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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) (14:53): My question is for the Minister for Tourism. How much did taxpayers pay for the exclusive invite only Sam Smith social influencer event and was alcohol included in that cost? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: According to one influencer, and I quote:

At the Sofitel it was very private. There was free alcohol here; so you've gotta believe we got a little messed up, but it was worth it, like, the vibes here were immaculate. I tried to vape; found out I don't like vapes…I think there was only 300 people here, it was pretty intimate…I still genuinely don't understand how we can get invited to these things, like…I just feel so lucky…it's like a dream come true, I don't know, it's just incredible…imagine how we feel.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley is warned. The minister has the call.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:54): I thank the member for the question. We had an opportunity for a competitive promotion to have Sam Smith here in South Australia. We went for that opportunity, because if it wasn't us it would have been in front of Sydney Harbour. We want to change perceptions—

Mr Patterson: At least more people would have known about it.

The SPEAKER: Member for Morphett!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —of South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We want to shift and challenge those perceptions.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: So why are they laughing at us over this, then?

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We want to raise awareness. But this is an absolute nonsense question, and I will not take advice from you.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Let's just give ourselves a bit of context here. When the opposition were in government—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Schubert!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —they came up with the Old Mate campaign. The geniuses that had an old mate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: At a time when we are raising awareness—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: You're running a Labor mates government.

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley, you are warned for a second time.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: At a time when we are raising awareness about South Australia, when we are committed to changing the perceptions, what we have to fight is this legacy. And what a legacy in tourism was left: an old mate crying.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley! Member for Morialta!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Crying in Adelaide, crying about South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Florey is warned. The member for Hartley is warned. The member for Morialta on a point of order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98: the minister is not responding to the substance of the question. She is debating. The question was direct: how much did taxpayers pay, and did that include the cost of the alcohol?

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully. There is some force in the submission that is being put to me. Standing order 98 does require the minister to have well in mind the question.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: There was a modest expenditure for what has been an extraordinary outcome.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: And the things that were thrown around by the opposition were absolute nonsense. As the Premier made clear, we have a commercial-in-confidence arrangement, but it was about a six-figure sum.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members to my left, you have many answers but you are not on your feet.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: As a government, we are entirely committed to building back the tourism and hospitality industry. Now, I have had the opportunity for five years in opposition and in government to hold this portfolio, and can I tell you who was crying? It was our tourism industry. It felt let down by this government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Schubert well knows the standing orders. Member for Morialta.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98: the minister is not answering the substance of the question. She is debating and she should be drawn back to the point, sir.

The SPEAKER: I draw the minister's attention to the question at hand, and I remind all members that an answer is likely to be within the standing orders if it falls closest to the heart or the pith of the question that was asked.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: As I said, this was a modest expenditure for an extraordinary outcome, and we are committed to growing it. I said how much it was, as much as I can because of commercial in confidence—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Morialta!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —and we used a tried-and-tested use of influencers and media people—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Florey is warned.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —and, more importantly, people who won a national radio competition. You seem to forget that for five weeks what we were talking about—

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

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —is South Australia, all over Australia. This was a great opportunity for us to raise awareness and change perceptions. People came to South Australia to see this unique opportunity, this promotional concert.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We did not pay them to come. We did support them while they were here, but that is a tried-and-tested method.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I will not be lectured to by people who fail the tourism industry time and time again. Can we not forget they axed the Adelaide 500—one of the biggest failures possible, one of the most popular events.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Wright!

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We are committed to building out the calendar.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey! The member for Florey is warned for a second time. He well knows the standing orders.

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