SOUTH AUSTRALIA
j and how they plan to meet these increased targets. Mr Harrex
says South Australia has a unique brand of metropolitan
style. Many of the state’s regional centres lie just outside
Adelaide, so business and leisure travellers don’t have to go
far to experience the full breadth of South Australia.
“South Australia is a great place for business events. We
have state of the art conference facilities in the heart of the
city and world-famous wine regions only minutes away
from Adelaide. This gives business visitors an opportunity to
extend their stay by a day or two to see some of our beautiful
regions such as the Adelaide Hills, Barossa, Clare Valley or
Fleurieu Peninsula,” Mr Harrex explained.
In last edition’s feature on New Zealand’s tourism and
business event boom, I spoke with the Mayor of Auckland,
Phil Goff, about the impact that visitors can have on an
ecosystem. I wanted to know how Mr Harrex plans to keep
South Australia and Adelaide pristine during this period of
growth.
The answer to this dilemma, according to Mr Harrex, is
collaboration. “Sustainable development is a key concern,
especially for places such as Kangaroo Island where the
consumer proposition is so strongly linked to the pristine
natural environment,” Mr Harrex outlined.
“This is why we consult closely with our tourism
regions as well as key government stakeholders such as the
Department for Environment and Water and the Department
of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. It is important
that developments are appropriate for the region and don’t
detract from the innate appeal of these environments.”
An economists opinion
To get a more scientific perspective on how South Australia
is growing, I made a call to the University of Adelaide where
Steve Whetton, the Deputy Director of the SA Centre for
Economic Studies is based. After the straight down the
line analysis he gave to Chief of Staff last year, I wanted to
touch base with him again to get another run down on the
economic position of the state.
Mr Whetton had good things to say about the growth
of South Australia’s labour market, and its growing
participation rate (percentage of people in the state that are
looking for work or working).
“In the early nineties, a lot of young South Australians
moved interstate and overseas, and the economy took a hit.”
But the labour market has been on the rise recently, he said.
“The labour market has been growing reasonably, faster
than population growth.” This means there are more people
skilling-up and looking for work in South Australia than
unskilled people not looking for work—a good thing for any
economy.
I also wanted to see if he could confirm that the
government’s efforts to transition the economy into future
industries was working. Ever the academic—and without
enough long-term data—he was hesitant to give a definitive
answer either way. But he did say, “The new government
has been focusing on trying to push down the cost of doing
business. We’re still seeing a solid business investment in
South Australia.”
On the events side of things, Mr Whetton said the focus of
the government and the private sector are both set correctly.
“The event infrastructure in South Australia is good,
32 Chief of Staff | Issue 3 2019
A regional event might be
the best bet for bid funding
The State Government of South Australia wants business events,
and has continued to allocate more money to help bring them to the
state. As event organisers, EAs can access these resources through
the Adelaide Convention Bureau (ACB). The ACB is responsible for
allocating the $21.5 million worth of bid funding, according to a state
government spokesperson, who said “The ACB works with state
government agencies to provide funding to support the attraction of
competitive conventions and events to Adelaide.”
“South Australia has a business events bid fund for these events
and the State Liberal Government has made a significant additional
investment into that fund and also expanded the mandate of the ACB
to attract events to South Australia’s regions as well as the CBD,” the
spokesperson continued.
The ACB has a wealth of local knowledge to draw from, and can help
you find the right venue, caterer, technology provider, accommodation
and activities for an event. Provided an event meets the correct criteria
(and will have a positive impact on the area it’s held in), organisers
can also apply for event funding. This funding is typically competitive
in capital cities, including Adelaide, but events in the regions of South
Australia may have a better chance of receiving funding.
In any case, it’s worth giving the ACB a call to discuss what they
can provide for an event in South Australia.
they’ve only just finished the refurbishment of the
Convention Centre, and there has been a reasonable amount
of new hotel construction as well. I think that side of things
has been going well,” Mr Whetton said.
“There is also a reasonably strong focus in the tourism
marketing arms of government for trying to drive convention
and business event visits. I think that focus is good within
government and the private sector.”
At the end of our talk, I gave Mr Whetton the opportunity
to tell me something happening in South Australia that’s on
his radar at the moment.
“Some of the potential opportunities around the space
sector are quite interesting. South Australia managed to
procure the National Space Agency that’s setting up in Lot
Fourteen. That has potential,” Mr Whetton said.
“There’s also a low-earth-orbit satellite rocket launching
facility being constructed in South Australia, so there’s
potential for quite a bit of activity around the space side of
things.”
By putting satellites into space, and investing heavily in
infrastructure and promotion, the state is quite literally
launching itself into the future. After a year at the job, the
Marshall Government has laid the foundations for more
growth. With a rapidly expanding business events sector,
an infrastructure boom and a growing workforce, the ‘small
state with big ideas’ is fast becoming a place where success
is the norm. With a troubled economic history now firmly
in the rear-view mirror, South Australia, as Premier Steven
Marshall put it, is “looking to the horizon,” and shooting for
the stars. S