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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-01 Daily Xml
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Motions

Australian Hotels Association

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (11:06): I move

That this house—

(a) recognises the Australian Hotels Association (South Australian Branch), AHA-SA, was established in 1871 and has been an integral part of South Australia's hospitality and tourism industry for more than 150 years;

(b) notes that the AHA-SA is a peak industry organisation that represents and protects the commercial interests of hoteliers throughout South Australia, providing advice on a range of topics, including legislative changes, licensing, gaming, industrial relations, insurance, responsible gambling and community liaison;

(c) acknowledges the social and economic contributions of AHA-SA and its members, which comprise 630 hotels in South Australia, from small country pubs to five-star hotels and resorts; and

(d) recognises the valuable work by AHA-SA Executive Council and its Awards of Excellence program to fulfil its mission to encourage, foster and promote the pursuit of excellence in service, facilities and management practices among members for the benefit of the industry and the community of South Australia.

Today it is a great honour to highlight in this house the outstanding achievements and the important role that the South Australian Branch of the AHA plays here in our state.

As I have already mentioned, for more than 150 years since establishment in 1871 the AHA has played an integral role in South Australia's growing hospitality and tourism industry. It represents and protects what is and continues to be a tourism and hospitality sector that has developed an incredibly high standard of excellence and product to serve our community.

As the peak industry body, it does its very best to represent what is a very diverse membership, from small pubs in country regions to pubs through our CBD and broader metropolitan area, to resorts across regional South Australia, in rural communities, and to five-star hotels here in the CBD and beyond.

In terms of the scale of the industry in South Australia, the Adelaide University's South Australian Centre for Economic Studies, through research, has shown that pubs and hotels employ more than 26,000 South Australians and contribute well in excess of $4 billion to the local economy here in South Australia. It is also important to note that their contribution to our state as a whole also means that they contribute a significant amount to the running of government here in South Australia, with their combined economic contribution to our state's taxation estimated to be in the order of $577 million, which is a staggering mere 10 per cent, or just over, of South Australia's total taxation revenue.

While it has been a significant period of change for the AHA over the last 12 months after the retirement of longstanding CEO Ian Horne in July this year—I would just like to briefly recognise his contribution to the AHA in the house today. I am reliably informed that Ian was the CEO for 31 years of the last 38 years, with a brief interlude between 1998 and 2005 where he headed over to the Motor Trade Association of South Australia, having taken on the role in 1986 replacing the late Bill Spurr.

Bill Spurr's contribution to this state, both through the AHA and more broadly, has been recognised in this house before and rightly, before I get into more detail, in regard to the Awards for Excellence. I just want to recognise what the AHA has done in naming one of their primary awards during that awards ceremony after the late Bill Spurr. The WT Spurr AO Award for Tourism and Regional Promotion is a fantastic way to recognise the legacy that Bill Spurr has left South Australia, particularly his contribution in the tourism and broader hospitality space.

The AHA President, Mr David Basheer, said in announcing Ian's retirement:

Ian has been at the forefront of initiatives that have seen the hotel sector not only survive some of its most challenging issues ever but thrive and grow into an industry that contributes well in excess of $4 billion to the State's Gross Product.

I am sure it has been a delight for both sides of the house to welcome the new CEO Anna Moeller, the first female CEO in the AHA's history of more than 150 years. So, to Anna, I think the whole house expresses a welcome to you in that role and we look forward to working with you in a bipartisan manner moving forward as you take up the challenge of representing such a broad, diverse and significant industry here in South Australia. Anna is well equipped to take on the role having had leadership roles with Bendigo Bank, the Motor Trade Association and local government here in South Australia.

On behalf of this side of the house, before I go into more detail about the award winners from this year's Awards for Excellence, I would like to recognise the work and contribution and volunteer nature that the AHA board, or executive council as I should say in this case, have undertaken over the last year. In particular, I highlight the contributions of both David Basheer and Matt Binns as the President and Vice President respectively.

On to the main event, last night the AHA held their Awards for Excellence at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. It was the most highly attended Awards for Excellence event they have ever had, with more than 920 people in attendance from right across the industry from service providers to representatives of clubs, pubs and hotels themselves, as well as a good representation from many of those in this chamber and the other place.

In terms of the big awards, I would just like to recognise the top three. The Best Overall Hotel in the Metropolitan Area was awarded to the Cremorne Hotel, the Best Overall Hotel in a Country Area was awarded to the McLaren Vale Motel, and the Best Overall Hotel Accommodation division was awarded to Mount Lofty House. There was significant representation.

I think one of the things that the majority of members in this house reflect on when they see these awards is the representation and recognition by this industry, particularly to regional areas, really recognising the significant role that pubs in particular play in the social fabric of some of our regional towns and areas, sometimes more so than in metropolitan areas.

They are not just the place where people come to have a chat, to have a quiet beverage and to connect, to celebrate, to mark weddings, birthdays and other like events but they are also one of the fundamental contributors to the local community, whether that be through sponsorships of local sporting clubs and organisations or whether that be through the housing of local community groups for meetings or other events. It really cannot be understated the role some of these businesses in particular play in those areas. That is not to understate the importance of metropolitan pubs and clubs. They certainly play similar roles, but there is just a slight difference in the way that they are ingrained within our country areas.

I will very quickly read through some of the other winners on the night. You will notice a few that pop up a couple of times. Those that won awards include the Elephant British Pub and the Duke of Brunswick. The McLaren Vale Hotel won the WT Spurr Award for Tourism and Regional Promotion. Other winners included the Mayfair Hotel, noky@The Henty, the Cremorne Hotel, the Warradale Hotel and the V Hotel. The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel won their seventh Entertainment Venue Award in a row, so a significant win for them.

Other winners were the Modbury Hotel, The Pickled Duck—one of my favourite names of all the venues that were recognised last night—the Port Lincoln Hotel, 2KW, the Watervale Hotel with their fourth successive Innovation, Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Practice Award. Eos by SkyCity, the Duke of Brunswick, the Berri Hotel, the Stirling Hotel, the ibis Adelaide, the Atura Adelaide Airport, the Sofitel at Adelaide, Sequoia Lodge at Mount Lofty House, the Dalrymple Hotel, the Cremorne Hotel, the Warradale Hotel, the Belair Hotel, the Playford Hotel, the Watervale Hotel, and the Brompton Hotel were all winners.

There were joint winners of the Meeting and Events Venue of the Year between Adelaide Oval and Eos by SkyCity. Other winners included the Marion Hotel, the Middleton Tavern, and the Cross Keys Hotel. The HotelMOTEL—which I am reliably informed is not situated next to the Holiday Inn—and the McLaren Vale Hotel were also winners. The Kent Town Hotel and the Clovey shared the Redeveloped Hotel of the Year. The Chef of the Year went to Philip Pope at Adelaide Oval. Christopher Speck from Mount Lofty House won the Employee Excellence in Service Award, as well as Daniel Hall from the Alma Hotel in the general division. Without skipping over one of the most important awards of the night, Renae Daniell from the Penneshaw Pub was recognised as the Hotel Industry Rising Star of the Year for 2023.

I also want to highlight the inclusion of an all abilities hotel award at the awards last night, which recognised a hotel that had gone out of their way to take steps to make their venue more accessible for patrons of all abilities. It is the first time that that award has been presented and, as someone who hails from a background that has included such challenges, it is good to see that being recognised by the AHA as well.

To all those involved in the industry, to all the publicans, to all those who each and every day make a living doing what they do to run our pubs and clubs, putting their capital on the line to run small businesses that are at times at the whim of many different factors, whether they be economic or outside of that, we recognise your contribution to our state, we recognise the work that you do each and every day and we thank you for it. To the AHA and the winners of the Awards for Excellence this year: well done and congratulations.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (11:19): I rise to support the motion and thank the member for Colton for raising it in the house today. The Hotels Association and the industry in South Australia is important, it is huge, it is dynamic and it plays very important roles right across the state of South Australia, particularly in regional South Australia, the Limestone Coast and the area of MacKillop. They are dynamic businesses, they are businesses that serve the purposes of community, sporting groups, sponsorship, mental health, connection, mateship, friendship and everything else that the local hotel can provide.

I want to say a quick few words. I am thinking and hoping that this side of the house, the opposition, the Liberal Party, will be able to reflect on what they were like as the government around this industry and how they communicated and looked after this sector while they were in government. It is no hidden secret that many sectors, through the Marshall years, did not end up being supportive of the Marshall government: this one is no different.

I appreciate the fact that the member for Colton is raising this matter and appreciate all that this industry represents and its significance to South Australia, but I also hope that this side of the chamber, the opposition, can reflect on looking after important industries like the Hotels Association, the fact that people put their neck on the line, they invest their family's money, wealth and time into these sorts of business well beyond any recompense. As the member for Colton suggested, they deal with whims of different economic outcomes either monthly or yearly, or any type of cycle across time, with the ups and downs that happen by economic out times, upheaval and perhaps just pure changing times that we all live in today.

One thing that I think this sector, and perhaps all business sectors—as I have alluded to, where people put their life savings, capital and wealth into businesses and became business operators and owners—would like to see is a conservative, strong Liberal government bat for them, represent them and understand them. It was no mistake, I do not think, at the end of 2022, that this was just one sector that did not feel the love, communication or even support after what was a very tough time through COVID for everyone across the world, including Australia and South Australia.

One of the things I would say is that I hope that the new Liberal opposition is able to reflect, build on its communications, build on its understanding of private sector businesses and investment, recognise that they do make an important contribution to our economic outcomes and output throughout this state, looking after the community, as I have highlighted, and that this motion is the start of the Liberal opposition's understanding of this sector into the future.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (11:23): I rise in support of this motion. The Australian Hotels Association have played an important part of the tourism industry in hospitality industries for 150 years. They have very much been a fierce advocate and are never afraid to voice their views, whether or not governments of the day like it. What remains absolutely true to word is the commitment to South Australian business and their employment of the hospitality workers who support the industry. Their advocacy during the COVID pandemic was immense, as it was arguably the toughest time the industry has faced.

Since coming into government, this government has worked very closely with the AHA to help support the industry, which suffered during that very difficult time. As the member has just recently spoken about, it was a very challenging time for the industry, when they did not feel that their voice was being heard. There is no doubt at all that it was a time of uncertainty when businesses had to pivot and recreate, and we do know that the restrictions were very damaging to the industry. They lost a lot of people in the industry who could not know that there were events. They lost people from the industry because was there was a lack of certainty going on. It has been a challenge for people to come back into the sector.

We know there were tough decisions to be made, and we supported that at the time, but I know that there was work to be done to build back that relationship, and that has happened quite strongly. Since coming to government we have worked very closely with the AHA to support the industry.

I particularly want to thank Ian Horne, the former CEO of AHA (SA) for his immense and tireless work. Ian is somewhat of an institution here in South Australia: he is very measured, a great presence on media and a great voice for the industry. He is also a board member of the South Australian Tourism Commission, and he is involved with Adelaide Venue Management. He will be missed. Although he is no longer in the role of CEO, he remains a very fearless advocate and is very involved in the industry and the options for the future.

I would like to recognise the work of the president, David Basheer. He is much loved by many people, engages on both sides of politics, is open for a conversation, and is invested in the industry and invested in the future. We also welcome Anna Moeller as the new CEO. She has been involved in the AHA for some time and is stepping up into the role of CEO.

When we were putting together our election commitments we had a big focus on building back tourism and hospitality in South Australia. That was warmly welcomed by the AHA. We immediately invested $40 million into the Major Events Fund and, of course, $45 million into tourism marketing. We know that if we have a vibrant South Australia it directly benefits the AHA members and the workers they employ.

Our government has brought in new events, such as LIV Golf and Gather Round, to build out the event calendar. We want to reflect the vibrancy of South Australia all year round. We know the economic impact of both of these events. LIV Golf was just last week crowned the world's best golf event, and of course Gather Round was huge. More importantly, both have ongoing contracts, so not only was there an inaugural opportunity but both of those really significant events give us certainty into the future of what we can do here.

We know events and broader investments being here fills our hotels. A greater number of visitors means more money is spent in the hotels and venues, which directly supports the employment of staff. Before I detail all the events that we have had this year, I also want to raise the significance of business events. I call it the bread and butter of the industry. It is those events that fill our hotel rooms Monday to Friday, and they are really important.

The Convention Centre had its best year ever in 2022-23, and an even bigger year is expected this year. We have become a really recognised destination for business conferences. The city is only 15 minutes from the airport, and people love the feeling of being immersed in a place where you run into delegates in the street. It feels like something special is on when you have a big conference. We think that is a great brand that we are going to continue to focus on.

If you think about our 2023 calendar, we of course started off with the Adelaide International tennis, followed by the Santos Tour Down Under, the Fringe, the Adelaide Festival, WOMAD, the Gather Round and LIV Golf, not to forget Illuminate and Harvest Rock. I particularly loved the Frida and Diego art exhibition—we got lots of interstate visitors for that—and of course the five games we held for the FIFA Women's World Cup.

The State of Origin was on a perfect night in May this year, and just last weekend Harvest Rock was held with a really high percentage of interstate guests. Of course, there is still more to go. We have the VAILO Adelaide 500 featuring Robbie Williams, which we brought back last year. That was a commitment by the incoming Labor government to bring back that race and a very well supported commitment. This makes sure we have significant records for hotel occupancy within the CBD.

But it is not just about Adelaide, it is about our regions as well, whether it be the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, the Barossa, the Flinders, the Fleurieu, Limestone, Upper Spencer Gulf, Eyre Peninsula, River Murray or KI, you will find an AHA SA member providing critical support for those natural attractions. We recently released our Travel Our Way campaign, which hopes to further support visitations to South Australia.

It was an absolute joy of mine to announce our best-ever record of visitor expenditure of $9.9 billion. This was something we only imagined, an aspiration, but we have hit that target already and it is fantastic to see that and of course those AHA members benefit from that investment into the state. We need the support of the AHA SA members and of course the hospitality workers who make it all possible.

My previous colleague spoke about some of the winners of the AHA SA Awards for Excellence program, in particular the Cremorne Hotel taking out the best overall hotel and also picking up a number of other awards. The McLaren Vale Hotel took out best overall hotel and Mount Lofty House took honours in the accommodation division.

I want to pay homage to the three hotels entering the Hall of Fame: the Warradale Hotel, the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel and the Watervale Hotel. Just recently, the Watervale Hotel took out one of the best in the world positions. This is brilliant, in a week when we identified as the coolest city in the world. KI has identified as number 2 in the regional area by the Lonely Planet and we have our own Watervale Hotel kicking those global goals. It is a really positive time for South Australia. I rise to support the motion and I commend the motion to the house.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:31): I rise to support this motion that is giving great accolades to the Australian Hotels Association, an organisation in place since 1871 and an integral part of South Australia's hospitality and tourism industry for over 150 years.

The Adelaide University Centre for Economic Studies research has shown that pubs and hotels employ 26,250 South Australians and contribute well in excess of $4 billion to the local economy. The Australian Hotels Association members contribute $577 million per annum to the state's taxation—a huge sum of money. It is a staggering 10.7 per cent of the total South Australian taxation revenue.

The Australian Hotels Association (SA) members pay the annual salary of 2,229 teachers or the equivalent of 1,689 frontline nurses. The revenue generated by the industry helps to provide essential services for the government, schools, hospitals and our community.

To help its members navigate and succeed in business, the South Australian branch of the Australian Hotels Association provides advice and keeps its members up to date on a range of topics, including legislative changes, licensing, gaming, industrial relations, insurance and responsible gambling.

I want to acknowledge some giants of the industry: Ian Horne, David Basheer and Peter Hurley, true giants of the industry, who navigated the hotel group through difficult times through COVID. There was a lot of interaction and certainly sometimes they were not formal meetings, but during informal meetings I would run into these people and we would discuss the implications of what the world—not just this country—was dealing with, the implications of COVID right across the world and how to keep people safe.

In fact, the federal modelling has shown that with the strict restrictions that had to be in place at times—and no-one was comfortable, I certainly was not comfortable having to wear masks all the time—we saved 46,000 lives. It is easy to criticise the work that we did from this side, but when you are in the driver's seat and you have a world pandemic that has not been seen for centuries, since the Spanish flu, very difficult decisions had to be made.

Yes, there was a lot of sacrifice across the board, but there were some positives for the hotels people. The federal government put in JobKeeper, which kept a lot of hotels and accommodation places operating. They managed to pivot with their staff and do a lot of maintenance themselves. A lot of upkeep was done to a lot of places. People essentially transformed bar staff into painters and other jobs to help the upkeep of their properties.

It was a really difficult time. Of course, people did not agree with those restrictions, but also there were venues that were totally booked out as quarantine hotels, for obvious reasons, when people had to quarantine, whether it was here in the city or in the regions. Certainly, as a regional member, there were some interesting times when people were quarantined in border hotels in Mount Gambier and other places and perhaps could have quarantined at home. It is all very easy to look back in hindsight when difficult decisions had to be made.

I must mention what we did as a government to support industry, especially with migrant workers coming into the country. I know at one stage we had 100 migrant horticultural workers coming in from the Pacific Islands. Twelve could not get on the plane because they tested positive from their launch point of Vanuatu. But we hosted and paid for that quarantine time for a fortnight in Adelaide so that we could get vital workers in place to support our regional food industries. Sometimes that is forgotten.

They were tough times, but we are moving on. Hotels are really picking up their straps. In my electorate of Hammond there are hotels right across the board, in Murray Bridge, Mannum, Langhorne Creek and Strathalbyn. It was interesting about the Bridgeport Hotel, with Ian Tregoning and Graham Hobbs as the people in charge there. I am just glad they made the decision to build that six-storey complex before COVID hit, because I have not been game to ask them whether they would have built it when COVID hit.

That was opened during a difficult time. I talked to the Tregoning Group for around nine years, saying, 'We need this sort of accommodation in Murray Bridge. We have a lot of very good three-star accommodation, but we don't have any hotels of 4½ stars and above in the region.' We have since seen a lot of improvement with Rydges, which is just outside of Hammond now at Tailem Bend at the motorsport park, and with Monarto Safari Park about to open in a little while. It will have 78 rooms there very soon, and then there are some glamping sites. I think there are 22 of those coming on as well.

The Bridgeport Hotel is a $45 million build. It won the Overall Hotel of the Year—Regional at the 2022 Australian hotel awards. That was a national award, apart from myriad state awards that that hotel has won. It has become a real focus point, but it also highlights the fact that people can visit other hotels in the region while they are perhaps staying at the Bridgeport.

The turnaround that people have had locally has been amazing, especially after the hard times that people experienced in their hotels during the River Murray floods earlier this year and late last year. Certainly, the Mannum Hotel had problems, mainly with water flow seeping in around the outside of the hotel. The Hurley group in charge of the Pretoria Hotel tried to build their own bund, but in the end they had to give in to nature. We were not at the stage of 1956, when they were serving alcohol from the top-floor balcony straight into the boats of people coming past, but I certainly had the opportunity when the flood did come through to view the amount of water in the cellar.

I must commend them for the recovery work they have done there to get that hotel back up and running to its normal speed, and I must commend the Hurley family and others for being able to relocate their staff, not just locally; some of them were sent to Queensland and were kept employed by the group to keep the cash in their pockets.

Right up and down the river, a lot of hotel rooms and other accommodation was booked for emergency accommodation. It was not just for people needing emergency housing; it was also for the emergency services. There was valuable work done by the emergency services during the lead-up to the floods, the actual flood impact and then the recovery efforts since. The Hotels Association certainly played a huge role in that.

Hotels are a great meeting place in the community. They generate a lot of money for the community. They are vital in keeping up community connectivity and become a real meeting place, so I support them into the future and look forward to their lunch later in the year.

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (11:41): I rise in support of the member for Colton's motion and thank him for bringing attention to the outstanding contribution that the Australian Hotels Association makes to the state's hospitality industry sector. I also want to commend Ian Horne, the previous CEO, for his outstanding service and welcome Anna Moeller to the role. I have already had a very productive meeting with Anna on a number of issues and thank her for her input and thoughts on going forward and how we can strengthen and support the Hotels Association.

I also want to acknowledge David Basheer, the president, who had massive shoes to fill when he took on that role, coming in after Peter Hurley. It is fair to say that I think David has undertaken that role very admirably and to an extremely high standard. I want to congratulate David on all the work he does.

As a regional member, I would also like to highlight the work that the AHA does in our country areas. It is often the case that regions are forgotten about in statewide organisations. However, this is not the case with the AHA, who regularly hold meetings throughout the state. They recently held a regional meeting in my electorate at the Victoria Hotel in Port MacDonnell, run by Anna-Marie, Steve and Rachel Johnson—which of course I have visited many times—which was a great opportunity for local hoteliers to hear about industry updates.

I also want to commend the AHA for the work that they did during the COVID period in this state. It was often the case that the information that Anna, in particular, was getting out to hotel owners and managers in record time was far superior to the information I was getting as a local member. What ended up happening was that I would normally ring the AHA to get their interpretation of what had just been announced on the TV, because within five minutes my phone was ringing hot with people wanting to know what impact the latest changes had for their business.

Through Anna's work and the advice given we were able to guide and provide advice to many businesses in our region, particularly around square metreage and what the staffing regulations were, and that translated over into restaurants and other hospitality areas. That was valuable work, and it is embarrassing to say as a local member that I was not receiving that type of information as quickly as I could get it from the AHA.

There are over 1,000 people in the Mount Gambier electorate employed in the food and accommodation sectors, and I am a big believer that the hospitality industry is an excellent place to start and grow a career. All three of my children are working or have worked at local pubs, so if you do see me at the Mount Gambier RSL or the Park Hotel it is purely in a parenting role.

There is no doubt that it has been a tough few years for the sector, however it is great to see two of our region's oldest pubs find new owners after recently closing their doors during the COVID period. The Bellum Hotel is a 157-year-old establishment between Mount Gambier and Port MacDonnell and is an icon of that area. New owners, Meg Black and Bob Willis, celebrated their reopening of the Bellum on 30 September, and I wish them every success in their future. In fact, I visited the day after and they said that they had record takings for the AFL Grand Final day, and obviously the day after there were plenty of people in the Bellum when I was in there.

Another pub, the Tantanoola Tiger, is also a small community pub in the township of Tantanoola, which has found a new lease of life with owners Rebecca and Shaun Day taking over the 144-year-old hotel. I wish Rebecca and Shaun all the best with their new business. Country pubs like the Bellum and the Tantanoola play a vital role in small towns where people need a place to gather, to focus on the community and to support local sporting clubs.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Mount Gambier businesses that were finalists at last night's AHA Awards for Excellence. The Presidential was a finalist in three categories. Macs Hotel, Delgattie Estate and The Commodore all had one nomination.

A special mention goes to noky@The Henty, which took home the honours for the Best Bar Presentation and Experience—Country category. Evan, Michael, Tom and Lucy Koch, who also own nominated businesses, Delgattie Estate and The Commodore, have created a warm and inviting local bar that is an asset to Mount Gambier.

Thank you to the AHA for hosting these awards to recognise the excellent hotels that we have here in South Australia and the integral work that they do on behalf of the hospitality and tourism industry.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (11:47): I rise also to support this motion recognising the important contribution of the Australian Hotels Association but in particular the industry that it represents here in our state.

As other members have commented, it is a significant contributor to the state's economy, but it is also for my mind a very significant employer as well with more than 26,000 staff across South Australia. It is fair to say that, in my electorate, it is particularly true of young people entering the workforce where not exclusively of course but by and large if young people are looking for new job opportunities then really the two main opportunities they have is to start working at one of our terrific western suburbs pubs, and I will talk about those specifically in a moment, or perhaps working in retail at the West Lakes Shopping Centre.

I thought it was worth spending a little bit of time reflecting on just how much change has happened in a relatively short period of time for this industry in South Australia. I can recall in my parent's generation the lingering social conservatism when women were often barred from drinking in the front bar, there was 6 o'clock closing, there were restrictions on opening hours—these various ways in which the 1800s temperance movement was still making its presence felt even in the 1960s here in South Australia. It is really from that point, the 1960s onwards, that there has been continual and very significant change in this industry.

Of course, as most people would be aware, one of those changes was the very notable removal of that restriction that imposed 6 o'clock closing on trading hours, and what we have seen then is a gradual shift over decades that has now rapidly accelerated in the last 25 years to the offering that hotels make to their local communities, and that is in a number of different ways. One is that hotels, as they finally allowed women to drink in the front bar, if not in other areas, started making their premises more attractive to families rather than just the men of the household.

Today, of course, it is now very common for families to have an outing going for a meal at their local pub. We are seeing investments happening in these hotels, like we see, not in my electorate but in the electorate of either the member for Dunstan or the member for Hartley, I am not exactly sure, where the Marryatville Hotel, for example, has playgrounds built within the premises. That is now becoming more common, particularly as beer garden areas are redeveloped, and that is to enhance that attraction it has for families to come and experience time together having a meal.

Of course, the other significant change that has happened in the last 30 years is the introduction of gaming machines, which at various points over the last 30 years has been incredibly divisive in some parts of the community. It has no doubt been an absolute rescue for the industry; it has given them a new source of revenue. While the existence of gaming machines is still quite controversial in some people's minds, I think there is no doubt as to their importance in supporting the industry. I would also say they have now progressed to being the form of gambling that occurs in our community that is the most heavily regulated and highly transparent of all forms of gambling in the country, and that is a good thing.

While the incidence of gaming machine gambling still remains significant to this day, it has been by far and away overtaken by online gambling. I am not just talking about sports betting, which I understand the federal government is now going through some pains to better regulate, but in particular that offshore online gambling in unregulated and unlicensed casinos.

But the existence of gaming machines has entitled many South Australian hoteliers, in particular families owning hotels, to significantly reinvest in their premises—to grow their operations, to provide more job opportunities—and that is not only a good thing for those businesses and for the employees employed through those businesses, but it has very significant benefits across the communities as well.

My electorate is one of those that has changed boundaries regularly. I have had hotels within my boundaries in one term and then outside in another. But I can say that even in the earliest iteration of my electorate, I had such landmark hotels as the Palais Hotel at Semaphore in my electorate, subsequently landmark beachside hotels like the Grange Hotel in my electorate, to now currently having the Lakes Resort Hotel in West Lakes, run by the Fahey family, and the Seaton Hotel which has only recently been taken over by the Matthews group or the Bartley Hotel operated by the RD Jones Group.

These are all operations that have started as family businesses, that have taken the decision at one point, often some years ago, to take a risk, make a significant financial investment to take on a hotel, to run it directly either to be working in the kitchen cooking the food directly or standing behind the bar pulling the beers, and to turn them into much larger business enterprises that make such an important contribution to the economy, to the labour market and also to the local community.

I would also like to talk about the impact that hotels have in terms of supporting community activities. I do not think I can go to any sporting club in my electorate, or even in the surrounds of my electorate, without seeing one of these sporting clubs in receipt of a significant annual sponsorship from a local hotel—and that makes all the difference. Whether it is an amateur league football club, which unfortunately has to resort to paying its players, all the way through to the local cricket club or hockey club or netball club, these are all really important community clubs which not only provide the benefit of sporting opportunities and engagement for young kids all the way through to older adults but are strongly supported by their local hotels, and that is really important.

The member for Hammond was right to talk about the challenges of COVID. These were, for many hoteliers, the absolute dark times of their commercial and business lives, a period of great uncertainty, of ever-changing requirements and restrictions, whether it was full closures for a period of time or very significant restrictions, including one person per four square metres. I cannot remember whether you had to be standing, sitting, squatting or lying down to drink alcohol at different points of the COVID pandemic.

There was the recruitment and retraining of tens of thousands of COVID marshals and the wearing of vests, as well as the poor young bloke or young girl who might have started as a glassie at the age of 16 and were then finding themselves having to go around and sometimes tell a bloke, who might be well on the way to having half a skinful, that he had to go and do it in some different way so that he was not offending a COVID restriction. They were really difficult and challenging times for staff.

Many of these operators, out of their own pockets or with the help of their bank, took on really significant extra debt just to keep their staff cohort together. As we have seen over the last 18 months, there has been a massive recovery in hotels and hospitality. It has not fully offset the challenges of the last two years, but we have had the return of the Adelaide 500, the new AFL Gather Round, LIV Golf—the world's best golf tournament, as it was rated—and then all of the extraordinary achievements that other members have spoken about that were recognised last night at the AHA awards, which are really significant things that I think are important for the parliament to celebrate.

On a personal note, I have to say that, in my role as a member of parliament, it is been a real pleasure to work with and get to know David Basheer, Ian Horne, Peter Hurley and now the new Chief Executive Officer of the AHA, Anna Moeller. It has been a wonderful privilege to learn about this industry and also better understand how important the contribution is to the state's economy and to my electorate, and I wish them every success in the future.

Ms PRATT (Frome) (11:58): I also rise to support this motion and recognise the dedication, hard work and advocacy of the Australian Hotels Association across all 630 hotels that are in South Australia. As members have already mentioned, this is a big employer—26,000 employees are associated with our hotels—and many of them are run by family businesses.

It is a great opportunity for me, with the time that I have, to not just reflect on the role that the peak organisation of the AHA plays but sing the praises of these businesses that are dotted through the electorate of Frome. Without their existence, there would be no association. We reflect in the chamber on the impact of COVID-19 on the business, on the running of our fantastic hotels, the impact that it had on their clientele, but they are not out of the woods yet with rising costs of living. Yet they front up every day, the doors are open, the front bars are welcoming; through winter the fires have been lit and the patronage remains.

To take you on a tour through the Clare and Gilbert Valleys, I want to recognise the Auburn Rising Sun as a fantastic watering hole, and the hard work and heavy lifting it did through the French Festival back in September, where the entire town turned itself inside out for the colours of the French flag. For anyone who is looking for a top 10 chicken schnitzel, they should make their way to the Sevenhill Hotel. Paul Longbottom (Longy) and Kate will welcome you with open arms. Whether you are sitting on the verandah with the locals or out in the fairy light beer garden, it is a pretty place to end your day.

The town of Clare has three fantastic pubs in Bentleys, Middle Pub and the Taminga. As has been touched on in this chamber, many of these pubs provide function rooms, boardrooms and places where progress associations, like Lions, can book these venues, often at a discounted rate so that they can come together because they do not have these facilities themselves.

In Kapunda, for a slightly smaller township than Clare, it punches above its weight for pubs and hotels, with Richard and Dee Watts running the Clare Castle and David and Tiani Lees running the North Kapunda pub, with the function room we often book. We have seen the Sir John Franklin recently renovated, and Troy and Peta Apps running the Prince of Wales in Kapunda. Down the road in Allendale North, Mark and Chelsea Harris have the fabulous and hugely popular Wheatsheaf, which I recommend to everybody.

Across the valley, over in Hamley Bridge, we have seen a beautifully restored pub, the Hamley Bridge Hotel, by Brian and Kirsty Cole. For those who enjoy a frothy at the front bar in heritage surrounds, this is the pub for you. If you want to end your day in the beer garden at the Magpie and Stump in Mintaro, make sure you order the lamb shanks or the ribs and settle in for a beautiful vista in this heritage-style town.

My special shout out does have to go to Nicola Palmer and Warrick Duthy of the Watervale Hotel. They have been mentioned already in this chamber, and rightly so. None of us can keep up with the awards they are winning. Just last night again the Watervale Hotel was nominated for any number of awards in the AHA 2023 awards. I know that Warrick and Nicola would be especially proud that they took the gong for innovation, sustainability, energy and efficiency. They also won best country restaurant, and continue to cater for the local dining requirements of Watervale. This is not just a statewide gourmet destination; it has gone on to a global scale. The most sincere congratulations go to Warrick and Nicola on their hard work. I know that the chamber will join me in recognising the special accolade they have achieved with Best Hotel Restaurant in the World 2023.

The Clare and Gilbert Valleys, the electorate of Frome, really serve up a fantastic dish when it comes to the Hotels Association and their representation. I thank all the publicans, the owners—they are truly family businesses employing hundreds of people across our Mid North region. We must not take for granted that at the end of a dusty day, when we are done, that is where we want to meet up with family and friends. I thank the member for Colton for bringing this motion to the house, and I thank again all the hard workers in the electorate of Frome who keep our hotel industry alive.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (12:04): I rise to also support this motion and thank the member for Colton for bringing it to this house. Last night, I had the great privilege of attending the AHA's Hotel Industry Awards for Excellence at the Entertainment Centre. I think there were almost a thousand people there. It was a great evening, celebrating our hospitality and tourism businesses operating throughout our state.

AHA has a significant membership base of about 630 hotels, many of which are great family-run businesses. They have been supported by the fierce advocacy of AHA for 153 years. We know that at the industry's greatest time of need in recent years, during the COVID pandemic, the AHA's advocacy for its members was second to none.

Since coming into government, I have been working really closely with Ian Horne as CE and now with Anna Moeller as Chief Executive, and of course with David Basheer, the President of the AHA. I want to thank them for a close collaborative relationship. Many of you in this place know that Ian announced his retirement earlier this year and was replaced by Anna Moeller. Ian of course replaced the late Bill Spurr AO. Last night we had the Tourism and Regional Promotion Award named in his honour. Bill was CEO of the AHA up until 1986. Ian replaced him and led the organisation for 31 of the last 38 years, with a short break when he went over the field to the Motor Trade Association.

When Ian first joined the AHA, hotels were a different place. They were very much the front bar dominated by male customers. Over the course of Ian's career that has changed significantly, with many of these great pubs becoming family-orientated dining experiences and offering some great accommodation and tourism destinations and fantastic function facilities and events, and really being entertainment specialists.

Ian's impact on the hospitality industry has been profound across all aspects of the industry, including tourism, training, industrial relations, liquor licensing and gaming. Ian is well-known in this place for continuously lobbying for the preservation of South Australian hotels, and he has done it very effectively. He has made every effort to support the interests of AHA members, which is really quite an achievement for an industry that is so varied, from major international accommodation and entertainment venues to the mum-and-dad-owned country pubs. I want to acknowledge Ian's legacy at the AHA. He left it as an organisation that is stable and influential, an industry that has made a significant economic contribution to this state.

While I thank Ian for his service, I want to acknowledge the new CEO, Anna Moeller, who has stepped into Ian's shoes. Anna started her career as a licensing and gaming lawyer. She has a wealth of knowledge and has stepped into the CEO role from the deputy role, so she has excellent knowledge of the AHA and its membership. Of course, Anna is the first female CEO at the AHA in its 153-year history. I look forward to continuing to work with Anna. She has been great to work with thus far in leading the organisation into the future.

I want to mention the great advocacy of Ian and Anna that fed through to my portfolio of arts. It was their advocacy that saw us formulate the See it LIVE package and roll it out once we came into government. South Australian hotels host about 80 per cent of all live music events in South Australia. We have iconic venues like The Gov (The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel) that continue to support South Australian artists by providing them with places to perform and earn an income from their artistic practice. It is a testament to The Gov's commitment to the South Australian live music industry that it was awarded Best Entertainment Venue last night, and I think it was the seventh year in a row that that has happened.

Our See it LIVE package was designed to help venues like The Gov but also the artists themselves. Part of that package was $1 million in venue grants that were provided to 200 venues. These $5,000 Venue Improvement Grants help South Australian venues upgrade their venues to better cater for live music performances. That part of the program was fully subscribed in record time.

Further to that, we have been providing $400 See it LIVE vouchers to venues to use those funds to pay for artists to perform at their venues. Both these programs, as part of the See it LIVE package, have been a huge success, thanks to the AHA advocating for their members. It was those members we celebrated last night and I want to congratulate all the winners of the AHA Hotel Industry Awards for Excellence. In particular, Mount Lofty House, McLaren Vale Hotel and the Cremorne Hotel were all winners of the best overall hotel within their category. I know the member for Mawson passes on his congratulations to the McLaren Vale Hotel.

Award winning businesses would not have the success they have without the support of their employees, which is why it is fantastic that recognition was given last night to the Chef of the Year winner, Philip Pope, from the Adelaide Oval Hotel, and Employee Excellence in Service winners, Christopher Speck from Mount Lofty House and Daniel Hall from the Alma Hotel in Willunga—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: And Renee from the Penneshaw Hotel.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS: —I am getting there—and Rising Star winner, Renee Daniell from the Penneshaw Pub. Again, congratulations from the member for Mawson. These businesses and their staff play a vital role in the vibrancy of not just Adelaide but the whole of South Australia. I want to congratulate all those businesses but in particular I want to congratulate the AHA for their important role in the sector and in the business community. I commend the motion to the house.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (12:10): I rise in support of the member for Colton's motion. Well that we might revisit a recognition of the Australian Hotels Association (South Australian branch) and here in the parliament the day after last night, the magnificent gala occasion of the AHA awards for 2023, bigger and better than ever and, I am glad to report to the house, attended by many of us and very happily, I might say. I share in the remarks of others in congratulating President David Basheer and CE Anna Moeller on their stewardship and leadership of the AHA. They together are charting a course from strength to strength. I join with other members in wishing them all the very best in that regard.

I also endorse and would amplify the contribution of the Treasurer just now in terms of the range of engagements, services, supports and the environment that is afforded to patrons who attend and participate at the very large number of member venues. We are told on the face of the motion that members comprise 630 hotels in South Australia. We know, as the motion says, that they are represented by a whole range of different venues from the small country pubs to the major metro hotels and resorts. We have heard mention of the tens of thousands of staff who are engaged by those member venues.

If I am parochial for a moment, I might say that those perennials in terms of award winners in Heysen—the Crafers Hotel, the Stirling Hotel and the magnificent Uraidla Hotel, and that is not to mention venues further afield in Heysen at Maccy, Meadows, and Echunga, with a special mention of the Hagen Arms and the work that is being done there—might have in some ways passed the baton this year to award winners throughout the state, but it is important to mention the winning ways of both the Stirling Hotel and Sequoia Lodge at Mount Lofty House on the accommodation side.

For anyone who has seen those developments, they are world leading in their own different ways in the Hills. They are yet another gateway for visitors, local all the way through to international, to experience the very best of the Hills. I congratulate all associated with Hills venues, as I do join with others in congratulating all the award winners last night.

One aspect that I want to emphasise in congratulating the AHA and its membership and picking up on what the Treasurer had to say a little while ago is that we have seen a transition from at least the middle part of the last century until now, away from six o'clock closing and a male front bar atmosphere around pubs. Indeed, as I look at the portrait of Sir Thomas Playford, I am reminded of an era when there was a real wrestle about the way in which one attended venues and what pubs had to offer during that era.

As is well known, Condor Laucke, as he then was, in representing what was to become the burgeoning northern suburbs of Adelaide extending into the Barossa, approached Sir Thomas Playford and said, 'Hey, you've got to step forward on some reforms, because those who are coming to live in the northern suburbs of Adelaide want to be able to attend at their pub and engage in new ways.' There was some resistance to that, to the point that Condor lost his seat. He went to the Senate, and later Sir Condor Laucke made great contributions in the federal space. We saw that was a real battleground in the middle part of the last century.

Right now we celebrate AHA and its member venues, those magnificent pubs, very much as a part of the social fabric, as part of what it means to identify and characterise home, or a home away from home. That is very much what AHA member venues can offer to community. I single out in that regard the winner of the Community Service and Support Award, the Berri Hotel, which is one of those examples of a community-owned pub where profits are then ploughed back into the venue and towards community supports. They are far from the only one, of course. In a whole range of different ways and different models, we see pubs as being a source of support for community activities, but the Berri Hotel is a standout example and a deserving award winner for its commitment to community service and support.

Whether I am being parochial in terms of celebrating those outstanding venues within the Hills and Heysen, looking to the tremendous work of AHA leadership and the course that it is charting in so many productive ways or looking statewide to the achievements of those member venues, I endorse the motion in every respect and look forward to AHA's continuing strong role as a leading part of the social fabric of our community statewide. I commend the motion.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (12:18): I, too, rise to support this motion with the same fervour that I have supported most pubs in South Australia since I turned 18—that is, wholeheartedly. I love the hotel industry. I think it is one of those industries that is very important to local communities, particularly in rural areas. My great-grandfather was the publican at the Tiger Hotel in Tantanoola for a while, and I have had some other cousins who have been involved in the hotel industry over the years.

I want to thank the AHA for all of the advocacy they have provided for more than 150 years and David Basheer, the president. I go back to Fred Basheer, David's dad, when he was the president and a former owner of the Strathmore Hotel until his passing. The Strathmore was always an important place for us, because the Basheers had the Kalangadoo Hotel before they moved up to Adelaide. Dad knew the Basheers really well. When they moved and took over the Strathmore, we would always go out there. It was the first place I ever tasted oysters kilpatrick as a seven year old, and I have not lost the taste for them yet; they are good. So there is that sort of family connection. David is very good at everything he does, except for the fact that he barracks for Kalangadoo, and in the last five or six years they have been a bit better than Glencoe, and I have lost a lot of bets, which has resulted in me paying for lunch.

We do value the contribution that everyone at the AHA makes. Bill Spurr has been mentioned here; he was a great mentor to so many of us over the past few years in terms of tourism. We all learnt so much from Bill, a person with great character, great ideas, full of wisdom, and just that ability to bring people together. I know, at the time when I was Minister for Tourism, we used to use Bill's talents and his personality quite a lot to bring things like the Adelaide Venue Management organisation together when we merged Hindmarsh Stadium, the Entertainment Centre and the Convention Centre. That was just one of the many things that Bill did on behalf of governments of both persuasions during his tremendous service to the hotel and tourism industry during his career.

Of course, Ian Horne was back there after Bill for his second tilt as the CEO. Ian and I had a very good relationship over many years and worked together on a lot of different tourism projects. We got the Convention Centre bid fund up, the major events bid fund up, and Ian was a great contributor on the South Australian Tourism Commission Board for many years as well. He was replaced earlier this year by Anna Moeller, who is also doing an extraordinary job. We have Anna on our working group, our committee, to make sure that when the British & Irish Lions come here for their game on 12 July 2025 everyone is working together to make sure that we maximise that visit.

We are looking at people with an average daily spend of about $800 and we want to make sure we get as many of them here as possible and, when they are here that the hotels are open for them, and they know what this audience is like. There is no point in us all getting up on the Sunday or the Monday after the British & Irish Lions have been here with their 20,000 to 25,000 fans and saying, 'If only we'd known, we could have done X, Y or Z.' That is why Anna and the team are around the table now. It is great to have the AHA with us working on that and other major events.

People have mentioned the AHA awards last night. I would also like to congratulate those winners from the electorate of Mawson who picked up awards last night—the McLaren Vale Hotel—best country pub. The refurbishment down there by the Palmer group has been tremendous and really appreciated by the local community in McLaren Vale. We were basically screaming out for years for somewhere in the township where we could all go and enjoy, and ever since Marty Palmer and his group have taken over it has become a very popular place to go.

Among the Employee Excellence in Service winners was Daniel Hall from the Alma Hotel in Willunga. The Alma is known as the 'bottom pub'. There are three pubs in Willunga, and the locals say, 'Have you done the five-pub crawl?' And visitors say, 'But there are only three pubs.' And you say, 'No, there are three on the way up and two on the way back.' So you do a little repeat, and you always want to do the uphill trip first because the 'top pub'—great pub, really good food—is a bit of a hike, so you will roll back down through the 'middle pub' (the Willunga Hotel) back to the Alma.

Across on Kangaroo Island at the Penneshaw Pub, the Hotel Industry Rising Star went to Renee Daniell. She is doing a tremendous job there and knows her way around the wine list and also is a really good person to have when you have not just a whole lot of locals going there but also a lot of visitors from around Australia and the world, and Renee does a tremendous job. I also want to give a shout-out to Annemarie Larcombe, who has the Parndana pub. That proved, like so many pubs around regional South Australia, to be a really important place for people during the bushfires in the summer of 2019-20. This is where I think publicans and pubs come into their own. When the chips are down, when something is going bad in a community, they are quite often the first people to put their hand up to see how they can help.

We saw the AHA donate over $50,000 to buy generators for people who had lost their homes in the bushfires. They were on the phone to me straightaway—the fires were still burning—saying, 'We want to help. We want to help in a really practical way. What can we do?' I said, 'Well, there are all these people without power. Would you mind chipping in and we will buy a bunch of generators from Kangaroo Island businesses and make sure that they get delivered out to the farms.'

During that time, of course, the fires raged around, and they saved Parndana three times. Whenever the emergency services turned up and they needed meals made for volunteers or takeaway to be sent out to firefighters on the ground, the pub was more than willing to help. They also provided their dining room for meetings.

We had the shadow cabinet come and visit. We had the leader and all the shadow ministers come over, and Annemarie and the team were only too happy for us to use her back room, the dining room. Afterwards, we stayed for a countery and caught up with a lot of the locals as well who wanted to tell their stories of what had happened. I know the education minister was over there at that time. It was really important for us to have that place to go to.

When the redistribution happened for the seat of Mawson and it changed from a 5½ per cent Labor seat to a 4½ per cent Liberal seat on paper, then Premier Jay Weatherill was sitting in cabinet. He said, 'Biggles, this looks like a disaster for you. You have this 10 per cent swing against you. You have lost all the booths except the three that do not vote Labor. They are the only ones that are left and you have picked up Kangaroo Island and Myponga and Yankalilla and Sellicks and a few other places.'

I looked at it, and I said, 'I don't see any downside. I reckon I have picked up seven new pubs and eight or nine new bakeries. They are two of my favourite locations to go to.' They are important. It is important to be able to go and talk to members of the community. It is a gathering spot for families. It is a place where workers will go for a knock-off drink on a Thursday or Friday after work. They are important spots to go to and turn up, whether it is at the Queenie or the Ozone in Kingscote.

If I am on KI anytime, I will always make sure I go and have a countery, because people will come up and have a bit of a chat to you. It might be the local stock agent or someone who works for the council or whatever, but you always learn by just having a chat in an environment where people feel relaxed and able to talk to someone who is standing at the bar with them having a beer.

Again, we know that tourism visitor economy is worth $10 billion a year to the South Australian economy, and that is an investment that is made by people from South Australia, people from interstate and people from overseas. It is a sector that transcends the entire million square kilometres of our state. In all of these regions and townships and cities throughout South Australia, the first place that they will drop into is usually a local hotel, to get a meal, to get some information or to get some accommodation.

To all those publicans, to all those people who work in the hotel industry right around South Australia, a huge thankyou from the bottom of my heart. I think the visitor economy is one of the most important parts of our statewide economy and I want to congratulate you all on the hard work that you do.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (12:28): I want to briefly thank all the members who have made contributions to the motion this morning. I think it says a lot about the standing of the AHA and the respect for the AHA from members on all sides of this house, whether that be the government, the opposition or the crossbench. It says a lot about the work that the AHA does, the respect that so many in this house have for their member organisations and the roles that they play within all our respective communities. We enjoy the opportunity to recognise their contributions in the house.

It also says something about the AHA that they have had such long-tenured people in their leadership positions and also a seamless transition in approach, to have moved from Peter Hurley to David Basheer and from Ian Horne to Anna Moeller over the past year and a half or so. There has really been a well-oiled machine within the AHA-SA leadership and we thank them for that.

I did want to briefly touch on one of the points made by the Treasurer—and I think that we are 100 per cent in lock step about this—which is the contribution of local hotels and pubs to local sporting clubs. I did mention that in passing but it would be remiss of me not to highlight the contributions of those pubs in my local area, so to the Grange Hotel, the Henley Hotel, the Ramsgate, the Lockleys and their respective publicans thank you for everything you do in supporting our local sporting teams and clubs within the local area.

I commend and thank members for making contributions to the motion.

Motion carried.

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