Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your protection. The parliamentary secretary is of course welcome to visit the island at any time; I would happily escort him around. It is one of the best kept secrets in our country. It is seven times the size of Singapore, but it is only 15 kilometres off the mainland of South Australia. Of course, that stretch of water has many a good snapper in it. If you are ever looking for a good snapper-fishing trip, I would urge you to visit that part of our country.

Kangaroo Island is visited by 160,000 people every year. It has a population of 4½ thousand, so it relies solely on tourism. That figure includes around 40,000 international visitors. More international visitors go to Kangaroo Island than to any other tourism location in South Australia, and it is a very important part of our tourism economy. We think that there is more potential for Kangaroo Island, particularly in this situation of global financial crisis and a lower Australian dollar. We want more Australians and more South Australians to visit Kangaroo Island. It is such a well-kept secret and we want to make sure that people know about how good it actually is.

The KI Cup, which has been run for 125 years, was won this year by Bravely, in one of the closest finishes in the cup’s history.

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