Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On Thursday 11 March I joined many people in the electorate of Adelaide, at the Adelaide council chambers, at a function hosted by the Adelaide Lord Mayor to celebrate the return of our festivals to Adelaide. The fringe festival, the Adelaide Festival, WOMADelaide and a whole range of other activities are taking place. It's absolutely fantastic and wonderful after the year that we have had and faced to see artists once again performing, venues filling up, people on the streets enjoying the wonderful offerings of the Adelaide festival season. The east end of Adelaide, Rundle Street, was absolutely jam-packed with people enjoying the festivities in restaurants, bars et cetera. This is a much needed boost for the Adelaide economy. It's also essential for our wellbeing. The arts feed our minds and our souls. I'm so happy for the artists and the related staff, so many of whom have struggled through COVID, who have done it tough in the last 12 months because they were ineligible for JobKeeper.

The arts is a sector that is incredibly important to the South Australian economy. It supports over 3,000 full-time equivalent jobs. It is said that every two jobs in the arts supports a job in another industry elsewhere in the Australian economy. The fringe festival's contribution to SA is undisputed and goes far beyond just the arts sector. It spreads throughout the economy. Many hospitality, tourism and retail businesses in Adelaide report that their takings for the month of the fringe are equivalent to their takings throughout the rest of the year. I spoke to many of the restaurant owners at the east end of Adelaide and they were all having a very good week or month during the festivals.

We had WOMADelaide, one of the biggest selections of world music in Australia, only a couple of weekends ago. This year the look and feel of the festivals has been a little bit different of course because of COVID—the social distancing and a whole range of things to keep people safe—but how wonderful that Adelaide can get back to doing what it does best, putting on a great show with amazing artists and atmosphere. I hope everyone gets to enjoy the fringe and the festivals. I urge everyone to come to Adelaide and enjoy it.

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