April update

After three sitting weeks in March it has been good to be at home in the electorate more this month, allowing me to attend events and meet with people and local groups.

What an Easter it was for tourism operators and local businesses, with so many visitors in streets, beaches and parks across the electorate! Having met with YP Tourism Manager Brooke Liebelt after the long weekend, she confirms booked out accommodation providers and record trading at multiple businesses which is just brilliant news.

No doubt all of our visitors will be looking forward to the completion of the $124 million Port Wakefield Overpass and Highway Duplication Project that is well underway, with the expectation being that the Easter long week-end we’ve just had may well be the last Easter we’ll see the customary bumper to bumper queued traffic at “Crash Corner”. The overpass is scheduled to be open to traffic “mid-2022” and the project as a whole completed by the of next year.

The region remains busy, with school holidays and with a surge of visitors in the region for the Copper Coast 2021 SA Masters Games, heralded the biggest in the event’s history with a record over 1600 participants. Well done to the Copper Coast Council, Games Chairperson Lynn Spurling, and the multitude of volunteers it took to stage such an event, of which I was one. I was certainly very proud and honoured to speak at the Closing Dinner last Sunday when Copper Coast Mayor Roslyn Talbot handed the baton to Tatiara Mayor Graham Excell  as representative of the host region for the next Masters Games in 2022.

Recreational Fishing Licences a good idea or not?

With the release of the Recreational Fishing Advisory Council’s 2021-2024 strategy document that raises the specific question of whether fishers want a recreational fishing license and registration scheme introduced, I have done multiple Listening Posts at boat ramps over the last two weeks.

Thank you to all who provided feedback to me at Wallaroo, Port Hughes, Ardrossan, Port Victoria, Port Wakefield or Stansbury, and with consultation not closing until 30 April there is still time to contact me with your views. Opinion seems to range from no thanks to yes if any fees collected are funnelled directly into fishing activities for more compliance checks, fish stock counts or improved  research.