Mount Gambier Tourism Events

Tuesday September 27, 2022

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:13): Watching the AFL grand final on the weekend, it was great to see 100,000 people together at the MCG. After two hard years of COVID and cancellations, what a pleasure it is to see sellout crowds at major events. In our regional communities, events frequently rely on a dedicated group of volunteers who work unpaid and year round to bring these events and festivals to fruition. Once the gates have closed, work on next year's event begins.

In my electorate of Mount Gambier, we have some amazing events that have been running for years: Generations in Jazz, Fringe Mount Gambier, the Pines Enduro and also some newer events such as the medieval fair. Today on World Tourism Day, which acknowledges the importance of tourism worldwide, I would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of event tourism and give thanks to all of those people who work behind the scenes and in this space in my electorate.

One of our longest running events is Generations in Jazz, which is a music event that brings thousands of schoolchildren to Mount Gambier and packs out every single accommodation venue in town. Karen Roberts has just stepped down as the committee chair after many years of hard work on this event, and hundreds of local people have volunteered their time over the years to help make this event a success.

Former chair of Mount Gambier community events management, Steve Toope, has been instrumental in leading community events such as the New Year's Eve Festival and Relay for Life. It was great to be able to ring Steve a few weeks ago to tell him that this state government would be helping to sponsor this year's New Year's Eve Festival. Steve, I am still keen to see your idea of the Blue Lake festival come to life, an event designed to celebrate the colour transformation of our Blue Lake each year with food and festivals. That would be an amazing celebration of one of our major tourism icons.

Also of note are the Limestone Coast festivals and events team of Talie Teakle and Tammy Flier, who have been behind Fringe Mount Gambier and the new medieval fair, which was unbelievably successful in its first year, seeing hundreds of people travel from around Australia into Mount Gambier. I had the pleasure of meeting with Tammy and Talie in recent weeks about the potential for a winter festival for our city, and I think these two people are capable of big things.

We have some very unique events, including the Legend of the Lake, the Pines Enduro, the tower run and the 100 Mile Classic, which attracts niche sporting visitors. In 2019, we hosted events for the Red Bull pump track world qualifier and the Australian Disc Golf championships. It is unbelievable to see how many people travel thousands of kilometres to come to Mount Gambier for these championships. Each time an event like this is run, we bring new people and a new audience to our great city.

I firmly believe tourism is one of the most underrated industries in the seat of Mount Gambier. A lot of our tourism attractions are free, whether that is walking around the Blue Lake or going to the Valley Lake. However, we really need to step up as a community and put the commercial part of tourism to the fore where paid employment is a result of tourist attractions.

The types of things we need to see going forward are coffee and food outlets down in our Valley Lakes area, a zip-line from Centenary Tower, coffee shops, viewing platforms, attractions including opening the pump station grounds for weddings and catering events, and four-wheel drive tours. These are things that people want to come to our region to experience and pay money for, which creates employment particularly for young people.

Just yesterday I was at Kilsby Sinkhole watching a group of 14 people who had travelled from Melbourne to dive there. What I love about it is that young people are employed to take these tours, and the smile on people's faces when they experience it is something to behold. In closing, I want to thank each and every person who has worked to make our community better through tourism.

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