GALPIN, Mrs Kathryn, Director, Policy and Projects, South Australian Tourism Commission LANG, Mrs Miranda, Director, Regions and Industry Development, South Australian Tourism Commission Committee met at 09:00 ACTING CHAIR ( Mr Rick Wilson ): I declare open this public hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth for its inquiry into creating sustainable economic growth in rural and regional Australia. Today the committee is meeting in Adelaide, South Australia. I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to their ancestors and elders past, present and emerging. I extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their cultural and spiritual connections to Australia's land and waters. In accordance with the committee's resolution of 27 August 2025, this hearing will be audio broadcast on the parliament's website, and the proof and official transcripts of proceedings will be published on the inquiry website. I remind members of the media who may be here of the need to fairly and accurately report the proceedings of the committee. I'm the deputy chair, and I'm standing in for the chair, Senator Marielle Smith of South Australia, who I'm sure you all know and who is, unfortunately, incapacitated at the moment. I now call on representatives from the South Australian Tourism Commission to give evidence. Thank you very much for appearing this morning. Although the committee does not require you to give evidence under oath, I should advise you that this hearing is a legal proceeding of the parliament and therefore has the same standing as proceedings of the respective houses. The giving of false or misleading evidence is a serious matter and may be regarded as a contempt of parliament. The evidence given today will be recorded by Hansard and attracts parliamentary privilege. I now invite you to make a brief opening statement before we proceed to questions. Mrs Galpin : Deputy Chair and members of the committee, we thank you for the opportunity to appear with you today. The South Australian Tourism Commission welcomes this inquiry into sustainable economic growth in rural and regional Australia. Our role here in SA is to deliver economic and social benefits for South Australians by promoting our state as a leading destination and supporting the growth of our regional visitor economy. Regional South Australia is central to this opportunity. Our 11 tourism regions range from globally recognised wine destinations, such as the Barossa and Clare Valley, through to the Flinders Ranges, Australia's most accessible outback. They are powerful drivers of jobs, exports and community vitality. From South Australia's perspective, one of our clearest opportunities sits at the intersection of tourism and agriculture, particularly through agritourism. Global demand is increasingly pointing to agritourism as a major growth opportunity. We know that, in 2024, 84 per cent of global travellers said they were interested in an agritourism experience within Australia, and visitors engaging in these experiences contributed more than $20 billion nationwide. South Australia is well placed to lead in this space. We are recognised for premium produce grown in clean air, water and soil, backed by strong biosecurity. Food and drink, including wine, are among our strongest competitive advantages, with 64 per cent of interstate visitors already associating South Australia with these strategies. Importantly, South Australia has also taken a deliberate leadership role in the agritourism development space. We have established the dedicated South Australian Agritourism Framework to help producers diversify into tourism, unlock new revenue streams and build capacity across this sector. This is not just about visitor experiences; it's about export growth, regional resilience and value creation. Agritourism helps us showcase our products in market, build international brand trusts and turn visitor interest into trade and investment outcomes. There is also a clear export opportunity in converting visitation into long-term demand. When international buyers, trade partners and media experience South Australia, as an example, firsthand through trade visits and familiarisation programs, they form a stronger connection to our regions, our producers and our premium food, wine and agritourism offerings. That helps lift brand recognition and support market access and create new export opportunities for regional businesses. To fully realise this opportunity, national coordination is important. There is real potential to strengthen alignment between tourism, agriculture and trade through a couple of points: expanding on international marketing of Australia's clean, green provenance at the national level; supporting primary producers to enter the visitor economy; and embedding agritourism within export strategies, including to continue to advocate for tourism as a legitimate pathway for business diversification. In closing, South Australia shows that agritourism is not just a niche market; it is a strategic lever for regional economic growth. With the right policy settings and cross-jurisdictional collaboration, Australia can build on South Australia's leadership to connect our region's producers and visitor economy in ways that celebrate the simple pleasures here in South Australia and drive sustainable growth. Thank you. We welcome this discussion. ACTING CHAIR: Thank you very much. The committee, as you might be aware, was down in Mount Gambier yesterday, and we did hear from wine producers in particular but also from other agricultural producers. Wine, if you'll excuse the pun, is kind of low-hanging fruit from a tourism perspective. Everyone loves to go to a winery and enjoy the local flavours of a wine tasting or a meal. What are you doing to expand that into seafood and more general agriculture? We had the dairy industry in, which obviously is about cheese and other products. What is the South Australian Tourism Commission doing to support and enhance those marketing efforts a little bit more broadly than just in the wine sector? Mrs Lang : Wine tourism is a really good example of diversification. I think we use it as a bit of a benchmark of how we can work with other agricultural assets to actually diversify from paddock to plate, as an example, or from a seafood catch-and-cook type of experience. With wine, it's more than just the grapes. We know that, in South Australia as an example, we have 18 designated wine regions. We know that, with South Australia as a destination, we like to think we kind of own the wine tourism space. In terms of how we deliver that, we've got some great brands, but it's more than just a tasting. It's more than just a nice bottle of Penfolds or whatever it might be. It's actually the story behind what that experience is. It's actually making it appealing to visitors so that they want to come, they want to go to the regions, they want to hear the stories and they want to immerse themselves in that experience so that the end product is the delicious wine but also that brand recognition of what that winery is offering. Coupling that with good food is really the food-and-wine offering for South Australia and what attracts people to South Australia. Taking the same framework that we worked with in wine tourism and how we supported wine tourism all these years, we're doing the same thing with agritourism. That is really our producers, our farmers; if they want to diversify their offerings into tourism, how can we actually assist them using the same principles that we did with wine tourism? We're creating experiences that help demonstrate what it is that they've got to offer, and making it appealing to visitors is the pathway we take with producers to ensure there is something that's sustainable and that has appeal for visitors. Financially, that's where we want the outcome that it becomes a new tourism asset. ACTING CHAIR: Given that agriculture more generally is more dispersed than the wine industry, which, as you say, has technology apps, is the South Australian Tourism Commission working in that area so that a tourist who might want an agricultural experience can go to an app or a website? There could be a range of offerings rated, because we're all tourism consumers nowadays, and, if something's not rated well, you don't go. If someone's rated it very highly, you might take up that offer. What are you doing in that space? Mrs Lang : Absolutely. When it comes to how it's being promoted, all tourism products are self-registered on a database called Australian Tourism Data Warehouse. This is free for South Australian businesses. This allows their— ACTING CHAIR: Is that Australia-wide? Mrs Lang : That's correct—Australia-wide. ACTING CHAIR: Who provides that framework? Who funds that? Mrs Lang : Each state is represented on a nationwide committee. In South Australia, our chief marketing officer, Erik de Roos, sits on that national forum. Each state, when they're doing their own marketing for tourism, relies on tourism businesses to be registered on ATDW, the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse. That's the benchmark, saying that you've got a tourism offering and a tourism product. In South Australia, if you are registered on that data warehouse as an agritourism product, you will be picked up in all of our marketing initiatives. That's one way, through southaustralia.com, that the content is fed through ATDW. Then it's promoted globally to visitors across the world and picked up by other providers as well. Tourism Australia uses the same platform, drawing content through this ATDW. If you've got an agritourism product, you register it on ATDW. It identifies it as being agritourism. That way it is actually picked up and promoted through the different mechanisms. From a consumer perspective—and this is how consumers find the relevant things to do—we have a new app here in South Australia called Explore South Australia. This is now promoting our winter deals, which are all around food, wine, activities, events—things that you can see and do. But, again, the content is all pulled from ATDW. For any business that wants to diversify into tourism, into agritourism, if the product is right or if you need support with the product, we in the Tourism Commission can assist you with getting that product right. All you have to do is register the product and ensure that it meets the general criteria, which is the national framework. Then your product is picked up in South Australia to be promoted. ACTING CHAIR: Thank you very much for that very comprehensive answer. It is good news from my perspective. Ms Sharkie. Ms SHARKIE: Thank you so much for presenting to us today. It's wonderful that we're actually in my home state. I want to go to employment challenges, but I also want to go to the grants for cellar doors that are being diminished in the budget. What do you see as the impact of that? More broadly, what other things could the federal government do to support regional tourism better? Maybe it's not a costing; maybe it's more of a red tape thing. My second question is a little bit South Australia specific. I do hear from a lot of my tourism operators that they struggle to find employees. Given that South Australia has 41,000 unemployed people and 84,000 people that are underemployed, I'm just wondering what you think could be done better to connect unemployed or underemployed people with the tourism industry. Is it better assistance to get some little microqualifications or other things? Anyway, I will now mute myself and wait for your answers. Mrs Lang : I'll respond first to your comments regarding the grants and how we assist. Here in South Australia, we do not currently have a funding program that is available for industry, whether it's through agritourism or any type of sector specifically, recognising that it's always handy. In the past few years, we have had the Experience Nature Tourism Fund, but currently we do not. However, it does not take away from our responsibility to still help businesses. Within the South Australian Tourism Commission we have an industry development team that works with other departments and organisations to help businesses with their industry capabilities. It also addresses resources and efficiencies, trying to help businesses on that pathway to be sustainable for the future. In terms of the product and experience that they're offering, how can we help them to ensure that they're putting their resources and their funds towards ways that are going to have that longevity and the best way of telling their story? There's that, in itself. There's also helping them with managing their own business expectations. If it is about resources and not having the manpower, how can we provide them with the tools and the ability to work with different mentors? It can be through a workshop program. It could be through helping them with their product development, or it can be through a mentoring program. We work with the Tourism Industry Council South Australia, otherwise known as TiCSA, which is an industry-facing organisation, to help deliver programs that will help businesses with their own challenges and that pathway of growth. It's not a fund directly, but it is a mechanism and a tool to actually help businesses where they identify where their challenges are, and we help them with solutions and find other ways of addressing how we can support their business. Through TiCSA, we had the Careers in Tourism Program to address the challenge of finding employees. We understand it is a challenge, especially in regional South Australia. We try to work with communities to help identify the appeal and the opportunity with youth to keep them in programs in hospitality that are going to make them want to stay part of the community and ensure that they get the right qualifications and get into work programs in tourism. Another thing that we continue to do through the Tourism Industry Council South Australia is make sure that the message and attractiveness of working in hospitality and tourism is prevalent and appealing to young people, particularly in regional South Australia. I'll turn over to Kathryn to see if she has anything else to offer. Mrs Galpin : To add to what Miranda spoke about in terms of tourism as a career or a job pathway, on top of what the Tourism Industry Council South Australia do through their Careers in Tourism Program, about three years ago Austrade invested in a national jobs-and-careers-in-tourism program, which all the states participated in. It was partially an industry, or school, awareness piece, but it was also a marketing piece to show that tourism is not just a thing you do when you're at university, working in a hotel. That's absolutely a legitimate stopgap employment opportunity, but there are a vast range of jobs that are associated with the visitor economy and the tourism sector. Around COVID, I think it was in 2022, the South Australian Tourism Commission did a bit of a deep dive into unpacking what some of those pathways might be. To your point, Ms Sharkie, around the underemployed, we certainly know that there's a portion of older citizens within Australia that may be looking at continuing their employment, and hospitality-tourism offers a really great avenue to do part-time work, as well as for those at the school age. There are business development opportunities. You can work for the South Australian Tourism Commission or a marketing business. There's lots you can do. There's this stigma, so to speak, associated with working in tourism. I'm not entirely sure if we have really been able to promote tourism, despite the effort across the education sector, the TAFE sector, to change that narrative. So, in terms of opportunities at that national, coordinated level, it's about investing a bit more in that policy discussion around how we can reframe what tourism is and then add that regional overlay—that there's lots of opportunity. How we take that to the regional, sustainable level is more the challenge, and we know that very intimately here in South Australia. Ms SHARKIE: I have a follow-up question. For schools in regional areas like Kangaroo Island and Victor Harbor, which are high tourism areas, and even eastern Fleurieu and Strathalbyn or up in Birdwood and to the Barossa—and that's just my part of South Australia and my part of regional Australia—do you think there are some good opportunities to work a little bit more closely, in a bespoke way per region, with schools so that young people are living with a certificate III in something hospitality related so they are pretty much job ready? I'm not sure that we are necessarily doing that that well. Mrs Galpin : Yes, I agree. I think there is certainly a bespoke opportunity there—to do it at that regional level and further engage TAFE and similar providers to achieve that. Mrs Lang : One of the things we have recently done here in South Australia is engage with communities by developing a destination management plan across the state for each of our regions. In each of our tourism regions, we have representatives—what we call, through our regional tourism organisations, our regional tourism managers. We are always encouraging that community engagement through our RTM, our regional tourism manager, to again be involved in the community. Through the development of our destination management plans, we heard concerns. It's probably about forward thinking about how we ensure that the value of tourism is recognised—the opportunities in communities to really grow jobs and, again, keep people there. So it has definitely been identified, and it's very consistent across all of our regions. When there's an opportunity for us to be in front of schools or to attend career fairs on any level within communities, we absolutely are there and we encourage our regional tourism managers that are actually part of the community in the regions to also be present so that again we are sending the message that this is a pathway that could be considered and trying to re-emphasise the appeal of the hospitality-tourism sector for our people as well. So we definitely recognise it. I think it's consistently across all of our regions, but we understand some of the challenges in Victor Harbor as well as Kangaroo Island. We acknowledge that, and we're working very closely with our regional reps to ensure that the messaging is strong about opportunities. ACTING CHAIR: Ms Briskey. Ms BRISKEY: Thanks very much for your contribution to our inquiry. I want to expand on some of the opening comments that you've made and the submission that you've made around what the opportunities are aligning tourism with food and drink exports. Obviously, South Australia has a very strong wine—you've spoken about how you're using that as an example to diversify into other agricultural products. Are you able to provide the committee with some examples of where you've seen it work well, in terms of both domestic export and international markets, as well as provide some reflection on where you think the gaps might be and, in particular, the role that Commonwealth could potentially play in supporting that expansion? Mrs Lang : I'll try to respond appropriately, understanding that export is not our field of expertise. I think the synergies and the connection are really around brand awareness. From a South Australia perspective—and wine is a good example, if we look at examples; I'll use the Barossa as it's quite a world-renowned winery. The export of wine and what it's done to raise the profile of the Barossa as well as the quality of the wine that is being consumed overseas—that actually helps put South Australia on the map, because you know when you've got great wine. I think that's why we confidently think we own that wine space. I think the brand integrity and that awareness of the quality that you get when you're consuming things overseas helps us as a destination to really market this idea: 'Come see firsthand what it is that you've experienced. Come see firsthand the feel and touch of where the produce is coming from and where the wine is produced.' That enables us to tell that story in a more intimate, immersive way. So, to your point about the wine, yes, we kind of get that. But also think a little bit about seafood, for example. For the China market—for us, specifically, in South Australia—we've got air carriers coming back into South Australia and we know that the Chinese market is very much interested in fresh seafood. The experience that they may have or the export of seafood product, whether it's coming from Port Lincoln—some of the seafood from Port Lincoln is going over to China. When they come over to South Australia, they want that hands-on, right-from-the-boat, catch-and-cook experience. So how do we use the profile and the opportunity for the quality of what they've consumed to lure them, get them to stay a little longer in South Australia, immerse themselves, expand, diversify and go into our regions and have that hands-on experience? From our perspective, it's about making sure that we have those tourism experiences that really highlight our seafood so that it is appealing to that Chinese market. When we're promoting to China, we can use that example: 'You kind of know about South Australian seafood, but, if you come over to South Australia, you can see it firsthand. You can immerse yourself in actually going on a boat, catching a fish, going back and eating that fish.' That's the kind of experience they like. So, from a South Australian perspective, with SATC, we help them with that product development so that we can better market to those areas and sell those bespoke experiences. I'm not sure if that answers your question. That's an example of how working with the export side of things to help brand awareness helps us better market the destination using the same kinds of principles. Ms BRISKEY: I appreciate that. It's sort of the other way around; the export is driving tourism. Obviously, there are pre-existing brands and well-known brands. How are you assisting other local businesses who may not have that brand recognition but are taking the opportunity to encourage those who have come here to experience either wine or seafood or other products? It sort of goes to that point I think you were talking about before around some of the tools and capabilities that you're assisting other businesses with to diversify into tourism. Mrs Lang : You use your hooks. You use the anchors and the things that you can build off of. There might be one aspect of why somebody might consider coming to South Australia. It could be wine. Not everybody is going to drink wine, but everybody needs to eat. How do we lean into the reputation of good-quality wine from our wonderful vines and from our climate and what we can produce because of our environment, our settings and our good policies that we have to protect our land? It also resonates well with the food and the things that we produce. It's telling that story. It's really using some sort of hook, if you will, to then tell a broader story. We want them to come for longer, spend more money and immerse themselves in the community. Going to one winery that you may have heard about overseas is great, but how do you go to multiple? How do you actually expand your stay, go across to the Coonawarra, go up to the Riverland or go and actually see where the grapes are growing? It's having different offerings that are going to appeal to the demographics of that person that is looking for food and wine experiences and giving them a selection of things to do that's going to meet their needs and that's going to get them to want to stay longer. That's where we benefit as a state. You often have to use a hook. Just as an analogy or a comparison, Kangaroo Island for us is also a destination by default of its name. It's a hook. Does everybody that comes to South Australia go to Kangaroo Island? No, but we can use that as a drawcard internationally and get people to then come spend time on the Fleurieu, go over to Yorke Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula, really come into South Australia and immerse themselves across the state to experience a variety of things that we have to offer. Ms BRISKEY: Thank you. ACTING CHAIR: Senator Cox. Senator COX: I want to pick up on one of the points that you were talking about, Mrs Galpin, particularly around the importance of agritourism—both of you were talking about it—and having that reach out into South Australia's regional and more rural areas. I think the deputy chair touched on this earlier. What we heard in Mount Gambier yesterday was around how they spent a lot of time marketing their product, much more than actually producing it, but some of that paddock-to-plate experience is really declining now. I'm really keen to hear what your plan is for the next five years. Someone can come for a wine experience, but, without that pairing of beef from South Australia and other products, it leaves a bit of a one-hook rather than a variety of those. How are you thinking about that? What is it that the federal government can do to try and provide support to that as well? Mrs Lang : In particular places like Mount Gambier, as I've mentioned, we have developed these destination management plans. These plans identify the nuance of the region and what makes it special. For the Limestone Coast, agritourism was identified as a real opportunity. That all in itself is good. What is the plan then, to your point, to ensure that there is some pick-up, that there is some traction and that there are some offerings that are going to help businesses over the next five years? There have recently been some workshops done in the Limestone Coast around agritourism. It's then helping businesses to diversify and come up with those products and experiences that we can then market. It is a bit of a pathway. No. 1 is recognising through the communities where they want to sit in this space when it comes to agritourism. Mount Gambier and the Limestone Coast are very much in that space. We know they want it. How can we help them in terms of their own capabilities to create that right product to get it in a more appealing place so that we can market it? From a state level, that's very much what we're doing. It's on the ground, making sure we have the very tangible experience to market. From a national level, to the point of where we can help, I think we work very closely with Tourism Australia. They have a framework around agritourism. We sit on a national organisation that's being led by Tourism Australia to make sure that we are all discussing the best ways to go forward collectively as a country to help lift agritourism and that profile and opportunity within that. So that's being led by Tourism Australia but with us as part of that discussion so that collectively Australia can lift and really recognise that, when you are looking for agritourism products and experiences, we can all deliver as individual states. So, when it comes to what they're doing from a federal level, it's still quite new in us collectively working together. But I think the first step is that we're having the conversation. We're not trying to go about it on our own. I think our voice is stronger if we work together as a nation that is going to actually really have a consistent way of helping businesses to lift so that, when we are promoting more globally, people know that when you come to Australia you're going to get these really authentic agritourism experiences, irrespective of where you go when you visit Australia. Mrs Galpin : If I may add to that, I think, from that national framework perspective, that's really important in helping that consistent understanding across, particularly for the tourism sector. Agribusinesses, taking out the tourism, are unique industries in themselves. It's not as easy as just going, 'Tomorrow, I'm going to become a tourism business.' To the point of Miranda around pathways, we know visitors expect a certain level of service when they turn up to someone's business and for it to be open seven days a week. They want to have this type of experience, but you've got a working property, a working farm. You've got the issue of produce, as in producing enough, which is declining, as well as succession planning for families and businesses and that whole range. So, while the framework is quite new, it's really important that we all have a voice around that so we can really bring that intersection together between the two industries and show that tourism does offer one other way. It might not be the food on the plate with the wine if that's declining, but there might be another experience or a story to tell on that property that just hasn't been unpacked. That's where the tourism organisations and people like Miranda's team in product development can help bring that to the forefront, acknowledging the complexities of running an agribusiness. Senator COX: I have just one follow-up question, if I can. One of the really practical things that I heard yesterday from our witnesses was—and my home state has been very good at this—around our tourism of attracting a big event. I'll use Coldplay as the example in Western Australia. Every accommodation in Perth city was booked out for weeks in advance, and there was a big part of the visitor economy that generated lots of income for our tourism, but what was left to the side was the regional experience and people travelling out to those regions. Not a lot of those Coldplay fans would be. It's probably happened here in South Australia as well. Visitors that are coming here, whether it's interstate or internationally, don't get the experience of going to a regional or rural area if we don't have them on the map. I know you talked about profiling some of those more well known ones, but, for me, it's the practicalities of that. Are we making sure that, for instance, visitors coming to the Limestone Coast from Ms Briskey's home state of Victoria, who are driving here for Gather Round, understand what's on offer in those regions? It's not just metropolitan, big-city centric. How do we ensure that that's actually something that is done and done well, alongside those businesses—picking up both of the deputy chair and Ms Briskey's comments around small and medium enterprises, ones that aren't some of the bigger players in that—but also make sure that they're well profiled and that there is an example of that being mapped and given rather than the data warehouse? How is the South Australian Tourism Commission actually dealing with that? Mrs Lang : It's a great question—and one that we're really passionate about. That dispersal is so critical, and I love the example of Gather Round. For us, yes, using major events as a hook to get people to South Australia is one aspect of it, and it's one that our Premier is very passionate about. We have 20,000 small businesses in tourism in South Australia, a lot of the small mas and pas. How do we make sure that they get a piece of the pie, so to speak, as well? Gather Round is a really good example of making sure that, when people are considering coming over for a big event, if they are driving through from Victoria—so thank you!—through the Limestone Coast, they stop. There are things for them to see and do. We are promoting it not just as a drive-through. Mount Gambier council, for example, has been a fantastic partner in this. They activated; they got right on board with Gather Round, saying: 'We don't want people just coming through our community. We actually want you to stop so you can celebrate football here in Mount Gambier.' They did that and they did that very well. Our team is very focused—we have a whole regional events team. There are different funding programs to ensure that they are getting their share of love. But, in terms of using those big events, how do we make sure that the message for people that are driving through or flying through is that they take the time? There are sample itineraries for them to see and do, to consider going out and expanding beyond Adelaide—absolutely. That's been a focus for us in the last few years and will continue to be. It does sometimes appear as if there's a lot of activity in Adelaide. But Adelaide with the regions is what makes the offering appealing. It can't be one or the other, so we're making sure that the conversations are utilising the passionate people in the communities to help come up with some activities that are going to get people to stay—to stop and to disperse. That's a key thing that we've done, and Gather Round has been a really good example. We do that with all of our events, whether they're coming for golf, tour down under or Tasting Australia, which is a food and beverage event that we have in May. It showcases the regions; it showcases all the great food that we have across South Australia. They come here, and then we say: 'Okay, here's a taste of it. Now go out to the regions and see for yourself.' We're encouraging people to continue to take it to that one next level. So we're very much aware of that, and I hope that we continue to grow and support regions with our major events that are happening here in Adelaide, to encourage that dispersal. ACTING CHAIR: Thank you. Member for Adelaide. Mr GEORGANAS: I'm going to bring it back from the regions and into Adelaide a bit, out of self-interest, as the member for Adelaide. In terms of what we have to sell as a city, one of the things that has struck me, for many years—and I think it's one of the magnificent things about this city—is that we have 70 kilometres of uninterrupted sandy coastline, which you won't find anywhere else in the world. It's Adelaide's best kept secret. When I've had people from overseas and we've taken them for a drive, they've been amazed by this stretch of beautiful beaches. In terms of utilising those areas and attracting people to them, the infrastructure is fairly substandard compared to other places that have similar beaches—in terms of the experience of enjoying the culinary delights, the beach, the scenery, the view. You struggle to find a kiosk open most days if you go down there. To attract people down there, it's one thing—the nature and the beauty. That's fine for the regional areas, but, when you're in a city like Adelaide, you also want to experience the culinary delights, the wine, the scenery. In terms of infrastructure and working with regional local governments—when I say 'regional', we have the western suburbs councils. And then, when infrastructure does go up, sometimes you'll find some restaurants around the place have seating facing the other side of the road, not the beach, which doesn't make sense to me in terms of the attractiveness. There's also the combination of local products, and what comes to mind in a seat like Adelaide is obviously our wine and our beef. I think we do beef really well. You can go to most restaurants and find black angus. You'll find beef from South Australia, sourced from the south-east and sourced from all sorts of places. Really, the meat industry has done a great job. But when I look at the seafood—in one of the greatest places in the world, where we do some of the best fishing in the world and export to the entire world—I guarantee you, if you go to any restaurant today and open up the menu, the fish of the day will be either barramundi or salmon. Rarely do we see our seafood. There are a couple around the place. One that comes to mind, which is down at Glenelg, is Sammy's, for example. You go in there any day of the week, and you'll find heaps and heaps of tourists—Chinese, Asians—because of the experience that they can have with the seafood. I think we need to promote within our hospitality industry that we've got some of the best seafood in the world, and we have to put it on the menus. It's easier said than done, but I don't know if there's any work in that area and in the infrastructure in terms of getting that whole experience of scenery, pristine beaches, culinary delights, beautiful seafood and the best wines. If you want to eat beef, there are lots of choices as well. It's more of a statement than a question, but I'd like to get your views on that. Mrs Lang : I think it's very valid, and, as we both live in Adelaide, we probably concur as well. I think one of the good things for us is that we do work very closely with local council here in Adelaide, in particular with AEDA, which is great. For us, it's about identifying opportunity and making sure that, through businesses, when they are looking at starting up, we provide them with insights, data and research so that they can make the appropriate decision that's going to be best for their business. I think Adelaide is very well placed, again, in its proximity and how it's positioned. We've got wonderful coastal lines, like a lot of other places, but we know we've got very good access here. From the city, you can be down in Glenelg in no time. We know that. How we promote that as a state is really critical as well, and I think we do it fairly well. For us, with businesses, it's making sure they understand the opportunity. You were talking about supporting locals and having those restaurants and those cafes using local goods, and produce is really key with the Adelaide Central Market and all the work that they're doing. We know we've got it in abundance here in SA. I would say that one of the positive things that really came out of COVID is this sense of pride and really supporting each other and supporting South Australian businesses. To see menus where you have South Australian wines, South Australian produce and seafood and whatnot is something we always encourage as well, because it does help tell that South Australian story, so it's a bit of an education, which is what we're there to help businesses with. I think the more that we can talk about and rely on South Australians to back each other up and support each other, even just by mentioning on menus where things come from, the more it will do us a lot of good as a state. I think we can do a little bit more of that. We need to constantly have those narratives working with industry and restaurant catering as well, just to make sure that sense of pride about supporting South Australian business is strong. We'll continue to do that as well where we can. Mrs Galpin : That sense of pride will hopefully lift with the recent MICHELIN Guide announcement here as well. That, presumably, focuses very much on South Australian skill and produce, and then, hopefully, we will see that flow on where other businesses take on a bit of a lead from that. Mr GEORGANAS: In terms of the workforce in South Australia, I know it's difficult to source good workforce training et cetera. In terms of overseas workforce, is it a big issue here in South Australia? Are there a lot of people that are working on temporary visas et cetera? Do we specifically source people from overseas as well? Are there a lot of backpackers and that sort of stuff? Mrs Lang : Absolutely. I'll just quickly comment on that. We definitely do work with work-visa agencies and whatnot. Again, with grape growers, fruit pickers and whatnot, we know there's some seasonality that very much helps with the workforce more in the regions. Education facilities here in Adelaide, through our universities and whatnot, are encouraging people if they're looking for jobs—that's a consideration—but working visas, absolutely, are important. We want South Australians, obviously, to be employed where they choose to be in this space, but we will welcome the opportunity to continue to work with people from international countries that are coming over to South Australia and looking for work. Mrs Galpin : We're interested in the national forums around visas and ensuring South Australia is part of those conversations, interacting from the region—if you look at that classification—so that we can welcome people here. Mr GEORGANAS: Excellent. Thank you. ACTING CHAIR: I don't think our next witnesses have arrived yet, so, if it's okay with you guys, we can continue the conversation for a little bit longer. I have an observation followed by a question. Port Lincoln is to the fishing industry what the Barossa Valley is to the wine industry Australia-wide, I would say. What particular efforts—what's the strategy for promoting our seafood and seafood tourism alongside the wine? You touched on it earlier, but we do have the fishing industry in next. I'm interested because, as a Western Australian, I can see that the fishing industry based around Port Lincoln—is it Streaky Bay where the oysters are from?—is world class and world recognised. I'm just wondering what opportunities there are there and how tourism in South Australia is going to pursue those opportunities. Mrs Lang : Port Lincoln is definitely a jewel when it comes to the seafood industry but also a Mecca for our international visitors. Because of the reputation in the seafood industry, we do get a lot of international travellers—especially from China, as an example—that are very interested to come and experience it firsthand. What we do is probably twofold when it comes to the seafood industry over in the Eyre Peninsula. The first thing is, in any of the events that we have here in South Australia, in Adelaide—whether it's food or whatnot—encouraging that produce and that seafood to come from our regions so that we can continue to promote the quality is a priority of what we do. Oysters from Coffin Bay or Streaky Bay are very much a focus, to ensure that we are using our own produce and seafood. The second thing is, when people are going over to Port Lincoln, how can they go over to Coffin Bay, go out and have a firsthand experience collecting oysters and then experiencing it as they're there? Making sure there are very specific, action-immersive products that people can actually go and do—that's what's going to get people over to the region. It's if they can actually go into the water, collect the oyster and shuck it right there. That's what people like to do, so those are the experiences that we work on to help operators develop them so that they're marketed in a way that makes someone say, 'That's actually what I want to go and do.' So they'll come over and they'll specifically go just to have that experience because you can't do that anywhere else in South Australia. You want to go where you can do it authentically in that specific region. It's the twofold approach. It's promoting the quality of the seafood but, likewise, encouraging people to go over and experience the product once the product is ready to have visitors come firsthand. ACTING CHAIR: Thank you. You've done really well. Thank you so much for being here today. If you have been asked to provide any additional information, please forward it to the secretariat by Friday 10 July 2026. Please be aware that any questions on notice will be published on the committee's website. You will be sent a copy of the transcript of your evidence and will have the opportunity to request corrections to transcription errors. Thank you very much..