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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-13 Daily Xml
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ROLLER DERBY

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:57): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about roller derby.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: With over 20,000 participants worldwide, roller derby is the fastest growing female-focused amateur sport in the world. Indeed, I believe the minister may well know that Adelaide Roller Derby has been rolling on since 2007 as a not-for-profit organisation committed to the empowerment of women and the strengthening of community through sport. It is part of the international roller derby resurgence that spread to Australia some years back and sees 25 flat-track roller derby leagues currently across our nation, with more starting up all the time. Over the years, Adelaide Roller Derby has grown to be four teams and 100 members strong, typically attracting crowds in excess of 3,000 for a weekend bout, with last year's grand final selling out within 72 hours of tickets going on sale.

Following on from the success of Adelaide hosting the 2010 Great Southern Slam, this past weekend we again hosted the Great Southern Slam, and it was even bigger and better than in 2010. For the uninitiated, a Great Southern Slam comprises a main tournament to determine the top-seated roller derby leagues in Australia, as well as informal challenges across all leagues that participate. It both enhances the competition of roller derby in the Southern Hemisphere and strengthens the community ties of this unique sport.

We saw 18 teams from across Australia and New Zealand slug it out for the title—three days, five rinks across two showground pavilions, with hundreds of derby girls and dozens of refs. On initial estimates, around $1.3 million was injected into our state's economy. It is my understanding that so far this has all been pretty much done on volunteer efforts and DIY ethos and funded on the budget of the proverbial shoelace—of course, attached to a rollerskate! As an aside, we should be proud that the Adeladies came fourth, beaten only by North Brisbane Roller Derby, the Sun State Roller Girls and the ultimate victors, the Victorian Roller Derby League. My questions are:

1. What level of government supports are available to ensure that Adelaide continues to host the Great Southern Slam, as it has now done two times?

2. Will the minister ensure that her office, or relevant members of her departments, urgently meet with the Adelaide Roller Derby League to keep derby rolling, grow it locally and put Adelaide on the international stage with this sport?

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) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions. Indeed, I have had the great privilege of enjoying roller derby firsthand. It is a growing sport, and it is a very thrilling and exciting one, too. I am aware that the Great Southern Slam was held this weekend. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend that, but I noted the news which covered quite extensively how successful the event was and the large crowds that attended. I was very excited that the event was such a success.

I have been advised that Skate Australia (I think it was) approached Events SA and asked Events SA to attend the meeting this Saturday. My understanding is that Events SA went along and enjoyed the competition immensely. I understand there were discussions about what future promotional opportunities might exist for the next grand slam. My understanding is that, at the moment, it is held every two years and, obviously, we would be very pleased to accept any proposals that the league might have in terms of staging its future events.

My understanding is that for this event there was one request from a TV production group wanting to produce a program to go on the internet. My understanding is that they approached Events SA on Monday of last week and I think requested $5,000 for Saturday's event. It does not work that way and, unfortunately, Events SA had to say no, sorry; it could not accommodate that. However, as I said, Events SA attended the event and was impressed and will be very pleased to receive anything from the league in terms of future events.

Obviously, Events SA is approached to sponsor a large number of events. It has a limited budget, and obviously we have to be very circumspect around choosing which events we support and which events we do not support. We are approached by many organisations for sponsorship and we are, obviously, always looking out for the best return possible for taxpayers' money. As I said previously—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway will come to order.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Thank you, Mr President. As I said previously, we would be happy to receive anything from the league or Skate Australia in terms of opportunities for future events.

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