Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has poked the proverbial hornet’s nest by openly asking why anyone would visit South Australia.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Andrews was responding to the Marshall government’s decision to reopen South Australia’s borders to people from Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania from Wednesday, while still requiring visitors from eastern states to quarantine upon entry.
However, the move appeared not to have gone down well with Andrews who said: “I don’t want to be offensive to South Australians but why would you want to go there?” in response to a question about the border decision.
“Holiday here … the best experiences in our nation are right here in Victoria,” Andrews said.
“Go skiing, go to the wine country, go down the beach, whatever it might be. Victorians I think will be very keen to be close to home this school holidays, over this period.”
This prompted a swift response from Premier Marshall in the form of a Twitter video of Andrews, overlayed with a South Australian tourism promotional video showing tourists driving, camping and surfing across the state’s coastline.
“Daniel Andrews asked why anyone would want to go to South Australia … Well Dan, here’s why,” Marshall said.
@DanielAndrewsMP asked why anyone would want to go to South Australia.
Well Dan, here's why 👇 pic.twitter.com/JdhG4DwLKB
— Steven Marshall (@marshall_steven) June 17, 2020
Moreover, South Australian Tourism Commission chief executive Rodney Harrex said he’d be “happy to show Premier Andrews why 1.5 million Victorians love coming to SA each year”.
“Out of all our interstate visitors, Vics actually make up nearly 40 per cent of those coming to SA – and the interest in South Australia from interstate from across the nation has only grown in recent months,” Harrex said in a statement to Travel Weekly.
“Through SATV, our online ‘loungeroom tourism’ platform which launched in early April, we’ve seen very clearly that people are looking for things to see and do in South Australia.
“In just over two weeks since we launched our ‘Welcome Back’ campaign, there’s been nearly 600,000 visits to the SATC’s southaustralia.com – with half of these, nearly 300,000, from interstate – more than tripling on the same time last year.
“With over 6.6 million visits to southaustralia.com, which is only second in terms of number of visits to Visit NSW, South Australia is claiming well above its share of voice.
“There’s plenty going on in South Australia – winter is prime-time in the Flinders Ranges and Outback, we’ve got the glorious Limestone Coast just over the border from Vic, we’ve got stunning coastlines, famous wine regions – I’d be more than happy to show Premier Andrews why 1.5 million Victorians love coming to SA each year.”
Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham, who lives in South Australia, also responded to the comments during his speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Birmingham said he thought Premier Andrews was trying to distract the public from other issues he was currently facing, including the branch-stacking scandal currently engulfing the Victorian Labor party.
“Daniel Andrews, rather than going out and seeking to try to get one of those great headline-grabbing distractions of state versus state rivalry, should have much bigger issues to deal with,” Birmingham said.
“On a more positive note, I’d encourage everybody to come and visit South Australia … there are many exceptional experiences and attractions.”
Later on Wednesday, Andrews acknowledged he had “hit a bit of a sore spot across the border”, but defended what he had to say about South Australia.
“Seems these remarks hit a bit of a sore spot across the border – but it’s true,” the Victorian Premier tweeted.
“We have everything right here in Victoria. And if you take your next break in a bushfire-affected community – all the better.”
