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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-15 Daily Xml
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SOUTH AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before I ask the Minister for Tourism a question about events occurring in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: To date there has been a lot happening in November for locals and visitors alike—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Just hang on a sec.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —events such as the Credit Union Christmas Pageant that is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands and Rescue 2012 which I will be attending at Christies Beach this weekend. Can the minister please tell the chamber about these two significant events?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his most important question and his ongoing interest in these important matters. This last weekend saw the 80th anniversary of the Christmas Pageant—80 years is unbelievable, isn't it?—in the city, where Father Christmas once again was the guest of honour. This year's Credit Union Christmas Pageant featured 63 floats including six new ones plus more than 250 clowns and 1,000 characters.

There is a huge amount of work that goes into the pageant, a huge amount of effort, and I would like to share just a few facts and figures with you. Over 120 talented artists applied makeup to more than 1,000 characters between 6am and 9am. Allianz Insurance provided over 1,800 breakfasts to pageant characters and volunteers on pageant day. It took 15 trucks to transport costumes, shapes, heads, bikes, props, etc. to Pulteney Grammar (the starting point) the day before the pageant. It takes 70 jars of makeup remover to remove the characters' makeup each year.

The new floats in this year's pageant included the circus float which involved the youth circus program, Cirkidz, which performed on the float as well as surrounding it. Live acts seen on pageant day included performers hanging from wires, jumping from pole to pole and weaving in and out, and it was truly an amazing event. The weather was absolutely perfect for this year's event. The floats were just magnificent. The pageant is just one of the events being supported by Events South Australia in November.

Another important event in November is Rescue 2012. Last Wednesday I was very pleased to open Rescue 2012, which is the Lifesaving World Championships. The opening was held at Glenelg and it was picture perfect, a glorious afternoon and evening, and the sea was as blue as blue and the sand as white as white for this fabulous event at Glenelg. There were 4,000 competitors in this event from 40 different nations here in South Australia—absolutely astounding.

It was unfortunate that, at this amazing opening event at which there was one of the most beautiful welcomes to country that I have seen, I did not see one camera there, not one local media outlet. I did not see anyone from The Advertiser there; they may have been there in the background but I did not see any pictures in the paper the next day. That was incredibly disappointing as there were 40,000 competitors from 40 different nations.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: 40,000 competitors?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Four thousand competitors from 40 different nations. With all of these international guests here visiting and staying in Adelaide, and the events going over a week or so, we are talking about significant economic input. It is a wonderful event, real elite sportsmanship.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Elite.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: It is not—it is actually pronounced 'elite'. It is, correctly. They are big on pulling me up. My understanding is that the correct pronunciation is in fact 'elite'. I hope that all of our visitors will take the opportunity to get out and explore some of what we have to offer here in South Australia. As members would be aware, one of the benefits of our state is close proximity to regions like the Barossa and the Fleurieu, and here closer to town we have much to offer with our restaurants and our museums and Art Gallery, etc.

As members would know, South Australia has a strong international reputation for its events, which offer something for everyone. Sporting events are obviously always big crowd favourites, and I was very pleased to have an event of this international calibre in our capital city. I wished all the competitors the best of luck. Adelaide is an ideal venue for the Lifesaving World Championships with events being held across three different venues, including Glenelg, Christies Beach and the state-of-the-art South Australian State Aquatic and Leisure Centre.

I am advised that the championships are the largest international lifesaving sport competition in the world. Lifesavers provide an incredibly valuable service to our communities, and events like this championship allow these athletes to maintain and showcase their amazing skills.

I encourage members to get out there and enjoy and promote the event. It was great to see such a large turnout to the opening event; it was huge. I particularly enjoyed hearing the Australian Youth Choir. They were quite spectacular, a very talented group of young people. It was a very enjoyable performance. As I said, I particularly enjoyed the welcome to country as well. It was very special.

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