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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-09-25 Daily Xml
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Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:56): It is my pleasure today to rise to speak about Restaurant & Catering Australia's 2024 Hostplus Awards for Excellence for South Australia held on Monday 23 September 2024. I had the privilege to attend the Awards for Excellence on Monday evening, joining the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Vincent Tarzia MP, to personally congratulate the award finalists and winners for their achievements, resilience and contributions in the hospitality and dining industry throughout South Australia.

Honourable members may recall that I previously moved a motion in this place to congratulate Restaurant & Catering Australia on celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022. This peak industry body represents over 57,000 restaurants, cafes and catering businesses across Australia, supporting and advocating on behalf of owners and operators within the hospitality industry. The cafe, restaurant and catering sectors are vitally important to our economy, generating $45 billion in retail turnover each year and employing 850,000 people.

The Restaurant & Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence are held across Australia each year to give restaurants, cafes and caterers well-deserved recognition for their hard work, exceptional food and outstanding service in this vibrant industry. It is a prestigious awards program that celebrates small and family business operators in metropolitan and regional centres. South Australia is widely renowned for having the best food and wine offerings in the country, and our hospitality sector is a key driver of our tourism industry and visitor economy.

As shadow minister for tourism, I am always looking for opportunities to shine a spotlight on the finest and coolest places to wine and dine in our state, and I was incredibly proud to present the award for Best Restaurant in a Winery. Huge congratulations to this year's winner, Clover + Stone Restaurant at Howard Vineyard in Nairne, for winning the Best Restaurant in a Winery award. Congratulations to all deserving winners, and a special mention to Mayura Station's The Tasting Room in Millicent and to the Watervale Hotel, who were inducted into the esteemed South Australia Hall of Fame. Special congratulations also to Mariners Ristorante for winning three awards on the night, including the top gong, Restaurant of the Year award.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend and thank the Restaurant and Catering South Australia team for all their efforts in hosting a wonderful awards gala. I want to convey my appreciation to Suresh Manickam, the chief executive officer; and Greg Hobby and Christine Reid of the Restaurant and Catering Council for their strong leadership and magnificent work in supporting this dynamic industry. The awards for excellence were well supported by Hostplus and other sponsors. The Hon. Vincent Tarzia's speech highlighted the contributions of all involved in the industry in shaping the unique culinary identity that our state is so well known for.

While recognising these incredible achievements for the industry, it is also important to acknowledge the dire situation facing our hospitality industry, which many operators are telling me is harder than the COVID period. We have seen dozens of beloved South Australian hospitality businesses and venues close over the last 12 months, with a new article almost every week signalling the end of another hospitality institution.

Operators are facing a cost-of-living crisis that is forcing consumers to tighten their belt, coupled with skyrocketing business costs that are chipping away at already very tight profit margins. Since Labor was elected in 2022, businesses have battled significant increases in power prices, the burden of red tape and rising costs of doing business. In particular, payroll tax is crippling hospitality businesses, punishing those who are trying to grow their business and taking on more staff.

Sam Worrall-Thompson, Director of EMBR Hospitality, highlighted the detrimental impact of payroll tax on his business. He told CityMag earlier this year that they are paying around $100,000 in payroll tax alone and called on the government to reduce payroll tax to support hospitality businesses facing an absolute bloodbath. The Liberal opposition is also calling on the government to change the payroll tax threshold so that we can step up and support our dedicated industries to grow and prosper.

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