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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-06-06 Daily Xml
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FOOD AND WINE INDUSTRY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:32): By way of further supplementary, how much money was spent by the government on this project prior to it, as the minister says, refocusing the project—I would say scrapping?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:32): I have already put on the record that the premise of the Hon. David Ridgway's statement is incorrect. It has not been scrapped—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Well, if you want to keep using that language, I will get up here and correct you every single time, as I should. I have a responsibility. The Hon. David Ridgway comes into this chamber time and again with incorrect, inaccurate information. He does not check his facts or talk to the major key players in the industry and fails to consult.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Well, he hasn't been to Food SA, he hasn't been to the wine association—the key players in this strategy—and he has not even bothered to pick up the phone and talk to them. He cannot come into this chamber with inaccurate information, and I will challenge him every single time. This initiative has been fulfilled. The initiative was restructured in line with industry needs; it has delivered top products on the ground and that is a credit to Food SA and the wine association, so I congratulate them for their efforts, and that should be recognised by the Hon. David Ridgway.

In terms of the spending, I do not have that detail on me, but I am happy—it was money at a time when I was not minister, so I was not responsible for the spending of that money. I assure members that I am confident that very little of that would have been expended at the time, but I will make sure that I get the exact figure for honourable members and bring it back, but I fear that the Hon. David Ridgway will be left with egg on his face yet again. He will be terribly disappointed and really embarrassed because he has failed to even bother to go to the basic key stakeholders in this—Food SA and the wine association—or even bothered to consult with them about this.

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