

Ms PRATT: Moving on to aviation, page 126, 'Collaborate with Adelaide Airport Limited, airlines and key stakeholders to further increase international and domestic airline capacity', we note and welcome the introduction, of course, of Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, Qantas International and additional Air New Zealand services in Adelaide, but on the face of it it looks like they are seasonal routes, with the majority of them running between October this year and March next year. What is the government doing to attract these airlines for a continuous permanent international service?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We have actually seen a change since COVID when new airlines are entering into a jurisdiction. We are not alone in this situation. An airline, whether previously flying here or whether it is a new airline into our state, considers year 1 as one of the more challenging years. In year 2, things solidify, with the ambition by year 3 that you would have a year-round service. We have seen that with China Southern, in the way it has come back as seasonal, the same as Cathay Pacific, and then our brand-new one with United as well, and Qantas flying to Auckland will be seasonal. This has become the new norm as to how airline aviation routes start up in a jurisdiction now. This has been a significant change since COVID.

We feel quite confident because of the cooperative marketing that we do with these airlines that we can build that capacity and that we will get to year-round with all of those airlines. That is depending on what other global shocks there may well be. In the past two weeks, we have seen the volcano in Indonesia, which disrupted some airlines, and then of course we have seen the instability in the Middle East interrupt. We are in a hypercompetitive global environment. The agreements that we have are very strong. We have a pathway forward and we have a strong belief that we will get to year-round with all of the different airlines, but the reality is that we live in a world with lots of challenges and changes.

Ms PRATT: Accepting the new normal for startups returning to hosting some of these carriers, are there other states in Australia in a similar situation where they are reduced to seasonal arrangements in the interim, or is Adelaide unique in Australia in really having to rebuild its international flights?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: No, we are not unique at all. The other thing to add is there was a global shortage of aircraft, and they have to prioritise their routes between the markets. What we actually find is that you will have an airline here during our summer period that will then go to northern Europe during their summer period. These are a big bit of kit, all of these airlines that we have here, and airlines have to make a decision about maximising the use and the efficiency of that aircraft.

Ms PRATT: Regional tourism, regional flights: we have noticed in recent years that access to areas in various regions like Whyalla and Kangaroo Island have been reduced with Rex being pushed out of the market by Qantas. Can the minister outline if visitation numbers have increased or decreased in these regions since Rex ceased operations?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I would have to get some information for you. On 23 June, we have 111 regional flights scheduled per week within South Australia, so that is 6,000 seats per week. That is 5 per cent higher than at this same time last year. I know we are not talking about international tourism right now, but for international flights we are up 20 per cent in seat numbers, year on year, so we have seen substantial growth in that.

From a regional point of view, there was a particular, I guess, contemporisation of the aircraft that is flying here now for Qantas in the regions—the Q400 aircraft. They fly to Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Mount Gambier. They are 30 per cent faster than the previous Q300 aircraft and that saves time for customers travelling and also there are fewer breakdowns, which is one of the challenges we have been having. Just yesterday, Whyalla was opened, so that can take the full load of the Q400, so that is quite good. Rex is operating 63 regional flights across South Australia each week: seven to Ceduna, three to Coober Pedy, 17 to Mount Gambier and 36 to Port Lincoln. That is from the beginning of this week.

Ms PRATT: Sorry, I was listening, because the next part of that, I guess, advocacy is that we all want to bring to the importance of regional flights around supporting business freight but also health. So what advocacy do you bring, or what can be done to limit the number of cancelled flights we sometimes see to those regional areas like Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Mount Gambier, particularly where the knock-on effect is an impact to health services?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I go back to the point to say there is a 5 per cent higher number of seats than there was this time last year and we have improved quality of aircraft. So the Q-400 is a big upgrade, much more efficient than we had previously.

Ms PRATT: Thank you.

The CHAIR: With that question, the time allotted having expired, I declare the examination—sorry, I am getting ahead of myself here.

Ms PRATT: There is half an hour to go, please, Chair.

The CHAIR: Maybe it is because I did not get a coffee at the last break!

Ms PRATT: I can ask a question about Whyalla Airport to wake you up, Chair.

The CHAIR: They are excellent questions; I am very interested in these.

Ms PRATT: Having reset my heart and the clock, I would like to move us onto cruising. I am just looking for a reference for the chamber, but let's go for page 126, 'Delivered a Cruise Ship Welcome Program' but also a target at the bottom of the page, 'Develop and implement the South Australian Cruise Action Plan 2030'. How many cruise ships are currently booked to return to South Australian ports in 2025-26—

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Fifty-five cruise ship visits.

Ms PRATT: —so this financial year and next, noting that the Seabourn Quest will dock in Wallaroo in March next year for a single day trip?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Let me talk about cruising. Cruising has been a real success story in South Australia. Particularly this year, I was thrilled to see the diversity of new ships that were coming here. Just to remind ourselves, the cruise season goes from October to June of every year. This 2024-25, which has just finished now, we had 114 cruise and expedition ships visit across Australia, with 206,200 passengers onboard.

They go to the Port Adelaide Passenger Terminal. We had 38 cruise ship visits to Port Lincoln and to Kangaroo Island, but we also had 40 ship visits to expedition landing sites or anchorages in unique and remote coastal destinations. For the first time since 2010, we had an anchorage at Victor Harbor, which was really exciting for us to have there.

There were 16 different cruise lines and 20 individual cruise ship visits here, including 21 first-time visits. That really is the story of the day: the 21 first-time visits. They used the term 'maiden voyage', a very old-school term. For the first time we had the Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess to Penneshaw and Port Lincoln, Holland America's Westerdam to Port Lincoln, Norwegian Cruise Lines' Norwegian Sun to Penneshaw and Adelaide, and MSC Cruises' Magnifica went to Adelaide and Penneshaw.

I have been leading the South Australian Cruise Attraction Working Group. We are the first state to form that. We hosted the Australian Cruise Association conference in September last year. We see that cruising is a great opportunity for us and I particularly am interested in the regional dispersal aspect of it.

I go back to those key things about us as a destination: food and drink are number one, festivals and events are very well known, but nature and connecting to the outback, being immersed in nature is something that we really see is a great area of growth for us. Those anchorages and remote locations really work very well for those expedition ships.

We have had some great engagement with SATC. The luxury cruise line Silversea have confirmed quite an extensive cruise season in South Australia for 2025-26. They are very high-end cruises that are very focused on food and drink and unique experiences, and it really does match what we have in South Australia.

Ms PRATT: What has been the estimated visitor spend generated in that season? You say it is from October to June, so it is not a full financial year. What do we know about the visitor spend?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: There is a delay for that figure to come out. That comes out in September. It will be released by the Cruise Association in September of this year, but I am trying to remember—off the top of my head, it was more than $200 million for the last cruise season. I will get you that answer.

Ms PRATT: Thank you, minister.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: It was $227 million for 2023-24, so it is worth quite a substantial impact.

Ms PRATT: And we would be hoping to see that increase when the figures are released for this season?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I will be really honest with you, there are some changes that are happening because of the changes that P&O made. Of course, we made many representations to them, but that was a decision globally. We see a great opportunity for us to lean into those exceptional experiences, those intimate experiences, immersive experiences, particularly in the regions.

As you mentioned, there are some ships coming to Robe and to Wallaroo, I think in two years' time. These are unique experiences that people remember. What I keep saying about cruising is it is a taster for people. They absolutely love what they experience and then they come back and they book two weeks' holiday here as well. This is a long-term plan for us. There will be some challenges this cruise season (2025-26) because of that decision, but ultimately we are in a really good position.

The Cruise Attraction Working Group has been fantastic to get everyone around the table, whether it be from Flinders Ports to one of the key leaders, Phil Hoffmann, who has been working with us, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport and, of course, ACA have been part of that as well. It has been a very good opportunity to understand what we can do and what we cannot do, what are the limitations around the difference between the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, border control challenges, and having an economy of scale of people, particularly the Melbourne Port, which is where people are more likely to come out from. There are great opportunities for us, particularly working with WA and Tasmania as well, so I think this could be quite fruitful into the future.

Ms PRATT: Does leaning into those opportunities then look like a government intention to invest in infrastructure or expand infrastructure in regional cruise ports and anchorages, and what might that look like? Does the government have plans—

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Obviously, we will continue to talk to Flinders Ports—they are on the Cruise Attraction Working Group—about what that might look like as well. Can I tell you one thing that makes a difference is international aviation links. Silversea, which is a fantastic cruise line that really fits our market, said having direct access to the US from Adelaide would be a game changer, and that is going to happen, and we delivered on that.

Ms PRATT: As you mentioned the working group, I am going to assume that is different to the Cruise Development Team, which I think is referenced in the cruise document.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Yes.

Ms PRATT: What would the FTE allocation be for the Cruise Development Team?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: It is within existing resources through Destination Development. There are three FTEs that are dedicated to that.

Ms PRATT: Chair, we are going to move to the omnibus questions for the moment.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Minister, these are the omnibus questions:

1. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, how many executive appointments have been made since 1 July 2024 and what is the annual salary and total employment cost for each position?

2. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, how many executive positions have been abolished since 1 July 2024 and what was the annual salary and total employment cost for each position?

3. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, what has been the total cost of executive position terminations since 1 July 2024?

4. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, will the minister provide a breakdown of expenditure on consultants and contractors with a total estimated cost above $10,000 engaged since 1 July 2024, listing the name of the consultant, contractor or service supplier, the method of appointment, the reason for the engagement and the estimated total cost of the work?

5. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, will the minister provide an estimate of the total cost to be incurred in 2025-26 for consultants and contractors, and for each case in which a consultant or contractor has already been engaged at a total estimated cost above $10,000, the name of the consultant or contractor, the method of appointment, the reason for the engagement and the total estimated cost?

6. For each department or agency reporting to the minister, how many surplus employees are there in June 2025, and for each surplus employee, what is the title or classification of the position and the total annual employment cost?

7. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, what is the number of executive staff to be cut to meet the government's commitment to reduce spending on the employment of executive staff and, for each position to be cut, its classification, total remuneration cost and the date by which the position will be cut?

8. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, what savings targets have been set for 2025-26 and each year of the forward estimates, and what is the estimated FTE impact of these measures?

9. For each department and agency reporting to the minister:

(a) What was the actual FTE count at June 2025 and what is the projected actual FTE account for the end of each year of the forward estimates?

(b) What is the budgeted total employment cost for each year of the forward estimates?

(c) How many targeted voluntary separation packages are estimated to be required to meet budget targets over the forward estimates and what is their estimated cost?

10. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, how much is budgeted to be spent on goods and services for 2025-26 and for each year of the forward estimates?

11. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, how many FTEs are budgeted to provide communication and promotion activities in 2025-26 and each year of the forward estimates and what is their estimated employment cost?

12. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, what is the total budgeted cost of government-paid advertising, including campaigns, across all mediums in 2025-26?

13. For each department and agency reporting to the minister, please provide for each individual investing expenditure project administered, the name, total estimated expenditure, actual expenditure incurred to June 2024 and budgeted expenditure for 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28.

14. For each grant program or fund the minister is responsible for, please provide the following information for the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 financial years:

(a) Name of the program or fund;

(b) The purpose of the program or fund;

(c) Budgeted payments into the program or fund;

(d) Budgeted expenditure from the program or fund; and

(e) Details, including the value and beneficiary, or any commitments already made to be funded from the program or fund.

15. For each department and agency reporting to the minister:

(a) Is the agency confident that you will meet your expenditure targets in 2025-26? Have any budget decisions been made between the delivery of the budget on 5 June 2025 and today that might impact on the numbers presented in the budget papers which we are examining today?

(b) Are you expecting any reallocations across your agencies' budget lines during 2025-26; if so, what is the nature of the reallocation?

16. For each department and agency reporting to the minister:

(a) What South Australian businesses will be used in procurement for your agencies in 2025-26?

(b) What percentage of total procurement spend for your agencies does this represent?

(c) How does this compare to last year?

17. What percentage of your department's budget has been allocated for the management of remote work infrastructure, including digital tools, cybersecurity, and support services, and how does this compare with previous years?

18. How many procurements have been undertaken by the department this FY. How many have been awarded to interstate businesses? How many of those were signed off by the CE?

19. How many contractor invoices were paid by the department directly this FY? How many and what percentage were paid within 15 days, and how many and what percentage were paid outside of 15 days?

20. How many and what percentage of staff who undertake procurement activities have undertaken training on participation policies and local industry participants this FY?

Ms PRATT: Returning to destination management plans, page 126, and the target 'Complete the delivery of destination management plans across the regions to identify regional priorities and increase strategic alignment', are we on track for that phased approach of stages 1, 2 and 3? How many regional tourism organisations so far have progressed to nominate for that pilot, as described in stage 2?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Can I just answer a question you had before about seasonal workers? If they are staying in an hotel they are then captured under that data, but only if they stay at an hotel.

Ms PRATT: Only a hotel, to be compared to a B&B, an apartment or short-term rental?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Short-term rental or taking a sublease somewhere.

Ms PRATT: Thank you.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: The strengthening regional tourism process we have been doing is something that I have been championing quite strongly, to look at that strategic and operational alignment. It has been a very good process that we have been going through. I think we have had some very robust conversations. At the same time that we were putting together the tourism strategy plan for 2030, we were going through this review.

So far, apart from the destination management plan, which you asked about, that is processing quite well. We have different groups. We have a plan of going through all the different destinations. Group 1 was Clare Valley, Yorke Peninsula and Southern Flinders. That was collected, and I think you participated in the industry engagement yourself. That should be completed by August of this year. The next group, group 2, is Kangaroo Island and Limestone Coast. They have just done a consultation, and we expect that to be done by October of this year.

Ms PRATT: Just checking: are they one zone or separate, KI and Limestone Coast?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: This is different things. This is the destination management plan. This would be the 12 different management plans, with people having individual ways that they want to represent their area, consistent ways so they can prioritise and identify. Group 3 will be Barossa Valley and Adelaide. Group 4 will be Flinders and Outback, Eyre Peninsula. Adelaide Hills is in Group 5, which will be the Riverland, Murray River, Lakes and Coorong.

Separate to that, of course, is the conversation around zones. I am pleased to say that the pilot zone working group has appointed the board of directors, including the chair and six directors, for what I think we are calling SAMNI, which includes the Clare Valley, Yorke Peninsula and the Southern Flinders. That is the first group as a management zone. I am really pleased that Sandy Verschoor will be the chair of that zone. Anne Minion, who runs Copper Trails Bike Hire, Angela Ruddenklau, Bridget Johns, Belinda Heinrich, Dylan Strong and John Bell are also there. There will be some learnings from that pilot. I recently saw advertising for a CEO for that working group.

The next ones are in consultation. These are happening now. This is not a mandated way. This will be regionally led, going ahead with the zones, and we are learning from this first pilot how that works and how that comes together. At the moment, I understand there are conversations particularly around the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, and my expectation is that the Limestone Coast will be included within that very soon.

Ms PRATT: Going back a step from the review that was kicked off in 2023 and the models that were put forward—I think there were five—was there broad support for option 5, this regional tourism model that the industry wants to see being led by the regions? How confident are you that all of our regions will opt in to establishing zones?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I am very confident that they will all opt in, but it is because we want to show that there is purpose behind it and strategic alignment to achieve what we want to achieve, to increase our appeal factor, to grow our tourism expenditure to $12.8 billion. I wanted it to be regionally led, because I want people to feel confident in the zones that could be created and, of course, separate to that, the destination management plan that will be individual for different areas.

We want to think about how tourists move through our state. In particular, there is a lot of connectivity through coming through from Melbourne to the Limestone Coast, around Fleurieu Peninsula and on to Kangaroo Island. Tourists who are here do not see council boundaries. International tourists often do not even see the state boundaries, so we have to be thinking about the products and the experiences that they are having, first to be drawn to a destination and then within that region, within that zone, to experience.

Ultimately we say, we want people to linger longer in that region. For example, one of the conversations with the Barossa Valley is that it is great that it is so accessible, but it means that it is harder to get people to stay overnight. So if we have more products, more experiences, more diversity of experiences, then people are more likely to stay overnight. If there are different things for people to do and the collaboration is there, that will work very well.

Ms PRATT: Have there been any changes to funding arrangements in the following context—funding for any zone will be based on the needs for consolidated regions as an entity; and marketing support to each of these 12 regions this financial year appears to be about $100,000—and are regions being incentivised to opt in where the SATC will increase current funding arrangements by an additional 50 per cent to support the development of those destination management plans?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: In last year's budget, there was $20 million additional money for tourism. The majority of that, of course, went to additional marketing money, but a key portion of that was about supporting regional development and regional tourism. The amount paid to each region is $882,800 for the financial year, which is $80,254 each. Then that will go up slightly to $82,261 each. That is allocated to each region, which is up from $52,000, so that is a significant increase there.

Additional funding will be provided to the new destination management zone as they form the pilot program. Final funding is to be allocated as we work out the establishment of the zone, but it will result in a net increase in funding to those regions. We are not just reviewing without additional support; we are reviewing it and then adding additional support.

Ms PRATT: That would also capture current funding arrangements for the local contact person in that role?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: That is correct. Currently, those agreements have gone for 2025-26. That is part of the $82,261.

Ms PRATT: Thank you. To clarify, is that for this financial year and the next? Is it ongoing?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Yes—until the zones are established.

Ms PRATT: Which could be 2027?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Yes. There is a guarantee of funding, but there is additional funding once a zone is established.

Ms PRATT: As part of a commitment to transparency about this process and that it is regionally led, will results of the pilot, which is taking place capturing my region, be not just released with the other regions but publicly released so that the sector more fully can see progress being made? In this staged approach where the end date is meant to be 2027, what is the timing around the pilot being completed and results being shared before 2027?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We are implementing at the moment those recommendations from the review that was commenced in July 2024. There is definitely significant interest around South Australia in how this works. Perhaps if I could feed some history back, when we did this review we looked internationally and we looked throughout Australia about how tourism bodies support regional tourism operations.

There was significant research done to try to find the best practice. There was not one solid-gold model about which everyone said, 'This is the best way to do it.' So this is the process that we are doing, which is why it is a pilot zone. We will be very open with people, and we will look at that. The pilot officially establishes in August this year, 2025. There will be a review on that establishment, and they have a deliverable check-in in March 2026.

Ms PRATT: To look at this a different way, we are supremely confident that all regions will opt in and participate. They are watching closely for the pilot and the results to guide them and their experience. Should there be a region that makes a decision not to embrace a destination management zone, is there an inverted consequence around funding arrangements that regions may be incentivised to participate or their funding arrangement increases where they have a zone; in the absence of a zone, will they be out of pocket?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I can assure you that their funding will continue, as I have committed to it being continued. As far as what will happen after that, we will assess the reason as to why and work with them directly. This is not a retrograde step and this is not an act of 'you have to be with us or you are not with us'. This is about us all having a shared ambition to get to $12.8 million for the tourism economy, and we all want to be working together and pulling in one direction.

My rationale for doing the review is that I felt we had some absolutely fantastic people working in tourism in the regions who were getting burnt out, who were not being supported adequately and who were having a diversity of expectations placed upon them by different players within the region and within the industry. What I wanted to do is provide more capacity, more capability and more collaboration and, ultimately, to drive us as a destination and to get that appeal factor up.

Ms PRATT: In the five minutes we have left, I move finally to marketing: on page 130 the first three dot points refer to the new campaign, Celebrate the Simple Pleasures, and 'Travel. Our Way' and 'Winter. Our Way'. Is the 'Travel. Our Way' campaign still running and is 'Winter. Our Way' from the last financial year still running, or were they one-off campaigns?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: 'Travel. Our Way' and 'Winter. Our Way' have finished. They were obviously a holding place, to some extent, while we were doing this significant place-based work that we have done, which of course we announced in April.

Ms PRATT: Just out of interest, what were the results, particularly for 'Winter. Our Way'? What did we learn about that as a campaign?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We know that winter is a challenging time for us. April through to August last year we did that—we wanted to look at our unique winter tourism offerings, which is probably something we have not really done a lot of. We focused and leaned in on Illuminate Adelaide and the heli-camping at Rawnsley Park Station. One of the ones that I think goes to nature, engagement and immersion is the swimming with giant cuttlefish in Whyalla on Eyre Peninsula. I have had the chance to go and do it myself. It was absolutely stunning. Obviously, the photography that comes from it—and I am sure our Chair has done it—is really great. We are hearing that it is going to be a very good season this year.

'Winter. Our Way' was really important to us in looking at the low off-season and having a technical measure and message about awareness and greater demand. We certainly learned a lot from it. The campaign performed quite strongly. We will obviously have a winter element with our campaign Celebrate the Simple Pleasures: we are calling it The Simple Pleasures of Winter, and we will be doing that this year and in the foreseeable future.

Ms PRATT: Minister, just to jump around for a moment—to page 128, under tourism events, regarding the Santos Tour Down Under. What advice have you sought about any need for naming rights, given recent reports about the sponsor?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We have a contract with Santos for three more years. That was signed last year, and I am confident that contract will continue. I thank Santos for their contribution here. Their partnership has been incredibly important for us to develop the Santos Tour Down Under, particularly in regard to the elite women whom we now see coming here. Without that continued investment it would have been very difficult for us to offer equal prize money for men and women, which we were one of the first to do. As I said, they are contracted as our naming rights partner until 2028. We are in regular contact with them and so I do not have any concerns at this point.

Ms PRATT: This is probably my final question. Jumping back to the April launch of the Celebrate the Simple Pleasures campaign, what evidence do we have, since April, that that is starting to drive growth in the visitor economy?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I am sure all the other tourism ministers in the other jurisdictions are very jealous of our campaign! Obviously, we will continue to monitor that, and we have production investments as part of the long-term investment to do that. It is too early to tell at this point to have those statistics, but, as soon as I do, I will be sharing them widely in terms of what we are seeing as a pick-up and a recognition.

Ms PRATT: If we do not know that, and I accept that it is a bit too early—I think it was a $9.8 million spend. Can you confirm the spend and the allocation and give a breakdown of how we have spent or allocated that across the sector?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: In 2024-25, the spend for Simple Pleasures was $9.7 million, and that was part of the domestic marketing and digital marketing budgets. In 2025-26, the forecast spend for Celebrate the Simple Pleasures is $9.1 million, which of course will enable us, from July this year, to go into international markets with Celebrate the Simple Pleasures. We monitor everything. It is very data-driven in what is a very hypercompetitive field. Every tourism minister believes they have the right thing to encourage destination management, to have destination development and to create a demand for people to come to their area.

A lot of work was done, and I thank the South Australians who participated in the interviews that got us to this point of having it reflect who we are. But there is a lot of work still to do, and one of the key things is longevity in the market with the same line, the same brand, and a recognition of that. What I think is particularly exceptional is our use of art and South Australian artists: it is something unique, it is something different and it is very eye-catching. So I am quite positive about us fielding excellent results, and of course I will come back and share them with South Australians as well.

Can I take the opportunity to thank the officers from the South Australian Tourism Commission and Adelaide Venue Management, who did not get a question asked but who nonetheless prepared for today as well. It takes a lot of work to do this. We have done some excellent stuff in the last 12 months, but it only comes because we have such a dedicated team in the Tourism Commission. I feel like Celebrate the Simple Pleasures is a moment in which we are authentically representing who we are to Australia and to the world. I am ambitious that we achieve the tourism expenditure that we want to achieve to help us see tourism as very important and as something that continues to be important as an economic driver for our state.

The CHAIR: Thank you, minister, and thank you to all the public servants who have made a contribution to this process. Obviously, there is a lot of work behind scenes that is done in order to prepare for today. The time allotted having expired, I declare the examination of the South Australian Tourism Commission and the Adelaide Venue Management Corporation complete. Further examination of the proposed payments for the Administered Items for the Department of Treasury and Finance will continue after the break. Once again, thank you to the minister and to the advisers for their attendance here today.

Sitting suspended from 11:18 to 11:30.


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