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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-03-07 Daily Xml
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Country Press SA Awards

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Will the minister please update the chamber on the recent Country Press SA Awards held in Victor Harbor?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Girolamo!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his question and his ongoing interest in regional and rural areas. Members on this side of the chamber understand and appreciate the importance of regional media and the contribution they make to our regional communities. Regional newspapers are the heart and soul of regional communities and they play a key role in—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —updating residents with issues that matter in their local area. Regional communities, including but not limited to Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Kadina, Loxton, Strathalbyn, Tanunda, Naracoorte and Mount Gambier, all have local media writing local stories specific to that local community.

Many regional and rural residents consider there has been a greatly reduced focus on local towns by this state's largest newspaper, so it is critical that we continue to see good quality regional journalism being produced for regional residents. As Minister for Regional Development, I always try to ensure that I have the opportunity to speak to as many regional newspapers and other media as possible while I am out and about in regional South Australia.

Events such as the annual Country Press Awards are an important fixture in the calendar to acknowledge the significant work undertaken by individual journalists and the papers they work for. I was pleased to see the event was attended by a large number of regional journalists from all across the state, along with the Governor of South Australia, the Hon. Frances Adamson AC, and my colleague in the other place the member for Light.

The member for Light is a strong supporter of regional media and sponsors an award for this night on an annual basis. I, too, was pleased to present an award on behalf of the state government for the best road safety reporting. I must admit the event was a bit light on with members of His Majesty's opposition not in attendance, apart from the member for Finniss; however, that was to do with another internal event that I suspect was attended by many members opposite on this night and, indeed, may well have resulted in a certain addition to this chamber which we witnessed today.

I would like to congratulate the Eyre Peninsula Advocate for winning the Best Front Page Award; The Border Watch for taking out the Best Headline Award; the Yorke Peninsula Country Times for being awarded both the Best Advertisement in Branding and Best Community Advertising Promotion Award; The Leader for winning the Best Advertising Feature; The Bunyip for being successful in the Best House Advertisement and the Best Sports Photograph categories; The Murray Pioneer for winning the Best Supplement Award; The SE Voice for their success in winning both the Best Advertisement and the Best Photograph awards; and the Fleurieu Sun for taking out Best News Photograph and Best Road Safety Reporting.

I would also like to congratulate Paul Mitchell from The Murray Pioneer, who had a terrific night in winning both the Editorial Writing and Best Sports Story awards. I was speaking with Paul prior to the ceremony and perhaps he was too humble but it certainly seemed as though he had no expectations whatsoever, so especial congratulations to him. Congratulations must also go to Gabrielle Hall from the Plains Producer for taking out the Excellence in Journalism Award and Giorgina McKay for taking out the Young Journalist of the Year Award.

One of the prizes for the Young Journalist of the Year includes spending a week in federal parliament with the federal member for Barker. Some have asked whether that would be a prize or a punishment, but I think that is most unkind. I would never make that suggestion personally.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Nonetheless, I congratulate both these journalists on their outstanding achievements in winning these awards. Finally, I want to congratulate The Southern Argus for winning the Best Newspaper Under 4,000 Circulation and The Leader for winning the Best Newspaper Over 4,000 Circulation awards. They narrowly beat The Border Watch and the Yorke Peninsula Country Times in second and third spot respectively.

Judging by the calibre of journalists who were there on Friday night, and those we saw featured in the various categories, the industry is in good hands, and I look forward to attending many more of these events and continuing to see our regional journalists acknowledged and celebrated.

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