The State Liberals have welcomed the historic release of 40,000 Murray cod fingerlings into the River Murray today.

Shadow Minister for Recreation and Member for Chaffey Tim Whetstone, who was on hand for the release, said the State Government must now develop and implement a long term management plan for the 40,000 Murray cod fingerlings released at Kingston-On-Murray and Swan Reach in the Riverland today.

Tickets to tomorrow night’s sold out Big Bash semi-final at Adelaide Oval have been on-sold for more than five times the original value as opportunists take advantage of the Weatherill Labor Government’s failure to crack down on scalpers.

Less than two hours after tickets to the Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder semi-final went on sale to the general public, scalpers were selling multiple adult general admission tickets for more than five times the original price.

The State Liberals are calling on the Weatherill Labor Government to increase the amount of re-use flow from the Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

The Weatherill Government has today used its Parliamentary numbers to block legislation to establish an independent inquiry into water prices.
 
“The refusal of the Weatherill Labor Government to submit water prices in South Australia to independent scrutiny confirms Labor levies a hidden tax on water,” said Acting Shadow Minister for Water Tim Whetstone.

The latest Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows South Australian households are paying the highest price for water in the nation despite falling water consumption.
 
Yesterday’s ABS figures revealed South Australian households paid $4.29 per kilolitre (kL) for urban distributed water in 2013-14, the highest in the nation and significantly above the Australian average of $3.08 per kL.

The diversity and innovation amongst South Australia’s exporters was recognised at the Business SA 2015 Export Awards at the National Wine Centre today.

Shadow Minister for Investment and Trade Tim Whetstone said the nine award winners demonstrate the export success stories present in South Australia.

South Australia must be better positioned to take advantage of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement signed last night to arrest the State’s falling merchandise exports.

Figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a 6.4 per cent drop in the value of merchandise exports over the past 12 months.

Shadow Minister for Investment and Trade Tim Whetstone is calling on visitors to the Riverland over the October long weekend to leave fruit fly host material at home and not risk crucial export market access.

South Australia is the only mainland state that is fruit fly free and this status in the Riverland is a crucial market advantage across the world.

The State Liberals have described the Weatherill Government’s latest foray into South East Asia as a re-run of previous broken promises on trade.

Following the Hartley Review in 2012, the State Labor Government closed nine of South Australia’s overseas trade offices, including in Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam, to save more than $2 million.